For the Scouts and the Boo Radleys
Last night I was flipping through the new Sync, a free Little Rock paper that focuses on the people of the Little Rock area, as well as the fun things to do in Little Rock. We like Sync because they have a section about the Little Rock Kickball Association (in which we are actively involved and in love with) in every issue. On one page I happened to notice a little Q&A section with four young adults. The question asked was this: “What is the worst book you have been forced to read in school, and why?” Three of those four people gave very reasonable, understandable answers. But the fourth person…oh, the fourth person. I saw his picture, and before I even read his response, I knew it was going to be ridiculous, embarrassing, disappointing, and, I’m sorry, just stupid.
Now this guy is one we all know. Camouflage hat, cocked over to the side. Messy, unkempt hair. An extremely patchy beard, if you can so call it that. You know the kind of guy I’m talking about. I look at his picture, then I grudgingly slide my eyes over to read his response. Once I read it, I was so appalled and frustrated that I didn’t even know what to do with myself. This, my friends, is what he said was the worst book he ever read, and why:
“To Kill a Mockingbird, because I already know how to kill a mockingbird.”
*crickets chirp*
I know. It’s disgusting. That book is my second all -time favorite book (The Giver is number one), and the movie is one of my all-time favorite movies. The subject matter makes it a must-read for every American, and to know that there are people out there that hated it just makes me sick. I know not everyone enjoys to read, but good grief. To Kill a Mockingbird? That’s really the worst book you’ve ever read? Actually, that might have been the only book this guy had ever read, so I’m actually feeling a little bit better about this whole thing….
Anyway. My mom told me to watch To Kill a Mockingbird when I was about, oh, 10 or 11 years old. I immediately latched on to Scout, because I was secretly convinced we were the same kid (I actually still think we were. Have you seen my Kindergarten yearbook picture? Same haircut). This began my love affair with To Kill a Mockingbird, and it also explains why I feel the need to protect it. It also explains why I’ve held out hope that I would find a husband who would be excited about the idea of naming our daughter Scout. But that hope recently died when Dallas shot down the idea, which means the name Scout has now fallen to the name of my next girl dog.
I guess more than anything, this guy’s response makes me sad. He never fell in love with Scout and Jem and Dill and Atticus and Boo Radley. He never even gave them a chance. He just tossed them aside because he already knew how to kill a mockingbird. What a shame.
Married Life
Married life. It’s quite interesting. It’s nice to have someone that is happy working our way through all the seasons of “How I Met Your Mother” on Friday and Saturday nights. It’s nice having an automatic partner when we play darts in the basement of the Flying Saucer with our college friends. It’s nice having one other person in this entire world completely understand how obsessed I am with Sparky, because he’s just as obsessed as I am (for the record, he’s the cutest, most loving, little rambunctious terrier on the planet. Even though he can’t have any toys because he’ll eat them all).
But it’s not nice to still find towels draped in random places throughout the apartment. Or to find bowls and plates in the sink that are NEVER rinsed out. Ever. Or to open the lid to the washer and find two wet socks and a pair of wet shorts stuck to the sides. Or to turn the water on in the bathtub and have it rain down on your head from the shower when you weren’t expecting it because someone forgot to turn the knob that switches from shower to tub.
But then again, there are the other nice times when I get home from work, and after Dallas has already left, and turn on the TV to find Cartoon Network, which implies that Dallas had been watched Spongebob or Flapjack or something silly. And then there’s the funny little half-finished sock rabbit sitting on the table that he had to make for a class. And then when I walk by the grocery list on the door and see something like “tangy zip of Miracle Whip” scribbled on it.
Overall, the little cute things far outweigh the annoying things. I’d say Dallas is a keeper, and married life is A-OK.
Ticket Stub Saga #5: American Outlaws
American Outlaws
Director: Les Mayfield
Release Date: August 17, 2001
Starring: Colin Farrell; Scott Caan
I actually don’t remember much about the actual movie at all, but I remember the experience. This was the first time Crissy and I got to hang out with our basketball coach’s wife, Angelina. She invited us to go see the movie, so we agreed, and we all had a good time. One of Angelina’s friends went, too. The Bishop’s had lived in the Fort Smith area for a year at that point, but for some reason Angelina still got lost on the way to the Carmike in her little blue Cavalier. It was after this movie that Crissy and I started hanging out with Angelina pretty often.
Ticket Stub Saga #4:
American Pie 2
Director: James Rogers
Release Date: August 10, 2001
Starring: Jason Biggs; Alyson Hannigan
This is one of those movies that I’m actually kind of embarrassed to have the ticket stub. But it was an OK movie experience, aside from the extremely obnoxious guy who sat in front of me and laughed like a fool throughout the entire movie. My brother Bryan and I went to see this movie just a few days before he left to go to college in Wichita, Kansas. I think that was the first movie Bryan didn’t mind taking me to see. I was just an annoying sister before this. But I think we both saw it as some good ol’ brother/sister bonding time before he left the house for good. I had fun, and I thought the movie was hilarious at the time.
It’s a good feeling…
…when you pack up your desk at a somewhat humiliating job which consisted of making copies, sending faxes, and transferring telephone calls, and prepare to start a career at the William J. Clinton Presidential Library as an Archives Technician. As a history major, I can honestly say that a job like this is a dream come true, and I’m on Cloud 9. Next goal: meet Billary.
Ticket Stub Saga #3: Planet of the Apes
Planet of the Apes
Director: Tim Burton
Release Date: 27 July 2001
Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Helena Bonham Carter
The only reason I went to see this movie was because of Mark Wahlberg. It was around this time that I saw Three Kings and Fear, as well as a little bit of Boogie Nights on late night TV (which I probably shouldn’t have been watching…). Anyway, I recruited Crissy to go watch it with me, and it was…ok. I don’t think we really understood the movie too well. I haven’t seen it since, and nor do I want to see it again. The weirdness of the movie makes much more sense now that I realize it was a Tim Burton movie. But yeah…Planet of the Apes. That’s about all I can say about this experience. It was just…Meh.
Ticket Stub Saga #2: Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor
Director: Michael Bay
Release Date: 25 May 2001
Starring: Ben Affleck, Josh Hartnett, Kate Beckinsale
This is another one I was really excited about. It was released on a Wednesday, Memorial Day of 2001, so I had to wait until Saturday the 28th before I went to see it. I apparently loved it so much that I went to see it again the next week. This happened quite often, but what I don’t understand is how I managed to convince Mom to take me twice. I was in 9th grade when Pearl Harbor was released, and I remember talking about it in Mr. Hocott’s Algebra class. Anyway. This was a movie that Mom actually watched with Crissy and me, and I’m pretty sure I embarrassed everyone involved. I was literally bawling at the end of the movie. I mean, I was nearly hysterical. To this day, I’ve never cried that much in a movie. The only thing I could compare it to (in the entertainment industry) was when I read the last couple of chapters of Marley and Me by John Grogan. I was completely beside myself in both cases. As we walked out of the theater I remember Mom looking at me like I was ridiculous. And I was, that’s for sure.
Google Search
So apparently someone found my blog yesterday by typing the following in the Google:
“then he knocked me down and stol mah buk.”
I don’t even know what to think of that.
Ticket Stub Saga#1
Ok, so now I start the Ticket Stub Saga. In each post, I’ll include information about the movie (with the help of one of the most visited sites in the Jones’ household: IMDB) and a picture of the stub, as well as who I was with, what were up to, and any other insignificant details I’d like to include.
Now for the first stub:
Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me
Director: Jay Roach
Release Date: 11 June, 1999
Starring: Mike Meyers and Heather Graham
So apparently I was really excited about this movie, seeing as how I went to see it on opening night. Actually, no, it was opening…afternoon. It was during the summer, obviously, and I was only 13, so my mom must have dropped off Jessica and me at the movies while she went to see something else. That’s what often happened. It’s funny to think that Jessica and I were best friends at this time, especially considering our relationship, or lack thereof, today. But regardless, we were best friends (along with Crissy), and we loved some Austin Powers. The Spy Who Shagged Me became the movie we rented from the Midland Mini Mart every time we were bored for the next few years. We spent lots of weekends at Jessica’s house, Crissy and I did; somehow John Aaron always managed to be included, too. But anyway, that’s the story of Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me. Just two 13 year old girls enjoying a lazy Friday afternoon in the summer, who never thought they’d run out of things they had in common in the years following graduation, resulting in the end of a friendship as the two grew further and further apart until they eventually no longer talked. But hey, at least we’ll always have The Spy Who Shagged Me.
