Memories of To Kill a Mockingbird

I first read Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird in the 8^th grade. This time, I read more than 2/3 of it on various airplanes, flying between DFW and Philadelphia and Rochester, New York, on a Friday and Sunday. I flew up to visit my brother in New York and started the book early because I wasn’t planning on reading much over Spring Break. (However, due to a little snafu, my time will no longer be occupied and I will be staying in Fort Worth instead of travelling to Sandestin, Florida.) This book made the whole process of flying (on two big jets and two seemingly feeble smaller jets) much less uncomfortable and helped pass the hours I spent on each, along with the hours I spent in Philadelphia awaiting layovers. (Surprisingly, contrary to the title of the popular TV show, it was sunny neither time I was in Philadelphia.)

 Looking back, I don’t know how I understood much of it. Lee uses employs so man clever innuendos and euphemisms that I know I wouldn’t have gotten as a naïve little 13-year-old. Along with all of the witty word play, there all also many words I know I wouldn’t have known back then, and some I still have trouble defining today. This being said, I remember how much I admired Atticus Finch, for both his demeanor and his name. (I kinda hope to name one of my kids Atticus.) But Atticus is one of my favorite literary characters of all time. He’s just, calm and collected, knowledgeable, and knows how to raise a family.

Again, along with Huck Finn and The Man Who Was Almost a Man I’m not so much averse to the racial slurs and offensive language used, but rather I think it makes the events more believable and the characters more real. Atticus is the exception to the rule in that he’s in a southern town and doesn’t use the N-word, however it makes sense that the majority of the townsfolk do.

Another part of the novel that stood out to me more this time was the chapter involving Jem’s explosion at Mrs. Henry Lafayette Dubose, and his subsequent punishment. This brief anecdote stuck with me for some reason, and was one of the only parts I remembered from the first time I read the novel. Something about Jem’s initial judgment and then Atticus’s revelation gave me a catharsis that lasted through the years. The only other thing that really stuck with me was Scout’s cute little line when she first saw snow and built a snowman with her brother: “I ain’t ever heard of a n***** snowman, Jem.” This innocent little line was funny to me in 8^th grade that somehow it lasted the years. Also, it may be ingrained in memory because I have no recollection of my first snow; in Illinois it’s a terrible burden from November to April. Oh, the other thing that stuck with me through the years was obviously the moral of judging a man by his character, rather than the color of his skin (or other outward appearance).

Mohammed AND Abdulaziz (#3)

Meeting number 3: This week, instead of just meeting with Mohammed, he brought along his cousin, (whom I was originally paired with but was unable to contact) Abdulaziz. Abdulaziz speaks less English than Mohammed, is 20, and has lived in the US for nearly 2 months. Because of the different calendars, Abdulaziz is 20 by the Arabic or Islamic calendar, and only 19 (with his birthday being tomorrow, March 7^th).

For the first half of our conversation, Abdulaziz was quiet and mostly kept to himself. Mohammed and I talked about his schoolwork. He said one of the most difficult for him was to learn the new alphabet and learn to write from left-to-right, rather than right-to-left in Arabic. Also, he talked about how grammatically he makes the same mistakes consistently, but is definitely improving.

Next, we moved onto the topic of living situations, since he mentioned Abdulaziz lives with him. Next year, he wants to live in either the Grand Marc at Westberry Place or in the new apartments being built on South University across from Kroger.

It would have been helpful to have Brian Trost with me for the following part of the conversation, as he is my go-to source on soccer knowledge. Mohammed mentioned that he and Abdulaziz play soccer with friends on Sunday. Soccer happens to be Abdulaziz’s favorite sport (along with swimming, both of which he did back in Saudi Arabia), and he is an avid fan who follows several leagues closely. Al-Hilal, in Saudi Arabia, is his favorite Soccer Club, however he also follows the English Premiere League closely. We talked about how Arsenal beat AC Milan 3-0 today. We also reminisced about the 2010 World Cup. He enjoys watching Barcelona and Real Madrid, along with Bayern Munich and FC Basel (in Germany and Switzerland, respectively). Overall it was interesting to meet with both of them and gauge their differing levels of English.

The Chuck Norris Experience or Shibblebibblebobenyxgen

Nearly every kid had this dream. However I was actually going to live it out. I was going to be a rock star, nay, a rock god. And what better place to start than my 8^th grade talent show?

My friends and I, The Chuck Norris Experience, had played at the talent show the year before, but this year was going to be for real. In 7^th grade, the show was a disaster: our drummer broke his arm several days before the show, and one of our guitarists never showed up the run-through the day before. So our performance of “Hypnotize” by System of a Down wasn’t the most astounding show ever. To make things worse, as an awkward teenager going through puberty, my crackly voice couldn’t compare to Serj Tankien’s deep baritone. I was an amateur singer at best, but I had played bass guitar since 5^th grade and felt like a virtuoso.

Despite this, we were determined to make this year a success. We dropped the unreliable guitarist, so it was just me on the bass guitar/lead vocals, the same guitarist, and our currently healthy drummer. For our comeback, we even changed our band’s name. We were became Shibblebibblebobenyxgen. (Pronounced shibble-bibble-bobben-yixjen. We had to fill in an application to audition for the show and when we couldn’t think of a name our guitarist just wrote down something nonsensical. It was intended to be unpronounceable). We also changed our style, moving from mainstream rock to covering the Punk stylings of AFI (not the American Film Institute). We carefully selected two of our favorite songs of theirs: “Rabbits are Roadkill on Route 37” and “I Wanna Get a Mohawk (But Mom Won’t Let Me Get One).” The first piece is a more melodic, developed piece, while the second is just a fast, humorous piece that would get the crowd moving since we were the last act.

On the night of the show, I got ready in my room filled with anxiety and excitement. I put on a tight black t-shirt with some skateboard company’s logo on it, and my skinniest pair of jeans. The ensemble was complete with a pair of vans, a black wristband, and my hair covering part of my eyes (I liked to believe I was an emblem of punk/scene fashion, but I realize I wasn’t at all). I grabbed my Peavey Fury IV bass guitar and had my mom drive me to the school in her white minivan (so hardcore) to warm up with my band mates.

As 8^th graders, we were the kings of middle school, or so we thought. We waited around ready to play, having to sit through a rendition of The Rolling Stones’ “Satisfaction” performed by the 6^th grade’s Oak Street (or Oak Stink as we, the “cool” 8^th graders referred to them). We finally went on. The teacher emceeing the show announced us: “and now, the final act, Shibbie...bibbie…bobbie…sneezer?” We opened with “Rabbits…” to warm the crowd up. Our guitarist sang this song and it went over well. He was the most talented at his instrument of the three of us, plus he could sing well too. After this came my time to shine. The bass line in “I Wanna Get a Mohawk” is fast and difficult, and this along with singing seemed like it would be near-impossible for me. But, we killed it. The crowd loved us, with people saying we were one of the best acts.
I never did become a rock star. However I did play in several ska bands in high school with a different group of friends. Maybe one day....there's still hope.

"Rabbits are Roadkill on Route 37" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrUxntzGPzA

"I Wanna Get a Mohawk" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOMAhGzMclM