You know, every year on the eve of the New Year, they always have that tribute to all the celebrities we've lost during the year. Every year I see it, I wonder who we'll lose next. I've never been so literally shocked from head to toe in my life before and I don't even know why I feel this way. The death of Michael Jackson was just so .. unexpected and I actually cried over a guy I never knew or even followed. .. But then again, I do that over the death of anyone I've felt remotely close to. However, I'm having a hard time understanding why I felt close to him in the first place, and I'm a little annoyed by it. With his personal drama aside, I guess it's because many things we've become familiar with in music stemmed from his many musical innovations. Maybe it's because I grew up hearing him on the radio. Maybe it's because the 90s included perfecting the "moon walk." Or maybe it's because the fact that many high selling artists today found their calling in this monkey loving, glove wearing eccentric guy. All of these elements make MJ's death bittersweet, and yeah, I'm feeling the gap. It's almost like the globe lost a friend who helped us realize what music was all about.

Farrah's death was pretty bad in itself. I feel horrible for her family, and after seeing the documentary about her tonight, it's even worse because she didn't want to die. She suffered in pain from an uncalled-for disease, and she still fought until the end. People die from it every minute of every day, and yet it doesn't hit us until it happens to someone we "know." I hate taking life for granted, and I like to take advantage of the moments I get to spend with my family. If I don't feel like doing something, I do it anyway because I think that when they are gone, or if I'm gone, we will never have that chance to do something together again. They are times like these that make me reflect on what's really important in life. Gah, and it just makes me so sad.

Thoughts?