I used to belong to a group called the “RevGalBlogPals” and we did this thing (a meme, which is where the current picture term comes from, but back in the day it was bloggers who sent each other a writing prompt. We did the Friday Five, and this comes from one that said, “what makes you laugh at Easter?” It’s still 100% true, and I wrote this in 2007:
Dana.
Dana made me laugh so hard that I almost wet myself when I went to lunch at her house for the first time, which was, in fact, Easter 2003.
The funniest thing was that she didn’t mean to make me laugh, and I think she might have even been a little offended that I laughed, but come on. When you hear what I laughed about, you’ll laugh, too.
Dana’s family has LAMB for Easter. It’s a tradition. Apparently, lots and lots of people have LAMB for Easter. I did not know this.
Perhaps Easter lunch should *actually* be roast lamb, fava beans, and a nice chianti.
And yes, it is not lost on me that communion is Jesus’ body and blood as well. Transubstantiation isn’t any less disgusting an idea when thought of literally, either.
But then again, with communion there are no leftover Jesus sandwiches.
This is from Good Friday the week before Ash Wednesday of the same year.
I can’t believe it’s already time for Ashed & Smashed! Such a great time was had by all at last year’s, and this time shouldn’t be any different. In fact, it’s getting bigger. We’ve invited just about everyone we know, and as it turns out, we know a lot of people.
For the unfamiliar, Ashed & Smashed began when Dana (my best friend) came to hear me sing at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in Portland, Oregon. Afterward, we went to Jake’s Grill, a little bar on the first floor of the Governor Hotel (10th and Alder). We had *so* much to eat, and like, two hurricanes apiece. So we started throwing names around for this brand new holiday that we’d just created.
Was it going to be:
-Blessed and Blasted?
-Kneeling and Reeling?
-Crossed and Canned?
Ashed & Smashed got the most votes by far, and there was only the two of us. Last year, the tradition was continued here in Houston. Dana came to visit and we invited as many people as we could think of. We ended up with a table full of friends, but surprisingly, no sketchy management of alcoholic beverages.
It’s probably because Ashed & Smashed will always fall on a Wednesday. Few, if any, jobs like it when their employees show up smashed, ashed or not. Tis the merriment of the holiday that counts, and there’s always lots of that.
Last year, a minister from Resurrection MCC stopped by our table and said that he could see all of our ashes and wanted to know if we were *celebrating* Ash Wednesday. We started talking and we asked him why we didn’t see HIS ashes. He said, “HELLO!!! I’m BLACK!”
And what do you say after that? We fell on the floor laughing, and went back to our drinks.
Stories That Are All True 