This is turning into a regular feature. Imma hava date ’em.
What with one thing and another, the Southern Indiana Writers Group meeting last night turned to the subject of funerals. Member Ginny Fleming said, “My funeral is the one you want to go to. It’s gonna be on the beach, with Jimmy Buffett music and margaritas and mojitos.”
We were all like, “Cool! I can’t wait! –Oh, did I just say that out loud?”
Which, today, has me thinking of the Chad Mitchell Trio’s song, A Dying Business. Here’s the only video I could find of it. The visuals leave something to be desired, but it’s the song, anyway.
Well, that was tasteful, wasn’t it?
On a related note, are you tired of vampires who are just misunderstood sadpeople? Dave Anderson, author of Killer Cows, is. He’s written an uncharacteristically dark dystopian apocalyptic vampire short story.
If you’re into eBook publishing or just want a peep inside the whole business to see some of the things involved in do-it-yourself marketing, I recommend E-book Endeavors, a blog by fantasy author Lindsay Buroker. Lots of good stuff there.
WRITING PROMPT: What kind of funeral would you die to have?
MA
Bodie P
March 18, 2011 at 11:01amI want my Grandpa’s funeral, which turned into a twofer when my uncle, who was videotaping the event, died unexpectedly. They had to move the funeral. Everybody picked up their chair, somebody grabbed Grandpa’s urn, and somebody else grabbed the video camera (which was running throughout my uncle’s heart attack and subsequent efforts to revive him until somebody kicked it over), and they set up shop in the next open chapel to the right. Or left. The kicker for me was that they SET UP THE CAMERA AGAIN. This time right in front of the room, where video viewers could see the faces of the stunned guests. When another uncle (who survivied the event) called to tell us what had happened it started out, “I have good news and bad news…”
It sounds horrible, but the reality was that my uncle’s decision to hitch hike with Grandpa on his ride to Glory was so very bizarre that it kicked grief over into black humor. And the worse the stories got, the funnier it was. And it gets even funnier when I throw in the time that Grandpa broke his neck (he survived, or it wouldn’t have been funny). I could just see Grandpa and my uncle, razzing the life out of each other–they would have both loved the joke–and they would have both told the story every chance they got. Since they can’t tell it around here anymore, I’ve taken it upon myself to leap into the breach.
Marian Allen
March 18, 2011 at 4:25pmOh my gosh, that’s… EPIC! I can hear your Grandpa saying, “It’s always gotta be about you, doesn’t it? –BWA-ha-ha-ha-ha!”
SarahG
March 18, 2011 at 11:29pmOkay, that really IS the most bizarre funeral story I’ve ever heard.
Lindsay
March 19, 2011 at 12:48pmThanks for mentioning my site, Marian! And congratulations on getting a story into Sword and Sorceress! Even if I’m more steampunk than S&S these days, I always enjoy that anthology. 😉