On David Bowie

I'm sort of in mourning because one of my heroes died this week. I mean David Bowie, who I saw live in concert with my mother and sister at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford NJ in 1987. I was fifteen and we had general admission seating, which allowed us to get within 20 yards of the stage. I worshipped Bowie ever since I had his "ChangesoneBowie" 8-track when I was nine years old. Shortly after I began listening to his music, he released "Let's Dance" in 1982 and I can recall watching videos for the songs 'Let's Dance', 'China Girl' and 'Modern Love' a great many times in the early 80s on MTV, which I watched constantly when cable came to Rockland County NY at about the same time. Bowie, also known as the father of "plastic soul" music, released an album earlier this month on his 69th birthday. The album is called "Blackstar" and he shot a video for its lead track, a mini-movie featuring himself in a hospital bed with bandages over his eyes. This is his last single and video -- a track aptly titled "Lazarus" -- produced when he knew he was dying. His PR team is vague about the cause of death - my mother suggested it was probably a brain tumor, the kind of cancer that kills quickly, as in the case of the 'thin white duke', whereas other cancers are more treatable and life can be extended for a period of time and remissions are possible and even probable. My mother also says that President Obama has lost a lot of weight since he took office, especially since he started his second term; she thinks he is smoking a great deal. Today my mother took me to therapy in Duxbury Massachusetts because it was too cold to wait for my Dial-a-Ride service, which I usually take when I go to Duxbury Counseling. After that, my mother and I went to Panera for coffee, then across the street to BJ's Wholesale Shopping club, where he both did some food shopping. I had a great day with her, we'll find out next week if she has thyroid cancer, which is very treatable.