Does This Mean You'll See Me Naked - Webster

Does This Mean You'll See Me Naked? (Field Notes from a Funeral Director) is  a common question for Robert Webster.  As the owner and director of a funeral home, he hears this question surprisingly often. Spoiler alert: yes, your funeral director will see you naked.  But you'll be dead, so who really cares at that point?

This in-depth look at the mortuary field (I promise Webster minimizes the gruesome details) is quite fascinating, and not at all as morbid as many of you are probably thinking. His thirty plus years in the business offer lots of interesting, funny and enlightening stories, from body collection to fist fights at funerals. 

Webster also offers a wealth of mortuary information to his readers, including things like how much a casket (it's not a coffin) should cost, why funeral home and cemetery staff are often just greedy salespersons (and why/how you should chose wisely), the rules around next of kin and heirs, how the field differs from his native Ohio to other areas of the country, among others.

This book is quick and easy to get through and a must-read for anyone who expects to ever lose someone...in other words, just about everyone.

4/5- Great. Push it on your friends and family.

 

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Tuesday Tunes - 11/27/12

A great lyric is like a great book...

In My Life
The Beatles, Artist
Lennon, John & McCartney, Paul, Writers 


 
There are places I remember
All my life, though some have changed.
Some forever not for better,
Some have gone and some remain.
All these places have their moments
With lovers and friends I still can recall
Some are dead and some are living
In my life I've loved them all.

But of all these friends and lovers
There is no one compares with you.
And these memories lose their meaning
When I think of love as something new.
Though I know I'll never lose affection
For people and things that went before.
I know I'll often stop and think about them
In my life I love you more.

Though I know I'll never lose affection
For people and things that went before
I know I'll often stop and think about them
In my life I love you more
In my life I love you more

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Mondays - 11/26/12

This meme is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey.

Despite a busy holiday week, after several of weeks of beginning books I just couldn't get "into", I finally was able to settle into a couple of books! 

Currently Reading: 
The Winter of Our Disconnect (Susan Maushart)

Just Finished:

Does This Mean You'll See Me Naked (Robert Webster)

On Deck:
So many great choices!

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Happy Turkey Day!!

...or as a friend says, "Happy Fat American Day"!

Wishing all my American readers a very Happy Thanksgiving! Hoping it was filled with family, friends and many reasons to be thankful, as mine was. I have countless blessings to be thankful for this year...family, friends, my kitty, health (mine and others), my amazing diva sisters (from another mother) and the awesome opportunities we have to share music with others, a job that allows me to share with others this year... The list goes on and on!

For my non-American readers... You all really should join in! Buy a turkey. Get up at 4am to put it into the oven. Spend the rest of the day cooking, eating until you feel like you're gonna puke and serving your family and friends like an Applebees waitress. Then spend several hours cleaning up after everyone, only to discover that you're hungry again!

Seriously! You're missing out!

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Tuesday Tunes - 11/20/12

A great lyric is like a great book...

A nice little song to remind us all to be thankful!

Oklahoma 

Billy Gilman, Artist

John Allen and D. Vincent Williams, Writers

Suitcase packed with all his things
Car pulls up, the doorbell rings
He don't wanna go
He thought he'd found his home
But the circumstances he can't change
Waves goodbye as they pull away
From the life he's known
For the last seven months or so

She said we found the man who looks like you
Who cried and said he never knew
About the boy in pictures that we showed him
A rambler in his younger days
He knew he made a few mistakes
But he swore he would have been there
Had he known it
Son we think we found your dad in Oklahoma

A million thoughts raced through his mind
What's his name, what's he like and will he be
Anything like the man in his dreams
She could see the questions in his eyes
Whispered "don't be scared my child
I'll let you know, what we know"

About the man we found, he looks like you
And cried and said he never knew
About the boy in pictures that we showed him
A rambler in his younger days He knew he'd made a few mistakes
But he swore he would've been there Had he known it
You always said that this was something that you wanted
Son it's time to meet your Dad in Oklahoma

One last turn he held his breath
'Til they reached the fifth house on the left
And all at once the tears came rolling in
And as they pulled into the drive
A man was waiting there outside
Who wiped the worry from his eyes Smiled and took his hand

And he said I'm the man who looks like you
Who cried because I never knew
About that boy in pictures that they showed me
A rambler in my younger days I knew I made a few mistakes
But I swear I would have been there had I known it
Never again will you ever be alone
Son welcome to your home in Oklahoma 

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Mondays - 11/19/12

This meme is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey.

Currently Reading:

Does This Mean You'll See Me Naked? (Robert Webster)

Just Finished:

Absolutely nothing....

On Deck:

So many great options, if I could just get through something!

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WWWednesdays - 10/14/12

To play along, just answer the following three (3) questions…

Usually Wednesdays are saved for new reviews, but it has been a very slow reading/blogging week for me! So, I figured I'd join in this week...

What are you currently reading? 
I Think I Love You by Allison Pearson (very cute so far...)
 

  

What did you recently finish reading?
Adrift, Seventy-six Days at Sea by Steven Callahan (good adventure story...)


 




What do you think you’ll read next?  
My list is so long, I don't really know...
I just sort of go online with my ipad and pick whatever looks good. Though, I do tend to flop back and forth from fiction to non-fiction, so likely it will be a memoir of some sort. 

Maybe you'll come back to visit me to find out?

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Tuesday Tunes - 11/13/12

A great lyric is like a great book...

Gunpowder & Lead 
Miranda Lambert, Artist & Writer







County road 233, under my feet
Nothin' on this white rock but little ole me.
I've got two miles, 'til he makes bail
And if I'm right we're headed straight for hell!

I'm goin' home, gonna load my shotgun,
Wait by the door and light a cigarette.
If he wants a fight well now he's got one
And he ain't seen me crazy yet.
He slapped my face and he shook me like a rag doll...
Don't that sound like a real man?!
I'm going to show him what a little girls are made of
Gunpowder and lead!

It's half past ten, another six pack in
And I can feel the rumble like a cold black wind.
He pulls in the drive, the gravel flies,
He don't know what's waiting here this time!

I'm goin' home, gonna load my shotgun,
Wait by the door and light a cigarette.
If he wants a fight well now he's got one
And he ain't seen me crazy yet.
He slapped my face and he shook me like a rag doll...
Don't that sound like a real man?!
I'm going to show him what a little girls are made of
Gunpowder and lead!

His fist is big but my gun's bigger,
He'll find out when I pull the trigger!

I'm goin' home, gonna load my shotgun,
Wait by the door and light a cigarette.
If he wants a fight well now he's got one
And he ain't seen me crazy yet.
He slapped my face and he shook me like a rag doll...
Don't that sound like a real man?!
I'm going to show him what a little girls are made of
Gunpowder and lead!

Gunpowder and lead!

Hey!

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Slow week...

Crap, its been a slow week, blogging-wise. I hadn't finished a book last week, so I didn't post a review. And again this week, I just haven't gotten there yet! 

I don't know why. 

I have a wealth of great books available to me via my ipad and library...I just have not been able to get "into" anything these past couple of weeks. Maybe I'm just a little burnt out?  To say nothing of the chaos and craziness of election day and then the long weekend, which I always find it hard to post during, and efforts to clean up the yard before the final yard waste pickup this weekend.

Anyway, I'm just off... Sorry!

Even the kitty was annoyed...

 

Hopefully next week will be better as I am on vacation! Yippee!

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Tuesday Tunes - 11/6/12

A great lyric is like a great book...

When I Was A Boy 
Dar William, Artist & Writer



 

I won't forget when Peter Pan came to my house, took my hand
I said I was a boy; I'm glad he didn't check.
I learned to fly, I learned to fight
I lived a whole life in one night
We saved each other's lives out on the pirate's deck.

And I remember that night
When I'm leaving a late night with some friends
And I hear somebody tell me it's not safe,
someone should help me
I need to find a nice man to walk me home.

When I was a boy, I scared the pants off of my mom,
Climbed what I could climb upon
And I don't know how I survived,
I guess I knew the tricks that all boys knew.

And you can walk me home, but I was a boy, too.

I was a kid that you would like, just a small boy on her bike
Riding topless, yeah, I never cared who saw.
My neighbor come outside to say, "Get your shirt,"
I said "No way, it's the last time I'm not breaking any law."

And now I'm in this clothing store, and the signs say less is more
More that's tight means more to see, more for them, not more for me
That can't help me climb a tree in ten seconds flat

When I was a boy, See that picture? That was me
Grass-stained shirt and dusty knees
And I know things have gotta change,
They got pills to sell, they've got implants to put in,
they've got implants to remove

But I am not forgetting...that I was a boy too

And like the woods where I would creep, it's a secret I can keep
Except when I'm tired, 'cept when I'm being caught off guard
And I've had a lonesome awful day, the conversation finds its way
To catching fire-flies out in the backyard.

And so I tell the man I'm with about the other life I lived
And I say, "Now you're top gun, I have lost and you have won"
And he says, "Oh no, no, can't you see

When I was a girl, my mom and I we always talked
And I picked flowers everywhere that I walked.
And I could always cry, now even when I'm alone I seldom do
And I have lost some kindness
But I was a girl too.
And you were just like me, and I was just like you"


I welcome your thoughts and comments.
 

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Vote Today...even if its for the wrong candidate!

TAKE THE TIME TO VOTE TODAY...

 

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Mondays - 11/5/12

This meme is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey.

Currently Reading: 
MWF Seeking BFF (Rachael Baertsche)

Just Finished:

Adrift (Steven Callahan)

On Deck:
So many great choices!

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October 2012 ReCap...

October 2012 Update

This month I read:

Total Read: 8

Adult: 4

YA/children's: 9

Abandoned:0

YTD - 41 +

Including:
Kisses for Katie - Katie Davis
My Boyfriend Wrote a Book About Me - Hilary Winston
The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake - Aimee Bender
Three Happy Birthdays - Judith Caseley
The Case of the Hungrey Stranger
Grandma and Grandpa Smith - Edith Kunhardt
The Christmas Day Kitten - James Herriott
Adrift - Steven Callahan
What Happens to Kittens - Bill Hall
The Sneeze - David Wegner
Little Bunny Follow His Nose - Katherine Howard
The Berenstain Bears and the Slumber Party - Stan Berenstain
The Night Before Christmas - Clement Moore    

Abandoned:

None

Favorite Book(s) of the Month:
My Boyfriend Wrote a Book About Me - Hilary Winston

Challenges Update:

Memorable Memoirs = 20 of 10+ - SUCCESS!!!

Support Your Local Library Challenge = 32 of 37+

Outdo Yourself Reading Challenge = 41 of 50 (2011) + 15

E-Book Reading Challenge = 7 of 5 - SUCCESS!!!

A-Z Book Challenge 2012 = 22 of 26
What's in a Name Challenge = 6 of 6 - SUCCESS!!!

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Adrift, Seventy-Six Days Lost at Sea - Callahan

Steven Callahan had been addicted to survival activities since childhood, especially sailing.  He set sail in 1982, alone, on his self-built schooner Napoleon Solo. Not long into the trip his boat was hit, possibly by a whale, and sunk. Callahan found himself striking out on his five-foot inflatable raft at the mercy of the winds with little food and water. 

Adrift, for Seventy Six Days Lost At Sea, Callahan floated westward in his little cave-like home. Gathering fresh drinking water from his barely working solar stills and rainstorms, fishing when he could, and always searching the horizon for a boat or plane. Callahan floated over 1800 miles toward the Caribbean. Despite moments of fear, desperation and depression, 76 days later he drifted into the Caribbean followed by a school of fish who had followed his raft for many miles, likely for the barnacles growing on its bottom, but who caught the attention of some fishermen who went to investigate and found the missing sailor, haggard and worn, but alive.

Since his ordeal, Callahan has continued to write about and speak publicly on survival, voyaging, and seamanship, and has been frequently interviewed for television and other media. Most recently, Callahan was tapped to assist Director Ang Lee with his film adaptation of the novel Life of Pi.

I seem to enjoy survival memoirs, specifically about activities that I would never undertake myself, so I enjoyed this book quite a bit. Callahan talks quite honestly about his harrowing journey, life errors that led him to that situation, and its effects on his life afterward.  He tells of his efforts to survive and his moments of desperation and doubt openly. Though it took him years to process the event and finally write about it, he knew immediately that he had been changed by his ordeal. This book is a testament to his will to live, as well as his skill as a survivalist and sailor. A great read for many.

3/5- Good. Read it, have a good time and move on. Or not.

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