Okay, so, first it was Ed McMahon.  He was 86.  He had bone cancer.  It was sad, but not shocking.  I had been expecting it for quite some time, actually-- enough to be surprised he was well enough to do that Super Bowl "Cash4Gold" commercial.  By the way, did you see that?  It was awesome: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRVzF9dBl7c&feature=related.  I thought it was cool that he could spin his financial woes into something positive.
    Then went Farrah Fawcett.  She was quite a bit younger-- only 62-- and also had cancer.  It was too bad that people close to her had so much drama going on toward the end of her life, but at least when the final chapter was reached she had loved ones close by.
    And now we come to Michael Jackson.  Cardiac arrest at 50.  I really didn't want to write about him at all, which is why I had yet to acknowledge the odd string of deaths.  Yes, he was a music legend.  Yes, I think he behaved inappropriately with young children.  Yes, I hope we'll finally be able to download Beatles songs on iTunes.  I refuse to talk about a man who I believe was capable of doing the things he was accused of as a saint.  But I also can't say horrific things about a dead man, especially when I don't know that what I believe to be true actually is.  Therefore, I have nothing else to say on the topic.
    But, good grief!  Billy Mays?!?!  Also only 50.  Didn't feel well when he went to bed last night.  Maybe it had something to do with whatever hit him in the head when his plane had what was referred to as "a rough landing" (read: the front tires blew out upon landing).  Maybe it was absolutely anything else.  Who knows. 
    Point is, I'm starting to get a little creeped out.  Does this have something to do with that Mayan Doomsday Calendar winding down?  Are we all just going to start dropping dead by the fistful until there are no more of us left after December 21, 2012?  I know it can all be chalked up to the fact that, according to the CDC as of 2001, an average of well over 6,500 people die every day in the United States alone.  We just seem to have gone on a famous people streak.  I guess it just reminds me that at any given time we could go on a "People I Personally Know And Love" streak.  That would suck.  Big time.
    So, to all of my loved ones, I love you.  Now be really frakkin' careful, alright?

CL