Alas, always Elvis Presley's crypt

Once someone buys Elvis Presley's unoccupied crypt, will it remain a memorial to the King? Burial sites preserve memories, and the persona of Elvis is one of the largest monuments in our collective story. What person could possibly overcome the force of the man's fame? This tomb will forever be the place where Elvis once lay, no matter who comes to fill it next. As admirable as that is, it is also asphyxiating. All things must end, even memories. Hanging onto them is like being stranded in the sea and missing the solid ground a short swim away because we focus on clutching a piece of our destroyed vessel. You live, but what life?

The auctioneer sells us a chance to be remembered with the King. The buyer, and the dead he brings, should try to be more.

But forget all that. Get out your $100,000, start bidding and be remembered as the guy who was buried in Elvis's crypt.

Artwork of Elvis Presley selling for $37 million is a warning about social imbalances

I understand that art is always worth as much as it will sell for. But when I heard $37 million was paid for an Andy Warhol painting of the King, and that "The Scream" fetched $120 million, I felt something was deeply wrong with our world.

Life is unfair. It's often unfair to the individual advantage of a citizen of a developed nation. But witnessing massive fortunes being spent on single piece of artwork – while unrest, unemployment and poverty claim huge portions of the global population – causes me to think that this order of things truly cannot last. Some people can't buy food, yet others can drop tens of millions on an object? I realize this class of rich citizens is purchasing the cultural significance of the object, not the object itself, but that kind of imbalance cannot hold. Food is a necessity. And as important and fascinating as Warhol's artwork is, I will survive, perhaps less richly, without it.