Happy 51st Birthday K.O.P.

The past is a daily occurrence existing the second after it happens. Occasionally, those past moments become history-making events that will forever stay etched on the mind. So much so, can recall - with accuracy and great detail - where you were and what you were doing when it happened.

- September 11, 2001
I was two weeks into my third semester at Howard and already I did not care for my early Tuesday morning (11am) Accounting class. I did most of my studying and videogaming during the wee hours of the morning. So naturally I was a night owl who hated being awakened for anything less than an emergence. When my roommate barged in, woke me up and turned on the TV, I knew something was wrong.

- August 29, 2005

My second day on the job as an Assistant Japanese English Teacher. The fourteen-hour time difference made it challenging to keep up with family, friends and the news. As I did every morning before classes, I browsed the top news sites so I could stay in the loop from 7,000-plus miles away. The pictures on CNN, BBC News and other outlets, thought all different, showed the same devastation. Instantly, I became the American spokesperson for my Japanese co-worker’s questions as they received the updates and picture on the Japanese stations.

- April 16, 2007
Four weeks into my six-week stint at Hamawaki Orthopaedic Hospital and I was feeling the brunt of being cut off from the English-speaking world. No live TV. No Internet. Just reruns of the first season of Lost, Season 9 of BBC’s Top Gear and Michael Palin’s Full Circle. When my Japanese doctor – lacking the English vocabulary to express himself – picked up a cane, imitated a gun and said, “Very bad,” I had to defend myself for the stereotype that all Americans have guns.

- February 4, 2007
It was the last day of my first Hokkaido Snow Festival. The best artists in the world were still created snow and ice sculptures they hoped would last for more two weeks as they battled the unseasonably warm weather. My friends went shopping for souvenirs. I, on the other hand, went to the Sapporo International Youth Hostel to watch my first live Superbowl (no commercials though) in two years on a 55” Hitachi Plasma.

- November 5, 2008
The best way I knew to spend a potentially historic night was on 47th & King Drive, a few blocks west of Hyde Park. The Streetlife Gallery was transformed into a viewing party with five TVs on CNN or MSNBC or ABC.

My events are uniquely important to me. Everyone will remember different events that will hold different lasting recollections. This event, however, will be on everyone's list.

June 25, 2009
A weeklong Love & Logic conference in Colorado Springs was more fun than work. Spending 6 hours (8am-2:30pm) in workshops was not all bad because I had the rest of the afternoon/evening to take in the Rocky Mountain air. As I walked out the door headed for Pikes Peak, breaking news stopped me in my tracks.
I stood in disbelief as I let it marinate...
“The King of Pop…
“The man who created a dance move that was turned into a movie and a videogame…
“Michael…dead?!?”
This news brought my Mile High down. The airwaves around the country, around the world would be honoring the late great MJ.
I wanted to pay my own tribute to Michael. All I had was his 'artist' station on Pandora. The Music Genome Project played his song and also played similar music by different artists. What I wanted was non-stop MJ. Good thing my third Colorado Springs amigos had 68 MJ songs on his iPod. I could tell you how our ride to the summit in memory of MJ was breathtaking, but that would be a lie. We never made it past the entrance post. The weather hindered anyone from going further than Glen Cove Station at mile marker 13.

Before I went to sleep, I watched a little TV to catch the last bits of the MJ Tributes. Martin Bashir was on Nightline with his segment Remembering the King of Pop 1958-2009. My last thoughts as I watched the news ticker crawl across the screen was how could one life be more important than another that the only mention of it was at the bottom of the screen? I guess an earthly Angel (Farrah Fawcett) does not as soar as high as a Moonwalker.

The next day, my reason for ascending Pikes Peak had changed from a memorial to The King of Pop to a personal ego trip. The Pikes Peak International Hill Climb – known as the Race to the Clouds – had been in existence since 1916. In 2007, Nobuhiro Tajima set the record (10:01.41 from 9,400 feet to the 14,110 foot summit) in his Suzuki Escudo.

As much as I wanted time myself to personal see how fast I could make it to the top, I thought better of it for a few reasons:
First, I had a 2009 Mitsubishi Galant. Had I had my Nissan Skyline GT-R Z-tune, my motivation to get to the top faster might have been different.
Second, My girlfriend is scared of heights. We were inches from the edge of the mountain – no guard rails for 18 out of the 19 miles – and I had to demonstrate my awesome Illinois driving skills to make her comfortable.
Third, it is a 14,110 foot mountain!! I mean, really??? I was trying to show I was not worried, but when you know one wrong move puts you over the mountain you tend to drive a little slower. Not to mention the drive down was something out of a scary movie.

We made it to the top at around 2pm Mountain Standard Time. Every afternoon in June and July around 3pm, the weather drastically changes. We found ourselves inside those beautiful cumulonimbus storm clouds we admired from Colorado Spring that engulf the summit of Pikes Peak.

In a downpour of snow, sleet and rain and with visibility of only 10ft, I drove down Pikes Peak. When driving less than 10 mph around a three mile tall, God-made mountain, the world slows down. We truly understood the beauty and fragileness of life.

A generation of musicians were influenced by and imitate MJ. Speaking as if I were him: I now hope people will personify the song and "Leave Me Alone."