Grave questions

["Meek, DavidX L" <davidx -dot- l -dot- meek -at- INTEL -dot- COM>]

Well, I finally did it.  The experts tell us to pre-plan our burial
arrangements so as not to burden our loved ones when we pass away.  I have
now purchased my plot and headstone; that dreadful task is now completed.
With one exception:  the headstone itself.

I'm speaking specifically in terms of font (types and sizes) and
presentation.  I'm assuming my final marker will be more of a reference than
a user's guide.  I cannot, however, assume my potential audience will be
skilled users.  In fact, it seems likely that about half will be novices.
Therein lies my dilemma.

With skilled users, I could easily resort to the following:

David L. Meek (This line in Arial Bold, 74 point)

Born:  May 3, 1960      Died:  (TBD)  (This line and the rest in Times New
Roman, 37 point)
*       Son
*       Brother
*       Uncle
*       Technical Writer
(Note the use of bullets.)

But important questions arise with this approach.  If my users are novices,
will they understand that the data below my name is associated with me?  I
think my format implies as much, but I'm uncertain.

Many other questions remain.  In terms of format, should I use the bulleted
style above?  Keep in mind I am under some space restrictions, and the text
will literally be set in stone once it's approved.  Perhaps I should try the
following:

Born:  May 3, 1960      Died:  (TBD)
Son; Brother; Uncle; Technical Writer

Although this approach saves precious marble space, several things bother me
about it.  Should I end the final line with or without a period?  Should I
separate the items, all of which are equally important, with semi-colons as
shown, or with commas, colons, en-dashes or em-dashes?  And how many spaces
between each punctuation mark and succeeding item?  I'm also concerned my
audience might confuse my birth month, May, with Can, and thus erroneously
conclude that I am (or was) Canadian.  Of course, I could look up this
information in any sixth-grade grammar book, but I'd prefer to know how
others feel about it.

Maybe novices would be better served with the data chunked in tabular form
(vis-a-vis Information Mapping).  For example:

Born:  May 3, 1960      Died:  (TBD)
Son      Brother
Uncle    Technical Writer

All help on this will be greatly appreciated.  I'd like to get responses
ASAP, because the SME in charge of the "Died" date has not responded to my
many pleadings for information (and I've tried everything from Ouija boards
to tarrot cards).  The deadline, as you can see, is unknown, and I'd really
like to have everything ready on time.

Thanks in advance, and have a good April 1st,
Dave
(Any statements made above are mine, and mine alone.)


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