Seventeen-year old Britney Spears, whose hit ... baby one more time has made her a teen sensation, was a bit late for our phone interview; she had just breezed in from a physical therapy appointment required after knee surgery. Regardless, she was ready to talk. Some snippets from our chat:

You've been touring around the country with 'N Sync. So what are they really like? They're really hilarious. They're really cool guys and normal. Really sweet.

Do you keep in touch when you're not all together? No. We're really kind of busy. They're doing their thing and I'm doing my thing. You think being on tour with each other you would talk to each other a lot, but still we were in the same city every day and we never really got a chance.

What female singers inspire you? People like Janet Jackson and Whitney Houston and Lauryn Hill. I love her new album.

Who would you like to be most like in ten years? Not specifically anyone because I want to be my own person, but I would like to be a legend like Madonna or Janet.

You once said you wanted to do a duet with Madonna. What would you sing? I don't know. It would have to be something original.

Are you writing your own songs? I'm writing a little bit. Right now I have nothing to do basically, just because my leg's hurt. I'm all stitched up. So I'm just reading books and singing in the bathtub every night.

You're always wearing clothes that show your belly. What kind of image are you trying to portray? Really it's not a certain image I'm trying to portray. That's one of the things I like to do, you know. I dance and when you dance usually you wear less clothing and show your belly.

Do you dress that way when you're hanging out at home? No. I wear sweats and t-shirts and stuff.

Do you have college plans? Yeah, I do. If things slow down for me I'll definitely go to college. If things stay really busy I probably won't because this is basically my love and I found my job at an early age and this is what I want to do.

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What do you think of people who might be saying, "Britney will be so over next year."? I think if you make good music and that's what the audience wants to hear, then you can't go wrong. So I'll just make good music and do the best I can do.

Who's the coolest famous person you've met? Jack Nicholson.

Where did you meet him? The Playboy mansion. There was a party.

You were at the Playboy mansion? It was just like a Valentine's party. There were tons of people there. It was a lot of fun. We got to get dressed up. And I saw him there and I was like, "Hi. Hello." And I said, "My name is Britney." And you know how he talks? And he was like, "Your name's Britty?" And I said, "No my name's Britney." And he goes, "Brandy?" I said, "No, my name's Britney!" And he's like, "Oh, Britney, nice to meet you." And I said, "Nice to meet you, too." He was so cool.

Are fans starting to recognize you? I haven't really been out that much. I've been to the mall like three times. The first two times were kind of crazy. Yesterday I went to the Riverwalk, which is more of a grown-up mall. People, they'll say something and you'll hear somebody call your name just to see if you'll turn around and stuff like that. It really doesn't bother me because it hasn't gotten to the point where it's overwhelming yet.

What's the best advice your parents ever gave you? Probably just to go for what you want and be happy with yourself. The best thing they every did for me was being there for me and being so supportive of my decisions.

Did they ever have to sacrifice anything? You're always going to have to make sacrifices for things you really really want. And one of my sacrifices is being away from my family, being away from home.

Why the odd name spelling? My mom has said something about that before. She said everybody spelled their name like that (Brittany). She wanted it to be different so she spelled it basically the way you say it. My middle name is Jean.

Do you have a boyfriend No boyfriend. I don't have time for a boyfriend.

Is there anyone you like? I have a crush on Ben Affleck. And I'm really excited because he just broke up with Gwyneth! I have a little hope.

Do you think there's a chance you'll get together with him? No. He'll probably think I'm way too young for him. But see, I tend to like older guys, which is really bad.

-- By Laura Elizabeth Pohl

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