Kirk blAug

Just a quick one.

Occasionally while on a long drive I listen to podcasts. The other day while driving between St. Louis and Kansas City one of the podcasts I listened to was Penn's Sunday School .   +Penn Jillette  hosts the show with  +Michael Goudeau  and +Matt Donnelly  as co-hosts. Penn's Sunday School speaks on a variety of matters from the mundane to the absurd, but one topic Penn mentioned on episode 116 really made me think. I was thinking about it again today on this morning's run. "No one gets to choose their funeral" is the idea that Penn put forth on his show. This isn't the first time I had considered this. It was just the time it really settled in.  I have sometimes expressed ideas about how I would want my funeral. From an early age, saving my family from the funeral industry's exploitation concerned me. "You don't have to bother with a funeral and casket or any of that racket." I said to my family. "Just put my remains in a ba

I had not gone on an early morning run in far too long. However, today I actually got out of bed when my alarm went off at 5 AM. Therefore, today I exchanged my usual habit of going back to sleep for a nice run . One of my favorite parts about the early run is that I get to hear the world wake up around me. The birds start doing their morning songs. The mammals begin to make their mammalian noises. Rabbits and squirrels are running around searching for breakfast. It is a beautiful thing. Once upon a time, I ran with technology affixed to my body. I would attach my iPhone to my arm and listen to music or podcasts on my run. I understand that some people prefer to hear their "pump up" jams for motivation, but this is no longer for me. Now I prefer the sweet music of the world around me.