<\/p>\n
Some people see a skull and think its saying, \u201cYou are going to die.\u201d Essayist David Sedaris\u2019 latest book, \u201cWhen You are Engulfed in Flames,\u201d devotes an entire chapter to the skeleton that hangs in his bedroom repeating that scary sentence over and over.
\n But others\u2014here\u2019s hoping you\u2019re one of them\u2014see skulls as a reminder to live life to the fullest. Rebecca Collins, the jewelry designer responsible for the pretty (but a little creepy) bracelet shown here, likes to think positive.
\n \u201cYou don\u2019t have to say that the skull means \u2018memento mori\u2019\u2014remember death. You can say, \u2018It\u2019s a reminder to live for today.\u2019\u201d
\n This got Collins thinking about remembering in general and before you could say \u201cGoogle\u201d she was reading me a delightful poem titled \u201cForgetfulness\u201d by former U.S. poet laureate Billy Collins:
\n \u201cThe name of the author is the first to go
\n followed obediently by the title, the plot,
\n the heartbreaking conclusion, the entire novel
\n which suddenly becomes one you have never read,
\n never even heard of\u2026\u201d
\n When, eventually, we got back to talking about her jewelry (rebeccacollinsjewelry.com) Collins said, \u201cSkulls are historically timeless. They\u2019re like crosses. They aren\u2019t a trend. They\u2019re forever.\u201d And they\u2019re everywhere. After all, we\u2019ve all got one.
\n When Collins wears her skull designs\u2014the bracelet shown is carved onyx set in silver ($1180, Neiman Marcus Chicago) \u2014 she\u2019s telling the world, \u201cI try to do what I want to do more than I need to do.\u201d Living for today.
\n That\u2019s a noble ambition and a goal to strive for.
\n \u201cI spent my whole life doing what I need to. I used to be the \u2018list\u2019 queen. Now I don\u2019t have a list,\u201d she says.
\n And if that\u2019s the message you\u2019re emitting from an expensive skull bracelet or a $1 skull bandana from Wal-Mart all the better. It\u2019s surely better than \u201cYou are going to die.\u201d
\n Even if that\u2019s an inevitable truth.<\/p>\n
The Poet Laureate is appointed annually by the Librarian of Congress and is paid $35,000. The position has existed since 1937. Among notable Poet Laureates was Robert Frost (1958-59).<\/p>\n
Skull and Bones is Yale University\u2019s best known secret society. Bonesmen have included President George W. Bush as well as his father and grandfather plus cabinet members, Supreme Court justices and some of American\u2019s most powerful corporate chieftains.<\/p>\n
Tribune photo by Bill Hogan<\/p>\n
Source: http:\/\/featuresblogs.chicagotribune.com\/<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Some people see a skull and think its saying, \u201cYou are going to die.\u201d Essayist David Sedaris\u2019 latest book, \u201cWhen You are Engulfed in Flames,\u201d devotes an entire chapter to the skeleton that hangs in his bedroom repeating that scary sentence over and over. But others\u2014here\u2019s hoping you\u2019re one of them\u2014see skulls as a reminder […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[411],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n