A Quote by Rivers Cuomo

I just gotta keep reminding myself: Every time I do an interview or something, my volition really has to be just to serve, to help people. Not to feel like I'm important.
I have a gut reaction to stuff that I read. Either it's a filmmaker that I really want to work with, or it's a story that I really want to be a part of and help serve, or there's a character that I feel I can bring something unique to. That's really what it's about. I would go crazy, if I just relied on the same tricks and did the same thing, all the time. It was just be no fun, at all. I really do need to try something different, every time out, and do something that scares me, a little bit.
It's something I have to remind myself about, that at every competition, I put a lot of pressure on myself, almost like it's the end of the world, and I have to keep reminding myself it's not.
Years ago I read an interview with Paula Fox in which she said that in writing, truth is just as important as story. Reading that interview was the first time I really understood that there's no point in trying to impress people with my cleverness when I can just try to write honestly about what matters most to me.
What I react against in other people's work, as a filmgoer, is when I see something in a movie that I feel is supposed to make me feel emotional, but I don't believe the filmmaker shares that emotion. They just think the audience will. And I think you can feel that separation. So any time I find myself writing something that I don't really respond to, but I'm telling myself, 'Oh yes, but the audience is going to like this,' then I know I'm on the wrong track and I just throw it out.
I was just so nervous every time I was onstage. It took me many, many years to get to the point where I realized, 'All right, if I'm going to keep doing this, I've gotta remember that it's supposed to be fun. I've gotta stop putting so much pressure on myself, because otherwise, it's not worth it.' And I still am too critical of myself.
You have a new audience for every show. Even though you do the same thing all the time, you gotta keep it fresh for yourself, and you gotta keep it good and interesting and something you want to do. I'm anxious to have a really terrific act. Whatever it takes it takes.
I feel like I'm just pretty - any time I have, like, a lot of emotions happening at one time, I just - everything gets really, like, muddy. Like, I feel just, like, in a haze or something.
It's nice being able to speak for myself. Every interview I did for so many years and every time I was in front of the camera, pre-Twitter, there was no way for me to speak for myself. Every interview started with, 'What was it like to work for this man?'
I like New York. I like Philly. I like San Fran. I like when people are stoked. But Chicago's a real music town, and they're really good to us there. There's just something in the air there; people are just really stoked about music. Every time I go there, I have a great time, and the fandom is really heartwarming.
Giving something back is a huge deal. You'll notice every successful athlete uses that at some point in his career during an interview. "I'm gonna give something back. Gotta give something back to the community." "Yaaaay! Right on!" People just fall for it. It's a necessary inclusion.
If my energy was fake, then I would feel pressured, because I gotta, like, keep this up. I thank God it's just how I am. But I find myself wanting to work on being more comfortable in the silence with people.
I've been really fortunate where I've made stuff that connects to people on a positive level, and that makes me feel really good, but I can't feel comfortable in dictating what they're supposed to feel out of it, nor am I a professional in something where I can really help people any farther than creating the things that I make to help myself.
I feel like I'm doing something that's worthwhile. I feel like I'm showing something other people haven't shown. I don't get to talk to the people who I photograph, I just go, along, banging away. So I don't really have a relationship with them. A lot of people think it's very important. I don't. It's like love at first sight. I have an impression when I see somebody, and I have an idea of who they are, or what they are.
I just feel like there's a lot of things more important than just basketball, and I love basketball. It's what I want to do for the longest time possible. It's what I eat, it's what I sleep about, it's what I breathe, it's in my lifestyle. I just really feel like there's more important things than just putting the ball in the hoop.
The question I ask myself like almost every day is: ‘Am I doing the most important thing I could be doing?' Unless I feel like I’m working on the most important problem that I can help with, then I’m not going to feel good about how I’m spending my time. And that’s what this company is.
Not that my life has been so crazy and exciting but, it just seems like if I can bring more of myself to the role. It's going to help keep it spontaneous and exciting, instead of thinking in terms of this box of a human that I have to slip myself into every week, which I tend to do more when I'm shooting a movie. On a television show, this is all kind of still new to me, doing many episodes of something, so I want to try to keep it as fresh and close to home as possible, so it doesn't get stale and I still like it every day.
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