R.I.P Steve Jobs

You may have seen this picture circulating around the inter-webs recently. Let me begin by saying that I don't mean to lessen the death of Steve Jobs or the millions of adorable African and other third world babies. My family actually supports a little boy in Haiti. He's super cute. His name is Pierre.

With that being said, this comparison is like equating the death of Obi-Wan Kenobi to the deaths of the thousands, and possibly millions, of clones and rebel soldiers.

Steve Jobs was a world renowned icon for technological advancement and perseverance, and was, to many, a hero. Obi-Wan was the mentor of Luke Skywalker who trained him in the ways for the Force, and is, to many, a hero. (Nerd query: would "the Force" be considered a proper noun, thus needing capitalization? I did capitalize, just in case. I have no idea.) Those children are people we have never met, do not know the names of, and are dying every day. Clones and rebel soldiers are faceless, nameless, not really important at all, and drop like flies (not to mention their aim is atrocious).

It's like equating the death of Princess Diana to the deaths of the approximate 146,000 people by natural or unnatural causes every day.

It's like equating the death of Boromir to the death of the thousands of Gondorian soldiers that died in the second and third Lord of the Rings.

It's like equating the death of Tupac Shakur to the death of the hundreds of Chinese children every day from poor living conditions.

It's like saying that you should mourn the death of someone you passed on the street once just as much as you should mourn the death of a relative you saw all the time and knew and loved. It's just not the same.

I could go on.

You have to understand that people do care about those deaths. People die every day though, and if I had to be sad about every single one of them, I'd just be depressed and the the freaking time. There's a disconnect in the human brain that allows us to trudge on through life despite the fact that everywhere in the world the vulnerability of life and the proclivity towards death is being demonstrated.

Please excuse me while I pull a Forrest Gump; and that's all I have to say about that.

Things that make me want to cry.

Have you ever had one of those days where you just need to sit down and think? Well, that happens to me all the time. And for some inexplicable reason, these songs help me get the deeper, more tender part of my brain to start working. I don't have like, a written out list of things that make me weepy, but these music pieces I've compiled here are just a few of the great works that make me feel all mushy on the inside.

MJ

Earlier I was listening to the radio when I heard a familiar catchy tune; young Michael Jacksons voice came over the speakers. I heard him and his siblings from the Jackson 5 sing one of their greatest hits, "ABC," and I couldn't help but remember back to when he first died. I was sitting in my best friends mini-van, waiting in the parking lot at Swan Bros Dairy company when his mom got a phone call. I don't remember her reaction, whether or not it was negative or indifferent, but I remember we all just kinda sat there for a few minutes until one of us said "Michael Jackson jokes will never be the same."

Throughout his life, he had be the object of all different kinds of slander, praise, glorification, defamation, and everything in-between. I was young enough when most of it was going on that I didn't care much for it at all; I only knew what others told me. And not that there's anything particularly wrong with secondhand information, but maybe I shouldn't have listened to as much of it as I did. I was absolutely apathetic when I heard that he had passed away, but I knew absolutely nothing about him. At this point in my life I knew maybe two or three of his more famous songs, and thought of him as some creepy pedo with freaky white skin.

Something changed inside when I happened upon a live stream of his children speaking at his funeral. First off, they were like, ten? Courageous kids.

But they weren't just up there to say goodbye. I remember one of them talking extensively on how, despite all the media's attention to what would seem like him being a poor father, he was "the greatest daddy ever." I know it's easy for a kid to say that about their parent, but just hearing that little voice broke something inside of me.

Since then, I've somehow disregarded most of the awful things I've heard about him, and it may just be respect for the deceased, but I've gained a whole lot of respect for the man and what he went through over the span of his whole life. He was, and is, the king of pop. Forever and always. He was immensely influential, sort of like the Beatles, except with catchier music, and created some of the most awesome dances ever, like MC Hammer, except without the parachute pants. He wore a fedora and pinstripe suits. He wrote a song about zombies. Truth be told, he sounds like the coolest man ever.

Rest in peace MJ. You're an inspiration, and you could walk backwards while seemingly stepping forwards. I applaud you.

Is the answer "dust?" (reference to Kansas win?)

"How many roads must a man walk down before you call him a man?
How many seas must the white dove sail before she sleeps in the sand?
Yes and how many times must the cannonballs fly before they're forever banned?

The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind. The answer is blowin' in the wind.

Yes and how many years can a mountain exist, before it is washed to the sea?
Yes and how many years can some people exist before they're allowed to be free?
Yes and how many times can a man turn his head and pretend that he just doesn't see?

The answer my friend, is blowin' in the wind. The answer is blowin' in the wind.

Yes and how many times must a man look up, before he can see the sky?
Yes and how many ears must a man have, before he can hear people cry?
Yes and how many deaths will it take till he knows that too many people have died?

The answer my friend is blowin' in the wind. The answer is blowin' in the wind."

This is, in my opinion, one of the greatest, most inspirational songs ever writting. Bob Dylan is a genius. Simple as that.

Anyways, I really just wanted to share these lyrics with you. I'm not really sure if this is an emotional song for anybody else out there, and I don't exactly burst into tears or anything when I hear this, but it does hit me down deep, you know? These are words that really make you think. Im in the middle of compiling a list of videos and songs that make you all teary-eyed, and I'm always taking suggestions if you know of any good ones.

Fun fact! The first time I heard that song "Listen to Your Heart," I cried. I was like, twelve, but still... Haha.