Triples Alley

What are the odds two major celebrities would die on the same day? I'm not sure how to feel about Farah Fawcett and Michael Jackson. I think I feel more for Fawcett because she's been on the decline for a while now. Jackson did many great things for music, but he was a creeper. Oh, and Ed McMahon died this week as well. Sad.

Here's a poem and song lyrics I just discovered and like very much:

"We Who Are Your Closest Friends" by Philip Lopate

We who are
your closest friends
feel the time
has come to tell you
that every Thursday
we have been meeting,
as a group,
to devise ways
to keep you
in perpetual uncertainty
frustration
discontent and
torture
by neither loving you
as much as you want
nor cutting you adrift.
Your analyst is
in on it,
plus your boyfriend
and your ex-husband;
and we have pledged
to disappoint you
as long as you need us.
In announcing our
association
we realize we have
placed in your hands
a possible antidote
against uncertainty
indeed against ourselves.
But since our Thursday nights
have brought us
to a community
of purpose
rare in itself
with you as
the natural center,
we feel hopeful you
will continue to make unreasonable
demands for affection
if not as a consequence
of your disastrous personality
then for the good of the collective.

And the song "These Days" by The Rentals:

Is this it
These days I may not be so happy
After all, after all that I have gained
I still feel sad when I'm all alone
I may have felt that path? decay?
I may not be so swift after all
All the chances you have given me
I just let you go
I guess I've been like this before
Sometimes I can't stand up and be a man
But God why would I lose it now
When I need my strength at hand
You know sometimes I can be real cool
All the words just seem to flow right along
But when that girl approaches me
Well it all goes wrong
These days leave me hopelessly lugubrious
I wish these days were gone
Oh please end
These days I may not be so happy
After all, after all the chances you have given me
I just let you go let you go

Anyway, it's a cool song because it's actually very upbeat, and it's a great 90s bubblegum/power-pop song.