I have a life that I enjoy; I try and value the things that I think are worth valuing and everything else is icing. You know, it is a kick to go down the red carpet in that dress and then you go back home.

What's great about music is it takes so many kinds of people, including me. Everybody is in a different place.

If I'm a phenomenon, it makes me feel like I have no purpose.

I have this theory- that if we're told we're bad, then that's the only ideal we'll ever have.

If someone is willing to help you understand your own worth when you're vulnerable, that's a very touching thing. It makes you want to help other people.

Like every girl, I felt amazing pressure to look like the popular girls, but no one told me the popular girls were all air brushed in magazines.

I've been writing lullabies since the beginning. I kind of did it for myself to help myself fall asleep when I really worried, like when I was homeless and I'd fall asleep in my car.

On my own I generally have very messy hair, wear jeans and sneakers.

I have a sneaking suspicion that all religions lead to the same place, a very unified place.

When we're children we're told love is going to be great: Just fall in love, the rest will take care of itself - and then we fall in love and we realize, Okay, this is actually really, really hard work. This guy doesn't just tell me I'm great every day, you know?

I find you get out of people what you put into them.

I love shows about creating and cooking. Sometimes they're so extraordinary, you end up setting yourself to fail.

I've always had a love for poetry and when I got signed to a record label I thought, 'How odd that I'm doing a record before a book of poetry,'

The writers I respect the most had an undying commitment to a vision.

The show is different every night, because I never write a setlist.

My fans get passionate about certain songs.

I'm fairly specific about what I like to wear and looks are important to me, just like they are to everybody.

So what are we given? We're also given, my generation, the disillusionment of our parents.

Some of my favorite poets had a tremendous sense of whimsy, so it's a writing style I guess I admire.

I developed a loyal following. No one knew I was homeless.

I didn't mean to be a songwriter; I just was writing for fun, you have all day to do it. I was homeless so that's all I had to do.

I'm somebody who, as a child, had a lot of insecurity about stable housing, where I was going to be living, if I was going to have a roof over my head, all those types of things. And I know the impact it can have on you psychologically and emotionally.

I get bored very easily. I have a voracious appetite and I do not feel alive if I'm repeating something I'm good at. So I'm always looking for new challenges.

Without a band, I'm much more free to improvise.

I wrote the song 'Angels Standing By'... to try and soothe myself - rock myself to sleep, basically - because I was so scared and stressed.

I don't see the world unless I see it in ink.

I've been performing on stage since I was six years old.

We must all work together to end youth homelessness in America.

Being part of the natural world reminds me that innocence isn't ever lost completely; we just need to maintain our goodness to regain it.

Writing is a really good first step toward that goal of knowing yourself.

I guess I'm a Gemini through and through, but I'm mercurial. I get bored doing the same things.

My husband and I have kept a good balance between the work and the rest. I feel so lucky having a job, and I know so may people who focus too much on work, and their home lives suffer.

I was homeless and I was in San Diego and I started singing in a local coffee shop and people started coming to hear me sing.

I want my whole life to be a great work of art, not just my art. And that means paying attention to my entire life and trying to make sure my whole life is balanced.

I don't exist without writing.

I grew up doing live tours and playing in bars, so it was what I love to do.

There are a lot of things about fame that are not conducive to being curious. It's been important for me to cloister myself off.

I was raised really poor and so was my husband.

My second record I used a producer, which was frustrating in a way, because I think a lot of the punky spirit and provocative nature of the lyrics didn't come across - the music was pretty.

I was really inspired while I was pregnant and I wrote a whole album for my baby. I wanted to write a kids album that didn't annoy parents. I used The Beatles 'Rocky Raccoon' as sort of a starting place for my writing.

I love being in a band.

I'm not a partygoer.

I've always been a workhorse, and I've been supporting myself since I was 15.

I enjoy hard work; I love setting goals and achieving them.

I never found much comfort in overly organized religion of any sort.

I consider myself a product of Alaska. The love and the debt that I feel to my home state - you always want your hometown to be the proudest of you, and so it's heartbreaking to hear people say snarky things.

I moved out of home when I was 15.

I think family mealtime is really important. There's a lot of research that shows kids are going to do better in school and have more self-esteem if you can all sit down and eat together.

I'm trying to be in the moment and really enjoy my pregnancy. I feel really lucky.

There's no wrong you can't make right again, so be kinder to yourself; you know, have fun, take chances. Those bounds.