And this ain't no place for the weary kind...

This here is one of those rambling posts I'm rather good at. Because sometimes I just need to write down my thoughts. I've been wondering why Alexander McQueen's death has affected me so much. It's true that suicide in general has always been a hard thing for me to deal with because of a tragic death of one of my classmates in grade 9. But even so, I'm usually not greatly affected by celebrities' deaths (with the exception of Heath Ledger). While I of course knew who he was and could recognize his designs, I didn't pay much attention to McQueen's work because it was so unattainable for me, and not really pieces that I would try to incorporate into my budget and wardrobe. And yet I've been quite depressed since the morning of the 11th. I only told a co-worker and my man why I was feeling down, because I feel like I would have to justify my emotions to everyone else for someone I never knew, met, or bought clothing by. Especially so soon after the tragedy in Haiti, and with soldiers from my own city dying in Afghanistan almost every month.

I know that most if not all of you understand to some extent, so I don't feel the need to justify anything here. But, of course aside from the obvious tragedy of his needless death at such a young age, I've figured out that there are two reasons why this would affect someone like me that wasn't linked to McQueen in any personal way. First of all, any lover of fashion is in essence a lover of beauty. And without any more Alexander McQueen creations, that's a understatedly huge loss of a great source of beauty. Secondly, I'm worried about how his death will affect other designers and creators in general. I think this second point was cemented when I read one designer's blog, basically saying that, if McQueen, a genius who was widely successful, still couldn't be happy, what is the point in trying to make it as a designer. Now I know that this isn't entirely logical, and that no one should expect success to make someone completely happy, as there are tons of other factors in one's life that would affect happiness. But still, didn't we all think the same thing on the 11th? - 'Why would he do that since he's Alexander McQueen?' The truth is, I don't want to know all the tons of other factors that was going on in McQueen's life. As a 20-something year old, and as a blogger, I obviously think that the Internet is great most of the time. But when a celebrity dies, I think the Internet is pretty evil. I don't think the public needs to know every minor and private detail, or to see videos of bodies getting wheeled out of homes, or to see headlines about said celebrity and their death on every news/email/entertainment website out there. Though his death will forever remain tragic and sad, I for one will stick to viewing McQueen's design archives and being inspired by them and McQueen's own life to create my own beautiful things, though the void created on the 11th will never be filled by my attempts (or anyone else's).