Born on May 12th

"The function of the killer and watching him - whatever that says about the world in which we live - it was always more about that world than it was about the actual watching."

"My favorite types of movies definitely aren't thrillers, but at the same time you can't deny the genius of Hitchcock's films."

"Doing Shakespeare in the Park has always been a dream. Everyone else says Hamlet, but I want to play Romeo."

"I'm an actor in between jobs right now, so I kind of live the life of a 7-year old."

"I feel like after acting, the other half of why I love this business is the opportunity to work with and meet people who inspire you. That it pays my rent is a good bonus."

"When you're on the subway in New York, people literally could be 11-inches away from you, and you can't just stare at them."

"I'm really not that good at Guitar Hero!"

"The biggest challenge of being a pastry chef is that, unlike other types of chefs, you can't throw things together at a farmer's market. When you're working with baking powder and a formula, you have to be exact. If not, things can go wrong."

"In catering, you're always changing; the client is always dictating to you in terms of their wishes."

"Keeping your space clean is as much a part of the end result as the dish being tasty."

"I believe that there are no mistakes in the universe, so I think it all happens as it should!"

"Turkey is fine, but if I don't have the sides, forget about it. And cornbread stuffing is at the center of my plate. I will have about six sides and then a little bit of turkey and gravy."

"I say 'no' to nothing, 'yes' to moderation. That's how I approach everything. No matter if it's candy or foie gras. When you have the real deal, you're satisfied with that one bite. I say go full throttle and call it a day."

"I was in Paris, Milan and London from '89 until '91, and I did mostly runway modeling. I know there's so many people out there looking for pictures, but this was way before the age of the Internet, sorry!"

"One of my early childhood memories was my grandmother always having a bowl of Nestle chocolate bars at her house. My sister and I would argue over who could eat the chocolate bars. Looking back, I don't know why we just didn't share. We could have split them."

"My biggest fear has always been being 40 and hating my job. I love challenges. I'm not afraid to try anything."

"When I do something that's stressful, I have to find a moment of peace, so I tend to meditate and get in the flow. It's a regular practice of mine."

"When people around me are getting rattled, I may just close my eyes and do a breathing exercise."

"I think of New Yorkers as not taking the time to talk to someone they don't know."

"I went to L'Academie de Cuisine in Gaithersburg, Maryland, and I think French cooking is the basis for a lot of classical cuisine, a foundation of a lot of other cuisines. That said, it's not the only way to approach a cooking career."

"My plans are not to open a restaurant, but what I would like to do is open a kitchen somewhere in D.C. proper and have a chef's table where people can come and taste my food without having to have a catered event."

"For me, I love the flavors of Southern food, and people usually think of Southern food as heavy and fattening, but it doesn't have to be."

"I always tell people a clean cooking area is a clean mind which is available for the creativity."

"Casseroles are one-pot-wonders!"

"When I first started cooking, I was very much an intuitive cook when it came to taste, but that didn't mean I didn't want to know why some things worked and why others did not. My interest took me to culinary school."

"We're under some gross misconception that we're a good species, going somewhere important, and that at the last minute we'll correct our errors and God will smile on us. It's delusion."

"I write better in Cape Breton... too many people around in Ontario. Down there I meet all sorts of non-human people, but they don't bother me, and I don't feel I have to apologize on behalf of my species quite so often."

"I write every day. I'm always in the process of writing my last book, until the next one."

"Without a function, we cease to be. So, I will write till I die."

"In the field of wisdom & life, the path to true wisdom begins when we question the certainties we have carried since childhood."