Looking back, I can genuinely say that I am truly grateful that my parents sheltered us from the public eye. This may sound like an easy task, but it was probably the hardest thing they had to figure out as parents - how to give their kids a normal childhood even though they were always in the spotlight.
I genuinely love Oasis, and I also genuinely love Beyonce. My body gets the same pleasure. If you like different types of music, it's OK to say it.
There are people out there who genuinely love literature, who genuinely love to read and read widely, who will never like, or even necessarily get, my books. That was a hard one to swallow, to not feel slighted by.
I was embarrassed by my parents. I thought they had nothing of interest to say or contribute to anything. My real crime was not understanding that they were interesting, and I have been trying to make it up to them for being so indescribably blase, so genuinely uninterested and dismissive.
As we see in life, change is hard. Even if you genuinely want it and make the effort, sometimes it's hard to get it.
When I was born here in Gulfport in 1966, my parents' interracial marriage was still illegal, and it was very hard to drive around town with my parents, to be out in public with my parents.
When I was born here in Gulfport in 1966, my parents' interracial marriage was still illegal. And it was very hard to drive around town with my parents, to be out in public with my parents.
My parents worked very hard for everything that they got. Their parents worked hard. It's just something that is passed down to you, and whatever you want to accomplish, you have to work hard to get it, and that's always been that mentality that my family has, and I think that's something that was passed on to me.
My parents genuinely loved Vienna, and in later years I learned from them why the city exerted a powerful hold on them and other Jews. My parents loved the dialect of Vienna, its cultural sophistication, and artistic values.
My parents are hard workers and they showed me what it means to work hard. I would give a lot of the credit to my parents for where I'm at and who I am. They both worked multiple jobs to make sure me and my siblings were able to play sports and have a home. I'll never forget how hard they worked and that always motivates me.
School, for me, was a really, genuinely hard thing. It was hard because l am an artist. You can't send an artist to a place where we learn at a mad slow pace sitting in a class.
In a time where everything's a flavor of the month, and it's hard to have any sort of longevity, I've been able to sell records still. I want to be the guy that stands out there and says thank you personally to everyone. And I try after my shows and kick it because I want to genuinely say thanks.
My parents never really pushed me, but I was so hard on myself. I would say I had some perfectionist quality, to a fault.
It's not a hard job, radio or standup, there are hard parts of it, sure. There are guys who do ten hours of construction a day don't want to hear me talk about my job being difficult. Compared to what a lot of people do, this is genuinely easy.
I just want to say that from an early age, my parents instilled in me the values that you work hard for want you want in life; that your word is your bond; that you do what you say you will do and you treat people with respect. That includes Housewives too!
It's hard to find someone who is really genuinely happy for you if you are having success and they're not.