My son is beautiful and more importantly, he's true to who he is, more true than I could ever be. And the only time he's ever embarrassed about who he is, is when I have to remind him that "we can't do that here," or when he's drawing eyes that look at him like he's crazy.

Before I learned that my best friend is gay, I laughed at the comical portrayals of gay men on shows like Saturday Night Live, which used some variation on the flamboyant gay man as a regular gag. Before I learned that my best friend is gay, I saw such caricatures as light play, and never did it cross my mind that they were not necessarily realistic or accurate.

There's a new disease spreading through the collective, and it makes me very sad. It doesn't cause lumps or fevers, but make no mistake -- it is frighteningly contagious. It's called mediocrity.

Art, in its best form, allows you to experience life and ultimately changes the way you view the world. Will & Grace was one of those rare television shows to do just that. It was entertaining, but it did more than just amuse its viewers.

Renting a house, snagging a ride on your smartphone, and de-leveraging your balance sheets would truly be a new American way, with tremendous implications for policymakers including the Fed if a geopolitical or natural disaster hit and it was stuck at an already low interest rate.

Stutterers are not some unified whole. Like everyone, we can be our own worst critics and our worst enemies. The truth is that we are as varied as the rest of humanity. And it is this scale that we should be judged on.