I never graduated from Iowa, but I was only there for two terms - Truman's and Eisenhower's.
In the years when teenagers really need to be connected to somebody, they aren't; especially in small towns where kids are bored and look for something to get them going.
With the black male as a teenager, where you're coming from the ghettos and that kind of stuff, you've got to assert yourself, be macho, not let anybody walk over you, so that's where all this unnecessary bullshit comes from - from egos. That's why there are a lot of fights. That's how come the whole thing with rap has been violent. It's because of the male ego.
I think it's ridiculous to try to sell records to teenagers, because teenagers don't buy my records. And there ain't that many teenagers out there in the marketplace.
Teenagers also sometimes think, 'What's the use? The world will soon be blown all apart and come to an end. ' That feeling comes from fear, not from faith. No one knows the hour or the day (see D&C 49:7), but the end cannot come until all of the purposes of the Lord are fulfilled. Everything that I have learned from the revelations and from life convinces me that there is time and to spare for you to carefully prepare for a long life.
I have a lot of tattoos. My first tattoo I had when I was a teenager was just a little heart. I am very friendly with a great artist, Scott Campbell, and I started going to him to get tattoos. I'm very spontaneous about what I get.
I've had the time to go through all the life phases with my parents, from being a bratty teenager, pushing them away, to saying later on, 'Oh my God, I can't believe what you did for me - thank you. I love you so much. '
The 1970s was probably the most exciting decade to be a teenager, from discovering Little Richard at the end of the 1960s to glam rock to punk rock to electro music. So much happened in that 10-year span. There were so many musical revolutions. Some were happening at the same time. You had disco going on behind punk. You had Michael Jackson. You had the Sex Pistols.
Adults are constantly telling teenagers that it's what's on the inside that matters. It's always painful to find out that adults have lied to you.
When I was a teenager, I learned that in order to play guitar like Johnny Ramone, it takes a huge amount of physical effort.
If you have older children who avoid you like the plague, buy yourself some expensive bath salts, run a hot tub, and settle in for a long soak. Teenagers who haven't talked to you since their tenth birthday will bang on the door, demanding your immediate attention.
A high-school girl, seated next to a famous astronomer at a dinner party, struck up a conversation with him by asking: "What do you do for a living?" "I study astronomy," he replied. "Really? said the teenager, wide-eyed. "I finished astronomy last year. "
I'm excited for people to realize that I'm 25 years old and not a teenager anymore. . . even though I still look 18 and can't get into a bar to save my life!
My fans - I hate the word fans. . . my supporters - it's an international following that isn't from being in London and existing on the "scene. " It came from being on the Internet, from being a teenager communicating with different artists, showing who I am, who KESH is, as well as connecting with other people around the world doing similar things.
Being a typical teenager isn't easy. When you have autism, it can be extra difficult. We need more public awareness about these hurdles as well as compassion towards these young people.
When I wrote Wakolda at first I wasn't conscious that I was writing about something so close to or that had so many similar elements with XXY. It was just after I was done writing that I noticed it. I think both teenagers in each film have many similarities, and Mengele is the extreme version of the plastic surgeon in XXY. Both stories definitely have several ideas connecting them.
The actors I looked up to when I was a teenager, they all just disappeared into different characters.
I am drawn to writing and directing as it is most like the feeling I had when I was a teenager with my puppet theatre. You are more in control of everything and involved in every aspect of production, so more challenged and fulfilled.
I had teen angst for a while, but I think every teenager has the angst.
My manager wants me to dress like a nun and I want to dress like a teenager.