Human Nature

It takes the death of the King of Pop to bring me back to this blog after more than 2 weeks away. I'm finding through e-mails, IM's, and media coverage that everyone's got an opinion on the death of Jacko. (Even PTI devoted a short segment to his passing last Friday.) Not surprising at all, given the fame and infamy that defined his life. So I couldn't let the opportunity pass without throwing my two cents and silver glove into the ring.

I've always liked MJ. Never a huge fan, but appreciated his music and marveled at his talent. I listened to "Thriller" while I was cutting the grass this past Saturday AM, trying to identify what it was that drew so many people in. What struck me as the most identifiable reason was the passion in his voice. The songs are good, the lyrics are well written, but it's the passion in his voice that seems to set MJ apart from everyone else. Listening to the album, there's no doubt that Billie Jean is certainly not his lover. (And there was certainly never any doubt that the kid was not his son ;) ) Thinking further, it becomes easy then to see that same passion in his dancing, and also easy to see how his misguided passion completely screwed up his personal life.

I think it can be argued that Michael Jackson is the most famous person since Jesus. More than Elvis, more than the Beatles, more than Princess Diana. Michael transcended music- he crossed age barriers, race barriers, cultural barriers. For that reason, to the chagrin of many, his death will be a huge story for the media (and bloggers) for quite a while.

At your service

Earlier this school year, I tried to help Owen improve his penmanship by offering him a challenge. He was getting B's in penmanship, but only because he would rush his work. Whenever he took his time, his printing and handwriting were fine. So I offered to him that if he finished the year with an A in penmanship, I would be his servant for the weekend.

After B's in both the first and second trimester, it wasn't looking good. But he persevered, worked harder at it, and with the help of some mystery "bonus points" (I know for a fact his teacher knew of the challenge), he got an A in the last trimester and somehow managed an A average for the year.

So, of course, he called me as soon as he got out of school this morning (half-day for their last day), advising him that my servitude was about to be called upon. Since I'm on call this weekend, I told him it was in his best interest to wait a few weeks to call in his winnings, so we'll do it sometime soon.

He's proud, I'm proud, and the way I see it, it saved me from paying for grades. Only problem is, Brendan's now trying to come up with some scheme to indenture me. Maybe I'll offer him Molly.