PRINCE

Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck! Not Prince. No

— Roy Pickering (@AuthorofPatches) April 21, 2016

WATCH: One of #Prince's final performances of 'Purple Rain,' taken in Atlanta just days ago.https://t.co/fz2tjWHQgJ

— Good Morning America (@GMA) April 22, 2016

4-21-16 The day the music died. The "real" music anyway. R.I.P. to true rock royalty - the man who made it rain purple. #Prince

— Roy Pickering (@AuthorofPatches) April 21, 2016

Sometimes it snows in April
Sometimes I feel so bad, so bad
Sometimes I wish life was never ending
But all good things, they say, never last

— Roy Pickering (@AuthorofPatches) April 21, 2016

Prince was so special that it's weird to think he'd do something as mundane as *die.*

— fredara (@fredaraMareva) April 21, 2016

there's no one left...

— The Weeknd (@theweeknd) April 21, 2016

💜 pic.twitter.com/kn3L4BCx6q

— Davina Applebum (@vinabean) April 21, 2016

🔥 RT @BrianVibberts: the world turns #purple for #Prince #RIPPrince #GoneTooSoon April 21, 2016 pic.twitter.com/JxPd1CWCd1

— Fatima (فاطمة) (@ItsFatima) April 22, 2016

Prince living the life. #prince pic.twitter.com/uk2WYocicj

— Roscoe Pewterschmidt (@MountBicepius) April 21, 2016

Put Prince on the $50 bill

— Roy Pickering (@AuthorofPatches) April 21, 2016

Weather forecast honors #Prince with purple rain pic.twitter.com/jQZvFAlzdl

— Marianne Russo (@Marianne_Russo) April 22, 2016

My Prince story: Took a girl to a late-night Paisley Park show. Bodyguard approached girl, "Want to meet Prince?" Never saw girl again. Fin.

— Rex Sorgatz (@fimoculous) April 21, 2016

So many hilarious Prince anecdotes in my book "I Want My MTV." Here's one, from video producer Howard Woffinden: pic.twitter.com/8RiaU8ispH

— Rob Tannenbaum (@tannenbaumr) April 21, 2016

Prince kicking Kim Kardashian off stage at a concert is a top 10 moment in American history https://t.co/myUuN8vhAo

— Isaac (@WorldofIsaac) April 22, 2016

Prince had NO TIME for your hang-ups about gender, sexuality, spirituality or race. "Cut you, cut me - both the blood is red". from RACE

— Roy Pickering (@AuthorofPatches) April 21, 2016

59 Things U Might Not Know About Prince https://t.co/3NnIZgn4iJ via @perpetua

— Darling Chelly (@ChelsIsRight) April 21, 2016

Prince produced, arranged, composed & played all 27 instruments in '78 debut album “For You” https://t.co/QaBbGPLpLW pic.twitter.com/d2unyuxKgI

— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) April 21, 2016

Youngsters, is your fave proficient at even one? To be nice I'll include triangle and tambourine. https://t.co/3YGd6TIOVk

— Roy Pickering (@AuthorofPatches) April 22, 2016

The artists Prince ushered into the spotlight https://t.co/pwtoWXVABv pic.twitter.com/v8jv7d7UD8

— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) April 22, 2016

We all know & love the hits but Prince was SO MUCH MORE than them musically. Now listening to what IMHO is one of his top masterpieces: COME

— Roy Pickering (@AuthorofPatches) April 21, 2016

"While My Guitar Gently Weeps" https://t.co/HmsEB1s2Q4 via @YouTube THIS is how you play the guitar

— Roy Pickering (@AuthorofPatches) April 21, 2016

The guitar never came down! pic.twitter.com/uDJjxPMvvt

— Barry Petchesky (@barryap1) April 21, 2016

Prince once privately donated to the family of Trayvon Martin & even arranged for Eric Garner’s family to attend one of his concerts.

— Affinity Magazine (@TheAffinityMag) April 22, 2016

Freddie Gray died. All these rumors about performers wanting to come to Baltimore but the one that did. Prince.

— Reet Pozelle ☔️ (@theNFLchick) April 21, 2016

What matters to you? https://t.co/8hgXq33Kjf via @YouTube

— Roy Pickering (@AuthorofPatches) April 22, 2016

In memoriam: Prince gave black kids the license to be who they wanted to be, not what society thought they should be https://t.co/2AqTaz3id8

— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) April 21, 2016

Enough reading. Time to listen.

Prince helped intro @mistyonpointe. Here's their '11 performance of "The Beautiful Ones" on @georgelopez's talk show https://t.co/u3qtNbqpYG

— Harry Allen (@harryallen) April 29, 2016

A photo posted by Erin Rogers Pickering (@eringopaint) on Apr 22, 2016 at 6:13am PDT

#ThePeopleVsOJSimpson

I, along with just about every one else, was mesmerized by every minute of The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story.  Kudos all around to the people who were involved in the making of this TV gem, with a special shout out to Jeffrey Toobin who wrote the book that the series is based on.  I'm long enough in the tooth to have watched the actual proceedings in real time.  FX did a fantastic job of bringing us down memory lane. It was called The Trial of the Century for good reason. This was an important moment in our history, unlike, say, a Gap Kids ad daring to have a white kid leaning on a black kid's head in one of the pictures, or some random white guy with "the audacity" to wear his hair in dreadlocks. No need to whip yourself into a frenzy over such trivial matters back in the mid-90's. OJ Simpson's murder trial was legitimately a Very Big Deal that brought critical issues to light for inspection by society. Polar opposite reactions to the verdict by many blacks and whites was all too real, no faux outrage required. People too young to have experienced it first hand were gifted with an impressive simulation over the course of several weeks rather than a whopping 8 months. Below are some of my thoughts stated on Twitter as the series unfolded, along with commentary from others.  Now I need a new TV show to fall in love with while waiting for more OJ Simpson documentaries.  Hopefully not another program that will be over with far too soon.  Any suggestions?

Keep your #PeoplevsOJSimpson think pieces coming, people. Those I'll actually read. I miss it so much already. https://t.co/cGGQW5ni8z

— Roy Pickering (@AuthorofPatches) April 6, 2016

I loved the People vs. OJ Simpson but the 7.5 hour OJ doc, coming this summer, is even more incendiary: https://t.co/K2Iei1y0Zl

— Anne Helen Petersen (@annehelen) April 6, 2016

#ThePeopleVsOJSimpson finale tonight. Wonder what that verdict is?! pic.twitter.com/HEOaeSTREw

— Oliver Willis (@owillis) April 5, 2016

OJ shld be doing life for murder, but his Vegas case was bogus. My friend Sterling Brown right about parole. @ACSFX https://t.co/WQ1SuXUhcx

— Jeffrey Toobin (@JeffreyToobin) April 6, 2016

Flavor Flav -- Do I Own the Real O.J. Statue? Yeaaaaahhh BOYYYYYYY!!! https://t.co/dWZ4Y6Yk3Q

— TMZ Sports (@TMZ_Sports) April 6, 2016

An O.J. Juror on What The People v. O.J. Simpson Got Right and Wrong https://t.co/8MXYbRSrRv via @vulture - Very interesting read

— Roy Pickering (@AuthorofPatches) April 6, 2016

The most obscure figure in The People v OJ Simpson was the man at its center. https://t.co/8k6QuaZkxA pic.twitter.com/lTIY0hGGER

— New Republic (@NewRepublic) April 7, 2016

Twitter couldn't have handled #ThePeoplevOJSimpson IRL. Only thing keeping ppl from losing their minds now is it seems so much like fiction.

— Roy Pickering (@AuthorofPatches) March 30, 2016

I felt sad for families of Ron Goldman and Nicole Simpson watching #PeoplevsOJSimpson. I'm not proud that at the time I pumped fist for OJ.

— Roy Pickering (@AuthorofPatches) April 6, 2016

It was such a strange case. Our history of gross inequality made many hope for OJ's team to strike a blow against racist police brutality.

— Roy Pickering (@AuthorofPatches) April 6, 2016

This made many forget the case wasn't about America's f'd up racial history. It was about a crime of passion with tons of damning evidence.

— Roy Pickering (@AuthorofPatches) April 6, 2016

Justice should always be sought and hopefully found on a case by case basis, not based on broad generalities.

— Roy Pickering (@AuthorofPatches) April 6, 2016

Nicole Brown-Simpson was really us. #OJMadeInAmericahttps://t.co/M9Qjsz09ri

— The Undefeated (@TheUndefeated) June 15, 2016

"#OJMadeInAmerica is the best 30 for 30 documentary the company has ever produced." - @richarddeitsch of @SInow.https://t.co/U2kYnaQig9

— ESPN Films 30 for 30 (@30for30) June 12, 2016

"I'm not black, I'm OJ." #OJMadeInAmerica pic.twitter.com/y0DGOMyO7U

— ESPN Films 30 for 30 (@30for30) June 14, 2016

Interesting documentary so far but OJ's sense of black pride or lack thereof probably has nothing to do with him being a cold stone killer.

If you're going to sum up a man's entire life story in one sentence, this would be the one for O.J. https://t.co/y2CCZsdR4N

— Roy Pickering (@AuthorofPatches) June 15, 2016

When is OJ due out? It's going to be wild. He'll probably have a reality show offer within 5 minutes. Clearly the interest in him is there.

— Roy Pickering (@AuthorofPatches) June 15, 2016

The fact that OJ Simpson is up for parole next year (in October 2017). #OJMadeInAmerica pic.twitter.com/DdwScET1fU

— snapchat: itsramel (@itsRamel) June 15, 2016

For those wondering about the absence of OJ's first wife Marguerite? #OJMadeInAmerica https://t.co/RMSj5Yxa1M

— Adrienne Lawrence (@AdrienneESPN) June 15, 2016

Are you guys gonna watch Martin Sheen's OJ documentary too? Here's the info. Coming out next year https://t.co/ZcC51PN6KG

— LizzLocker (@Lizzs_Lockeroom) June 15, 2016

OJ was postracial until he murdered. Tiger was postracial until his lineup of side pieces went public. MJ was postracial until he ugly cried

— Roy Pickering (@AuthorofPatches) June 15, 2016