The pop icon definitely shaped me as a musician, vocalist and artist, I’m not ashamed to admit. Thriller, while it said very little to me lyrically, I have to say, it spoke volumes on a musical level. I wanted to be like this Mike, way before others wanted to be like the other Mike. And I tried. I never had enough money to get the red leather jacket with zippers (though a couple friends did) and I never could pull off the moonwalk when it really counted (though a couple friends did) but I do distinctly remember wearing a red bow tie with a pink tuxedo shirt a few times. And if I would have owned a sequined glove, I probably would have tried to work that into the ensemble as well.

Unfortunately, the thousands of tributes to Michael Jackson today will also include references to his bizarre private (and sometimes public) life while off the stage. He seemed to redefine the meaning of artistic eccentricity. In a time when we know so much about so many who make confounding choices, it’s challenging to think of anyone who tops Michael Jackson on the “Strangest and Most Shocking” list. Whether you call him a victim, a fiend or a genius, of one thing I’m certain, there IS NO such thing as bad press.

At least when it comes to music sales. Michael Jackson is proof that you really can’t stop someone from buying a good song. Seriously.

But just how important is the way people remember you?

I was telling a good friend recently that I was feeling busy and overwhelmed and just kind of needed to have some time to myself. I admitted that sometimes, recently, I avoided people who were likely to take a little more of my time than others. Just because I was busy. My friend’s response was simple and to the point.

“Don’t be a jerk.”

His response was actually harsher than that. He told me that he knew way too many “jerks” and the world doesn’t really need any more of them.

After trying to justify my “boundaries” for a minute, I finally had to agree. The world actually needs more people who will give you the time of day and less people who complain about the time you stole from theirs. The world needs more people who think about the impact they are having on the people around them and less who only focus on what they can get from the people around them. The world needs more people who are less concerned with the way they invest their money and more concerned with the way they invest their time.

We’re all here for a pretty limited number of days. Make the most of yours.

I’m gonna make a change, for once in my life
It’s gonna feel real good, gonna make a difference
Gonna make it right.

As I, turn up the collar on my favorite winter coat
This wind is blowin’ my mind
I see the kids in the street, with not enough to eat
Who am I to be blind? Pretending not to see their needs
A summer’s disregard, a broken bottle top
And one man’s soul
They follow each other on the wind ya’ know
‘Cause they got nowhere to go
That’s why I want you to know

I’m starting with the man in the mirror
I’m asking him to change his ways
And no message could have been any clearer
If you wanna make the world a better place
Take a look at yourself, and then make a change

Rest in peace, MJ.

To help, a local organization has created these bumper stickers. And no, I haven’t eaten any dog meat (that I know of).

Friends or food?

“Be alert. The world needs all the lerts it can get.”

I remember it exactly. The illustration was an egg with some light coming out from inside–I think you could see some little eyes. It was supposed to be some kind of hatching ‘lert’ I think. The bookmark was kind of light blue, light yellow, and white with red lettering. I’ve included an illustration here for you. I’d love to find someone with this bookmark to see how accurate my depiction is.

Be Alert!

The point is, why does my brain keep this goofy little bookmark in long-term storage? Maybe it would be more useful to fill that space with some of the meaningful quotes I’ve heard from people over the years. I’d rather be able to remember everything I’ve learned in High School German class. I think I could benefit from knowing all the songs I’ve ever played on the piano by memory.

But instead, I remember this bookmark so that whenever ANYONE says “Be Alert” I instantly think, like a 4th grader, “because the world needs all the lerts it can get, right?”

For years, probably since I’ve been driving, I’ve assumed that the correct way to approach a lane-closed merge is to move over as quickly as possible to avoid a bottleneck at the actual merge point. Then I saw a news report on television about something called a “zipper merge.”

It caught my attention because I always got ticked when people try to wait until the last second to merge into the “main lane.” Apparently, folks like me have been mucking up the system, as it’s supposed to work. You AREN’T supposed to merge early, but you actually should change lanes at the point of the merge.

So, to all the people I’ve given dirty looks and created a rolling roadblock for, I’m sorry. I was wrong.

If you check ask.metafilter.com, I think Jacquilynne puts it best in this quote:

Assume the lines each have one hundred cars in them. If you shuffle merge at the last point, everything is even.

But you, being the eager beaver that you are, moved over somewhere a mile before that point. Now line 1 has 101 cars in it, and line 2 has only 99. Because you’ve been in the line for awhile, when you get to the front, you have to let someone from line 2 shuffle merge in front of you, meaning that two cars got over from 1 to 2 in the space where only one should have. Plus, though, the guy who let you in now has to let another person in. That’s three! Three cars where only one would otherwise have merged.

It doesn’t take a lot of early movers before lane 2 is emptying out faster than water bucket at the OK corral.

I’ve never heard anyone else give an argument FOR the zipper merge before this TV show. Where do people actually learn this? Was I asleep during that lesson of Driver’s Ed?

Hair Science

Anyway, people don’t do enough of their own science these days. We rely on fantastic tools like Google and Wikipedia to answer all of our questions about life. For instance, when I wanted to know if you can really break glass with your voice, I did a quick search online instead of just buying some glass and giving it a go. Well, I decided not to check with Google first on this next one.

I wanted to know, does water actually drain in opposite directions on the Northern and Southern Hemispheres? Since I visited Sydney last month, I thought I’d test the theory. I used ground pepper in the water so you could clearly see the drainage direction. Here’s my result.

Some Cross-hemisphere Science

As it turns out, people have believed this myth because of something called the Coriolis Effect. It’s what makes hurricanes spin in opposite directions north and south of the equator. However, it isn’t strong enough to effect the water in your sink at home. Different things can impact how the water drains. If you want to learn a little more, check here. Or just Google it.

New Podcast Tonight with a Super-Cool Announcement
I’m going to post a new podcast tonight. It will be simple. Mainly, I need to do the drawing for the Andrew Peterson book giveaway. Also, there’s a very cool announcement that I’m making, so be sure to tune in for it! If you’re on the mailing list, you’ll find out there, too. I may put a new song in the podcast too. It depends on how much time I have tonight.

And the Winner is… Me

I got an email this morning letting me know that this site was picked as the FuelMyBlog site of the day. Yea! I’d like to thank the Academy and also Taco Bell. And of course the fine folks at FuelMyBlog. Thanks Sylvie and Kevin!

Live Music This Saturday Night
I’m playing at Pikes Perk at 8pm this Saturday night in Colorado Springs. We’ll be at the location near Powers and Research. First time in this venue. Jon is on drums and Mark is on bass. We’ll be debuting a couple of brand new songs, so you don’t want to miss it! Come out for the music, stay for the coffee. Or vice versa. Either way, we hope to see you there! If you can’t make it or you’re from another state/country/planet, I’ll try to stream via USTREAM once again. It’s always dependent on the local wi-fi situation. Hopefully we’ll get the audio sorted this time.

I’m finally processing some of this trip. We’ve been very busy and this is the first bit of downtime where I don’t feel like sleeping.

Back home, I just sold my home. Everything I own right now is either in luggage here in China, locked away in a 10′ X 10′ Public Storage closet, or in an airport parking space in Colorado. It’s probably as close as I’ll ever feel to homeless and I’m grateful for that. I do have a place to move to when I get back but for now I feel a little like a gypsy.

In this quite-noisy space I’m making little resolutions to myself. I’m resolving ways to be and not be and trying to figure out how to remember to live well and not always be altogether practical.

I really hope they are selling this CD.