I was exited to hear about the release of David Bowie’s new album Blackstar on our shared birthday last Friday. Longevity in any art practice is difficult to pull off, but here was Bowie, still bringing it on his 69th.

It’s a gut punch that he died today. I kept thinking about how he was right in the thick of things, between the new album and co-writing the musical Lazarus (based on The Man Who Fell to Earth). He was working hard and putting new stuff out there, even though he was already assured a place in the Rock Star Pantheon.

Besides losing an epic creative force with his passing, Bowie was also a shining beacon of weird. I felt better about the world knowing he was somewhere glamming it up in pair of electric tight pants and cranking out some righteous art-glitter-krautrock. I fell in a funk as I contemplated the giant hole where his extra special version of strange used to be.

I needed to remind myself of the other weirdos who are creating a more bizarre and magical place for us to live in. It made me feel better to come up with a list of some of the artists who have inspired and challenged me with their weird:

• Tori Amos
• Iris Apfel
• Bjork
• Allie Brosh
• Daft Punk
• Johnny Depp
• The Flaming Lips
• Terry Gilliam
• Ilana Glazer
• Michel Gondry
• Hal Hartley
• Todd Haynes
• Don Hertzfeldt
• Gaby Hoffmann
• Abbi Jacobson
• Grace Jones
• Charlie Kaufman
• Stephen King
• Lady Gaga
• Annie Lennox
• David Lynch
• Haruki Murakami
• Yoshimoto Nara
• Peaches
• Parker Posey
• Prince
• Thomas Pynchon
• RuPaul
• Steven Soderburgh
• Tilda Swinton
• Julie Taymor
• John Waters

They are all still out there doing their thing, and for that I am grateful.

BOWIE LIVES.