We are sad today, and we will be sad for quite a while. We are not moving on. We are embracing our mourning. We are Virginia Tech …
In Memoriam
Confessions
As Seen on TV
Greetings!
Three beautiful things:
Sunshine
Realizing you’re not as crazy as you thought
Inspiration
Lileks had a good Monday post, (see #2 TBT) mundane subjects like an adventure to the outdoor living store and highway driving. I quote:
“On the way out I saw a Summer Grilling section, with America-flag themed merchandise, and I had instant summer’s end panic. It’s the Fourth soon! Which means it’ll be over! And then it’s fall! And then it’s Winter! Repeat at an ever-hastening pace until dead!”
And I realized……I do that. Get on a loop and start to get a little anxious….about the clock. Settle down.
Urn Media Watch: Spotted on Soprano’s Sunday Night.
At Phil Leotardo’s social club, Phil hosts a celebration of what would have been his brother Billy’s 47th birthday. He places the urn holding Billy’s ashes back up above the bar – so he’ll be able to see his friends when they visit. Working himself up over the story of how his family’s name was changed from Leonardo to Leotardo (“a ballet costume”), Phil tells Butchie he’s had enough. He shouldn’t have stayed quiet in jail and he should have avenged Billy’s murder. “No more Butchie. No more of this,” he vows.
We carry this style, maybe we’ll rename: “The Leotardo”.
No.
Have a great week, might be a good night for baseball!
Like a Good Neighbor
Greetings!
Just a couple of notes regarding marketing and customer service.
Today I called my merchant account services regarding a question on a credit card charge. First surprise: my call was answered on the first ring….by a real live warm body, transferred immediately to customer service where another pleasant voice took control and solved the mystery within three minutes! That’s Innovative Merchant Solutions if you care. Fabulous!
Let’s go to the mailbox:
State Farm is aggressively spamming this blog. That’s not neighborly. When I see visitors from India, I usually suspect the State Farm call center, and I’m usually right.
Crafty American Express direct mail tactics. Here’s the deal, we don’t accept Discover or American Express. We used to, not anymore. The merchant gets hosed.
Obviously they want my business, the volume of mail I receive from these two is crazy! American Express is especially frustrating. The packets are over sized and so thickly padded so that you are forced to open, dismantle and handle the contents to spoon feed into the shredder.
After another blast of winter, Dirtsister stepped out, drug more limbs that have fallen and realized that she’d lost her place in the garden. We’ll sort that one out later.
Have a good week! And remember the engineering disaster the Titanic…..it went down today.
Today’s tip for better living: Start a pillow fight.
Death and Taxes
Greetings!
It’s been a nutty week. First, three beautiful things:
Return of the Boys of Summer
Pesto
My Accountant- Moe- I love ya
As Seen On TV urn ! Sold to the props dept. of The Closer. Episode airs in July.
And then the most emotional call of the day…..the mother of this young man. Normally, we try to stay neutral, but this one racked me up. His mother was gracious and gave me permission to publish her memorial ideas, and we’ll post in detail on the site later. She has a beautiful memorial planned, his birthday is coming up and the family and friends are donating a bench and planting a tree in a park near their home. His frat brothers have a site up in his memory. Very touching.
Ok, I’m trying to think of something light to end on here…..I’ve got nuthin’. Thank God it’s Friday.
Today’s tip: Sing and dance with gypsies.
Days of Our Lives
Greetings! What about this crazy new urn style? Doubt we’ll add it to the mix. Most of our clients don’t want to see the ashes and prefer something a little more discreet…..
But Russell Parsons from West Virginia is the winner for most creative final instructions…..
Retired pipefitter, Army veteran and cancer survivor Russell Parsons says he’s not afraid to die and he’s got the tattoo to prove it. Inside the yellow and orange flaming tattoo on his right arm are instructions to the funeral home where he has a prepaid cremation: “Barlow Bonsall cook 1700-1800 for 2 to 3 hours.”
“It’s a recipe,” the 67-year-old widower from Hurricane, W.V., said. “It’s a recipe for cremation.” Linda Wilson, manager of Barlow-Bonsall Funeral Home and Crematorium in Charleston, W.V., said she thought Parsons was joking several weeks ago when he said he was going to have his final wishes tattooed on his arm. “I never thought he would actually do it,” she said Tuesday. She wasn’t the only one. Parsons said the tattoo artist who gave him his first and only tattoo said his request was among the craziest he’d ever received in 22 years. “I told him, ‘Well, take a look because I’m one of a kind.'”
Parsons, who survived a brush with cancer in 1999 and still deals with injuries from his Army service, said not everyone understands his attitudes about life and death. “I’m not afraid of death. I’m afraid of life,” he said. “I’m afraid of living and not being able to take care of myself.”
