Crow Funeral is the end result of intention and design gone off script. What began as fascination with a phenomenon of crows congregating in overwhelming numbers around one of their fallen, eventually became a collection that merges an interest in the neurological wiring of birds with a mother's battle with postpartum depression and anxiety. We as humans have the tendency to anthropomorphize what we have deep need for-ritual, spectacle, and ceremony, and above all, meaning. If crows can orchestrate an event to mourn their own, then perhaps it is proof that even birds have a built-in urgency to center themselves inside of life's chaos. And yet, it's likely that crows do not mourn at all, and instead they simply reflexively react to something potentially dangerous. There is no deeper significance to the event at all, profound as it may appear. How do you raise children, pray, or write poems in a world with no meaning? Crow Funeral dismisses meaning as a construct concluded from a certain set of metaphysical "signs," and instead simultaneously accepts and rejects God and meaning in search of an exactness that only language can create.

Offers insight into crows' ability to make tools and respond to environmental challenges, explaining how they engage in human-like behaviors, from giving gifts and seeking revenge to playing and experiencing dreams.

In Tales from Kentucky Funeral Homes, William Lynwood Montell has collected stories and reminiscences from funeral home directors and embalmers across the state. These accounts provide a record of the business of death as it has been practiced in Kentucky over the past fifty years. The collection ranges from tales of old-time burial practices, to stories about funeral customs unique to the African American community, to tales of premonitions, mistakes, and even humorous occurrences. Other stories involve such unusual aspects of the business as snake-handling funerals, mistaken identities, and in-home embalming. Taken together, these firsthand narratives preserve an important aspect of Kentucky social life not likely to be collected elsewhere. Most of these funeral home stories involve the recent history of Kentucky funeral practices, but some descriptive accounts go back to the era when funeral directors used horse-drawn wagons to reach secluded areas. These accounts, including stories about fainting relatives, long-winded preachers, and pallbearers falling into graves, provide significant insights into the pivotal role morticians have played in local life and culture over the years.

Frank Fools Crow, Ceremonial Chief of the Teton Sioux, is regarded by many to be the greateset Native American holy person since 1900. Nephew of Black Elk, and a disciplined, spiritual and political leader, Fools Crow died in 1989 at the age of 99. This volume reveals his philosophy and practice.

The curious flight patterns of crows lead a teen computer programmer down a path of mystery and romance. Gin trusts logic a little too much. She even designs programs to decide what to eat and how to spend her time. All that changes when she's paired with a new transfer student, Felix, on a computer modeling assignment to explain certain anomalies in the behavior of crows. Speaking of anomalies, why is Gin so disappointed that Felix isn't a match for her in the dating app she's designing with local gamers? As she enters Felix's world and digs further into the data behind crow behavior, Gin uncovers a terrible secret. And the wrong decision could equal disaster squared...

Describes the physical characteristics, behavior, habitat, and life cycle of crows.

The Crisis, founded by W.E.B. Du Bois as the official publication of the NAACP, is a journal of civil rights, history, politics, and culture and seeks to educate and challenge its readers about issues that continue to plague African Americans and other communities of color. For nearly 100 years, The Crisis has been the magazine of opinion and thought leaders, decision makers, peacemakers and justice seekers. It has chronicled, informed, educated, entertained and, in many instances, set the economic, political and social agenda for our nation and its multi-ethnic citizens.