Funereal

Today I have been mostly feeling funereal. 
 
This morning I was asked to write an obituary for a former colleague. I declined because the truth was, even though I have a large store of anecdotes about him, these are only suitable for the pub and not for a formal obituary. In truth, he was one of the nicest men I have even met, although by equal measures charming and infuriating; the sort of amiable gentleman who would have no chance in academia these days. The whole thing has left rather a bad taste in my mouth - the bitter taste of alienation - but I have a solution for that. The funeral is next week but I don't do funerals. Instead, tonight we are having a celebration dinner in his honour, after which we shall tell stories about him long into the night.