Thursday, June 25, 2009

Strange Days

It's been a really strange week. Houston is having record temperatures (heat emergency alert issued today). I have not left the house in two days, and since Tuesday I spend my days alternating between asthma treatments, tending to a sick 4 year-old and working remotely from home.

The news outlets reported that Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson have died today. There was some confusion in the media for a while over whether Michael was dead or in a coma, which will no doubt be the starting point of myriad conspiracy theories, another Elvis in the making.

They always die in threes... I found myself wondering who the next one will be. Until I realized I had totally forgotten that Ed McMahon died two days ago. A old college friend replied to my Facebook comment: "Poor Ed, he died like he lived, in the shadow of bigger stars." Very true, poor guy.

I spend some time reading reviews and blog posts about the stupid Transformers movie in Movieline, Gawker, io9 and The Awl. They are good for a chuckle, especially the vitriol coming from the peanut gallery, but after a while the posts and the websites all blur together and I forget where I read what.

The swine flu is still around. Since it did not prove to be the next bubonic plague, the media has moved to more salacious matters. And yet, those of us with asthma and other respiratory diseases still need to be careful. This is the third or fourth bout of bronchitis I have this year, so I am a bit concerned.

I got a jury summons today, for mid-July. I have never served in a jury. I can't get out of it. It says clearly that business reasons are not lawful excuses. So it does not matter that my summons falls smack in the middle of a very busy period at work. I will have to go. And I am interested, I have always wanted to serve in a jury. I know I will be dismissed if it's a capital case, though. I live in Texas and I do not believe in the death penalty, so go figure.

Above all this, the situation in Iran and the North Korean nuke threats loom large.

3 comments:

  1. Para mí ha sido un verdero shock la muerte de Michael Jackson. Toda su música me lleva a recordar tiempos adolescentes, cuando no habían preocupaciones sino sueños.

    Espero que te mejores pronto. Cuídate.

    I. Enid

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  2. I found the Jezebel website through your blog some months ago and it quickly became one of my guilty pleasures, so thank you about that. :)

    Agree with the comment above. Take care and be careful...Might want to look into some Vitamin D and Sambucol.

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  3. I was so upset to hear about Farrah Fawcett. I mean, we knew it was coming since she was dying from cancer but it was still a very sad day.

    The Michael Jackson thing was all too shocking and a complete surprise to me.

    And yes, poor Ed McMahn's death sort of went unnoticed when those two passed away.

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