“By the time I enrolled in the military at 20, I had spent years in den...” — Chelsea Manning Quote

By the time I enrolled in the military at 20, I had spent years in denial about who I really was. I was openly gay and would go through periods of cross-dressing, and had even thought about transitioning, but I was in such complete denial.

The insecurity that comes from being behind bars with, at best, imperfect oversight makes us all feel responsible only for ourselves. We end up either docile, apathetic, and unwilling to engage with each other, or hostile, angry, violent, and resentful.

I've been a fan of Taylor Swift for years - ever since I heard her song 'Love Story.' I'm also a really big fan of Selena Gomez - I really started listening to her a lot in the months before and during my court martial in 2013.

From my perspective, the world's shaped me more than anything else. It's a feedback loop.

Basically, 2011 was the hardest year on the road for me because I did a spring tour and a fall tour plus nine weeks in the summer, and I was pretty worse for wear by the time I got home in December. I know I was only 34, but that was a tough lap.

With Twitter, it's a little harder to tell jokes that somebody hasn't heard already. You have all these people out there sharing their opinions and telling jokes in real time, and by the time you get on, somebody's already done some version of what you're trying to do.

By the time I finished school, I found out I wasn't qualified to study anything but music.

By the time we got to MGM, and Lions Gate the movie was done there was nothing else to say. It was done. Just as at Universal, it was art by committee.