Mon 11 May 2026

Disclaimer 1: Heavy [sic] applied to all intentional butchering of the German language in the references (and URLs) in this post

Disclaimer 2: This post deals with issues of grieving, but in a lighthearted manner

Disclaimer 3: This post may be best enjoyed while listening to this track, but I cannot guarantee the enjoyment of it. You have to have a certain amount of appreciation for the absurd to enjoy that, as well as this post, as well as nearly everything I say.

Disclaimer 4: The above link may be "A.I."-generated "Music," as the attribution is lacking. 2026 gotta 2026, I guess. 🤷‍♂️

An insane, 1,000 kcal breakfast of cheese scrambled eggs, hash browns, (American-style) breakfast sausage links, and a waffle

The outside of Der Waffle Haus, or rather, an ordinary Waffle House

Two things have marked this period of mourning for me. Well, two things other than a general sense of confusion and bewilderment, and also feeling like I have an entire unseen galaxy of grief hovering above my mind. But beside those little things, I've noticed that I've recently been attracted to 1) occasionally enjoying insanely enormous breakfasts, and 2) watching TV shows that deal with the subject of death in a comic way.

As far as the first is concerned, I throw myself at the mercy of the court. I like food. I'm an American. I like American food. I know it's terrible for me. I don't eat like this every day or even every week, but every once in a while, I like to throw down some insane calories in celebration of life, I guess? The day after my mother passed away, I celebrated her life by having an utterly ENORMOUS pancake at my then weekly Wednesday Morning men's bible study breakfast. The bible study leader commented that the pancake was the size of his bed. An exaggeration, to be sure, but his timing and delivery were on point.

As far as the second is concerned, I'm actually not a lover the macabre. I detest horror movies, and the only thing "Gothic" I've ever liked was the writing of Flannery O'Connor, especially The Violent Bear it Away, one of my all-time favorite novels.

I didn't go searching for comedies relating to death, they just happened to find me. As I wrote about in the past, I started watching The Good Place a couple months before my mom passed away, and finished watching it for a second time a few days after she passed. I didn't really have death on my radar the first time I watched it, I just had an opportunity to watch it, and found that I greatly enjoyed the show, enough to watch it nearly six times now (currently about four episodes from the end, and holding off finishing it indefinitely).

The second show I've greatly enjoyed recently is Dead Like Me (2003). It's shorter (only two seasons), a lot less philosophical, more macabre and surface-funny. Unlike The Good Place, the characters don't find themselves in the afterlife, but rather in an interminable undead state, being forced to reap the souls of the recently deceased and escort them to their "lights," but unable to enter in themselves.

The show honestly leaves so many of its own questions unanswered, but I've greatly enjoyed it, in large part due to the presence of Mandy Patinkin, truly one of my favorite actors. "My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die!"

I finished watching the series for the second time last night, and due to an error on my part, I finished with the penultimate episode last, rather than, well, you get it. I had skipped that episode without realizing it at first, then realized that I had missed part of the story, and watched it last. It was actually a far more poignant ending, because it deals with the loss of one of the character's loved ones in a very touching way.

I woke up a little too early this morning, and for whatever reason (my early-morning decision-making is, should we say, less than stellar), I felt like re-watching the 2009 movie, "Dead Like Me: Life After Death" to cap it off. This is, shall we say, quintessential 2000s direct-to-DVD shovelware. The only way they could have made it worse is if it was one of the Left Behind series of Christian junk-eschatology movies. Egad. The movie makes so little sense as to be utterly bewildering at times, although it does provide a little bit of sweet closure for the main character. That's about the only redeeming quality.

Anyway, continuing my streak of questionable early-morning decision-making, I thought that going to a Waffle House for breakfast would be a hilarious and fitting close to the entire experience. You see, in the series, they meet every morning at a fictional restaurant called "Der Waffle Haus" (yes, yes, I know it should be "Das Waffelhaus," holler at Bryan Fuller, not me!), which serves as kind of an office and a sort of temple for the undead grim reapers.

After ordering an obscenely large breakfast and chit-chatting with a couple fedifriends on my phone, I popped in a wireless earbud and played the (possibly fake) Yodeling music linked at the header of this article, because one of the themes of "Der Waffle Haus" in the show (other than the waitresses wearing faux-Swiss outfits while serving up American greasy-spoon-diner food (seriously, what is up with this show?!? 😅) was the really over-the-top Yodeling music that can be heard whenever they're in the restaurant (which is in pretty much every episode).

So, I listened to my Yodeling music while feasting on a ridiculous American breakfast and trying not to laugh out loud at the bizarreness of the entire experience, as well as life in general. I left my server a good tip and headed out to (hopefully) conquer the day...

Category: Humor Tagged: Content Warning Entertainment Humor Life Loss Non-religious post Non-technical post Personal favorites The Good Place Video