I used to LOVE this song. I felt it described Michael’s later years so well and it was nice to hear a younger MJ singing it. Kind of a bookend now, it seems.

Everybody loves the star when he’s on the top
But no one ever comes around when he starts to drop
But you were someone special, you stuck through thick and thin
But I was much too busy trying to shine to let your love shine in

Let you slip away, I must have been insane
Stop in the name of love, don’t make me live my life in vain

Give me one more chance
That’s all I ask of you
Just one more chance
Ill make it up to you
Just one more chance
That’s all I ask of you
Ill build you a world for two
Ill make it up to you

Now since I’m all alone, I’m talking to myself
I know you’re out there somewhere having fun with someone else
But a distant voice of hope echoes from within, sayin’
Don’t give up, your ship is comin’ in

Though my ship’s alone, I’ll play right to the end
I’m crying outside heaven’s door. Won’t you let me back in?

Give me one more chance
That’s all I ask of you
Just one more chance
I’ll make it up to you
Just one more chance
That’s all I ask of you
I’ll build you a world for two
I’ll make it up to you

You’ll never know what I’ve been through
Let your love shine in again, this time I’ll shine with you

Give me one more chance
That’s all I ask of you
Just one more chance
I’ll make it up to you
Just one more chance
That’s all I ask of you
I’ll build you a world for two
I’ll make it up to you…

Why aren’t we done with Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, Mr. President?

From RawStory:

U.S. Army Lieutenant Dan Choi, a graduate of the West Point military academy and an Arabic translator, will face a military panel on Tuesday which may discharge him for admitting he is gay.

His case was mentioned in a letter to President Barack Obama, signed by 77 Democratic members of Congress. They called the 10-year veteran an “exceptional” soldier. Some have even referred to him as “the de facto face of the movement to repeal Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”

“I face a discharge tomorrow morning, simply for being honorable and telling who I am, in truth” he told CNN host John Roberts on Monday morning.

Should he be discharged, it would “strip away a lot of the veterans benefits, and that can include education, home loan, and even veterans hospital and medical benefits,” he added. “These benefits that I’ve earned being a combat veteran of the Iraq war.”

Host Jamie Foxx walked her out onstage and she said this:

Tomorrow I am back on the job. No work this Friday though, in observance of Independence Day, and I’m flying to London next Monday evening until the following Tuesday. It seems my professional life this July is heavily truncated. I think I am only working about 12 or 13 days in July! Since I’m in law school, I can’t really go on vacation in the fall or the winter; summer is the best time for me to travel. The European trip will be fun, though it won’t be what it was intended to be.

When I get back, things have to start changing. Everything has to start changing: my goals, my foci, my body, my surroundings. I can just feel it bubbling under and I am getting anxious. The world just shifted–now so must I. Somebody hand me some paint or something!

As the dust settles and the media frenzy begins to ebb, we can look out across the continents and see the imprint of a man whose vision of a musical utopia moved us all closer to peace. However trite the messages may seem now in our cynical culture, they are undeniably affixed to our psyches:

“We are the world, we are the children, we are the ones who’ll make a brighter day so let’s start giving.”

“Heal the world, make it a better place for you and for me and the entire human race.”

“If you want to make the world a better place, take a look at yourself and make a change.”

“We could change the world tomorrow, it could be a better place, if you don’t like what I”m saying then won’t you slap my face.”

“What more can I give?”

I am absolutely devastated. Words fail me. This is a sad day for our species. The last great song and dance man is gone. My idol, my mentor, my hero, my magic, the man who saved me from what should have been a miserable adolescence. The reason for my college major. The greatest, forever and always.

The first year of law school is over and I’ve finally been able to catch my breath. Now it’s time to put the pedal to the metal and scour the globe for fun.

Beginning this weekend, I’m joining the ‘rents + nephew in Massachusetts for a week. I haven’t seen my grandmother in two years and I miss her, so I’m really looking forward to it. While I’m up there, I plan on hanging out with my friend Jaime from middle/high school whom I serendipitously found out lives in the same small town. Not sure what will be on the agenda while I’m out of town, but I do plan to get some work done while I’m there everyday. There’s going to be a lot to do at work next week and I hate being out of town, but mom booked this trip six months ago and it’s not easy for my parents to get time off and get away from the house.

Then I’m back in DC for a full week of work plus one day. That Monday night, we board a plane to London. I can’t wait for Stonehenge, Big Ben, Hyde Park, Harrod’s, Piccadilly, Apple Records, Abbey Road, Heathrow (it counts!), Paris, the Chunnel, Normandy, the food, and M-I-C-H-A-E-L J-A-C-K-S-O-N L-I-V-E.

Thenceforth, all others shall pale in comparison (mind the pun). Okay, well not ALL others. But I’m going to have to recalibrate my goals, for sure.

So last night I had a fever of 103.5 degrees. Now I’ve got flu meds and I worked from home today, which is both good and bad. Good in that I don’t have to fuss over my appearance. Bad in that I feel totally powerless and fear I will be swamped when I get back.

How are YOU, America?