Ramblings: Viva Death!!!

The Houston Funeral Museum is very interesting. Tastefully historical, factual information. Dare I say fun? The fantasy coffins of Kane Quaye will bring a smile. Yes, some of the displays are thought provoking. There are articles of mourning clothing, jewelry, and adornment. Funeral and embalming equipment. Caskets and coffins. (yes, there IS a difference) And hearses from around the world. http://www.nmfh.org/

Imagine my surprise when, wandering through the museum with DDD, we both started tossing out random thoughts of how we wanted our own funeral to go. Imagine how astounded we both were to find another person with the same thoughts. It's not morbid. It's more like…preparation. And for us, it is for a celebration!

We would see a display of commemorative booklets and say, "Oh yeah. That's what I want." Sorta like the booklets for the Eagle Scout Ceremony. And for the mourners to take home. And an open bar.

"Music." I said. "We'll need music."

D replied, "Yeah, like Sha na na na Hey Hey…Goodbye."

"Exactly. Or… The Beatles. You say hello, and I say goodbye."

We spent a pleasant time wandering and snapping pictures. Later we would think of more songs for our Farewell Party as we were calling it. It has been a labor of love. Nothing morbid about it. We've selected songs because they have meaning for us or because they are just fun "goodbye" songs. Listen to them some time ... REALLY listen to the lyrics.

CD1 for LL

The Byrds                           Turn Turn Turn
Green Day                          Good Riddance
Elton John                           Circle of Life
U2                                     Still Haven't found what I'mlooking for
TheAcademyIs                  Everything we had
AFI                                    Of Greetings and Goodbyes
Beatles                               Hello Goodbye
Brian Eno                            And Ending (ascent)
Kermit                                 Rainbow Connection
MCR                                    Helena
Norman Greenbaum           Spirit in the Sky
SemiSonic                            Closing Time
Tiger Army                           Afterworld
VNV Nation                         Beloved
Frank Sinatra                        My way

CD 2 for DD

Depeche Mode            Blasphemous Rumors
Judy Garland                Somewhere over the rainbow
Kansas                         Dust in the Wind
Louis Armstrong           What a wonderful world
Monty Python               Always Look on the Bright Side of Life
The Pogues                  Parting Glass
Semisonic                     Closing time
Steam                          Sha Na Na
The Smiths                   Girlfriend in a Coma
The Sound of Music       So Long, Farewell
The Stranglers              Let me Down Easy
The Tramps                  Disco Inferno (burn baby burn) For the cremation!
The Verve                    Bittersweet Symphony
Tiger Army                   Afterworld

CD3 for the heck of it. We just don't want the party to end yet.

30 Seconds to Mars    A modern Myth
Prince                          1999
The Ramones               What a Wonderful world

?????????? ??????

No, I am not dying! Ok, well, we ALL are dying…."Since I was born I started to decay." But this I am planning. Whether it is a meal, my job, a vacation, or my funeral, I do like to be prepared. Do as much as I can ahead of time. I also plan on sticking around a bit longer. I hold an organ donor card and they can slice and dice me however they want AFTER I go. But give me a fighting change BEFORE you pull the plug, ok?

I will continue to pray to God and/or the gods for DDD's safe and eventual retirement when we can meet again, share drinks and giggles, maybe get some ink together, listen to some good music, and cause some ruckus wherever we might be.

So help us out. If you have something we might like, tell us. We really hope to be around for a long, long time yet. But… one never knows.