How Will I Afford My Rock 'n Roll Lifestyle?

I wanna be a rock star. I want to be able to play both piano and lead guitar because, even though the drums are cool, everyone knows it's the one at the front mic who gets all the groupies. I want to write songs that wrap up words and music into this perfect raw package that makes kids doodle the lyrics on the front of their notebooks and put them on the ultimate mixed tape. I want to be on a countdown with one of the songs that defined a generation - the kind that you just remember where you were when you first heard it and who you were with and who you were dating and what was going on in the world and whether or not it was a sunny day.

I want to stand on the stage at Red Rocks, at Madison Square Gardens, at the Fox, and feel the music surge through my fingers to the keys or the strings. I want the lights to make me sweat. I want the energy of the crowd to make me lightheaded. I want to stand up there and sing with a big powerful throaty voice and hold the note until they scream and just feel everything. I want to do not one, but two encores. The first one acoustic and soft and the second one with the full band and just jam. Just play the crap out of it until the fans walk away going, "That was a show."

I want to walk the red carpet in Roberto Cavalli and Valentino and wear borrowed jewelry from Harry Winston. I want to give an acceptance speech that I pretend not to have prepared. I want to thank my mom and dad. I want to give a shout out to the fans. I want to be one of People's 50 Most Intriguing.

I want to be a rockstar. I want to write the music and play it with feeling and belt it out from the bottom of my soul. I want the single spotlight, holding the note until the whole arena goes silent and it reverberates through the cool night air and punctuates that perfect moment before the crowd erupts into cheers and whistles and shouts and hysterical fandom mania, and I step back from the mic in my leather pants and fab top and take a bow - perched precariously on my Christian Louboutins.

That would rock.