Close, Personal Friend

Some people that I consider friends I tend to see on television as much as I see them in person. It remains a strange feeling, but it's a fact that some people I know are at the very least moderately known by the public. Don't misunderstand me: I'm not rubbing shoulders around the clock with the very rich and famous, and the people I describe aren't generally my most intimate friends. They're people I know and who do greet me by name rather than looking at me blankly when I greet them.

This is one of those things where you fantasize about something happening, what it will be like and what you'll do with it. Then it happens, and you realize that it's not really like you thought. Someone who is to most people some character in a show or commercial is to me just some guy, and so it's more strange than amazing and cool. You have to get over this condition they have, not enjoy it. For my part I try to avoid making something of it unless it's very germane to what I'm saying.

People who don't feel as I describe sometimes will identify themselves as being friends with some notable figure, and I think that they must not really be. When you have that earlier attitude, you're just not capable of becoming friends with someone of notoriety exactly because that's your sole aim and it's evident to everyone. It's like trying to hit a home run or be funny in an improv scene. These are things that can only really happen in the absence of intent.

It's just about the most obnoxious thing when someone is like that. They drop names and elevate themselves way beyond where they exist in orbit around these big names. Any time the big names mention them on Twitter, they retweet it so that everyone can see, and that's what really matters to them. Ultimately they are defined by their connection to other people, and I strive to avoid that at all costs. I want desperately to make my mark in this life, and I do want to be known, but it's worthless to me if it's someone else's mark and I rise and fall in notoriety as they do.