Greetings!

Pimped Jazzy mobility chair seen at Burning Man.

The Burning Man event has evolved into a week long gathering of nearly 40,000 people who descend on the Black Rock Desert in northwestern Nevada around Labor Day each year to celebrate counter cultural creativity.

In other festival news:

A Burning Man participant was found dead this morning, hanging from the inside of a two-story high tent, according to Mark Pirtle, special agent in charge for the Bureau of Land Management.

The apparent suicide would be the festival’s first in its 21 year history, Pirtle said.

Pershing County coroners are investigating the scene and preparing to remove the body. Pirtle said the man was hanging for two hours before anyone in the large tent thought to bring him down. “His friends thought he was doing an art piece,” Pirtle said.

tip goes to Chatter

One of our clients shared the story of Sir William Wallace, or just “Wallace” to the many friends and family that knew him. Even the three cats he shared a home with are grieving.

Wallace was a well-heeled English Mastiff, large and imposing but gentle in spirit. He was the soccer and rugby team mascot, unofficial therapy dog, companion and major drooler.

Wallace was only five years old but impacted many lives. He died over the weekend from an autoimmune disorder. Wallace was a big boy, weighing in at 200 pounds and his owner needed an adult urn to accommodate his friend plus a few mementos.

His owner knows that in the future he’ll get another dog, but is re-thinking the breed. Wallace was a hand-full based on his size, and near the end it was a team effort to handle him. Not to mention the yearly interior painting that took place, based on the volume of drool that Wallace produced! Despite these minor details, Wallace was a pampered pooch who shared a bed with his owner and one of the cats, owned the couch and was loved by all.

The neighborhood is planning a memorial garden filled with mums this fall in Wallace’s memory.

RIP big boy.

Even if you don’t have a million dollars to re-landscape your outdoor living space, you can still create a memorial garden or outdoor sanctuary in a small space on a shoestring.

Depending on how elaborate you want to get, a bench and a few low maintenance plants will do. Expand on the idea with an arbor, pergola or trellis. Outdoor lighting? You can do it in phases, or as your finances allow. Next season, add a fountain or water feature.

Feel like you need to get your hands dirty and work the earth? What about this intriguing garden design? It can be done on a small scale and filled with easy care plants.

Want to dedicate a tree or sacred spot in the garden? Customize a garden memorial stone or marker from the Urngarden.

It’s never too late to start creating your healing garden, in fact this is a great time to find outdoor furniture, plants and accessories on clearance.

Today’s tip: Create a sanctuary for yourself.

Our summer experiment with Irish Spring as a non-toxic cat repellent has been somewhat successful. Probably more so, had I been shredding and spreading bar soap on a regular basis.

For the Colgate Palmolive R & D people, please develop a shredded blend of the Original Scent bar soap in colors to match popular styles of garden mulch. That is all. Thank you for your consideration.

Today we are touring the Strawberry Fields Memorial Garden in New York’s Central Park. When Yoko Ono and John Lennon lived in the Dakota Apartments, this was one of their favorite places in Central Park.

Today, this 2.5 acre area of the park is dedicated to the memory of John Lennon and named after his famous song “Strawberry Fields Forever”. Yoko Ono donated $1 million toward the re-landscaping and maintenance of Strawberry Fields after it was dedicated to Lennon’s memory in 1981. The memorial garden is home to over 120 different species of plants and trees with a tear drop shaped path that runs through the garden.

The “Imagine” mosaic is a gift from Italy and is a replica of a famous mosaic in Pompeii. The only change from the original is the inclusion of “Imagine” in the center of the mosaic and has become a popular place for visitors to place flowers, pictures and tokens in memory of John Lennon.

On a personal note, Sunday night is now not only Must See TV (HBO), but also our new guilty pleasure: PostSecret . Thanks to the Rodent, I’m hooked.

Today’s tip for better living: Imagine.

After the death of my mother-in-law I started experimenting with making garden stones. They are fun and easy and a great garden expression or gift.

Early experiments yielded thin stones that cracked later. But after we got the hang of it, we produced some masterpieces! I was able to collect a lot of Peggy’s costume jewelry and set pieces into the concrete for some stunning stepping stones for family members.

Small bags of Qwik-Crete cement, a plastic lined pizza box or deli trays to use for forms, and a stash of shells, glass beads or other embellishments and you’ve got a garden keepsake! Recipe and simple instructions here.

We’ve sampled five years of sales data and pulled the top selling styles of cremation urns across the board in the USA.

Funeral directors, I’m talking to you. Here’s what your customers are buying:

Classic Bronze, adult and 3″ keepsakes sizes.
Satin Pewter, adult and 3 ” keepsakes sizes.
Going Home, adult and 3 ” keepsakes sizes.
Purple Passion, adult and 3 ” keepsakes sizes.
and for Irish Families the Irish Rose, and our Celtic keepsake collections.

Your families want these styles, call me or call your distributor if you don’t currently offer these funeral urns. Visit Deidre Blair’s blog to get some great tips on ceremonial urn display and themed celebrations.

Thank you for letting us serve you.

Collecting ourselves after a whirlwind week! Hummingbirds are hitting the feeders hard, despite the downpour. And you know what that means?

Merry Ho-Ho! Last year, Hobby Lobby got the award for Earliest Christmas Merchandising Effort when they started stocking in July. Haven’t checked their progress this year.

Now, let’s get serious for a minute.

First up, Candace over at Repose is archiving her mother’s fascinating story of a teenager in war-torn Czechoslovakia.

Earlier that year, the government had closed all of the high schools to support the war effort. All of the teachers were pressed into military service. All of the other girls my age were made to work for the German Army or “Arbeitsdienst” to help run the farms or the hospitals which had lost workers to the war as well.

The boys my age were all drafted too. They received three months of marching training, and then were showed how to hold a gun. Then they were sent to the Russian front.

Candace shared her story of creating her brother’s urn:

I carved one from wood and buried it in our childhood back yard. I used twigs from bushes in the yard, painted it with spirit circle patterns and filled it with the most beautiful flowers I could find. Then put the ashes in a velvet pouch and added letters written to him.

It was a long time ago but I still miss him so very much. He was not only my brother but a very good friend and some days I still cannot believe he is gone. In Repose was created, in part, because of him.

Beautiful.

Our condolences go out to the family of Daniel Joseph Feather, 29. We hit the “Baboon” occasionally, and followed his dream of getting THE dream bike. His 8/6 entry, “Fear is the Mind Killer” is eerily prophetic. Shiny Red Triumph arrives on at the end of July, Dan dies on his dream bike two weeks later.

Heavy.

Where do we go from here?

Today’s tip: Turn your lights on!

Guaranteed Freedom!

As more and more of our senior associates ease into the Jazzy Chair and find ways for Medicare to pay for it we realize that there might be an after market opportunity to pimp your mobility scooter.

We’ve mentioned our neighbor who trolls the garden on his scooter. He now has his unit rigged for trash collection and walnut harvesting. I’ve seen him getting off-road to explore and beautify the environment. He gets it on two wheels at times and smokes the tires.

The Scooter Store site appears to market to men, but accessories are limited.

Cup holder: check

Safety Flag: check

Canopy: check

Cargo holds: limited

Off Road knobby tires: limited

Roll cage: n/a

Flared fenders: n/a

Top of the line power chair features joystick steering, two-12 volt batteries of cold cranking amps, peaks at 4.5 mph and travels 25 miles max on a full charge.

How much does a power chair cost?

from the scooter store site:

Our power chair models start at around $6000; however the amount you pay depends on your insurance. For example, because the amount Medicare will pay is different for nearly every state, your out-of-pocket amount will vary if you qualify for Medicare reimbursement.

Today’s tip for better living: Take it to the streets!

Dead Celebrity News:

Maxim mag has the dead sexy look this month as they style our favorite deceased celebs (oh John-John) in clothes they wouldn’t be caught dead in!

Featuring:

• Kurt Cobain
• Tupac Shakur
• JFK Jr.
• John Holmes- ewwww!
• Bob Marley
• John Gotti

Speaking of magazines and photoshop horrors: We’re ready for our close-up and want to be airbrushed right away. This particular clip (trt: 3:24) was influenced by the Poison music blaring in the background.

Not a Poison fan here, but I did get sucked into the horrifying Brett Michaels Rock of Love marathon this weekend. Horrifying, because I couldn’t look away. From the VH1 promo: “ Women around the world have worshiped Bret Michael’s as a veritable Rock God.”

Rock God?

Brett Michaels is never seen without eyeliner, a bandanna or cowboy hat….. we suspect hair extensions as well. I always get BM mixed up with Vince Neal.

Again, I ask….Where Have All The Smart People Gone?