beiaard

I'm a linguist, and reading through your responses I'm kind of (admittedly and pleasantly) surprised that you don't seem as pedantic as most "grammar experts". What's your stance on prescriptivism vs. descriptivism?

I'd be interested in that. Have you and your partner (and/or others) ever done any ahem amateur filmmaking?

Big, big fan of yours, and really excited to see that I finally caught an AMA of someone I like before it's way too late. I've read before that you had a serious substance or alcohol abuse problem and were even living as a homeless person for a time before you turned your life around. If it's not too painful to get to/talk about those memories, would you be willing to share some details about how exactly you were able to get everything back together (anything/everything from the high-level stuff from what inspired you to buckle down and change to pragmatic things like how you actually got off the street) and become the hugely successful person you are now? Thanks for doing this AMA!

How old were you when you realized you couldn't smell? It might sound like a dumb question, but I don't mean it that way -- I'm colorblind, for instance, and I know that I didn't realize anything was off until I got scolded in Kindergarten for coloring a purple sea and thought that it looked fine. Was there a moment like this for you when you realized that everyone else had a sense that you don't?

Well it would be the next best thing to being there, for sure. :P