I will say that art may well be the only thing that lasts, so I guess it's worth trying.

My mom. She really encouraged me. That's the trouble with education: Unless you have a really supportive parent, you get left behind.

Precocious and eccentric are okay. But I think that people in the arts represent something integral and kind of secretive in everybody else. So the reason people like some artists is because they're saying or doing something that they would like to do or say, but they don't have the balls or the means. People are really afraid to put their ass on the line. Just to put your face on a poster and put your name in big print and say "Come see me," that takes some cojones, you know? Ambition is nothing to be ashamed of.

In New York City, when they develop something, they never use the old buildings. It's so wasteful. Why not use what's there?

Public radio is the last oasis of free and independent music. For satellite radio channels, you have to subscribe; commercial stations are as corporate as basic cable.

Less money for public media means less access to the arts.

The civilised cultures are the most cruel. It's the same with education - often it breeds sadistic forms of cruelty.