Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You

This has been on my mind for two days. I was listening to the news while making dinner two nights ago and heard that Fred Thompson stepped down from the presidential race. Not a surprise or disappointment. Then, I heard that Heath Ledger was found dead in his apartment. The announcement that poor Amy Winehouse has finally self-destructed would not have been a surprise. Sad and tragic, but not a surprise. This took me by surprise. I don't know why it has hit me like it has, but I haven't been able to stop thinking about it. I was a fan, but not a superfan or anything. I'm embarrassed to admit, I loved him the most in his cheesiest roles. Who couldn't adore that coy smile singing to Julia Stiles in 10 Things I Hate About You? I normally can come up with about 100 things I detest about movies like that, but I loved that one from the start, largely because I found him charming and talented and ridiculously cute. I thought A Knight's Tale was fun and he and his merry band of boys were adorable. And, I'm a sucker for a movie with a pop soundtrack. He was of course brilliant in Monster's Ball and Brokeback Mountain and I am looking forward to seeing him play Bob Dylan. He struck me as genuine and smart in a sea of crappy actors and actresses in his age bracket.

I haven't been able to get him out of my head. He's the age of my youngest brother. He has a beautiful little daughter that will not have her dad around to eat ice cream with, or send her off to her first day of school. He has a family a million miles away who didn't get to see him before he died. The media are pathetic sharks, just hoping for a scrap of dirt to find this was anything but an accident.

I don't even know why I'm blogging about it. Think of his family as they mourn their loss. I guess that's all I wanted to say.