You can't have a funeral without F-U-N.

I recently attended a funeral for a very close family member. Someone who I loved very much and that I will miss greatly. She was a wonderful person to me and I will never forgot that. So as you would think, her funeral was very sad. It's hard to say goodbye to someone you never had a chance to say goodbye to. But at the same time her funeral was spent talking and reminiscing about her. So there was also a lot of laughter. Her funeral reflected how she was. How she lived her life and how she effected all of us. We all were able to get up and tell our favorite stories about her and in between the different stories, we listened to music that was special to her. It was fun. We celebrated her life, not her death. So as I sat through her eulogy I started thinking about my own funeral. How would it be? What sort of stuff would be said? What kind of music would be played? Would there be a slideshow of embarrassing photos? What about the food? Surely there would be food served, but what kind of food? Yes. All good questions. After all, this is your last send off. This is your last chance to make a statement (sort of).

I continued thinking about all of this throughout her funeral. I really didn't want someone other than me putting the details of my funeral together. I mean there were things I wanted to say to my wife, my daughter and my familly and friends. I couldn't just die and not have those things said. So as I sat there at the after-funeral family get-together, drink in one hand and a plate of absolutly delicious meatballs in the other (it's my cousins recipe and she uses three different types of meat). I decided that I wanted to plan my own funeral. So for the last few days I've been writing out a plan. And you may think it's a little strange but is it really? I don't think so. I won't spoil the surprise by giving you details of my funeral but I will tell you that it'll be a good time. But as a teaser I'll share the funeral soundtrack with you. The songs are not in the order in which they will appear during my funeral. They are just listed here for the sake of listing. When I figure out how to do it, I'll make a mixed tape for all of you to download. You know, so you can stage your own "practice" funeral at home. Oh, and I'll definitely make sure they serve those meatballs. They were that good.

And for all of you Stuffy Stuffersons out there that think this is disrespectful to my recently passed family member. I can guarantee that she would have loved the idea of a planned funeral....AND meatballs....she loved meatballs.

Aimee Mann - Satellite
The Arcade Fire-Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)
Wilco- ELT
The Ramones - She's The One
The Thrills - Just Travelling Through
Foo Fighters - Everlong
Norah Jones - Shoot The Moon
Beulah - Emma Blowgun's Last Stand
The Cure - In Between Days
Tears For Fears - Everybody Wants to Rule The World
New Order - Age of Consent
Polvo - In This Life
Bright Eyes - First Day Of My Life
The Magnetic Fields - The Book Of Love
Loudon Wainwright III - Daughter
Pavement - Gangsters & Pranksters
The Eagles - Take It To The Limit