Trend 2008: Dead 20-somethings

Here we are, 23 days into 2008. Actor Brad Renfro has died this year at 25. Actor Heath Ledger was found dead yesterday at 28. Britney Spears is spiraling downward. Amy Winehouse was recently photographed smoking crack.

Crack. Seriously? I don't have the energy to write about the gentrification of the drug and the hegemonic co-opting of a conspiracy theory. Maybe someday.

The point is, the number is getting smaller. Mozart, Jesus, Charlie Parker -- dead in their early 30s. Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, Janis Joplin, Kurt Cobain. Do people never learn?