Quotes About Variety

Libraries make strange bedfellows

You are unique, just like everybody else.

When I worked at Microsoft, I got to go and visit a bunch of different companies. Probably a hundred different companies a year. You'd see all the different ways they'd work. The guys who did Ventura Publisher one day, and then United Airlines the next. You'd see the 12 guys in Texas doing Doom, and then you'd go see Aetna life insurance.

When I was very small, when I was five or six, that's what I wanted to be. I wanted to be a song and dance man. Then I got a lot of inspiration from going to visit my grandparents in Glasgow, where I'd go to see variety. That made me want to do it as well.

I've traveled a fair amount around the country and visited many states. It's amazing that Oregon is so different from Idaho; even though Portland isn't that far from Boise, it's a completely different city. Colorado is very different from Oregon. From a European perspective, I've always found that fascinating about America.

The cool thing about going to Vegas is that it's kind of like visiting a bunch of cities all at one time. All the shows and great restaurants leave you with a lot of options.

I try not to get trapped in any one musical or visual style at all.

I think people should be able to have at their behest, like, four hours of music, entertainment, visual knowledge, different pathways. That's what I'm trying to do with modern technology, not just another song and another song.

It's been hard for me to nail visual language and personal style because I like so many different things.

What I know most is that the difference between us is what makes us interesting and attractive and problematic and exciting and vital to each other. Give me difference over indifference any day.

I always try to mix it up with each book - changing tone, changing style keeps the work very vital for me.

I've always believed in a rainbow diet. As many colors and foods as you can eat, the better, because if you focus on one food, there's bound to be a report that comes out that says, 'Broccoli actually... ' So I mix it up a lot. And I take vitamins, like Biosil, which I take for my hair, skin, and nails.

A lot of people with a range of styles and vocal tones make all kinds of music for all sorts of audiences. I'll be forever grateful for that.

People often ask us if we had direct influences. Honestly, just a lot of different music - not necessarily individual people. We listen to anything from Bob Dylan to Massive Attack to Aerosmith to En Vogue. We very much enjoy all that music.

When I was on the air a lot my throat and vocal chords got tired. If you don't vary your tones you can't get pretty tired of your own voice.

I treat every song like a different character. It is good that people recognise my voice instantly, but as an artiste, I always try and bring some variety with each of them.

Voiceover work, I really enjoy. I don't get to do too much of it, but I've been doing more lately, and I like it because you get to do a bunch of options, one after the other, and you can go as big as you want or as small as you want, and you don't think about it sometimes.

You don't have true freedom until you allow a diversity of opinion and a diversity of voices.

In reality, there are tons of unrepresented voices that we don't see in comedy.

We have more voices from more points of view on the C-SPAN call-in show than I've heard anywhere else. You can literally tune us in every day and hear it all. You can't control it, and you shouldn't control it.

I think it's a good thing to have a lot of voices in the media, and I think, you know, let all flowers bloom.

I've always been drawn to all sorts of genres and all sorts of voices.

I just feel it's important to make sure that behind the scenes is as filled with diverse voices as in front of the scene is.

As a professional cellist, I go to mostly classical concerts because that's the music I play, but I am also always trying to find out who the voices of our time are. I attend a spectrum of concerts that are close to classical - anything from Wynton Marsalis to Renee Fleming.