I'm just not feeling it

Yes, it's very sad that Michael Jackson died. It's sad that he left three kids behind. He was a musical genius from what everyone tells me (we've clearly already established I'm not a music connoisseur). I'm just not all that broken up about his death. It's a tragedy, yes. But it doesn't really affect my life.

Here's the thing. I didn't really know much about him in his heyday. I was a little too young for the whole Thriller / Beat It / Billie Jean phenomenon. I remember the Thriller video but never really enjoyed watching it and I certainly never learned the dance. I remember clips of him dancing on a sidewalk that lit up but I couldn't tell you what song that was. (My husband informs me, with some distaste in his voice for my lack of musical knowledge, that it was Billie Jean.) I remember the video he did later on in life when the head kept turning into different people (Black or White?) What I remember most about him was his hair catching on fire while filming a Pepsi commercial and the fact that he married Lisa Marie Presley. See, even back then I was more concerned with celebrity gossip than music. Still am. Always will be.

And let us not forget that he was riding hell bent for leather on the crazy train these days. And that despite what a jury in L.A. decided, it is very likely that he had improper relationships with young boys. And that his children will very likely need years and years and years of therapy for the fact that they couldn't go out in public without a blanket over their heads and that he named his son's Prince and Prince II. (Although to be fair I just check Wikipedia and apparently their names are Michael and Prince but they go by Prince and Blanket. And no, the one actually named Prince doesn't go by Prince. The one not named Prince goes by Prince.) I'm just saying, he wasn't all there anymore.

So yes, I am sad to see such a legend die but he wasn't one of my legends. And while neither was she, I think it's very important to remember that Farrah Fawcett also died yesterday. I'm sure there won't be much press coverage of her in the days to come but her family, friends, and fans are mourning her loss just as much as many people are mourning Michael Jackson's loss. At least the world already had a day or two to come to terms with Ed McMahon's death. And David Carradine's. Wow, I would not want to be a celebrity these days......