Amber and I went to hear Caitlin Doughty speak at the Denver Public Library downtown.
Her presentation on the future of death was really interesting!
The screen you see behind her here is from her visit to China at a Buddhist temple where the cremated remains of its members reside each in their own individual statue, one in every box you see. The computer system is set up so that when a family member enters, their key card makes the loved one's statue turn a different color and pulse. The monk has a program so that each morning when he enters, the dead who died on that day turn a specific color.
One of her points was that, of all the states, Colorado is actually one of the best to live in if you want to avoid the corporate funeral industry vortex.
She covered some of the cutting edge alternative options that should be available soon, such as alkaline hydrolysis and the Urban Death Project as well as the options for green/natural burial without expensive water sealed caskets, concrete vaults, and embalming.
One of her last photos were of a place she's headed to next, Crestone CO, the only place in the United States where you can have an open air pyre cremation.
The Q&A session was a lot of fun and everyone asked really interesting questions. Fun stuff.
We cut out to grab dinner instead of wait in the meet and greet line, since my Kindle version of her book isn't signable, and we were hungry.
The Library is next door to the Denver Art Museum and several historic homes that are museums so we took our time walking back to the car.
And, surprisingly, we only had to wait ten minutes for a table at Los Dos!
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