Day of the Dead

I’ve ruminated before about the somewhat unhealthy attitude Americans have towards death.

Don’t misunderstand me, death is a painful thing for those who survive. Loss–whether unexpected or not–is a hard thing, and even though we may live on past the death of those we love, a small part of us dies with them.

This is not to say we are reduced by every loss we suffer; it’s not a zero sum game, for new people are new relationships will enter our lives, and although they cannot replace those we have lost, they don’t need to.

But back to El Día de los Muertos.

The Day of the Dead is celebrated–and I do mean celebrated–in Mexico and by those of Mexican in the US. It is in some ways similar to the Celtic belief of Samhain, in that it is believed our world is close to another world, and for this time the ghosts of the dead are able to return.

This return, however, is not a haunting as most Americans would probably initially think. The dead are not vengeful and coming back to torment the living, but instead the living decorate the graves of their loved ones, setting out their favorite foods, as well as skull candies and cookies.

What I like is it gives you a chance to remember the good things about those who died. To remember the things that made you laugh, and the things you loved.

When I die, I don’t want people to wail and mourn my loss, but I want them instead to laugh and celebrate my life. And although there are some who would like their passing to be rung out with a wailing and gnashing of teeth and rending of garments, for the most part I don’t believe that those who loved us would want us to suffer at their passing.

So today, I ask you to remember those who have died: to remember what you loved and what made you laugh. Take today as a day to celebrate their lives, not to mourn their loss.

Today I remember:

Beth Cave, my grandmother. She loved football and made marvelous mincemeat tarts.

Bob Cave, my grandfather. He loved trains, and every winter would put a board on the pool table in the basement and set up tracks for HO scale trains, including houses and bridges.

We’ve lived here for 8 years, and today we got our first (and so far only) trick-or-treater.

We’ll ignore the fact that her parents had to drive half an hour to bring her, and just enjoy how adorable she is.

A post of Eric’s lead me to MSNBC’s “Most Offensive Costumes of 2009” and although one or two of them may have qualified as offensive, I thought most of them were actually hilarious.

I mean, a Bernie Madoff costume? That’s not offensive, that’s hilarious!

This on the other hand, is both offensive and hilarious. (NOTE: If you aren’t a WVU fan, you probably won’t get the joke. Also, totally safe for work.)
(more…)

Late and delicious breakfast, relaxed stroll, massage, and then a hot shower.

All Mondays should be like this. Hope yours is good, even if it’s not this fabulous.

Despite the assurances of the Disney Express man at the airport, I am not “dazzled” by our hotel.

However, I’m didn’t come to be dazzled, I came to relax and eat. And the salmon I had for dinner was fabulous. So there you go.

Let’s hope tomorrow’s meals are just as good–and that I can get a spa appointment…

Also? It’s surprisingly cool in Florida. Which is fine with me, since I hate the heat.

Also, either our hotel was built by midgets, or they were trying to do it on the cheap, because I can touch the ceilings without stretching.

But tomorrow? Tomorrow starts the relaxing.

Brandon Elliot
10 October 2009
8 pounds, 11 ounces

Congratulations Heather and Andy!

I had a lovely time in Baltimore during Michael’s conference. I even got to see Neurondoc and her family, however, the venue of our meeting wasn’t really suitable for taking pictures, so you’ll just have to take my word for it.

Also, I can’t apparently shoot a straight picture to save my life. I’ll hope they’re a little better after some time in Photoshop. Whenever it is I have time do to that.

(more…)

Happy Talk Like A Pirate Day!

My pirate name is:

Black Ethel Bonney

Like anyone confronted with the harshness of robbery on the high seas, you can be pessimistic at times. You can be a little bit unpredictable, but a pirate’s life is far from full of certainties, so that fits in pretty well. Arr!

Get your own pirate name from fidius.org.

Here be a very nice English t’ Pirate translator page

Labor Day in the United States exists to celebrate the rights that workers in the United States have achieved in the past century, and to give us time to allow those who keep the power on and the trains running and all those other jobs that require you to get your hands dirty, a day to be recognized for their work.

We should remember the past, and some of the incidents that made labor unions so critical:

The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire

Child Labor in the United States

And we should also consider the state of Unions in the US and the status of laborers. By this I don’t mean lawyers and CEOs, but the people who do the work in the service and manufacturing industries: slaughterhouses, commercial farms, coal mines.

We must remember that for those at the bottom, wages have remained stagnant or decreased with inflation, rates of health insurance coverage are falling (while health costs rise), and workplace safety is again becoming an issue, as owners place profits over the safety of their employees.

Bureau of Labor Statistics
National Agricultural Workers Survey
US Department of Labor

Today is a good day to remember those who have lost their lives and their health doing nothing more than trying to make living.

Skipped last week for my birthday, however, today is another birthday. So for this week’s game, we celebrate the Alaskan Amazon, sender of catnip and chocolate, and all around hot chick.

So for today’s game you have a choice. You can play off of the previous word as normal, or you can go back and associate from the original word.

And today’s word is: Tania

I’ve always been delighted to celebrate by birthday–it’s an excuse to eat lots of dessert and make people be nice to me. What more could anyone wish out of a day?

Because of that, I’ve never been upset by the passing of the years. And more importantly, to be honest I never thought I’d live to see 30. No, this isn’t due entirely to me depression. I was a child in the 70s and 80s, and I was quite sure Ronald Reagan was going to start a nuclear war with the Soviets and the world as we know it would be destroyed over political differences. Thus living to 39 so far has come as a surprise and a quite a pleasant one at that.

Though my depression did play a small part in that, which is why a couple years ago I decided that by my 40th birthday I wanted to accept myself for who I am: good, bad, or indifferent. So for the past two years I’ve been working on being OK with myself. This has in no way been an easy task, but I’ve been learning things to make it easier: eating well and exercising are probably at the top of the list. That accomplishes two things: First, I know I’m doing what I can for myself, so that makes acceptance easier. Second, eating decently and exercising make me feel physically better. And feeling physically better makes me feel mentally better.

I’m also doing what I can to learn to deal with my “faults.” My hair is troublesome, so I learned that I have to pay extra for good haircuts and stuff that keeps my hair from being frizzy. I get stressed out and cranky, so I learned that I have to take time for myself, or I make everyone miserable.

Doesn’t mean I still don’t have work ahead of my in the coming year. I’ve never been comfortable in my own skin, so accepting my body is still something I have not truly learned to do. But I’m getting better.

And I think I can do it.

In which case, I think I should have a big celebration next year! Three years of work to accepting myself as well as simply surviving longer than I expected seem like an excellent reason to celebrate. So I’m taking suggestions for how I should celebrate my 40th birthday next year.

Anything within reason will be considered, but please keep in mind that I don’t like the sun very much, so a trip to the beach is not even within the realm of possibility.

So what’da’ya think?

IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776.
THE UNANIMOUS
DECLARATION
OF THE
THIRTEEN UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

WHEN, in the Course of human Events, it becomes necessary for one People to dissolve the Political Bands which have connected them with another, and to assume, among the Powers of the Earth, the separate and equal Station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s GOD entitle them, a decent Respect to the Opinions of Mankind requires that they should declare the Causes which impel them to the Separation.
(more…)

Also, happy birthday to Kathy!

And most importantly: HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!

Yup! It’s my BIRTHDAY! Woo! Everyone should celebrate!

And how should you celebrate? You should celebrate by doing something that makes you happy!

My happy plans including going out to lunch with friends and having molten lava chocolate cakes for dessert!