Ten Trillion Dollars

I posted a couple of posts ago about my friend Jason who passed away last month. I had written a bit about my feelings and a little about how I was dealing. But I don't think I mentioned that I had purchase something to remember him by. A bit of a tribute if you could call it that.

One of Jason's prized possessions in the last couple months of his life was a 10 trillion dollar bill from Zimbabwe. He had bought it on Amazon and paid next to nothing for it. The bill itself is probably worth less than $.50 which is just horribly sad when I think about it. But Jason was thrilled when he got it and rushed up to my office to show me the ludicrously large bill. He opened his wallet with a huge grin and said "I'm a trillionaire!".

After that he'd bring out his bill and show people around the office. He was so excited just to have something that odd. He bought a frame and framed the bill for his office. After his death, the bill was the thing I latched onto. It was an incredible reminder of his passion for unusual things. So last week I finally hopped on ebay and bought one for myself. I paid a ridiculously low amount for mine and today it finally arrived. I'm taking it into the office tomorrow and I'll buy a frame and put it up. It may not be worth much in the real world, but for me, this bill is priceless.

Poetry Friday

When I was looking for a poem to post for this week I found out that poet Lucille Clifton died in February. When I was young and in college (oh the many years ago) I spent many a nice afternoon curled up with her poetry. Clifton writes wonderfully short and accessible poems about her experiences as an African American and as a woman. She was one of the first feminist poets I ever read and one of my favorites. So in memory of her I'm sharing one of her poems for Poetry Friday.

homage to my hips
by Lucille Clifton

these hips are big hips
they need space to
move around in.
they don't fit into little
petty places. these hips
are free hips.
they don't like to be held back.
these hips have never been enslaved,
they go where they want to go
they do what they want to do.
these hips are mighty hips.
these hips are magic hips.
i have known them
to put a spell on a man and
spin him like a top!

Memorials

One of my favorite parts of my job is that I get to find data and pictures of different cities. I love to imagine living in different places throughout the country. Google's street view maps are one of my favorite new toys. I just checked out CNN Money's new list for top 25 places for affordable houses. This was a list of cities that had very nice homes for a very cheap price. Des Moines was on the list so I had to go there. And one of the other cities listed was Bella Vista, Arkansas.

I had never heard of this city but I'm always interested in looking at cities south of me so I pulled up the city-data information on the place. City-data offers demographic, climate, education, and attraction data for locations. It also offers pictures. And that is where I saw this structure.

I've always said that I want to be turned into a firework when I die. A company will turn your cremated remains into a firework that can be shot up in a private ceremony. I love the idea of going out with a bang, but this is truly a memorial.
Now for anyone who knows me, you know that religion plays a very small role in my life. I don't attend church, don't practice any organized religion, and don't even really believe, but this is different. I wouldn't have it as a chapel. I would just have it as a resting place where people could go to soak up the beauty of nature. The memorial, dedicated to Mildred B. Cooper (a prominent citizen of the area), seems to me more about communion with nature and the beauty of nature then communing with any higher power. It is a place for introspection among some of the prettiest surroundings I can think of. It is a place that I would spend some time.

I am going to have to make a trip south. Bella Vista is a tiny town (the area only has 16,000) but I will go down just to see this structure. Of all the memorials I have ever seen this is the most beautiful. And the most fitting with what I would want.