People think I'm joking. No one at a Jon-and-Elisabeth party has a steady job.

I talk to Jon's friends who want to be rock stars. I talk to Elisabeth's friends who want to have a career but marry a rock star.

At various points in my corporate life, I have hired most of Jon's friends as HTML contractors. I am surrounded by people with no steady job and no money to eat. They talk about touring. They talk about squandered love and squalid apartments.

I feel more solid than I've ever felt in my life.

I have the most stable life in this room.

I look at the band du jour and they look like homeless people.

I cannot be like these people. I cannot stand the uncertainty. If I were living that close to homelessness, I would surely slip over the edge.

Jon asks me when I'm getting a real job.

I say, "I really like my job."

"Really?" he says, like he might be high, or surprised.

I don't tell Jon I just quit. Maybe I can get my job back if I tell them I'll have a good attitude and I won't keep threatening to quit for more money.