dragonslayer's blog

When I heard the news of Michael Jackson's death, my first thought was, 'it was probably self-destruction.'  I wasn't much concerned.  We all die.  There seemed something especially difficult and seemingly sad about his life--but I wasn't sure what--I hadn't paid much attention really.  I had enjoyed him and considered him cool and entertaining as a kid, but I never went the least bit crazy over any celebrity, including Michael.  I was only a few years younger than he.  As we grew older, I found his popular music less attractive--not the straight rock/pop/blues that I had enjoyed from his and my youth.  I never put much energy into thinking about him at all as an adult, except to note that people were really going crazy over him.  I had a strong impulse to protect myself from any kind of media craze.  They could easily take us in directions that were probably not in our self-interest I thought, and in that way, I more or less, blew Michael Jackson off.  The weirder he got, the more my perception was confirmed.