Triple The Value

-It occurs to me that if the creators of the RPG Traveller had named one of their Sword Worlds "Terminus Est", they could have achieved a triple literary homage . . .

Wakes and Wishes

-Last weekend, Bey/buxom_bey and I flew to Florida for her grandfather's wake. I didn't know him too well, but the few times I met him I found him a good host, a quick wit, and a fine cook. He'll be missed.

-The service provided by the funeral home was . . . eh, tepid. Pre-packaged. It definitely made me want to plan my service out in advance. In particular, the readings. I think I'd like any of my friends who want to say something, but can't think of anything to say, to pick quotes from some of my favorite books (and movies) out of a hat . . .

To die would be an awfully big adventure.

—Peter Pan
 

Pippin: I didn't think it would end this way.
Gandalf: End? No, the journey doesn't end here. Death is just another path . . . One that we all must take. The grey rain-curtain of this world rolls back, and all changes to silver glass . . . And then you see it.
Pippin: What? Gandalf? . . . See what?
Gandalf: White shores . . . and beyond. The far green country under a swift sunrise.
Pippin: . . . Well, that isn't so bad.
Gandalf: No . . . No it isn't.

—The Return of the King (the movie, paraphrased from the book)
 

When their loved ones died, a believer would arise beside the grave to be the Speaker for the Dead, and say what the dead one would have said, but with full candor, hiding no faults and pretending no virtues. Those who came to the services sometimes found them painful and disturbing, but there were many who decided that their life was worthwhile enough, despite their errors, that when they died a Speaker should tell the truth for them.

—Orson Scott Card, Ender's Game
 

Death is a clearing at the end of the path.

—Stephen King, The Dark Tower

(And, I want Amazing Grace, on bagpipes. Live bagpipes, not a recording! And then a Mardis Gras-style party, like Data threw for Geordi and Ro.)

Books: The Frankenstein Omnibus, Edited by Peter Haining

-This is a six-hundred page collection of stories inspired by Frankenstein. They cover most of two centuries, at least two continents, and the spectrum from "darn good" to "eh . . . " At least one (about a playwright whose play bankrupts him) is only in there by virtue of having the title Frankenstein II. Lots of good ideas and memorable moments, however, including a new form of applied phrenology, a horrifying scene when a resurrected man's artificial heart begins heating his blood far beyond ninety-eight-point-six, and a creepy tale that tells why you shouldn't sleep with women with no navels. If you're into classic horror, moderately recommended.