Amy Winehouse.RIP

As an atheist and a Winehouse fan I find the inappropriate eruption of superstitious religious asshats in this thread absolutely amazing, although I'm hoping it's merely black humor/parody, as distasteful as that may be.

Sad to say ... it was not unexpected

May she rest in peace. And, may her family be granted peace and comfort, now and throughout the rest of their lives.

It is truly a terrible misfortune but as we have seen, the drive and creativeness of many artists is often fueled with drugs and alcohol. Many artists talk about long periods of intense expression and writing while hammering heroin and coke. The fame, fortune, and attention that we bestow on them only makes matters worse.

These interdependencies extend from artists into other human endeavors and deserve a more nuanced perspective than most are willing to consider. A recent study of Freud and the pioneering surgeon William Halsted gets to the point.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/24/books/review/an-anatomy-of-addiction-by-howard-markel-book-review.html?_r=1&ref=books

Best to reserve judgment to oneself.