Just Call Me the Harbinger of Doom

My mom does, in fact, call me the Harbinger of Doom. When I was younger, I would listen to the radio as I read or decorated my walls or -more infrequently- cleaned my room. And through those years, I was often the first one in my family to learn of a tragedy and would then pass along that news to the rest of the family. Princess Diana, JFK Jr.'s disappearance, the Columbia Space Shuttle tragedy, these were all incidents my parents heard first from me. It got to the point where my mother threatened to confiscate my radio. The nickname has returned with a vengeance this weekend, as I had the unfortunate fate of telling her that Bernie Mac had died at 50 from pneumonia, and also that Isaac Hayes died at the age 65. 

Both Bernie Mac and Isaac Hayes made an indelible mark on popular culture as a whole and on their own mediums individually, and I'm sure their loss will be felt keenly. What this really makes me want to do, though, is jump in my car and drive to Memphis to visit Stax Museum, a museum built in the recording studio where Isaac Hayes first recorded and which is one of the best museums I have ever been privileged to visit. Plus, it has Isaac Hayes' car and a recording of him warning visiters not to get too close. I want to go there, and see the influence he has had already and see the mark he has made on history for myself. And maybe buy a cd on the way out.