I went to a very small Catholic school. It wasn't an easy place to be growing up gay.

Growing up, it was uncool to admit that your family had any money. And then, instantly, money was cool. In Reagan's parlance, it was about freedom of the individual, which was freedom to be greedy... individual versus society. There was a weird seduction in that, which I still feel.

We need punk now; we need it more than ever. We need rebellion by youth.

I'd like to do some female roles again.

When it comes to jump-starting the intricate machinery of recollection, there's nothing more effective than the scent of approaching death.

I thought any chance I had of space travel would be military or government-controlled.

Dad's funeral was standing room only; most in attendance were strangers to me. At the back, a lone Marine stood silently, then left. People told me he'd saved their life or helped them in their darkest hour.

In my hometown of New Orleans, grief is a public spectacle that, somewhat paradoxically, necessitates celebration. The dead are not mourned so much as they are posthumously venerated with music and dance.