This Really Isn't a Macabre Blog...

... But there is yet another eco-choice for disposition of remains, and, well, since some of the others have been covered, might as well continue for the sake of completion, right?

Drum roll, please... it is aqua cremation!  It happens in a machine that looks like this:

Somewhat more expensive than cremation currently, due to low numbers of machines, but over time, increased demand should resolve that.

It uses water (quite a bit) and some chemicals to hasten the decomposition process.  The chemicals aren't the best, nor the 300 gallons of water required.  But it is supposed to be more energy-efficient than a standard cremation.  And, at the end of the day, the bonus is getting to turn into fertilizer for plants - yay!!  (Just get over the ick factor - dead is dead.)

Definitely up for consideration. 

Mother's Day Weekend - 2019 Edition

Friday night: warmth and indulgence.  Beautiful weather lent itself to dining al fresco - burgers, comfort food, to offset the week's bitter labors.  But then vegan cheesecake, to balance out the burger.

Saturday: Spring spectacular and a good deed.  Absolutely gorgeous day.  Perfect for The Firm's park beautification at Van Cortlandt Park.  Mulching was the duty of the day.  Happily, the barbecue lunch had some veggie options.  Then out to the Mother Ship for an early Mother's Day dinner.  Because....

Mother's Day: good eats (courtesy of Mother Hen, who just likes to cook) and some real estate itch scratching.  After eating, ...

...In the rain, dragged everyone for an adventure and journeyed up to the little lake to look at a house, the fantasy weekend home.  But even this dreamer has limits.  The house itself was as advertised - an uninsulated shack, really.  Lake frontage was small, but sufficient.  But the land was lacking, a huge rock impeded access and development of the back portion.  Not enough time, or funds, to make it worthwhile.  Ah well.  Sometimes an itch just needs to be scratched.  And better that it worked out this way.  A garage spot opened up (finally), and it would just have been a stretch to handle a car, the wishes for offspring, AND a house on top of it all.  So, sometimes, unfettered dreaming guides the reality that should actually be pursued.

Free Advice

A piece from the New York Times dispensing some sage advice: David Pogue's The Best Advice You've Ever Received (and Are Willing to Pass On).

Some gems that resonate:

"Don't pickle things." = If you have something special, use it now.  Not later, now.  It's hard, though, to be brought up in the ways of discipline and deferred gratification to let go and actually enjoy things.  Really hard, not just sometimes, but most of the time.  The work striking the right balance between the two instincts is ever continuing.

"Touch it once." = Just deal with it, don't let it sit.  A common piece of advice.  Just takes a while for it to sink in and be implemented.  Working on it.

"Things don't have to be perfect to be wonderful." = Truth.  Just let it go.  Good enough is good enough.

"Boyfriends come and boyfriends go, but SAT scores are forever." = Already internalized.

Private Art

One of the perks of the Gig are pre-auction invitations to view the artwork coming up for market.  Usually, they are breakfast functions where practitioners get private group tours and viewings.  This year was no different - one at Sotheby's, followed the next day by one at Christie's.

Sadly, a calendar misread caused forfeiture of this year's Sotheby's event - mixed it all up and showed up to an empty Christie's, and by then it was too late to head back.  So only made it to the Christie's event on the second try the next day.

Early days, both.  But a lovely opportunity to wander among nearly empty galleries and gaze at beautiful pieces is such a treat.

Dirt

Mushroom suit.  Planters in the hallway.  Unifying theme is dirt.

Mushroom suit - ashes to ashes, dirt to dirt - oh, wait, no; it's dust to dust, isn't it?  Ah well, already picked a theme and title for the post; sticking with dirt....  So, further to the self-composting post from some months back, this past weekend Luke Perry's daughter revealed that he was buried in an Infinity Burial Suit - a biodegradable suit imbued with mushrooms and other organisms that aid in decomposition, removal of toxins from the body, and transfer of nutrients to the soil and plants.  Sounds like a responsible way to do it, and gentle to the earth.  Easy enough to get behind.  Sissy forwarded the link.  She knows the alleys that are favored in these parts.

And in other developments, with the full onset of Spring, the very nice, albeit more private, adjoining terrace neighbor ("Ms. Neighbor A," to correspond to her unit letter) raised again the offer to return the planter that had gotten mistakenly exiled to her side of the fence when last year's roof contractors so helpfully re-erected the fences without seeking confirmation of which items belonged to which apartment.  Being at work when the message came through, the task of accepting was delegated to Sissy.  Sissy was able to get it across the hall and into the apartment, but apparently ran out of steam in the interior entrance hallway.  So there is an outdoor planter sitting indoors, awaiting reunification with its planter brethren on the terrace.  Ah well, small steps.

Candidate #3

Senator Cory Booker.  Needless to say, a well-attended town hall session.  There's a reason he's been a rising star all these years.

That said, honest assessment?  Great storyteller, passionate, charismatic, charming, funny, attractive, sexy even.  But didn't seem to have concrete ideas.  Studious, good with the facts, could learn and pick it all up.  Maybe it was the format and the limited timeframe, but nothing solid.  Perhaps that will develop.

And then besides attending that, the rest of the day was mostly another non-billable block, prepping to present a CLE.  So today was not a particularly good one for the work side of the balance scale.  Sigh.  Hopefully it all balances long-term.

At least dinner (last week's pizza) and dessert (yesterday's Cinco de Mayo brownie pie) were covered.  So the CLE prep can continue at home.

Cinco de Mayo

Tonight's lovely dinner party came after yesterday's lovely dinner party came after yesterday's fantastic brunch came after last weekend's brunch came after the two Fridays past's dinner splurge.

Always trying to keep it all together and do and fit more in, with varying degrees of success.