Writing this post in advance because I am spending Saturday & Sunday in Las Vegas to see the Mariah Carey show. My cousin Leah is a die-hard fan, and since she came with me to see Britney last year, I am tagging along on this one. The only difference is she’s never seen Mariah perform before. I hope the show is everything Leah wants it to be! I have a feeling it’s going to be hilarious.
Around The ‘Net
~Atticus Was Always a Racist: Why Go Set a Watchman Is No Surprise
~California drought makes quest for water a consuming grind
~What’s Wrong with Cultural Appropriation? These 9 Answers Reveal Its Harm
~Why I’m Not Ready To Rule Out Suicide In the Case of Sandra Bland
~The Hashtag That Is Changing The World’s View of Africa Stunning! That pink lake!
~Smart Folks Now Water Their Yards with Washing Machine Runoff, And The DWP Doesn’t Like It
~Harper Lee: the ‘great lie’ she didn’t write Mockingbird rears its head again
~No, It’s Not Your Opinion, You’re Just Wrong.
~El Niño intensifying, could rival strongest in recorded history Pleeeeease let this be true. *buys boat*
~Hackers Remotely Kill a Jeep on the Highway – With Me In It
~Up in the Air: Meet the Man Who Flies Around the World for Free Fascinating.
Kindergarten Countdown Continues
~Annabel still asked me every day about school starting. Instead of letting it make me a liiiittle crazy, I have instead set aside tiny tasks for her to do to get ready. Sometimes it’s practicing writing her name (she says this is boring), sometimes it’s making a list of the foods she wants in her lunch. Whenever a clothing catalogue comes in the mail, I have her circle the clothes she’d want to wear to school. ANYTHING to keep her excited and also busy. Last week I ordered some name labels for her from Minted because she told me I “made her backpack ugly” by writing her name on it with an “icky black marker.” I mean, I have some nerve, right? So these labels are waterproof and dishwasher safe, and I’m letting her slap ’em onto everything.
I got some for James, too. I think they are super-cute.
(BTW if you follow this link you’ll get $25 off your first order of $50 or more at Minted, wooo savings!)
The Happiest Mall On Earth
A Disney store opened in our local mall, and it just had its big Grand Opening. They advertised it as being a bit of an event — and even promised to have Mickey and Minnie on hand — so of course it was a total zoo. There not only was a line (a long one) to meet Mickey and Minnie, but there was even a line to simply go into the Disney Store. One disappointment was that, though the event promised that kids could meet Mickey and Minnie, in actuality only one of the two was doing the meet and greet at any given time — they switched off every 30 minutes. Annabel REALLY wanted to meet Minnie, so Mike calculated when to get into line to make it happen. Unfortunately, Mickey came a few minutes early and switched places with Minnie right as we were next in line. Poor Annabel burst into tears (after 45 minutes of waiting, who could blame her?), but she quickly rallied for a photo with Mickey. We were proud of her.
The store is beautiful, though, full of cool Disney stuff, which on one hand is awesome, but on the other hand is now another store to keep out of my kids’ sight lines when we go shopping.
Happy Sunday, everyone!
Alison says:
Awesome links today! Great reads…thank you
Jordan says:
Awesome links today.
More Mockingbird, Spohr? I thought *I* was obsessed.
I loved the article about Atticus to an extent. Atticus is still one of my favorite book characters of all-time- he was a dedicated father figure (I always wished he was my dad), and he fought for Tom Robinson with dedication and honor. I respected him so much. I STILL DO.
However, this is something I’ve been thinking about. Kristen Howerton posted something about it a few weeks ago and it got my wheels turning…
yes, Atticus worked hard to get Robinson acquitted. He didn’t succeed- not by his own efforts, but by society’s rules- but he tried so very hard. However, at the end of the day- he was simply doing his job. It didn’t necessarily reflect his personal views or what have you… he was just doing what he was trained to do: defend someone. Black, white, purple, it didn’t matter- he did his job, and at the end of the day he came home, then did it all again. I don’t think he harbored any ill will towards Robinson himself, but that doesn’t necessarily mean he liked the man or thought he deserved equal rights etc. You see him do his job for this man to the best of the ability, when most people wouldn’t have touched it with a ten foot pole. And he did it with great restraint and grace. THAT is what I admire.
Do I wish he was this ultimate heroic white guy fighting for equality, instead of being the “stereotypical polite white guy?” (and I say stereotypical in quotes because I don’t think Atticus was stereotypical for his day and age,racist or not). Sure! It would’ve been awesome to have that character. But that would change the story.
I liked this line: “Mockingbird Atticus is too easy to read as virtuous—a brave individual, not strong enough on his own to make any headway against inequality.”
I don’t think he was strong enough to make any headway if he’d wanted to- look at what he was up against simply defending an innocent black man?! If he’d even WANTED to do more, imagine what would have happened in Maycomb? I don’t think society was quite ready for that leap quite yet, and Lee knew it.
I will always roll my eyes at the Lee/Capote controversy. For God’s sake. The woman wrote ONE damn book (ok now two ) and people actually accuse it of not being hers? For serious? I’ve read both Capote and Lee quite a bit (btw: Breakfast at Tiffany’s is boring compared to the movie! hmph!), and have never thought their writing styles were similar AT ALL. Gah. Maybe I should quit writing blog-post sized comments on your blog and write somethin of my own. Lol. Sorry for the Mockingbird-induced soliloquy at 3am, Heather.
Jordan says:
also (because I can’t sleep):
Laughed out loud about you ruining Annie’s backpack by writing her name in marker. For shame! Oh, kids of this day and age don’t even know that we didn’t have things like Minted, and black marker was about the only option for us! haha.
Poor Annie, the Mickey/Minnie switchup was so wrong. Glad she turned herself around for the pic though,atta girl
Amy says:
I’m from the south where we monogram EVERYTHING, especially when it comes to our little girls. I don’t know how popular it is in CA, but it’s another option for Annie’s backpack and school sweater.
https://www.etsy.com/listing/104253248/monogrammed-backpacks
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/157555686937129787/
Alyssa says:
How well do you think those stickers will hold up on her backpack? I am thinking of getting them for my step-daughters items, as we marked all her stuff last year with black marker, but those are much more attractive! With how tough she was on her backpack in kindergarten, I am worried that I would be sticking one on her bag once a week, if not sooner this year!!
Jackie F. says:
You should make Annie a paper chain to count down the days…where she tears off one each day when she wakes up. Or some other type of countdown…like an advent calendar haha.