WifeGeeding should totally do this with her extra eyes. A bit of background on this ring:
@drlindseyfitzharris – This Victorian mourning ring from the late 19th century was made from the deceased person’s glass eye. Would you wear something like this? The first in-socket artificial eyes made in the 15th century were gold with colored enamel. In the latter part of the 16th century, the Venetian glass artisans discovered a formula that could be tolerated inside the eye socket. These early glass eyes were crude, uncomfortable to wear, and very fragile. Even so, the Venetian method was considered the finest in the world. In the mid-19th century, glass artisans in Thuringia, a region in eastern Germany, developed a superior glass formula for the making of artificial eyes. Glass eye making was introduced in the United States in the mid-1800s by immigrant German ocularists. In the 1940s, glass was replaced by plastics, which were more comfortable for the wearer and lasted longer.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again (it’s the perks of having your own blog). I want WifeGeeding to give her prosthetic eyes to our kids just so I can say, “They have their mother’s eyes.”
I was researching the funeral of Alexander Hamilton and learned of his best friend and overlooked Founding Father, Gouverneur Morris (he wrote the Preamble of the Constitution), who was at his side when he expired. After reading this old article about him from The New York Post (founded by Hamilton, btw), I think he’s a friend we all hope to have. Here are a collection of things about Morris, Hamilton’s death and funeral, and their friendship I’d like to share with you. Please don’t let your judgment of Morris be swayed by the small yet overlooked fact he died from internal injuries and infection caused to himself by using a piece of whalebone as a catheter in an attempt to clear a blockage in his urinary tract.
Hamilton reportedly offered to throw a dinner party for Morris if he would go up to Washington at a public reception and slap him chummily on the back. Morris did and got his dinner party, though he supposedly said that the frown Washington gave him was the worst moment of his life.
As Hamilton lay dying, his wife, Eliza, asked Morris to “join her in prayers for her own death, and then to be a father for her children.” I believe seven of their children were alive at this time ranging in ages from six to sixteen.
Morris delivered the eulogy, but these particular acts stood out. He really took care of his best friend’s family.
He organized a secret subscription among Hamilton’s friends to pay off his debts and support his family. He also helped organize Hamilton’s papers, which had been left in “wretched disorder.”
Hamilton’s funeral was more ornate, more pomp and circumstance than I originally thought. Here’s a writeup of the funeral and the eulogy Morris gave as it was published in 1804. I like the writer’s attempt to write it sincerely and as it happened so future generations can take it in.
On Saturday last the remains of Alexander Hamilton were committed to the grave with every possible testimony of respect and sorrow. That distant readers may form some idea of what passed on this mournful occasion, we shall here present them with a regular and correct account of the whole scene.
On the stage erected in the portico of Trinity Church, Mr. Gouverneur Morris, having four of General Hamilton’s sons, the eldest about sixteen and the youngest about six years of age, with him, rose and delivered to the immense concourse in front an extemporary Oration, which, being pronounced slowly and impressively, was easily committed to memory, and being very soon afterwards placed on paper, is presumed to be correct even to the language. Being shown to several gentlemen who heard it, they all agree that it comes near enough to what was actually delivered to be presented as that oration at length.
Yesterday, LiberallyLean referenced the most recent passing rates for the California Bar Exam, that they are the second-worst passing rate in 30 years at 31.4%. I’m not trying to be critical of his observation (he’s a professional in the field and I just watch a few law shows on the TV); however, earlier this year I heard one of the Kardashian girls planned on taking the California Bar Exam and it was mentioned that California is only one of four states in which you can take the bar without attending law school, the others being Virginia, Vermont, and Washington. I wonder how much a factor that is regarding the passing rates. The source I provided also states from 1995-2014 California was the hardest bar exam to pass, Texas was twenty-second.
For my fellow fans of ‘This Old House’ (though I prefer ‘Ask This Old House’) – The Rare Home-Improvement Show That Spotlights Skilled Workers – In 40 years on air, PBS’s This Old House inspired a more flashy genre of TV while giving tradespeople the attention they deserve.
An acquaintance at church recently had shoulder surgery and has been walking with his arm in a sling for the last several weeks and he still travels for work. Recently he was upgraded to a business travel seat, boarded the airplane, but was having a little trouble placing his laptop bag in the overhead bin. He is also vertically challenged. After a moment or two, Jessica Nowitzki stands up and kindly placed the bag in the bin for him and let him know if he needed to get it down during the flight to simply let her know. As you might have guessed, Jessica is the wife of Dirk. Those Nowitskis are nice people. I’m impressed someone of their stature, wealth, and height (well, Dirk is at least 15-inches taller at seven feet tall) will still fly commercial. I would have liked to see how well he fits in a plane seat, even if it’s business class.
The Fraught Culture of Online Mourning – Nowadays, we live online, and so we grieve here too. But there are limits to the comfort digital mourning can provide.
WifeGeeding is a big user of Wal-Mart’s free grocery curbside pickup. Sometimes they don’t have a particular item she ordered and they will replace it with something else of equal to greater value. This time she ordered a carton of 18 eggs. They were out of 18 egg cartons so they gave her a package of 60 eggs.
It’s always a bit disturbing when I do little DIY projects around the house, I’m left wondering if the homebuilders or previous owner(s) were at fault. For instance, every time I remove the cover to an electrical socket I find drywall screws were used to hold the socket in place.
Longtime readers know I’m an admirer of Scott Pelley. He’ll be in town promoting his book next Wednesday (DaughterGeeding pointed out we wear the same shoes). Tickets to the event are $36 and include a copy of his new book which he’ll sign and inscribe. That’s really a great deal, I just wish I didn’t have previous obligations. He was Stephen Colbert’s guest on Friday. It was nice to see him loosen up a bit and see a softer side of the man.
I caught a little bit of HBO’s new documentary on Muhammad Ali and wondered whatever happened to the training facility he built in Deer Lake, Pennsylvania (And to think I thought Rocky training in the Russian wilderness was an original idea). He sold it in 1997 for only $100,000 (he built 18 buildings on it). It is now owned by John Madden’s son, Mike. Boom!
BoyGeeding sprayed air freshener into his belly button because he thought it stunk.
I was so very proud of the citizens of Fort Worth and the rest of North Texas for how they responded when the Amber Alert for that girl went out on Saturday evening. Social media was abuzz and it felt like everyone was genuinely engaged trying to find that abducted eight-year-old girl. It’s the stuff of nightmares, all a mother was doing was walking with her daughter down the street and a stranger drives by and takes her child and she holds on to the car for dear life. Thankfully a doorbell camera caught a glimpse of the car and some proactive citizens contacted police.
I ordered something off of Amazon Prime recently. On the day it was supposed to arrive, I got an apology email from Amazon informing me the package would be late. I wasn’t upset, actually, really happy that they set an expectation for the customer. The next day I received another apology email stating the package arrived at a local shipping facility but was damaged, the items would be returned to sender, and I would be issued a full refund and would have to reorder my products if I still wanted them. The following day I received an email stating my package would be delivered later in the day, which it was, not damaged, and they stated I could keep the refund, which was something a tad over fifty bucks. I felt like Charlie Sheen about a decade ago, #Winning.
For well over a decade, I wondered why everyone had to replace their proof of automobile insurance on May 19 and November 19 of each year. Then, one day, it hit me, as if I was a cartoon character and a light bulb appeared above my head an lit up and was thankful I never brought this up with anyone else. It wasn’t that way for everyone, those dates simply correspond to when I first got my own coverage.
Since 2000, Tim Friede, a truck mechanic from Wisconsin, has endured some 200 snakebites and 700 injections of lethal snake venom—all part of a masochistic quest to immunize his body and offer his blood to scientists seeking a universal antivenom. For nearly two decades, few took him seriously. Then a gifted young immunologist stumbled upon Friede on YouTube—and became convinced that he was the key to conquering snakebites forever.
‘Game of Thrones’ finale thoughts –
The finale was wrapped a bit too nicely, even the bow was too pretty. It wasn’t as emotional as I thought it would be. Honestly, the series finale of ‘The Big Bang Theory’ and the season finale of ‘Young Sheldon’ was more emotional and surprising.
With both the books and series being so epic, I thought the finale should have left a few more loose ends open. Not for spinoffs, but to give the audience wanting more and leave them to speculate about the future. Really, the only loose end was “Where in the world is Drogon?”
Thank God, Ghost got some love and recognition. It’s the most justice I’ve ever seen in the show.
Sansa has annoyed me for the last two seasons and I was hoping she’d somehow die.
As I say with most finales, it’s not about how it all wraps up, it’s the journey it takes you on. I feel all the time I invested in the show and trying to connect things on various Wiki pages and related articles were well worth it. It was a fun and often emotional ride, allowed me to escape my world and reality for a while, gave me many surprises, and stretched my imagination.
I don’t think the medium speed on my ceiling fan is medium enough, it’s just a tad too slow. If I put it on high, it’s too high. I like flowing air, but too much gives me a headache if that makes any sense.
I saw some guy, a supporter, lean over into the coffin and give him a kiss on the forehead.
Several items were placed inside his casket and laid upon his chest, like an iron cross, an eagle feather, and rings. He was also wearing white gloves. The ring survived the cremation and the grandson kept it and wore it.
An American flag was laid on top of the casket with the Stars and Bars placed on top of Old Glory.
Around ten people were in attendance, and their interviews were as wheeled off as you’d expect.
The pastor who officiated the service stated that when Manson was born, he was imprinted with the image of God which was destroyed by his actions and since that image was still there, that’s why he did the funeral.
I think the grandson was someone who just longed for a grandfather figure and trying to reconcile being a direct descendant of a notorious figure and the funeral was a coping mechanism, but then again, all funerals are coping mechanisms.’ He stated that his grandfather had a life sentence, not a soul sentence, and wanted to provide him with a little family dignity. I’m sure a lot of folks will argue the point that Manson’s soul was also sentenced. I think Manson’s son, the grandson’s father, killed himself at sixteen.
The casket was wheeled by the attendees to the crematorium. All of them helped push it in and then you saw the grandson push the button to start the cremation, which took about three hours.
Funeral’ is slipping from our vernacular, you’ll often hear them referred to as “a celebration of life’. I’m not sure if you could refer to this service as a ‘celebration of life’.
The family new burying him in an unmarked grave would have been chaos and knew it would eventually become disgraced and spectacle, so they spread the ashes at a secret place along the banks of a river. However, friends and family spread his ashes on their faces.
Apparently, the Vice-President, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnel flew together to Indiana for the funeral of a retired senator. I’m not saying there is something wrong with them all flying together, just that it’s interesting.
I bet one day Jeff Probst of ‘Survivor’ fame will be the host of ‘Jeopardy!’. Probst used to host the rock and roll version of the show and at some point he’s got to transition.
I’m proud of my Navy and think it’s great they had a little fun at taxpayer’s expense (You don’t own that plane, the taxpayers do!). It’s not like they buzzed the tower or take Penny Benjamin out on a date. I would have just preferred they do this over Pyongyang.
“You should totally try to draw a penis,” the EWO advised. “I could definitely draw one, that would be easy,” the pilot boasted. “I could basically draw a figure eight and turn around and come back. I’m gonna go down, grab some speed and hopefully get out of the contrail layer so they’re not connected to each other.”
“Dude, that would be so funny,” the pilot said. “Airliner’s coming back on their way into Seattle, just this big (expletive)ing, giant penis. We could almost draw a vein in the middle of it too.”
“Balls are going to be a little lopsided,” the pilot advised. “Balls are complete,” he reported moments later. “I just gotta navigate a little bit over here for the shaft.” “Which way is the shaft going?” the EWO asked. “The shaft will go to the left,” the pilot answered. “It’s gonna be a wide shaft,” the EWO noted.
I can’t help but think of these Austin Powers scenes which still crack me up.
