At the zoo, people would gather around the railway to see the snakes being fed, and my brothers would walk around the group, taking from purses or bags or using a razor to cut pockets and take wallets.
I think the silence would be good with me, and not interacting with people would be okay. But not being able to move outside of the space would be hard. Not being able to walk around - the stillness of my body, physically - that would be the challenge.
In the old days, people would gather around the fire, or they would gather at a tavern, and they'd tell a story. And then, maybe a week later, someone would tell the same story, but with a different twist on it. That's how folk takes evolved.
I would walk around in all these cities we lived in because my dad would move around so much. I would just walk the streets with a ball in my hand, and my mom holding my other handing waiting to find a hoop to play in. That was my first love of basketball.
When I was growing up, my father would gather all of his children, seven brothers and seven sisters, around the television set and we would religiously watch every time Notre Dame played.
When I was younger I used to make wallets and purses out of newspaper and I would give them out to people.
Imagine the uproar if the Federal government tried to make everyone wear a radio transmitter around their neck so we can keep track of their movements. But people happily carry their cell phones in their purses and pockets.
I just hated being around attention and stuff. In the clubhouse, I hated being around that. I didn't like anything to do with being around people, for the most part. I mean, I could be around them, just not in a talking situation, and that would make it even worse.
It's tough growing up where I grew up. My family is very small and really tight. Just being around the neighborhood, my brothers were always around. I didn't want to be in any trouble because I knew my mom or brothers would find out. I didn't want to hurt their feelings. I just tried to do everything right.
You will always see big, chunky bags around me. I have always been fond of bags. Bags are extremely essential because I keep my books in them.
Storytelling in general is a communal act. Throughout human history, people would gather around, whether by the fire or at a tavern, and tell stories. One person would chime in, then another, maybe someone would repeat a story they heard already but with a different spin. It's a collective process.
Its tough growing up where I grew up. My family is very small and really tight. Just being around the neighborhood, my brothers were always around. I didnt want to be in any trouble because I knew my mom or brothers would find out. I didnt want to hurt their feelings. I just tried to do everything right.
I was always an introvert as a kid. Then, when I first kind of came out as a human being, I used to be one of those guys who'd go nuts on the dance floor, and people would gather around.
Luckily there were no venomous snakes around Hoosick, N.Y., so I amassed quite a collection of milk snakes, garters, ribbons and ring-necked snakes.
I would rather die than be in the United States Senate. I would be bored to death. Could you imagine me, banging around that chamber with 99 other people, asking for a motion on the amendment in the subcommittee? Forget it...You'd watch me just walk out and walk right into the Potomac River and drown. That would be it.
I used to do volunteer work in poor areas of Cairo, and people would gather their money together to get a satellite dish. You'd see them huddling around and for the first time seeing issues being debated on TV that had never been talked about before. And that is the biggest promoter of democracy you could possibly have.
Like students of art who walk around a great statue, seeing parts and aspects of it from each position, but never the whole, we must walk mentally around time, using a variety of approaches, a pandemonium of metaphor.