Morbid Anatomy is a blog about icky dead stuff. Every time I go there, I feel slightly ashamed, as though I’ve just peered into Hollister Hovey‘s curio cabinet. But the author is clearly passionate about her subject, and I have to respect her obsession. There are some images there that are truly nauseating, like the ones of syphilitic penises, but others (like the photo above) are often weirdly beautiful.
Obit is a website about death that has a modern sophisticated look about it, kind of like the Starbucks of death blogs. They even have an advice column “for the dying and those who care about them” by someone named Judy. What they need is a Hit List , so I guess I need to start one. Sting will be in the top five, as will Bono. Nominations, anyone?
Finally, sticking to my theme of All Things Icky, here is a photo from the online site of Oak NYC, a trendy clothing shop.
Looking at the boy’s tragic tattoos, I felt bad for his mother. Somewhere, a woman is heartbroken. And yet, I saw this photo again, on a fashion blog, where the comments ranged from “Rad” to “The clothes look cool and the models even cooler.”
How wonderful it is to be young when you can still think death is interesting and cool because it’s “different”–instead of the end of everything, not to mention painful for the dying and emotionally traumatizing for the ones left behind.
I am fascinated by being alive and by not being in pain. I think not being in pain is just about the coolest thing there is. That’s because I’m old, so I’ve been in pain. Some of these little twerps (maybe not all, I’m not interested enough to look at their websites, just going on the pictures) have Romantic, indeed morbid, notions about death that will, i hope, leave them when they actually have to face it–themselves or someone they hold truly dear. I don’t wish it on them, and fortunately I can use my back button should I stumble on any of their sites!
Your site, however, I love!
“Somewhere a mother is heartbroken” is the best thing ever written about bad tattoos. *applauding*
Let’s call these people “Death Twerps.” Thanks, Charlotte K., for reminding me of the word “twerp.”
I hate that Oak NYC store– both the virtual and real version.
Sorry, you have to take Bono off the hate list. I insist. I don’t care how much of an arrogant plonker he appears to be, I know for a fact that in real life he does not take himself seriously at all. Plus, the man went to Washington DC and managed to get Third World debt waived. Plus, his wife is cool as hell and they’ve been with each other since they were 16. Plus, his arrogance, I believe, is just inherent goofiness– nothing wrong with that.
Sting you can keep on there.
Add Madonna instead of Bono– “I didn’t choose Malawi, it chose me”
OOH, OOH. I have a HUGE “Hit List”. I call it my “People I’d Like to Shoot in the Face” list.
I’m with annemarie, please take Bono off your list. You can add Hollister Hovey, Kelly Bensimone, Pete Wentz…I can go on and on and on (I might have a rage/hate disorder).
I am so glad that the closest thing to being cool when I was growing up was having my ears pierced at age 12, and then adding 2 more holes to one ear in my 20s. (which I don’t even use anymore). I know that as a follower of all things cool when I was younger, I would have gotten tattooed and regretted it today. I remember being told that “Jews don’t get tattoos” by my superjewish father, and that was the end of that. Now, tattoos are so common, with every kid in middle America sporting them, that they’ve become mainstream. And that is something that I NEVER want to be.
So true re mother’s broken heart. Just imagine remembering the perfect baby skin – awh even I’m feeling bad for her.
Actually Bono is very nice and would laugh at being on your list but keep Sting on it, he wouldn’t laugh.
Andrea, you lived my piercing life. Very exciting, at the time, and we thought of it way before the twerps (yes, a great word!) today.
Fortunately, the tide might be turning. None of my kids think tattoos are that cool. They think they are just too common place. A relief and scary at the same time – what’s next?
I think immortalizing themselves through taxidermy. Think of the museum possibilities.
And how could anyone argue against Sarah Palin as number one on the list?
I need to add Stephenie Meyer to the Hit List (TM), and to my own list. How could I forget her when she’s caused many hours of seething hatred and bile to come forth from me??!!
what the fuck. oak is rad. u are all weird.
I’ve seen worse tattoos…but they’re really nothing worth shooting imo. As long as he’s happy with them though, that’s all that really matters. I am a bit confused as to why so many people care about what’s on someone else’s body. I do respect and support everyone’s right to have an opinion though.
As for the fascination with death, it’s far from being anything new. There have been many people and cultures with this interest in death and pain throughout history. It’s become more of a pop culture phenomenon these days though. I have an interest in learning about these things, and have faced pain and great suffering personally. I don’t think that really has much of an effect either way. I am saddened by the way we’ve been desensitized to things though.
Have a fantastic day! Thanks for sharing. :0