I'm Not Famous.

Barry: I wanna date a musician.
Rob: I wanna live with a musician. She'd write songs at home and ask me what I thought of them, and maybe even include one of our little private jokes in the liner notes.
Barry: Maybe a little picture of me in the liner notes.
Dick: Just in the background somewhere.

(From "High Fidelity," by Nick Hornby)

I always liked this little exchange. If you haven't read this book, do it. NOW. Don't watch the movie. Read the book. Don't get me wrong-- the movie is good, but it's an Americanized version of a really really great book. So read the book.

I never imagined I would ever know anyone famous. Not in the my-friend-Hank-but-you-probably-know-him-as-Henry-Rollins kind of way. I always wanted to be friends with famous people, but that was just a dream. I'm friends with medium sized fish in small ponds. I'm friends with regionally famous people. They're not even really famous. They're well-known. Well-known in the way that even people from the same city may not have even heard of them. The only reason I know these semi-well-known people is because I grew up with them or we both travel in similar circles. Or in circles whose orbits sometime intersect.

Am I making any sense?

Get to the point, chaz.

So back to the opening quote. I have known people who have wanted to be famous. I was never one of those people. I don't want to be famous! I see how people treat famous people. I want to go to the grocery store in peace. I want to be able to meet a friend for a drink without having our picture on the front page of the Inquirer. I want to be able to live my life.
That being said, I wouldn't mind being known as someone who knows someone who is famous.

Oh hey, you look familiar. I know I've seen you somewhere before... what's your name?

But they don't know me. They may have seen my picture in the liner notes of a popular record or maybe they saw me in the background while stalking their favorite celebrity at a movie opening. They definitely wouldn't know my name. But I look familiar.

That's what I want.

I want to look familiar.

But that'll never happen. That's just a dream.