Girl on Guy with Aisha Tyler #7: Paul F. Tompkins

Paul F. Tompkins: But the other day I was… cause this stuff weighs on me and uh, you know… And the other day I was reminded of the old poem of Ozymandius. You know, “Look on my works you mighty and despair…” Okay, lets say I am able to somehow… one of my CDs is listened to by someone 100 years from now. And let’s say 200 years from now, somehow that recording still exists. 1000 years? Will anybody have any idea who I am? Not really. So what… I gotta stop worrying about that. I kind of have to let it go. Because its never… there’s no such thing as forever. There’s no such thing as forever.

Aisha Tyler: No, there really isn’t. Well that’s very Buddist of you. And I also think that the acceptance of the concept of impermanence can free you as an artist to just do shit that you’re excited about rather than considering how its going to be viewed days and years hence.

PFT: What is better… and it always gets back to live performance for me. What is better than those moments where you’re on stage and there’s… something happens that is unique to that night, that place, that audience that will never happen again. And everybody knows that. Everybody knows that. And that’s part of the magic… that’s the magic of it. And really, if those are the best things, that’s really what life is, you know. It that you’re here for a little bit, you know, you get a little bit and then its gone, and you got to really be as happy as possible.

Girl on Guy with Aisha Tyler #7: Paul F. Tompkins / 8/30/11