If you're female, and you want to express your femininity, you're actually demonized in the 'Free To Be... You And Me' generation.

I always love the soapy conflicts between somebody's family of origin and their new family - 'Do I have Thanksgiving at my husband's parents' house, or at my parents' house?'

I've been writing about misogyny for 20 years and trying to understand what femininity means for my entire career.

Your first job, I tell people I mentor, is managing your affect. Be nice and say nice things. Make it so that the people walk away from interacting with you and say, 'That was fun.' That will make them want to come back and do it again.

I think that's what we need more of: Asian-Americans on movie screens and TV screens where they're normalized. Where it's not about them being Asian or a person of color. It's just about them being a human. I think that's why sometimes when I see movies with an Asian family, but it's very stereotyped, I don't find that relatable.

That's the real work, being away from my loved ones, my family, my household. There's nothing that's hurt any more than being away from my little girl and missing days, but I'm lucky.

Love your family. Love your country. Never stop learning... And always look back and be grateful to where you came from.

I grew up with this idea that songwriters had a great job. My family was Irish Catholic, so if you became a priest or a songwriter, you were golden.