But some things are the same. My mother still owns the house I grew up in, on what would now be called a cul de sac, but which the sign on the corner called a dead end street.
Even then, our family was extraordinary, with ten kids.
I met John when I was 18 and I was in my first John Waters film when I was 19.
I must have had five minutes or so of wanting to become a nun, because all Catholic girls do, but I can't remember it.
It seems strange now in this age of multiple body piercings and tattoos, but in the mid-'60s pierced ears were a huge declaration of non-conformity.
It was there that, through a mutual friend, I met John Waters - proving what I've always said: you meet the best people on field trips.
John is a cottage industry in Baltimore and the city opens its doors for him whenever he is making a new film.
John Waters calls it the Hairdo Capital of the World; it calls itself Charm City; and, if home is where the roots are, I call it home.
Restless, and in desperate need of adventure, I quit my job at an insurance company to travel west with a couple of guys I smoked pot with, scandalizing my family.
Still on the lookout for experience, in the summer of '67 I hitched a ride to Provincetown, on the tip of Cape Cod, with a friend with a stolen Mustang.
The first things I did when I got out of school in '65 was to buy a pair of Levis and pierce my ears.
The point is, when you have a chance to have a big adventure, especially if, like in your case, it doesn't hurt anyone, it's just plain foolish not to take it.
We've had the same set designer and the same crew in many cases since 1972.
When I was in my 30's, against the advice of my shrink and some well-meaning friends, I spend six incredible months wandering around Europe with my then boyfriend.
You don't have to tell anybody a damn thing you don't want to.
In his book Shock Value, John Waters describes Mink as 'probably the best actress I've ever worked with'.
To achieve her infamous hairstyle for Pink Flamingos, Mink bleached her hair then coloured it using red ink.
She is fronting a sound and vision project that "infuses Electronica, Jazz and Dark Cabaret" called Biomechanic. A debut CD entitled Exogenesis is expected in 2007.
She occasionally performs as a singer, going under the name 'Mink Stole And Her Wonderful Band'.
Her personal favourite of the movies she has done with John Waters is Female Trouble.
She writes a weekly advice column called 'Think Mink' for the Baltimore City Paper.
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