Planning my own proper send off

I found this at Layla's Classic Rock Faves, and I think it's a revealing and provocative question:

WHAT MUSIC WOULD YOU HAVE PLAYED AT YOUR FUNERAL?

I take my music very seriously, always have. So I've chosen two songs that I think represent me well, and will remind my mourners of my life. (This is the weirdest exercise!)

"Mary's Place" by Bruce Springsteen

Familiar faces around me
Laughter fills the air
Your loving grace surrounds me
Everybody's here
Furniture's out on the front porch
Music's up loud
I dream of you in my arms
I lose myself in the crowd

Let it rain, let it rain, let it rain
Let it rain, let it rain, let it rain, let it rain
Meet me at Mary's place, we're gonna have a party
Meet me at Mary's place, we're gonna have a party
Tell me how do you live broken-hearted?
Meet me at Mary's place

"Let It Be" by The Beatles
When the night is cloudy, there is still a light that shines on me
Shine until tomorrow
Let it be.
I wake up to the sound of music, Mother Mary comes to me
Speaking words of wisdom,
Let it be.

What about you? Are there any songs you think would be appropriate for your last party?

An unnecessary decision

The village I live in has made it illegal to own handguns. The city I work in has made it illegal to own handguns. Voters in both my village and in Chicago accept -- even embrace -- these laws. Yet something that isn't broken is about to be "fixed," thanks to the Supreme Court.

In their ruling about the DC gun ban, striking it down with a razor-thin 5-4 majority, the Supremes have imperiled Chicago's law. And Mayor Daley, God bless him, is pissed. He began by calling the ruling "very frightening" and went on to add:

"Does this lead to everyone having a gun in our society? If [the justices] think that's the answer, then they're greatly mistaken. Then why don't we do away with the court system and go back to the Old West, you have a gun and I have a gun and we'll settle it in the streets?"

I have come to believe that guns are a regional issue. Citizens in Chicago, Philadelphia, San Francisco, etc., don't necessarily view them as a "right." They are, instead, often seen as a peril to our neighborhoods and children. It's no accident that where crimes like urban dog fighting flourish, so do illegal firearms. I have also vacationed in Arkansas and Wisconsin often enough to know that there's a culture of hunters, law-abiding people who consider their guns a valuable part of their lifestyle and heritage.

The reality is that this is a big country, and that attitudes and needs change and shift as you move from sea to shining sea. If a majority of voters here accept our gun ban, why can't it stand? Second Amendment, yeah, yeah, yeah. Our founding fathers built the Constitution to be flexible. I believe the Second Amendment should be repealed, and the "right" of gun ownership should be determined by municipality. And, by the way, no one will ever be convince me that great men like Jefferson and Adams meant for the Constitution to protect gang bangers and to facilitate children killing children, which is what the handgun ban in Chicago is designed to curb.

But, alas, I'm a realist. Barack Obama's disappointing response to this ruling pointed me to the writing on the wall. And if the handgun bans here and in Chicago are repealed, I'm going to miss sleeping soundly at night.

Friday Music Memoirs #2

TOP 5 ON FRIDAY
Top 5 Songs with "You" in the Title

These are the first five that occurred to me, and I do love them all.
1) She Loves You -- The Beatles
2) You Don't Know Me -- Jann Arden (and many others, but I like hers best)
3) You Can Look, But You Better Not Touch -- Bruce Springsteen
4) If Only You Knew -- Patti LaBelle
5) You Never Can Tell -- Chuck Berry

To play along yourself, and to see how others answered, visit here.

Friday's Feast #34

Appetizer
What is the weather like today where you live? 80º+ with a chance of thunderstorms. It's gonna be humid like this through the weekend. This means that I'll have that "Hermie the Elf" thing happening with my bangs each day.

Soup
On a scale of 1-10 with 10 being highest, how career-minded are you? 6. If I can hang on to this job, serve my clients well, and get my finances in shape, I'll be happy enough. But I can remember well those days, not that long ago, when I made "career moves." It just doesn't matter so much anymore.

Salad
What type of window coverings do you have in your home? Blinds, curtains, shutters, etc.? Blinds and drapes in the bedrooms, drapes alone in the livingroom.

Main Course
Name something that instantly cheers you up. Hearing from my best friend.

Dessert
How many times do you hit the snooze button on a typical morning? Three times.

For more information,or to whip up your own feast, click here.