j95_photo (1 photo), by Tricia Nelson

I'd like to share my Snapfish photos with you. Once you have checked out my photos you can order prints and upload your own photos to share.

Thank you, Jackson family

I spent the whole day yesterday listening to, watching and re-watching the coverage of the Michael Jackson memorial, which took place at the Staples Center in LA. I, along with my dad, shed a few tears, felt my heart leap when music and video temporarily reverted me to the obsessed tween I used to be, and experienced overwhelming sadness at this life gone too soon.

Today, I still have Jennifer Hudson's beautiful rendition of "Will You Be There" playing in my head, as well as Stevie's "They Won't Go When I Go." I absolutely loved the moment in the program when the Rev. Al Sharpton told the Jackson children, "Wasn't nothing strange about your daddy," I thought that was fantastic and apropos.

All in all, the event was everything I needed it to be. At first, I couldn't believe that the casket would be there, but in the end it made sense; this was a somber homegoing celebration rather than a star-studded daytime concert, and having that rose-draped reminder of our loss brought the needed gravitas and reality check.

I tend to get a little riled up at the haters, who crawled out of the woodwork, but none of their foolish words could take anything away from the day or the man that we gathered to honor.

I think Michael would've approved of the tasteful but grandiose worldwide celebration of all that was him. I thank the Jackson family for giving the fans that beautiful, sad, heartbreaking and impeccably produced farewell. I, for one, needed it.

And, I am happy that little Paris Katherine Jackson was able to find her voice through her grief and speak on behalf of her daddy. After all, every so often we all need to be reminded that Michael Jackson was so much more of a trailblazer, entertainer, singer, dancer, humanitarian, celebrity, personality...he was a brother, a son, a parent, a person.

Farewell, MJJ.

Still Heartbroken

One week ago I was in Salamanca, Spain, drinking sangria, dancing and partying it up on the last night of my experience at the VaughanTown program. It was late at night when one of the younger Spaniards turned to me and said that one of her friends received a text message that Michael Jackson had died. I dismissed it as rumor until I was in my hotel room a few hours later, ready to watch a little Boomerang in Espanol until I fell asleep.

That's when I learned that the terrible news was true.

Until I got back to the States, there was just a weird surrealness to everything, including the HORRIBLE, lacking coverage of that sorry excuse for a reporting organization, Sky News. I knew the reality of the loss would hit me once I got back to my parents' house.

The first thing I did after putting down my luggage was start looking for my Michael Jackson records, jewelry and paraphernalia. I found everything right away, then downloaded the single my friend, Cynthia, sent me via iTunes gift certificate, "Blame it on the Boogie."

Since then, I've been listening to his music, watching YouTube videos and feeling sad as the reality sinks in. Michael Jackson is gone.

MJ was the center of my world for an intense couple of years of my early teens. I was seriously obsessed in that screaming, hormonal girl-crying myself to sleep wanting to meet him- kinda way. More than that, I look back and realized that the Michael Jackson phenomenon was responsible for a shift that occurred when I embraced and became proud of my blackness.

Before that magical moment when I saw him perform "Billie Jean" on "Motown 25," to me, my race was more about painful history a la "Eyes on the Prize" and cultural burdens than it was about "black is beautiful." I distinctly remember thinking how I came to believe that my racial identity was a gift that I shared with some incredibly talented people that made me proud that night, and on all those subsequent afternoons and evenings for months afterwards when the VCR (or perhaps it was Betamax?) tape got a big workout every time anyone would come to the house to visit -- of course we had to show the tape and share the pride.

As I got older, I grew out of my Michael obsession and shifted my attention to Prince, then to other things. I came to mourn the Michael who inspired such emotion and passion in me, as the man he'd become had pretty much ceased to look, sound or act like the man I'd admired in the early 80s.

But now he's gone, and that judgment and disappointment has gone with him. I just wish his later years let him see as much joy as he deserved.

R.I.P MJJ.

Making a Difference, $8 at a Time

For the past few years, I've been involved with a great agency serving foster care youth in L.A. called Peace4Kids.

This summer, I'm hoping to help them meet a fundraising goal in order to be able to take the children they serve to camp on Catalina Island from August 21-24. I know this is a tough time to be asking anyone to contribute money to a cause, but I'm hoping $8 is doable for a critical mass of people.

If you can, I'm asking for contributions, which you can make at: http://www.firstgiving.com/tricianelson - $8 would be great, but anything you can contribute would be appreciated.

You can read more about Peace4Kids in an article recently published in the L.A. Times here, or consider becoming a volunteer and sign up at: http://www.peace4kids.org

Thanks for your support!

(Photo: Christina House for the L.A. Times)

The Trishness

I had a very full, very chill and fulfilling birthday weekend...starting with the LA Times Festival of books on Saturday, where I hung out with friends and randomly ran into a high school classmate (WTF??), then nosh and some vino at Craft on Saturday night; a leisurely ride along the Burbank bike path on Sunday (birthday) morning, a quick car ride down to Anaheim then about two hours until I was all checked in at the Grand Californian and had the chance to get my free birthday 2fer pass at the ticket booth; Disneyland with Denise; late-night solo wandering -- including the Enchanted Tiki Room -- before making my way back to my concierge-level accommodations; the early-morning power walk in Disney's California Adventure; Soarin' Over California and lunch before heading back to LA; a quick nap then out to "Inside Mad Men" at the TV Academy.


Packed weekend; good life.