I found that jazz musicians, possibly more than their classical counterparts, wear long-standing friendships easily and gracefully.

I admire Elliott Carter endlessly. But I have no ambitions to emulate him.

People who don't do jazz think it's black magic. But really, it's just a matter of getting used to it. It's fun to gamble. The trick is not to fall back on the things you've done before.

Elliott Carter does not write the kind of music that the kids go off to school whistling.

You don't do an experimental film to become rich, so the people who are involved are involved because they enjoy the creative aspect of it.

There's this whole thing of being two people. You are the person you want to be - the writer - and then there's this weird other life of going on tour and talking about the writing. And that really is weird.

I'm the journeyman actor that you saw in one scene here, two scenes there. I've been eking out a living doing theater - Broadway, Off Broadway - film supporting roles, that I'm just excited to be a part of the conversation.

After finishing my undergraduate work at the University of Iowa, where I took creative writing classes taught by Writer's Workshop students, I applied to half a dozen MFA writing programs.