Saturday 8, Dead People Edition
Saturday 8.
1. my friend's dad refused to let him create a formal funeral for him. some people need to grieve with a such a ceremony. do you need a formal "goodbye" to properly grieve?
I don't know. I've never had somebody die that was close enough for a grieving period to be necessary. As for what some people need...well, if they need it that bad, let them hold their own. I think people should respect the wishes of the deceased whenever possible. Not that people actually do that.
2. we're getting together with a huge BBQ and lots of alcohol, which was his request, in a few weeks to memorialise him. would you prefer this to a formal ceremony?
I'd prefer everybody go away and leave me to a peaceful afterlife, but I know that's not gonna happen. They're gonna want to have a wake and all that bullshit. I don't really express a preference because a] I'm not gonna be there, so it's not like I'm directly involved; and b] nobody fucking listens to me now, so why should they when I'm dead?
3. i plan on having a mausoleum to be buried in, full of fat little marble cherubs and a nice place for my kids to come and sit & talk to me after i go. what's your final resting place going to look like?
Either an urn of some kind or just the outdoors [if whoever ends up in charge of my ashes decides to scatter them]. I can't imagine anybody needing to come talk to me when I'm dead. I'd probably be reincarnated or traveling to other planets anyway, so it's not like I'd answer.
4. my friend is out of touch with everyone, which is understandable. however, he's not even ringing up his live-in girlfriend to keep her apprised of his plans. his mother, on the other hand, is on the phone nonstop talking to everyone. when you grieve, do you shut yourself away from friends/family, or do you need them there with you to help ease the pain?
See 1.
5. the first pet i lost was a marmalade tom named herman. herman got eaten by an alligator (no, i'm serious). i remember being 5 yrs. old and my parents telling me that herman was seen getting gobbled up by an alligator. who was the first pet you lost as a child?
I don't remember. We lived in the country when I was little, so there were a lot of pets, and a lot of tragedies involving highways and stupid motorists [and/or stupid cats].
6. when i was about 9 years old, my friend and her brothers were killed in a drunk-driving accident. it was the first funeral i'd ever gone to. do you remember your first funeral?
Vaguely. I've only been to one; it was an elderly uncle. I didn't go look at the body.
7. for centuries, people have been buried in mass graves due to disease, convenience, or war crimes, etc. do you feel mass graves are ok because we're simply a mass of cells which can be broken down, or do you feel that every single person who dies deserves a solitary resting place with a marker, etc.?
I don't know that I'd say it's ok; but in the end, it's not like it matters all that much, except in relation to the deceased's wishes and the family's desire to have a place to go. However, should a person need to be exhumed, it's a hell of a lot easier to do it from a single grave than from a mass one.
If you let nature take its course instead of having yourself pickled and hermetically sealed in a box,* whether you have your own grave becomes irrelevant after a couple hundred years anyway, just because there's nothing left--unless you arrange to be buried in a peat bog or something.
8. OT question - i have a work semi-formal ceremony to go to tonight. are you the type that likes to go to company-sponsored lavish events where everyone dresses up to hit the open bar with free gourmet food, OR would you prefer something that's quiet and more reserved, like a "thank-you" lunch?
I don't mind quieter functions, as long as there's something there I can eat. If I have to dress up like I'm gonna address the UN, just to have a meal--fuck that. For the price of the formal wear, I could stay home, pig out on snacks and DVD rentals, and have a much better time than those poor sods in their monkey suits and cocktail dresses having to be polite to their boss while he breathes gin breath all over them and tries to paw them at the buffet. And you know, you'd think after all the decades of company picnics and parties, that someone would realise that alcohol and co-workers do not go together. No thanks.
So there.
same bitch time, same bitch channel...
__________
*See, this is where I seriously lose respect for Christians who think that their bodies have to be preserved for the Second Coming. You've been dead and rotting for how many centuries; how great is this really gonna be for you? Also, is God such a cheapskate that he can't give you new bodies?
12 And the Lord said, "What happened to thy bodies that I gave thee?"
13 And the people said, "They rotted, and are become earth a thousand years since."
14 And the Lord said, "Damn, dost thou not take care of anything I give thee? See if I ever give thee anything nice again."
1. my friend's dad refused to let him create a formal funeral for him. some people need to grieve with a such a ceremony. do you need a formal "goodbye" to properly grieve?
I don't know. I've never had somebody die that was close enough for a grieving period to be necessary. As for what some people need...well, if they need it that bad, let them hold their own. I think people should respect the wishes of the deceased whenever possible. Not that people actually do that.
2. we're getting together with a huge BBQ and lots of alcohol, which was his request, in a few weeks to memorialise him. would you prefer this to a formal ceremony?
I'd prefer everybody go away and leave me to a peaceful afterlife, but I know that's not gonna happen. They're gonna want to have a wake and all that bullshit. I don't really express a preference because a] I'm not gonna be there, so it's not like I'm directly involved; and b] nobody fucking listens to me now, so why should they when I'm dead?
3. i plan on having a mausoleum to be buried in, full of fat little marble cherubs and a nice place for my kids to come and sit & talk to me after i go. what's your final resting place going to look like?
Either an urn of some kind or just the outdoors [if whoever ends up in charge of my ashes decides to scatter them]. I can't imagine anybody needing to come talk to me when I'm dead. I'd probably be reincarnated or traveling to other planets anyway, so it's not like I'd answer.
4. my friend is out of touch with everyone, which is understandable. however, he's not even ringing up his live-in girlfriend to keep her apprised of his plans. his mother, on the other hand, is on the phone nonstop talking to everyone. when you grieve, do you shut yourself away from friends/family, or do you need them there with you to help ease the pain?
See 1.
5. the first pet i lost was a marmalade tom named herman. herman got eaten by an alligator (no, i'm serious). i remember being 5 yrs. old and my parents telling me that herman was seen getting gobbled up by an alligator. who was the first pet you lost as a child?
I don't remember. We lived in the country when I was little, so there were a lot of pets, and a lot of tragedies involving highways and stupid motorists [and/or stupid cats].
6. when i was about 9 years old, my friend and her brothers were killed in a drunk-driving accident. it was the first funeral i'd ever gone to. do you remember your first funeral?
Vaguely. I've only been to one; it was an elderly uncle. I didn't go look at the body.
7. for centuries, people have been buried in mass graves due to disease, convenience, or war crimes, etc. do you feel mass graves are ok because we're simply a mass of cells which can be broken down, or do you feel that every single person who dies deserves a solitary resting place with a marker, etc.?
I don't know that I'd say it's ok; but in the end, it's not like it matters all that much, except in relation to the deceased's wishes and the family's desire to have a place to go. However, should a person need to be exhumed, it's a hell of a lot easier to do it from a single grave than from a mass one.
If you let nature take its course instead of having yourself pickled and hermetically sealed in a box,* whether you have your own grave becomes irrelevant after a couple hundred years anyway, just because there's nothing left--unless you arrange to be buried in a peat bog or something.
8. OT question - i have a work semi-formal ceremony to go to tonight. are you the type that likes to go to company-sponsored lavish events where everyone dresses up to hit the open bar with free gourmet food, OR would you prefer something that's quiet and more reserved, like a "thank-you" lunch?
I don't mind quieter functions, as long as there's something there I can eat. If I have to dress up like I'm gonna address the UN, just to have a meal--fuck that. For the price of the formal wear, I could stay home, pig out on snacks and DVD rentals, and have a much better time than those poor sods in their monkey suits and cocktail dresses having to be polite to their boss while he breathes gin breath all over them and tries to paw them at the buffet. And you know, you'd think after all the decades of company picnics and parties, that someone would realise that alcohol and co-workers do not go together. No thanks.
So there.
same bitch time, same bitch channel...
__________
*See, this is where I seriously lose respect for Christians who think that their bodies have to be preserved for the Second Coming. You've been dead and rotting for how many centuries; how great is this really gonna be for you? Also, is God such a cheapskate that he can't give you new bodies?
12 And the Lord said, "What happened to thy bodies that I gave thee?"
13 And the people said, "They rotted, and are become earth a thousand years since."
14 And the Lord said, "Damn, dost thou not take care of anything I give thee? See if I ever give thee anything nice again."
posted by Frida | 10:29 AM
1 Comments:
that last bit is freaking hilarious. i spit out my coffee laughing! ;)
i've always wondered about the tattoo/piercing thing with jewish faith. can't God just fill in the space?
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