Fame, What You Get is No Tomorrow

Some friends and acquaintances have, either through hard work and sacrifice, luck, or the privileged environment in which they were born, risen to the top of their profession, gained power, fame, fortune, or become notorious. With the exception of the purely lucky, all those people had some sort of plan for reaching their goal.

What few planned is how they would live once they got there. How will you manage your money, your image, your fame? Will you surround yourself with "yes men" and parasites, cutting off the very people who supported you in your rise? Will you indulge your own every selfish, materialistic whim? Will you succumb to vice and quickly lose everything? Will you become a snot-nosed cynic with a barnful of axes to grind and a radioactive chip on your shoulder? Will you decide you're "better"?

No person is better than another; we're just different. As PBS kids shows tell us, we're all special in our own way. As Spiderman tells us, with great power comes great responsibility. As B.I.G. told us, "Mo money, mo problems".

My point — and I do have one — is this: the way things are going, you can expect to have your own moment in the sun. Please plan accordingly.

Related: Bobulah won the gossip contest. It was Jack Johnson who (reportedly, by an extremely reliable source) turned his back on a Make-a-Wish kid who was flown all the way to Hawaii to meet him. His rationale? She was a "crazy" fan.

Hello, Jack Johnson? You're off my IPod.