Don't Want to be Famous

I know it's a lucrative field, but I don't want to be famous. And you're thinking,"Oh, don't worry, sonny boy, you aren't going to be famous."

Friends, it could be a problem, because we are now living in a world where TV's entire Heene Family are well-known celebrities, where Jim Belushi, year after year, gets away with writing "actor" on his 1040 form as his "occupation," and some recording magnate once said,"Hey, Stevie Nicks has a really great voice, on key and everything...why don't we make a record of her singing songs and put it out?"

And, sad to say, I'm not nearly as talented as Jimbo or Stevie, although Falcon Heene does hold me in high regard. He heard that my family wanted to send me away in a balloon too.

But I worry about it when I see this video of Rihanna coming out of a recording studio in New York, I'm guessing it was. Click and check. First, you realize there are people who have nothing else going on, so they are hanging around the studio door to catch a glimpse of Rihanna. Then she comes out, and you get a little taste of what it's like to be famous. Ask yourself this: if you're like me, you don't even like it when people stop you in the mall to ask if you'd take part in one of their surveys. Imagine having have to have someone run interference for you so you can get into your ride after work, imagine 25 strangers pushing you around asking you to write your name on a picture, and imagine all those flash bulbs popping off in your face!

And remember, this is a young woman who was beaten severely just a few months ago. Perhaps she's a bit skittish around sudden flashes of light and people hollering at her from the dark.

I don't know. It must be a weird feeling to work so hard at being attractive and talented and well-known, and then how many stars can you name who say "forget this" and walk away from it all? I can think of country music performer Cyndi Thomson, who had a splash hit debut album ("My World") in 2000 with a hit single called "What I Really Meant to Say," and then she decided that what she really meant to say was, she was giving up show biz because it's an "overwhelming life changing experience" and that she "cannot commit to [the] obligations" of making a new album.

Sometimes, what you work for and what you wind up with are two very different things. I think it's best to make sure they line up, and count on what really matters. Coming home to hugs and laughter sure has to beat camera flashes and hollering.