3/13/16

Not much went on today. Woke up late due to daylight savings time and had brunch. Took the bus down to the train station to buy a ticket for the Tuesday afternoon train to LA Union Station. My last final is tomorrow but it goes until 2:30 and the last train leaves at 3:07, so I decided to leave Tuesday instead.

Anyway,  like many people, I am still very emotional over the loss of Keith Emerson. It's going to take a long time for me to come to terms with it, I think. I've talked to a few of my friends about it, and we are all devastated. More people are posting tributes and sharing memories of meeting him or seeing him in concert. I had to study for finals yesterday and Friday but it was very hard to concentrate because I had so much on my mind. I was thinking of everyone affected by the loss of Keith. I think we all wish we had known how much he was hurting, and that something could have been done to help him.

I bought a vinyl copy of the first ELP album yesterday, along with Blackstar by David Bowie. Blackstar has been a very enjoyable album to listen to. It was a great last album and I hope to share it with other friends who haven't heard it. The thing that hurts though, is that that was Bowie's way of telling us he was dying. Keith's death came without warning, and it was incredibly sad and shocking. I noticed that Greg Lake posted a statement yesterday that he isn't very surprised to hear about Keith's fate. I saw that many people commented on that saying it was "too soon" for Greg to be talking about this and that his comments about the seriousness of depression were "uncomfortable" to read. I guess it just goes to show you that mental illness is still considered by many to be a taboo topic, one that is better left ignored since it offends easily. I hope that changes one day.

I'm not trying to lecture any of you about the importance of addressing mental health, but as someone who has struggled with it, I can assure you that it is definitely not a topic that should be ignored. I think if more people talked about it, more people would get the help that they need, and then more people would still be here today. That's just my thought, though.