Famous: adjective, known about by many people

Many: adjective/pronoun, a large number of

Far too often, I find myself watching some mind dwarfing show on television, and am suddenly struck with the epiphany that I want to be famous. I’m not sure if it’s the hedonism, or the opulence, or just the all out cool that celebrities seem to be draped in, that draws me in every time, but shortly after these shows I’m always suddenly uncomfortable with the contentment prior.

It’s not that I don’t like my life as is, but I often imagine what it must be like to be recognized all over the country, or even the world. What would it be like to see my face on a billboard in Times Square? What would it be like to see my face photoshopped onto the body of a whale in the daily tabloids, or to have to sneak my kid in through the loading dock of his elementary school to keep his classmate’s parents from asking my five year old for autographs? All of this sounds, if not awesome, at least exciting. But I’ve learned that this has nothing to do with fame, rather this is what comes from celebrity.

Fame, by definition, is just being known by many people. It’s the Cheers syndrome, being in a place “where everybody knows your name.” So though I am not a celebrity, technically, I am famous. As a matter of fact, there are several famous people in my neighborhood:

Lloyd: owner of Breadstuy coffeeshop

The “A” train lady: well…just ask about her

Myisha Cherry: the editor of UnMute

Jason Griffin: painter and FIRST white boy in this part of Bed-Stuy

Sue: aggressive Chinese lady who runs Fun Chow take-out

Jason the mailman: cool dude, and his name is Jason

Brian, and all the boys two doors down: everyone knows them, for what I cannot speak of.

The Mayor: well, not the actual Mayor, just an old man who wears fedoras with anything he has on, including sweatpants. He’s been living here since he was a child.

The Arab guys who own the bodega: unfortunately, most of this neighborhood wouldn’t eat if it weren’t for them.

Add on…