Quote

You know, from age 17 on, my paycheck was coming from cooking and working in kitchens.

When I was 14, I did all kinds of different odd jobs. I had a chicken farm, had an ice cream operation in the summertime, worked as a caddy; all things to make money and save money. Save money in order to invest - that was the first step, though I never really accumulated very much because of other demands like bicycles and things like that.

I know a lot of people my age are still trying to figure out what to do, and I consider myself lucky that I can make a living doing something that I truly enjoy.

I love what I do, and I'm not doing anything either for money or for the sake of some unfulfilled ambition.

I was going to become a youth worker because I do voluntary work with the kids in the little village where I live. I make little films with them and stuff when I'm not working. I thought, I'll pack it in then, and go and do something I love doing, and get a regular job because I've got two kids and a mortgage.

I mean, there's a sense wherein you skip a part of childhood, too, when you start working at that age I did; I was out working and out of home at 15, paying my own way in the world.

One thing I have clear is that I don't want to work for money anymore.

I don't have kids, a mortgage, or a car. That has let me hold out for the jobs I want to do, and to sit in a cold room in the winter with fingerless gloves, writing.