MJ madness and memories

All the hype about Michael Jackson's death makes me feel like an outsider of society: I just don't get it. I mean, of course I get that he was super-talented and super-famous and thereby his death is a super-big-deal. But the media coverage is perplexingly abundant, and last night on the news I heard a woman say she couldn't bear to be alone at home, that she instead needed to gather near the Apollo Theater with fellow MJ mourners in order to feel comforted and understood in the depths of her grief.

More than a million people wanted to be in Los Angeles today to observe a memorial service that is being held in a concert arena. Me? I'd love to be in L.A., but I'd have better things to do than stalk the Staples Center.

However, even if I can't relate to the hype and have warranted doubts about his moral character, Michael Jackson has nonetheless occupied two points of significance in my life:

1. When I was in second grade I was visiting a friend's house and her older sister was watching MTV. I had never seen MTV before, thus, the first music video I ever glimpsed was Michael Jackson's "Black or White."

2. When I was living alone in Washington Heights—a rather rough NYC neighborhood for the uninitiated—I often listened to The Jackson 5 in the morning before work. So "ABC" will forever remind me of crooning into my hairbrush and bopping around my fifth-floor walk-up, gearing up for another day of city living.

This concludes my acknowledgment of Michael Jackson's influence on the world. Here's hoping he's now at peace.