Grave Matters

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“The fence around a cemetery is foolish, for those inside can't get out, and those outside don't want to get in.” Arthur Brisbane

We never drove past a cemetery without my father asking two questions:

“Why is there a fence around that cemetery?” and “How many dead people are buried there?” I have continued this silly little tradition with my own family. But seriously…I am NOT one to hang around grave yards, although they do make an interesting place for an occasional visit. My children have made rubbings of my grandparents’ headstones, both buried in Arlington National Cemetery. We’ve seen some very old graves in Massachusetts and here in Texas. This past week I visited enough to last me for a while.

I started out in Vicksburg National Military Park, which preserves the site of the American Civil War Battle of Vicksburg, waged from May 18 to July 4, 1863. The park, also commemorates the greater Vicksburg Campaign, which preceded the battle. Reconstructed forts and trenches evoke memories of the 47-day siege that ended in the surrender of the city. Victory here and at Port Hudson gave the United States control of the Mississippi River.

Vicksburg National Cemetery is within the park. It has 18,244 interments (12,954 unidentified). That’s 71%. Date of Civil War interments: 1866-1874. Along with the Vietnam “War”, the Civil War Years have to be some of the saddest days of our history.

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The small square stones are for unidentified soldiers.

"BIVOUAC OF THE DEAD"

http://www.cem.va.gov/hist/BODpoem.asp for the entire poem.

He just looks so cold and lonely.

We also took a side trip to Natchez, MS, the oldest city on the Mississippi River. The Natchez National Cemetery is located on the Bluff overlooking the river.

These "draped vases" always make me think of they are "headless".

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Church Streeet in Port Gibson. The “Hand to God”? We had to stop and take a closer look. It beckoned us as we entered the city.

Ivy on church Street

This past weekend I was in DC/VA and visited the Historic Congressional Cemetery, founded in 1807. My sister and I entered the gatehouse and were welcomed, handed a map, and directed to the sign-in book. The woman asked if this was our first time. Yes… She then asked if we were going to work inside or outside. Uhhh, we’re tourists. Is it OK to just walk around? LOL It was volunteer day and as we soon saw, the house was filled with people doing paperwork and more outside doing lawn work. She told us to feel free to clean any of the graves as we wandered.

Armed with a map, we began our wandering. One of the first graves we noticed was that of Leonard Matlovich, gay-rights activist and Air Force veteran. I was very moved and immediately knelt down to clean this gravesite. We brushed the leaves away and uncovered the little plant growing in the corner.

On a less somber note, there is the grave of Mary Ann Hall. You can use your cell phone to dial up the “story’ at different sites.Mary was known for her famous "house" and the infamous women who lived within, and the famous men who visited!

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Mary Ann Hall, long a resident of Washington. With integrity unquestioned, a heart ever open to appeals of distress, a charity that was boundless, she is gone; but her memory will be kept green by many who knew her sterling worth.

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http://www.si.edu/ahhp/madam/index.html

Figure Mary Hall's plot.

Civil War photographer Mathew Brady He was hit by a bus in Dec but lived until mid-January. There are two headstones for him. I guess someone jumped the gun a bit on the first one.

f W

Many of the tombstones have tilted or tumbled from extreme fluctuations in the weather. art e of distress, a charity that her st

What is this.. a picnic table?

There are two Cemeteries I still want to visit.

One is Père Lachaise Cemetery, established by Napoleon I in 1804. Although I’ve been to Paris several times, this is just one place we never got around to seeing. Along with must-see Oscar Wilde (I’ve read everything) and Jim Morrison (The first person to die that greatly affected me at the time.), there are quite a few interesting and famous souls there.

Rossini, Italian composer

Seurat, artist,

Simone Signoret, actress

Honoré de Balzac , writer

Bizet, composer

Chopin , composer (although his heart is entombed in a pillar in the Church of the Holy Cross in Warsaw, Poland)

Colette, Writer

Jean-François Champollion, Egyptologist, decipherer of hieroglyphic text

Eugene Delacroix, painter

Édith Piaf

Proust

The other is the Long Island National Cemetery, where my father is buried. I have never been back since the day of his funeral. Gone too soon. Miss you Dad.

US NAVY KOREA

DATE OF BIRTH: 12/01/1930

DATE OF DEATH: 08/25/1977

Oh, almost forgot… ;-)

A: People are dying to get in

A: All of them.

Once again, it is travel time

Update:  PUT YOUR NAME ON IT!   In the bag, on the bag.  Somewhere on EVERYTHING you might leave along your travels.   I also include an itinerary/address  Home address and info as well as where I am headed and for how long.  Personal address or hotel info.
I say this because over the years I have come across so many items people lose.  Wallets, phones, books, ear buds, makeup bags, purses, jackets, folders with your work material.   Yes, wallets and purses.   

As we approach this seasonal travel time, this is just a reminder to travelers, whether you are a frequent one or a once-a-year flier.

*3-1-1, is still in effect…"three ounces (of liquid), a one-quart bag, and only one bag per person".

*Passports required for all international travel.

*TSA now requires the name on your boarding pass to match exactly to the name on your ID.

And the latest: To scan or not to scan.

http://www.tsa.gov/travelers/airtravel/screening/index.shtm

This site actually has very good information about special needs and travel with family.  However, if you "opt opt", be prepared for the best sex you've had in years!   LOL  (Just Kidding)  But you WILL be patted down and felt up as the TSA look for whatever they think you might be hiding.  I have been told you will need to remove things usually left in your pockets.  Plastic, leather, and other non-metal items.  Also you must remove your belt.  Hope your pants don't fall down! 

 Special note to the ladies: Gel-filled bras are permitted through security screening and aboard aircraft.  ;-)

It doesn't matter if you are going home for the holidays, headed for the beach, or just taking time off from school or work. If you are traveling by plane, LISTEN UP.

Know the local time. When you start out in NYC and connect in MSP for another flight to LAX, you pass through several time zones.
There are 24 hours in a day, so there are 24 time zones. If you are traveling in an easterly direction you move your watch forwards, if you are moving in a westerly direction you move it backwards. Your flight will be departing using the local time!

Gates Change. Every morning gates are assigned for the day. However if one plane is late leaving, (mechanical, waiting for bags, waiting for passengers, getting the cockpit windows cleaned, changing a tire) then the next plane assigned to that gate has to park elsewhere. So before you go running to the gate posted on the boarding card that you got very early in the morning, check the TV Monitors or ask an agent.

Most gates have some sort of signage...an LED sign, or one that the agent manually posts, that displays the destination city over the door. If you see a city that is NOT where you are headed at the gate listed on your boarding card, DO NOT JUST SIT THERE!!!! ASK SOMEONE!

(See Gate Change above)

Boarding cards. This is not the bible. Nor is it written in stone. LOOK at yours. Is there a seat assignment? Does it say CHECK IN AT GATE? If you do not have a seat assignment, it might mean that your flight is oversold. Airlines typically sell more seats than a plane actually has. You need to let the agent working the flight know that you need a seat. (They already KNOW this but a polite I am here is always good.) Usually they will ask for someone to take another flight for compensation. YOU TOO may ask for this compensation.

Why do airlines do this? Well, sometimes people miss flights. They sit in the bar thinking they still have another hour before their flight leaves (See local time above) Sometimes they sit at the wrong gate either watching Airport CNN, using a laptop, or talking on the phone. (See gates change above)

Weather. Or not. You look out the window and the sun is shining. You call your sister in SFO and she says the sun is shining. The airline says there is a weather delay. You say WTF?

There is the possibility that there is weather enroute. Planes fly through clouds. You do NOT want to fly through storm clouds. If the pilot does not want to fly into or around bad weather, I would agree with him! If the pilot doesn’t want to up in the air, then YOU SHOULD NOT WANT TO EITHER. He (or she) is the better judge and also has the last word on whether it is SAFE to fly.

Did you know that if a plane CANNOT land at its destination, because of weather, it WILL NOT TAKE OFF until it is assured that it can land when it gets there!

ATC. Air Traffic Control. Often related to weather. Flight delays often occur when too many planes are scheduled to use the runways. Some are held in a circling pattern until there is space to land.

If you are delayed and miss your connection because of weather or ATC, the airline is not obligated to provide amenities or compensation to you. They will NOT hold the plane for you. Unless you are a group of at least ten. Or more. Then maybe they will hold the plane. But don’t bet on it.

Documentation. If you leave the United States, you need some proof of citizenship to return. You probably need this same proof to enter a foreign country. Canada and Mexico eh? que? are NOT part of the United States.

We can no longer flow easily across borders and sometimes the Immigration officials like to mess with us. Originals are needed. Forgeries and your fake college ID are NOT to be shown to anyone official. This will NOT get you a drink.

If you are a UK citizen traveling anywhere outside the United Kingdom or Eire you will need your passport. Even if you travel within the European Union (where the free movement of people has been established under the Treaty of Maastricht), you will still need your passport. If you are from one of the other member countries of the European Union you can travel to member countries using your identity card instead of your passport.

Some countries of the European Union have signed the Shengen Agreement which has effectively removed all barriers between them. It is possible to travel from one country to another without any border controls at all. Passport and custom controls are used when you leave the Shengen Agreement area.

Although this sounds simple, the situation for UK citizens is slightly more complicated. Each member country of the EU has to say which of its citizens are accepted as European citizens. Because the UK has not approved some nationals as full European citizens, you need to be clear on your position traveling to Europe.

Please check the rules which apply to YOU before you depart.

Pack what you need.

Food: Knowing you will not starve to death while on the plane is nice to know.

Medication: NEVER,EVER put this in a checked bag. It is very difficult (sometimes impossible) to retrieve your bag when you need that Rx.

Stuff: If you have children, pack things for them. EXTRA diapers, food, small entertainment.

Security checkpoint. It is a part of life now. Whether we like it or not, whether we support the system that put it in place or not, we WILL need to pass through the metal detectors. You will need to show ID. You will need to remove your shoes (note to self: wear socks without holes) If your usual attire includes studs, chains, multiple piercings in concealed places, and other assorted metallic bangles, well, yes, you will beep. Deal with it. You already know you look hot.

Crowds. Plan on it. Traffic. Plan on it. Remember, it is better to be a lot early than a little late.

Now. Go watch Home for the Holidays with Holly Hunter and Robert Downey or Planes, Trains & Automobiles and send me a post card from someplace exotic.

PHEW… "Maybe NOW I can get back to filing my nails and reading my magazine", said the gate agent.

Update on 2009: So Far So Good.

Well, I made it to Chicago without a hitch. Ride from ORD, and dinner with my sis-in-law. The next morning (up WAY too early) she drove me into town. I had a room at the Hard Rock Hotel. Now, I have never even been to a HR Café, but this hotel had the best location and the best room rate. I was on the Rolling Stones floor with Bono etched on my mirror.

I stopped to ask the concierge about train info. He was rather snooty to me when I could not remember the name of the venue! I did have the address so I asked him to google it…please. He asked who I was seeing there. I grinned…AFI. He paused and then said…”Oh that man is SO nice, such a sweet guy. They stayed here last time they were in town.” WHAT!!!!????? And not THIS time!!?? He was much nicer to me after that, even taking me to the room before I left when I thought I had left something behind.

The train was a block and a half for the hotel, and a block and a half from the venue. Got there early and met some nice people in line. The show was sold out and the DF line was long. I got a good spot on the second rail. Some guy right below me did a double take on me and said “Hi mom”.

I replied. “I am not mom today.”

“Don’t you have kids here?”

“Nope. I am here for the show. I am a huge fan.”

Seems he did not believe I was a true fan. So I showed him my latest ink. He asked if I had seen him today before the show. Nope. Got that in PIT. He still didn’t understand. I explained that Jade signed my shoulder in PIT and I had permanently inked it upon my body with the Crash Heart around it. Then I showed him my Sing the Sorrow band and only then did he believe! LOL

Then we waited outside. Two hours later a club security guy said the band had gone out the front door. Some left but several still waited. Smith came out and told us he was the “consolation prize”. He’s so nice. I told him he was Saint Smith for all he did.d He said, “Awww I’m not a saint.” I asked for a pix with him. But the pix was blurred and I said I had no idea how to work the camera. He took it and bingbingbing he had it in the correct mode and gave it back to me. I asked him to sign my wristband and he drew a little pix with hat and beard. Told him he looked amish. LOL Yeah… he really is a saint. At 1:30 am I finally gave up, heading off for the train and hotel.

There were only two others waiting for the train. I felt a bit unsettled but these two guys didn't seem to be interested in bothering me! Then I discovered the HEAT BOX! OMG it radiated warmth as I stood there in my T-shirt. Why does NYC not have these? I could have used them when I commuted. But... by the time the train arrived the platform was filled with people and I never felt a moment of alarm.

Back in the RW after spending the whole day trying to get on a flight out of ORD. Ahh the perks of my job. But I am happy I got to see the boys one more time. Next week HOUSTON!

Tiger Army or...I'm infamous

Octoberflame 3: Nothing in the World like a Southern, Ca Night

TIGER ARMY plays Anahiem THIS Fri & Sat! | MySpace Video

2009 So Far So Good

I started this year with no anticipation of travel. NO real plans and only the vague “let’s try to go see the #1kid” possibility. I was in VA/DC for New Year’s Eve but it was an uneventful “daughter duty” trip and I headed home on NY’s day.

The following week the Delightful DDD was doing her After Iraq Tour and I was lucky to be one of her stops. We giggled like girls and enjoyed the visit.

February was week one of vacation so the man and I headed to FLA. Flew into MIA and a leisurely drive down to Key West. Two nights on Islamorada and a visit to a very old family friend. Neither of us had been there before. Good food, wandering in town and on beach.

Planning a trip for the second part of the week but Kid2 decided to come here for a visit. If we are lucky he will stop by to see us. We lure him with dinners out.

March brings a short visit to SFO lugging 3 bags of computer stuff to the kid. Lunch with Loupgarou on the beach. Always fun!

March also brings an ill wind of second badly broken leg for Malaikah the cat and my very first EVER sick day with the flu. Man and I see Les Misérables here in H Town. Nowhere near as good as the LON production, but another notch in his Less Miserable belt.

May Another Official Vacation Week and I make quick plans for a NC Road Trip! Flew into GSO and drove to Winston-Salem. CW Eldridge of tattooarchives.com works his magic again, then Dinner in Durham with a cousin who shared many of my childhood summers. Off to Fayetteville and dinners with DDD and several military museums. I find I can drive on my own with man as navigator.

Then the BIG TRIP to Seoul Korea. I laugh when I think of how many people actually asked me if I was going to NORTH or SOUTH Korea. Well, technically, I did visit both as we walked around the table into the North Korean side of the room at Panmunjom. This was my first trip to Asia. ( I really don’t count crossing the bridge in Istanbul) The sights and sounds and food are incredible and I loved every moment of it, including the one day of pouring rain.

June had Kid2 coming here for …was it 2 months? Did he come and go? We hardly see him while he is here so I tend to forget. :-\ I stayed put and actually earned a decent pay check.

July DDD pops in to be my date for RANCID. We are center, 3^rd from the rail. I survive the pit! *go me*. We both have a departure flight at 7PM Sunday and I head back to VA/DC for “duty” and VNV Nation show at the 9:30 Club.

August A 2 day trip to NC turns into a week as we deal with family issues. We do eat very well, having German, Jamaican, Chinese and good ole American BBQ. Dinner with friends from HS.

September Three day trip to SFO. Lunch with a friend from grade school, dinners with Kid2 and Loupgarou. Trip to the SF zoo. The tigers are lazy and the lion is watching us. Green Day’s American Idiot at the Berkeley Rep Theatre is fantastic! We meet Tony Vincent on the BART.

I started buying AFI tickets, dreading that I might not have the time off. Pittsburgh, Boston, and Houston already in my hands. I still have one more official week of vacation and the probability that my work hours will be devoured by others seeking to make more $$$.

October Well, I ended up taking the whole month off! First trip to PIT. Hook up with 3 other friends, and Menace, DDD, and I Crash Love at the Marge's home. Fantastic show, JP and DH come out after. I spent Monday trying to get home. New ink for me.

The following weekend to NC again with the man. We spend Monday trying to get home. Do i sense a pattern here?

BOS: Hang with sister, dinner with good friend, AFI. ON the side rail turns out to be THE BEST place to view. Home again on a Tuesday w/o problems.

CHI: Packing ... more later. Yes. another show. Solo this time.

Life is good. Or as good as it can be. :-)

Everything is for the best in the best of all possible worlds. Dr Pangloss

What in the World?

Recently I was telling someone about our very own Funeral Museum here in North Houston and the Prison Museum up in Huntsville. Two very interesting and often thought provoking places to visit. This led to stories of other strange places I’ve visited. I am NOT talking Ripley’s Believe it or not. These are real Museums.

Paris. Think Jean Valjean in Les Misérables, running through the Paris sewers. Less Miserable, as I call it. Of course we would go there. In 1980, it was basically a hole in the ground and a small theatre with a French-only video playing. I used my high school French to ask if we could see the video again using the English headphones (as everyone else was hustled back out). In 2000 we took our kids there. The sewer museum is now a guided tour (albeit in French), a self explanatory video show, and a gift shop. Yes, you can see the sewage floating by as you lean over the railing to look. The smell is actually more of a disinfectant right there, but the theatre area still has an …aroma, that makes you wrinkle your nose.

Istanbul. It is only one room, but if you are a James Bond fan (as the man is) you will know that From Russia With Love has a famous sewer scene. Our personal tour guide probably thought we were nuts, but he took us there and paid the insignificant fee for us to enter. What you see is cavernous room, not the long and convoluted course the movie makes us think it is. I hear it is now big on the tourist map, but back then, pretty much unheard of.

Paris Cartacombs (the “municipal Ossuary”)

We went early on a Sunday. We passed 2 other visitors and one lone guard sitting deep inside. It was eerily quiet as we walked. The only sound was our feet crunching on the gravel path and our whispered words. The arranged bones were…creepy. As you leave they check you bag to make sure you didn’t take any souvenirs.

London. Soane Museum is the house and Museum of Sir John Soane’s collections. Admission is free to this packed house. If you are wearing a coat or backpack, they suggest you leave it hanging as there is little room to turn and frequent possibility of knocking into something. Many things are reproductions but the sheer number and variety is wonderful. No photos allowed. Oooops!

Cairo. A zoo might not be the highlight of your Egypt trip, but we like zoos. Our free time was not spent resting, but seeking out the more local attractions. The Giza Zoo opened on March 1, 1891. There were a few groups of people, mostly school girls, it seemed. They found ME interesting and touched my bare arms. This is not unusual in non-western parts of the world.

For a fee of about 10cents, we entered the Taxidermy Exhibit of Egyptian and foreign embalmed birds, reptiles, fish and animals as well as skeletons dating back to the 1800’s. Many were bagged before anyone thought about conservation. They were trophies. The rooms are dark and musty, the specimens a bit dusty, but awesome to see.

Cairo Museum Mummy Room. Opened to the public in 2006, these treasures were still hidden from visitors back in 1982. A museum guard, with gestures and limited English, indicated he would take us into closed off section. Hoping we would not be mummified ourselves, we followed him. There on glass enclosed shelves were dozens of royal mummies in various stages of preservation. We wandered and gazed as our “guide” pointed out specific items and rambled on in Arabic. We tipped him well and thanked him profusely when we slipped out of this forbidden area.

Seoul Seodaemun Prison Museum. Neat and pristine grounds and displays are juxtaposed with torture devices, enhanced with audio screams. Basically it is a museum of Japanese torture of the Korean people through the years. I was appalled at the visual and audio displays but we saw several families with young children who seemed to all have fun entering the various torture chambers to see how they worked for themselves!!

Smithsonian DC Insect Zoo. Check THAT one out if you want to touch the creepy crawlers.