I'm a P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing, as MJ would say)

New York City is still reeling from Michael Jackson's death. The day it happened, everyone at work was freaking out trying to find out news because it was only on TMZ and therefore not so reliable. I still hadn't heard for sure when I left work, but I overheard people talking about it walking down the street, and when I stopped by the Macy's Starbucks everyone already knew.

The radio stations, stores, and passing cars are all playing a nonstop stream of his music. There are Michael Jackson tribute parties everywhere, and T-shirts being sold on the street. I have met so many people who are completely devastated.

I was having a conversation about it in Barnes & Noble with a friend, and a man sitting at a nearby table joined in. We were discussing whether or not it's possible for a really great artist to have a balanced life; in the case of MJ, everything he did was for his art - the nose jobs to sing better, the female hormones to keep his vocal range, the painkillers to numb his aching dance-wrecked knees. "I can see it now - someone's already writing a screenplay about his life," the man said. (Turns out he's a screenwriter.)

I had been thinking about that all day too. His life is a classic tragedy - the gifted and passionate performer who destroys his life through his love for his art.

On a lighter note, it looks like there's a light at the end of the slave labor tunnel. Peter called me into his office to discuss the website with me, then asked me about Starbucks - my hours, my pay, my motivations for working there (i.e. insurance), and then clarified, "I'm asking because we're going to be putting an offer together for you in the next few weeks, since everyone here loves you, and I wanted to know what your plans were." I did my best to hide my excitement, but I told him I'd be happy to quit or scale back my hours at Starbucks if needed.

I'm receiving this news much sooner than I'd ever expected. I thought they'd milk my unpaid status for all it was worth before finally offering the possibility of legitimate work at the end of July. I'm hoping to start getting paid in a few weeks instead of mid-August when my internship ends - I'll move to a new apartment closer to work and stop working 60+ hours at two jobs.

Whenever I tell people my schedule, they freak out. And really, I don't know how I do it either. But my life's always been like that - I maximize usage of my time so that I barely have any downtime, and somehow I pull it off. I don't feel like I'm burning out, though I am more emotional than usual. Time goes by so fast this way that I'm sure I'll be out of it in no time and will be able to devote more time to my music.