R.I.P. David Bowie

Yesterday morning, a little after 9:30, I received the following text: "David Bowie has died." However, knowing that people on the Internet have been known to make up stories about celebrities dying, I had to see the news form an official source before I believed it. I've seen it happen to people like Morgan Freeman and James Earl Jones. Unfortunately, on the official David Bowie Facebook page, the following statement was made. :

"January 10 2016 - David Bowie died peacefully today surrounded by his family after a courageous 18 month battle with cancer. While many of you will share in this loss, we ask that you respect the family’s privacy during their time of grief."

So there was no way to deny it. The news was in fact true. Like most people, I was utterly shocked.  I had no idea that he had been struggling with cancer, but I understand that he kept the illness 

under wraps. Ironically, on January 10, I casually went to the local record store near campus and bought a CD of his new album Blackstar. Again, I didn't have the slightest clue that Bowie had cancer. I just bought the album out of pure interest. I never really dove into Bowie's massive discography like my dad did, but that doesn't mean I wasn't interested.

I gave Blackstar a complete listen last night, only to realize how dark it actually was. Reading the lyrics to some of the songs, particularly on the title track and the song "Lazarus," I realized that this was Bowie's way of saying goodbye to the world. I found myself completely inspired by that. Instead of dwelling on his illness, he decided to take all his strength and put out one last album for the world to enjoy. According to a statement made by someone who worked with him, he kept fighting until the very end. That's a true artist to me. Throughout the rest of the day, my Facebook feed was full of tributes posted by friends and many of my favorite artists, including Steven Wilson, Adrian Belew, Brian May, and Rick Wakeman.

David Bowie had a massive impact on many musicians I look up to. He was one of the first Arcade Fire fans, and even bought copies of their first album to give to his friends. Brandon Flowers of The Killers told a story when I saw him at the Wiltern last September about the day he heard Bowie's song "Changes." This was the song that inspired him to start a band that would eventually become The Killers. Brandon talked about how much he enjoyed albums like Hunky Dory and The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. 

I admired Bowie's constant deviation from the norm. He taught me and many others that weird is cool. Every album he put out had its own unique sound to it. He was not just a performer. He was a spaceman, a glam rock king, a Thin White Duke, a goblin king, and many other things that I can't recall at the moment. We will miss you, Ziggy!

R.I.P. David Bowie

First Day of the New Quarter

Had my first class of the second quarter today. It was an English class. This class is focusing more on writing essays that allow you to develop your own voice, which I like. It also focuses on analyzing messages found in music, movies, and various novels. The first thing we analyzed today was a song. That song turned out to be Another Brick in the Wall Part 2! I was thrilled for that. for our first essay, I need to write about a particular memory that had a significant impact on me as a person. It has to be an event that took place over the course of a few hours, and something that resonated with me in a very special way. I instantly thought of the King Crimson concert I went to, since that night taught me the importance of embracing the moment in a world full of distractions. This is going to be fun!