The Empress has been connected with the ideas of universal fecundity and in a general sense with activity.
Comedy is a universal language. I grew up watching Nagesh, Surilirajan, Thenga Srinivasan and S.V. Shekhar's comedies. And, of course, Charlie Chaplin! These artists are so blessed: they can make other people happy.
I think women can be as cruel as men, and men as tender as women, and vice versa.
One of the great things about now vs. 10 or 12 years ago is we can see how the audience responds and the audience has an opportunity to be a community that engages each other and engages us and we're excited for that conversation.
'Yellow Moon' was a poem. My wife at the time, Joel - she's dead now - it was our 25th anniversary. She had the chance to go on a cruise with her sister. And I'm home with the kids and looking up, and I saw the big moon, and I just started writing.
I buried Joel on our 48th anniversary. I had been with her since I was 16.
I always loved Sam Cooke, because he seemed very versatile. He sang gospel, soul, blues, pop music.
I think you need to be intentional at times about your leadership - where you're eating lunch, who you're interacting with, making guys feel like you're interested in what they're doing. If it's authentic, then it's going to be an easy conversation and easy hangout time.
When I campaign with seniors, it's always, 'Are you a Democrat or Republican?' But when I campaign on college campuses, they ask me where I stand on specific issues. I think Millennials are much less interested in conventional labels. One thing that's universal among Millennials is a distinct frustration with Washington, D.C.
A song in a musical works best when a character has to sing - when words won't do the trick anymore. The same idea applies to a long speech in a play or a movie or on television. You want to force the character out of a conversational pattern.
