The Sum of a Life

June 2, 2025

 

What to put on a grave marker? That’s a current debate in my family. We can’t all be like some of the ancients, with amazing tombs and carved columns describing their life and times. There’s just not enough room in the average graveyard or on the average tombstone.

 

I’ve read about some fun epitaphs on tombstones, and I’ve also seen gravestones that say, “Loving wife and mother,” and you know there’s got to be more to the person.

 

I think it would be swell if you could have a QR code that people could scan to get the full scoop. Then you could say, “Mother, grandmother, and so much more!” above the QR code, and people could scan and find out why.

 

I’ve seen gravestones with ceramic pictures affixed to them. Scanning a QR code onto a tile should be a snap to do. It probably will be outdated in 100 years, so historians won’t have much fun (unless there remained a niche market for the scanning technology); but wouldn’t it be cool to be able to access the past? No hieroglyphic-carved columns necessary.

 

 

 

Virtual History

 

June 17, 2024

 

There’s another fight in a St. Louis-area city regarding the preservation of some historic buildings—buildings which have been vacant for years, and are in bad shape because nobody wants to deal with them. In this case, the city wants to allow renovation, not teardown, but there is still contention.

 

I’m as fond of history as the next person who isn’t an actual historian, but at some point, you need to say, “Enough.” With all the scientific resources available these days, isn’t it possible to make a holographic replica of a place and its furnishings without needing to keep a dilapidated building standing around with no purpose?

 

It won’t be homey, and it won’t have that nice, old-home smell (remember how old-timey libraries always smelled like libraries?); but it could preserve the history without being a nuisance. I’m not sure where exactly you’d exhibit it, but at least it would be available for people who actually wanted to know what the place was like.

 

And when it comes to saving our past, it’s better to start virtual preservation early, before a tornado, a fire, or an errant vehicle takes a place out permanently.