Only those are fit to live who are not afraid of dying.

- General Douglas MacArthur

Today's word of the day is Deodand:

Deodand

-noun, English Law

(before 1846) an animal or article that, having been the immediate cause of the death of a human being, was forfeited to the crown to be applied to pious uses

(Note: yes this will be a recurring segment that usually will be published on Mondays.  Oops?)

The Song: “The Funeral” by Band of Horses

The Event:  My Grandmother’s death

While it’s very clichéd to relate a song about death to an actual death, at least it’s not a song from The Big Chill.  But more specifically, there was an actual reason to link the song with the event of my grandmother's passing.  When I got the call from my mother that my grandmother had died, I emerged from my bedroom and told my roommate.  As was custom in our tiny New York City apartment, iTunes was playing on random in the background – to cover up the numerous awkward gaps in our conversations.  We were talking about how I’d have to go to New Hampshire for the funeral when this song came on in the background. 

Click to read more ...

Drink and dance and laugh and lie,
Love, the reeling midnight through,
For tomorrow we shall die!
(But, alas, we never do.)

-Dorothy Parker