Jewel is sitting patiently in front of me, her taut T-shirt depiction that of a skull and cross bones; the words "tin-Tin" written above in blood-red scrawl. I settle myself in and begin to fire off my carefully orchestrated questions.

Orbit: What do you miss most about prefame?

Jewel: I think silence. I miss that a lot. Simplicity, but then again it beats my waitressing days. I'm lucky. My dream is now my living. Most people's dreams are their hobbies. I get to make money doing something I love, and I get to inspire people to do the same.

O: What about the growing lack of privacy?

Jewel: Well, luckily I've been able to adjust to it by degrees. YOu have to. I have no choice. It's my life now. It's a good life, a little freaky, but definitely good.

O: Talking of waitressing, what other jobs have you had?

Jewel: Ditch digging. Ranch hand, like a ranch cook. Secretary, hostess and a waitress.

O: So, you could cook me a nice meal then?

Jewel: I like to cook a lot, but I don't ever get the chance to anymore. I'm really a healthy kid.

O: Are you a vegetarian? Jewel: No, more of an "opportunivore."

O: Which would be...?

Jewel: I'll eat whatever's available. I love flavor. I love sushi and I like things that involve art and arranging. I'm big on all that.

O: SO when did you first learn you had this wonderful song writing talent?

Jewel: I learned that I'm not really a song writer. I mean I am, but by accident. It's nothing I meant to do, it just comes natural to me. It's how my head works. I never meant to write a #1 song. I didn't think "You Were Meant For Me" or "Who Will Save Your Soul" were #1 singles, but that's how I approach writing. Just write and if they work, they work. That's my job.

O: Having worn a $12,000 dress to the Grammys, don't you ever think that you're just not in control anymore?

Jewel: Sometimes, yeah, but it's been building for a long time. It didn't happen overnight. It took three long years, so things happened slowly enough for me to start adjusting. The Grammys and the MTV Music Awards both freaked me out. I felt so uncomfortable. I mean, there were all these stars and there I was, this dorky farm girl. I still feel that way. I'm still this dumb country girl. Dirt under my nails, if anybody looks close enough. But I'm more comfortable these days. We're all the same, we're all children that have grown up.

O: But it must get irritating when you get pricks like Howard Stern's roving reporter Stuttering John tracking you down and being rude.

Jewel: Of course, yeah, but in this business you have to allow it. He caught me at the Grammys, and I told him to get f@#$ing serious. That kind of gonzo journalist, whatever they call it, is not really being a good human. I'm a real person. I'm not precious, but I think the press can portray me as being so, because I really care about people. I have very lofty, optimistic ideas, and I'm not one-sided at all. I grew up cussing and I'm trying to quit, but I still get caught cussing all the time at my shows. I'm not prefect at all.

O: So, is there life after the music business?

Jewel: Yeah, there are a lot of things I'd like to end up doing. I'd like to go back into marble carving, dance, sculpture...

O: You said "Go back into..."?

Jewel: I did all that. I was studying that prior to living in my car and doing this. I spent my junior and senior years at Michigan's Interlochen Fine Arts Academy on a vocal scholarship. I miss all that immensely. I loved visual arts, but I'm going into acting, and I hope to produce. There are a lot of things I will get my fingers into, but I just want to live my life doing what I love.

O: Sum yourself up in three words.

Jewel: Simple. Learning. Female.

Orbit: Tell me a joke.

Jewel: Okay, a clean joke would be...er...There's this guy who gets brought into jail for killing a bald eagle, and the judge asks him why he did it. The guy says he's sorry, and that he didn't know it was illegal, he was just trying to feed his family. The judge says okay, we're gonna let you off, but you have to pay a fine. The guy says okay. So the judge says, before you go, would you tell me what it tasted like? The guy says, oh, you know, it actually tasted somewhere in between a California Condor and a Great Spotted Owl! (Looking at my face to see if I got the joke, I quickly note that these were other endangered species. She nods. She then goes into a dirty joke which has a far more visual ending, and to be quite honest, would take several detailed sketches to fully get across. Sorry.)