Putting Fun in Funeral

Have you ever done something or seen something that makes you wonder if your whole life is just some part of a zany comedy show for space aliens? A couple Saturdays I had one of those moments.

My husband and I were on our annual anniversary trip, and the theater near us was doing a special feature of Night of the Living Dead. (The original, not the remake.) With it being a classic horror movie that is sometimes consdired the beginning of genre, we purchased tickets.  It is always a fun time to see classic movies on the big screen.   One of the perks of seeing a classic movie, is that sometimes they will bring in vendors for the event.

Now, you might be wondering what sort of vendor would be at Night of the Living Dead.  There were two vendors for the small viewing and they certainly were a highlight of the experience. If it wasn’t for Curiosities 212 and Laura Flook, it would have been a long annoying wait for the movie.

 There is nothing like sitting around waiting for the movie to start and texting my brother about purchasing a rib bone for him for Christmas. (Of course he didn’t believe me, but then I sent a picture and for some reason I am considered strange.)   Curiosities 212 had a variety of funeral paraphernalia that could leave some people scratching their head. It amused me to image my brother opening his Christmas Stocking and pulling out a rib. Part of me wants to know where the bones came from and the other part of me doesn’t want to know ever where the bones came from.

Laura Flook was a perfect counterbalance to Curiousites 212. She was promoting her semi- autobiographical comic book that talked about her time as an undertaker. It was clear to me that she was uncomfortable with the living, or perhaps it was all the drunk people stumbling around, since Oktoberfest was finishing up nearby.  Either way she did her best, and her table was full of a variety of merchandise and at the end of the movie she handed out toe tags as her business card and let us know they make good book marks.  (Which is true, since I currently am using it as a book mark. Also, check out her stuff at www.lauraflook.com  because drunk people shouldn’t be allowed in theaters and also she supports a wonderful cause.)

The whole experience was bizarre, but in a wonderful weird way.