Sound Bites - Seeking

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Wednesday, May 18, 2005 

Sound Bites

I have really, obviously, been horrendous about my blogging these days.
A variety of things have popped into my mind worthy of discussion but they seem so fleeting. When I get ready to write about them later I usually determine they are too trivial to blog about.
Thus, to resolve my fears about trivial thoughts I am going to try something different.
The following are manifestations of brief contemplations that have entered my mind recently. Basically, these are my minds own sound bites:

I took a class called Death and Dying at Temple University a year or so ago for a few elective credits. The class has proved to one of my most valuable learning experiences ever. I learned about everything from cadaver basics to grief patterns. One class day was devoted to the practice of home funerals. Part of the class was spent viewing a documentary that invited the viewers to attend a actual private home funeral that took place over several days. I was both disturbed and extremely touched at the same time. The sound bite in head my says, Would I prefer this to any other kind of formal "end of my life" service?


The home funeral pondering reminded me of a low-budget film made by singer Perry Farrell from Janes' Addiction in 1993. Gift, was a short film about a sudo-home funeral that Farrell has for his dead wife upon finding her heroin overdosed corpse in their home. The short is compelling and eerie. However, my favorite scene of the film has nothing to do with the home funeral practice, but instead with a Santeria based tribal wedding. There is this fabulous imagery of Perry and his wife Casey being wed. They are on a beach-arms length apart from one another side by side. Their backs face the ocean and their wrists are some how bound together. Some sort of spiritual leader traces the outlines of the couples "connected" bodies with an egg. The marriage is complete. This screen moment keeps flashing into my head every time I think of marriage. The sound bite is: Perhaps I will sneak away with my lover before our "Americanized" marriage and be secretly wed first with eggs, sticks, tribal sweat and nature as our true blessing from above.


I've mentioned before in my blog about my desire to join the Peace Corps. Of the many random thoughts that linger and mosy in my head, The Peace Corp plan has become an obsessive thought and more and more real. The sound bite is: What business do I have ignoring the needy?


There it is, the first of my new series to help refuel the creative fire within.

Cuz,
The last time I had occassion to visit a funeral home my impression was a room full of fancy wrapped bon-bon boxes. With their satiny tufted pastels enveloping the sweet.
Besides that, where can I view or rent a copy of GIFT?
Susie

The Peace Corp may be for you, but also if you have an urge to help,there are many volunteer opportunities to help others right here in Philadelphia.
-Somebody

Home funerals...I had not heard of that. It is interesting, because I did a funeral at Arlington Ntl on Wed where I rode down with the owner of the funeral home and we talked about CostCo adding caskets to the items they sell.

That lead to a conversation about the psychological seperation between death and life that I think is present in most cultures. Home funerals seem to me to run counter to this, but I don't know enough about it really.

Your class sounds very interesting. I'd love to read more about it sometime if you get the chance.

Good luck with the Peace Corps thing, it looks hugely worthy.

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