The Twister
The gravestones can be seen now, from the far side of Meadow Lake. They rise, chunks of slate embedded into a green hill, into a blue sky, looking like a skyline for a town of the dead. Massive oak...
View ArticleLaughing at Funerals
If you’ve been to many funerals you know that emotions are raw and grief can easily tip over into hysteria. That hysteria usually takes the form of tears but it can also take the form of laughter....
View ArticleLife Lessons from a Chinese Food Market
Bowrington Rd Market in Hong Kong As some of you know, I spent the past summer in Hong Kong. I was there for an internship helping people apply to the UN for refugee status. This will be nothing at all...
View ArticleMurray Sentenced Today for Jackson’s Death – UPDATED
Conrad Murray, M.D., was sentenced to four years in jail for the death of Michael Jackson. Before an expressionless and haggard looking Murray, Judge Michael Pastor, at times reading from the criminal...
View ArticleIt’s Time to be Afraid of H5N1 Again
The Dutch are at it again. Just creating weapons of mass destruction all willy nilly like. Now the guy wants to publish how he made it! The audacity of spreading knowledge! Seriously though, this guy...
View ArticleThe Somber Ritual of Clearing Out Someone’s House
Surely there’s a better word, or term, for this function than what I’ve come up with in the title here, but I can’t lay my hand on it just now. What it is, is when someone has died or gone into a...
View ArticleThe Most Honest Obituary Ever Written
Val Patterson passed away on July 10th, but had the foresight to write his own obituary and he had a few things to get off his chest. His obituary is a model for how all future obituaries should be...
View ArticleQOTD: Tell Us About Your Near Death Experience
It’s 2009. My mother retired and moved to Maui. Visiting her twice a year was expensive. During one visit, I decided to save some money and got a rental car from a place akin to Rent-A-Wreck. I got...
View ArticleThe Death of Fred Phelps
I remember the first time I heard of Fred Phelps and his “church.” It was around the time of Matthew Shepard. The Westboro Baptist Church protested his funeral and wrote lots of horrid stuff about him....
View ArticleShould I Get Life Insurance and What Kind Should I Get?
Life insurance can be a wise and prudent way to mitigate risk and it can be a terrible investment vehicle. Don’t get left with too little coverage or the wrong kind with this easy guide. First let’s...
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