If I could be like any artist, it would be Hayao Miyazaki. I don't mean I'd imitate his works. I mean I wish I had that much imagination, heart, and work ethic.

Watching a documentary about Studio Gibli in my early 20s convinced me I really did want to be part of artful storytelling. In a sense they had no lives, and in another sense you could see them as exploited. But they weren't. At least, not the way I saw them. They were fully dedicated to creating these wonders, and I loved them for it.

I fall so far short of them almost 20 years later, as I try to focus on my chosen work.