As someone who can (and without too much guilt does) "watch" television for most of the work day, weeks like this are kind of tough on the psyche. I know I could turn off the television - or pop on over to VH-1 - but during weeks like these I rarely reach for the remote...even when I know that it is going to have a negative impact on my mental state.
My whole reaction to the death of Ronald Reagan caught me a little off guard. I could not get caught up in the fact that he was a Republican (and all that entails) -- it was quite simply that a president had died...and that is a major event. While it is certainly not required that you like the man, I still think there should be respect for the office. Agreed with the politics or not, just think of the hundreds of millions of Americans that have lived over the 228 year-old life of this country - and Reagan was only 1 of 43 men who have held the highest office in the land.
Sure there are plenty of things that Reagan did (or didn't do) that deserve criticism...but I think that is something that can be debated in the years, decades, and centuries to come. While the praise was overblown at times during the week, I have to admit that I would not want anything different for myself. None of us are perfect, we certainly don't do thing to please every single person we know. It may not be "right" at the time...or even 20 years down the road but for the most part we are all just trying to do our best.
In that same spirit, I do not not want to hear about womanizing or heroin addiction -- but rather just reflect on the wonderful musical contributions Ray Charles made to the world. We were lucky enough to witness Ray Charles sing his classic interpretation of "America The Beautiful" during Game 2 of the 2001 World Series. We had paid a small fortune for seats just behind the Diamondbacks dugout for that game -- and figured it was worth it -- but when we read that Charles would be performing there was little thought about money. His performance was something that we will never forget. The news re-played it last night and it is still goose-bump inducing. It is still one of our fondest memories of the Series....only topped by our team's dramatic win in Game 7.
So it has been one of those weeks. These deaths bring that whole darn mortality thing to the front of our minds. This week, I have thought about the loved ones that I have lost... and perhaps in a more truly depressing way, those that lie ahead. Sure it gives us a well-deserved kick in the bottom... we should appreciate our own lives and those of our friends and families...but I am sure it won't take too long to get caught back up in all the stuff that gets pummels those types of thoughts back down into the recesses of our minds...and that is probably a good thing.
Life goes on...and so does the show... tonite we see our last Broadway show of the season - Oklahoma! Nothing better to cheer up a gay boy like a musical, huh?!
Have a good weekend and next week, we return you to your normally scheduled frothy and irreverent (or should I say, irrelevant) blog!
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