The assumption is that your personal life has to be a mess to create, but how much chaos can you allow in before it takes over?

Do I wear a helmet? Ugh. I do when I'm riding through a precarious part of town, meaning Midtown traffic. But when I'm riding on secure protected lanes or on the paths that run along the Hudson or through Central Park - no, I don't wear the dreaded helmet then.

The two biggest self-deceptions of all are that life has a 'meaning'and each of us is unique.

We are like the birds. We adapt. We sing.

I'm drawn to the stuff that's maybe a little bit on the fringe. Part of that is just practical sometimes. We can't compete with the major labels for some acts, so you figure, "Okay, what could I introduce to people, or what do I like that is within my means?"

My take is that the kind of complexity which says we can always generate complexity from simple interactions following for example rules.

It didn't even occur to me that I'm the last person in the world who should play salsa or Brazilian music.