If you stomp out your own path, following your muse, it would be a good thing if you were equipped and prepared to make a living at it. Surprisingly (not), the US tax codes and regulatory environments are NOT designed to make this easy. It's probably a tragically common thing for someone with both talent and perseverance to do well at what s/he is creatively, uniquely good at, but to fail miserably anyhow, for lack of familiarity with the quotidian realities of self-employment and small business laws.

Get some business courses under your belt.

Very popular link on del.icio.us right now: http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/interactive/events/2008/02/shirky, Feb, 2008 Video of Clay Shirky discussing the topic of his book. 42 minutes long, but worth it.

@Matty D (#20):

Your girlfriend will "whelp with glee"??!!

Get video of that.