Three Hundred Thirty-Third Entry

Michael Jackson died. It was sad. I'll never forget where I was when I heard. I was in my kitchen, preparing stuffed onions for dinner. So sad.

I watched the entire memorial yesterday. It was beautiful, but not without it's flaws.
Good Things:
- I started to tear when his daughter got up to speak. I was impressed with the little girls composure through out the ceremony, but I wasn't surprised when she broke down at the mic.
- I was pleased when whichever Jackson brother it was got up and spoke. At first, I was worried it would be a sobby, impossible to understand ramble. But I was pleasantly surprised when he spoke of his times with MJ.
- Brooke Shields' speech was perfect. You could tell she and Michael were good friends back in the day. I almost teared up when she was speaking.
- Barry Gordy said that MJ was the best entertainer ever. I agree.
- Television coverage of the event was very subdued and not "tabloidal". The fans lucky enough to be there were respectful and it wasn't the public safety nightmare LAPD was expecting.
- I liked how they brought the casket into the Staples Center. Very gospel church-y.
- I loved "We Are the World" and "Heal the World". I sang along, trying not to cry...sniff...
- John Mayer's "Human Nature" was amazing. I've always loved that song. It was cool just instrumental. If I ever try to learn the guitar again, I will learn "Human Nature".
- The end with the spotlight on the microphone was really great.
- I liked the generally celebratory vibe throughout the whole memorial.
Bad Things:
- Could someone please tell MJ's sons that it is inappropriate to chew gum and blow bubbles at a memorial service? And at their own fathers memorial service? If it was me, my mother would have slapped me silly!
- The videos were too short. They were good videos, just too short. I suspect they asked for short ones since every channel on TV has been showing MJ concert and video footage since it was annouced he was in the hospital. But even still, it's his memorial service! They should have done it up.
- Mariah Carey sucked. Yeah, maybe she was all shook up or whatever, but I didn't see any tears. And she had to get backup out on stage with her? Please, she just wanted to cover up her suckyness.
- His oldest son looked like he didn't care to be there. At least pretend kid!
- It might have been the camera angles, but when a speaker came down to give their condolences to the family, I don't think they went to every person. One would think it would be proper to go to the parents, the brothers and sisters and the children. That's only like 11 people. On second thought, that's kind of a lot of people to speak to during the ceremony...I did think it was weird that MJ's brothers all got up whenever someone came off stage.

I'm surprised La Toya "Media Whore" Jackson didn't get up and promote some appearance she's making at a run down casino in Laughlin or something. I really hope there isn't a "Jackson 4" tour starting up soon. I mean, I'd go if there was a tour, but I wouldn't approve.

I didn't really get into Michael Jackson until High School. Up 'til then any exposure I had to Michael Jackson was incidental. My parents didn't listen to his music. I didn't have any friends/older siblings that were obsessed with MJ. We didn't have cable TV until high school. Every once in a while, in elementary school, we would have PE in the multipurpose room and the teacher would play a tape with a Michael Jackson song in there somewhere. I knew who he was, just didn't really know the music.

In high school my family got cable. And with it, came MTV. It was around that time that Michael Jackson released the album HIStory. I saw the video for "Scream" and loved it. I bought the album (on tape cassette!) and listened to it endlessly. It was a double cassette, if I remember correctly. One cassette was the new HIStory album, and the other was his greatest hits up til then. I loved, loved, loved it! I have no idea what happened to that album. It's somewhere in my piles of junk.

The weekend following Michael Jackson's death, I took a trip to visit my family in Tulare. Long drive. But I had MJ's albums to help me along. The night before, I downloaded "Off the Wall", "Thriller", "Bad", "Dangerous" and "HIStory", and uploaded them to my iPhone. I listened to all of the albums on the way there and back. Wonderful music.

While I was in Tulare, I developed a love for Rock Band. That shit is hella fun. I was, of course, the singer. It's funny because you don't even need to know the song to get a decent score. You just have to follow the green lines up and down the top part of the screen. I tried the drums too, not as good at those, but still hella fun. I kept asking for Michael Jackson songs, but I guess he wasn't rock enough for the game. But they put a stupid Rush song about oak and maple trees forming unions and stuff. Truly bizarre. I'm sure lots of drugs were involved.

So, I went to a party the weekend before Michael Jackson died. It was a birthday party for one of Amy's work friends, Kathy. It's interesting what a small world we live in! Guess who was there? Randy Reyes!! He looks the same as in high school. I didn't quite recognize him at first, but once I heard him speak, I knew it was him. But an awkward amount of time had passed since we had first made eye contact. So I couldn't just go up to him and say "Hey, you're Randy Reyes!" I had to finagle my way into a peripheral conversation, slowly invite myself into his conversation and then spring it on him. There is a process!!! Anyway, he remembered me, and my brothers. I don't quite know how he knows the birthday girl et al, but I think it has to do with video games. He works at Capcom, I think, doing marketing, I think again. Kathy's boyfriend is a manager at GameStop, I think. So there's the connection...right?? (It was like two and a half weeks ago!)

I've got a twitter account now. You all can follow me!! I'm astralfly. I have it set to private, so you have to request to follow me, or something. I'm not sure quite how it works, but it's loads of fun!! I do not have unlimited texting, so I don't get tweets (that's what a twitter message is called) instantly, but I do have a twitter iPhone app that I check constantly. So, come on! Be my tweeps!! (twitter peeps)

Michael Jackson karaoke night last Friday! Sushi at Ray's with Amy, Dayni and Carolyn. We promised to meet for dinner more often! Karaoke at Hayward with Amy, Carolyn, Louis and Jen. Quite a few MJ songs, but they all skipped. It made for interesting "catch-up" singing. I sang "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough", and I had enough after the first verse. Afterwards, Starbucks with Amy and Carolyn.

Fireworks in San Ramon on Saturday night with Amy, Carolyn and Claire. We parked about a half mile away and walked towards the fireworks location. It wasn't too far. We climbed to the top of a parking structure practically underneath the fireworks and watched. They were very good fireworks, but a short show. The economy...

On the day that Michael Jackson died, I was making stuffed onions. They were OK. They needed more salt and garlic and less thyme and rosemary. I would make them again, but they take a lot of work. Maybe one day when I have patience.

Monday night, I made Brazilian cheese bread. It was very interesting because it doesn't take regular flour, but tapioca flour. I had to go to the Asian supermarket at the end of Lewelling to find it! Anyway, the real cheese bread takes a regional cheese from the Minas Gerais state of Brazil, but the recipe I got said to use fresh grated parmesan. I really enjoyed my little cheese breads. All it is, is tapioca flour, milk, olive oil, eggs, water and cheese. Nothing to make it rise. They were very dense little balls of cheese bread. They were really chewy and when you pull them apart, they are kind of stringy, like cheese. It was very interesting. Next time though, I will substitute butter for the olive oil. And, I bet the recipe could be modified to make some sort of dessert.

Nothing on the job front. No calls from prospective employers. I've decided to expand my search area to include the north coast and the central coast, down to Santa Barbara. If I still do not find anything, then I will start to look in the LA area. There are several jobs I see listed down LA way.

In an effort to keep busy, I've decided to write letters. Kind of like consumer advocate or concerned citizen letters. I have a mini list of letter subjects and I'm toying with the idea of posting them, here, when I send them. And eventually the responses, should I get any. I'm motivated by a book Amy bought me a while ago called "Letters From a Nut". This guy just writes weird letters to random people and companies complaining (or not) about the weirdest things. Mine aren't going to be weird, nor random. I'm always saying "I'm gonna write a letter." Well, now I will.

Oscar Mayer died at 95 years old. I guess hot dogs are good for you!