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June 25, San Mateo, CA: An incredibly sad day, as far as I’m concerned. I cannot remember ever thinking about what it might be like when Michael Jackson died. I really was never too concerned with the news that he made. But I will always be a huge fan of the music. The performances. I have been thinking about what to write about today, but I’m not sure that anything I say could come close to doing justice. I felt a lot of things today. I found out at work and shared with a couple of people. There wasn’t too much concern on the part of my coworkers. Then I had someone say to me, “I feel like it was his time.” I thought it was a pretty asinine comment. I felt a complete lack of solidarity in my immediate surroundings. I wanted to be somewhere where PYT was blaring from a car stereo with strangers stopping to revel in the music. But that wasn’t happening in Menlo Park. Or San Mateo. So when I got home, I found camaraderie…on Facebook, of all places. It was the nearest place to find a group of folks as saddened and as preoccupied as I was. Well, that and my family. My mother actually thought I was distraught in a corner somewhere when I didn’t answer any of her 4 calls within 30 minutes. She even suggested that my job might have shut down for the day after the news. I assured her that no pop star’s death would interrupt capitalism, no matter how famous. Then she said what I will remember most from yesterday: “I remember when your father and I flew to Atlanta to see him and his brothers in 1984. Eleventh row!! I won’t ever live long enough to see any entertainer come close to being as incredible as Michael Jackson.” I don’t think I will either.
Survived by everyone. How horrible for his entire family. But, damn, he was one Smooth Criminal ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ex30DYwQlHU)
Best MJ moment ever: Billie Jean Performance at the Motown 25 Celebration ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-blEgMyJwU&feature=related)
