Happy Not-Your-Birthday, Whitney Houston

I read that Whitney Houston would have been 50 years old today if she had not "passed away" two years ago. It also said that "the world was devastated when she passed away." What's with all the passing away? Passed what? Away from where? I guess passed away means she died drunk and stoned in a hotel bathroom from too much booze and too many pills, or was it cocaine, I forget. These euphemisms are driving me nuts. And I was not devastated, in fact I didn't much care at all and still don't, sorry. Hey, I wasn't even devastated when my own mommy died, and I loved her very much. And as for the world being devastated--I looked up the word thinking maybe I didn't know its true meaning, and found it defined as: "to lay waste; render desolate. Synonyms: destroy, sack, despoil, raze, ruin, level.

Look around. There are still buildings standing and cities operating. The world was not devastated. Maybe the tabloids were devastated because they lost one of their favorite cover girls. Anyway, give me a break, she did die and so it's stupid to say how old she would be if she lived. Like, if he had not died, Elvis Presley would be 78 today. George Harrison would be 70. Gregory Hines would be 67. Marilyn Monroe would be 87. Abraham Lincoln would be 204. See how silly this is?