Jan. 23rd, 2008

So we learned yesterday about Heath Ledger. I am somewhat amazed at the responses I have seen from people. Disbelief, outpouring of sadness, and everything else. I suppose, more than anything, I have been surprised at the amount of emotions displayed about the news.

I suppose this is where Uncle NoWalmart takes a seat in his rocking chair and says "Back in my day..." and other "Ehh, I am old!" sort of things, but I feel the need to say them.

I suppose each decade sees a fairly well known figure die before his/her time, and each teens/20-somethings cohort takes it as its own. Some are obviously bigger than others - the deaths of JFK, RFK, and MLK in the span of a five years, for example, were much more culturally significant that any group of people who died in the 1970s. The 70s did have at least one very notable death - Elvis Presley.

The 80s started off with a bang, seeing John Lennon shot to death less than a year into the decade.

The 90s had its fair share - JFK Jr. Jerry Garcia. Princess Diana.

For me, however, the celebrity death for me was 8 April 1994. I even remember where I was when I heard that Kurt Cobain was dead.

That first celebrity death did have an impact on me. As time went on, though, celebrity deaths meant less and less to me. The death of a stranger that I only knew from the skewed perspective of the mass-media? Really meaningless to me at this point. I feel bad for his family and friends, but no more than any other individual who died before their time.

I suppose I should not be overly surprised by the emotion and attention surrounding Heath Ledger's death - the first decade of this millennium has been somewhat lacking in celebrity deaths.
So how did I spend my Wednesday?

Went to the Department of Driver Services trying to get a new driver's license. Passed the written exam (missing only three questions out of 40 - who knew that the exam would say it is alright to pass on the left [EDIT: should have been "pass on the right"] on a multilane highway, and that a car should stop at first sight of blind person NO MATTER WHAT?) and then waited around to be able to take the road exam.

Unfortunately I was not able to take the exam before leaving for my dentist appointment. Last week I had a really bad toothache and needed a root canal on tooth #14. Today was the big day. Fun in a dentist chair for an hour, I assure you.

Tomorrow I get to go out and practice some parallel parking and three-point turns. Oh the fun. It is just like I am 16 again.

And of course my sister went into labor early this morning, so in all likelihood I will have another nephew by the time you read this.

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nowalmart

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