My first memory of Umbro was when I refused to take off my orange and purple Umbro checkerboard shorts for church at five years old. I won that battle, and that drive to express myself and stay true to myself, even as a kid, is why I'm so excited about my partnership with Umbro.
For most of my writing life, I've refused to allow myself to believe that writing was a significant form of action. I always felt very uneasy about the fact that all I did was write in a situation as desperate as apartheid South Africa. Whether I was correct or not is a different issue.
Gojira is my favorite band of all time; they're lovely, I've seen them live two times. I also love Mastodon and the Refused as well.
You know Sarkozy offered me the Legion d'honneur medal? I refused. People said I refused because I don't like Sarkozy, but that's ridiculous. I refused because I don't like decorations - except on women.
I have been offered the highest paid contracts in the world. I refused them all. It's not my thing. I don't want to cheat people.
History has demonstrated that the most notable winners usually encountered heartbreaking obstacles before they triumphed. They won because they refused to become discouraged by their defeats.
So far, the general perception, including the perception in India, was that we are not capable of using high technology. They simply refused to believe an Indian can do it! I somehow was not ready to accept that this is not possible.
But here too it should be noted that the President's approach was to first ask the repressive and brutal Taliban to surrender Osama bin Laden to us, and only after that government refused to do that did we invade.
When our interests matched, the Americans have been good to us, and when the interests differed, they wanted us to mold ourselves to them, which we refused.
I had only two offers of marriage in my life, and I refused both.
