True fact: The business program I went to actually let you negotiate grades. Like it was part of the curriculum. They said "In the real world everything is a negotiation.." or something like that. So if you could prove that you deserved a higher grade because you did something "entrepreneurial" in the real world, they'd give it to you. I would say things like, "I changed the tire on my bike instead of bringing it to a bike shop, which shows self initiative - a trait that's very important to running a business." And they'd bump me up one letter grade. Nuts.

Eat ramen, and also, don't wait until the day before the final to cram for the test (which is what I did for my economics final).

Just whatever it was in my head, it was bleak. I don't remember having any ambitions, any goals, any dreams. It was always, how am I going to get by? What am I going to do? But I didn't really - to be honest, I didn't really give it much thought. Even in college, I didn't give it much thought. I was having fun in college. And basically when people asked me what I was going to do, I just said, oh, something will turn up. What that was, I had no idea. But...

He was. But he was also always a very good, diligent writer.

He turned me onto Don DeLillo. And he looked at us like we were all failing him....sweetly.

It did, in that I met people I respect and continue to work with, like John Mulaney, Mike Birbiglia, Alison Becker, Brian Donovan, Ed Herro, etcetera.