The FamiLee visits the Lorraine Motel

We took the kids to Memphis this week. I'd like to pat ourselves on the back for doing a bang-up job of priming them for why Memphis is such a significant place in shaping this country's history. In particular, we took the kids to the National Civil Rights Museum at the Lorraine Motel. As historical showcases go, the museum is just phenomenal. Interactive media, gorgeous photos, and very memorable displays that take one through the history from slavery to the civil rights movement, even ending with a segment on human trafficking.

The tricky thing is that we waited until the 3p entry because Tennesseans need only present their state-issued license to get in free on Mondays! The kids were a little over-hyped by that point. We didn't want to be those parents harping the whole time; we have realistic expectations of how a 6 year-old and a 4 year-old behave in a museum about topics that are way over their heads. Example: they got on the bus with a replica of Rosa Parks and the bus driver chastising her and they were spooked. Dude. Why isn't she moving? Oh. It's a statue. And also, it's Rosa Parks. Complexity.

The part of the museum that takes visitors through a reconstructed room #306 is just very special. You peer into the last place where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. rested his head before he walked out with his brother and friends and was shot on the balcony by James Earl Ray. You see the books that were tucked into King's suitcase. The passage is cloaked in blue and the music playing is beautiful, funereal and the whole mood is reverent.

As we approached the window to peer in on room #306, my little man said loudly, "Shhh. We're about to meet Elvis."

Memphis, y'all.

(Un)happy Gilmore #allthefeels

I wish I were a normal who could finish reading young adult novels without having to drop out of life for a couple of days, wandering around with a head of cloudy thoughts, wringing my hands about why I couldn't have dated an Augustus Waters in high school (and don't even think I would have wished away the terminal cancer, because tragically romantic). If only I could  finish watching Gilmore Girls without throwing myself across the bed in anguish, trying to reorchestrate history, reversing the poor, selfish decisions made by Logan and Rory (if only they had *my* brand of hindsight!),  holding their temperaments to the light of Myers-Briggs, shaking a rueful fist at the late season decisions of the writers. HOW COULD YOU THROW THAT ALL AWAY!?! (p.s. Rory, think of the guacamole!)

I wish I were not so invested, so easily yoked to storylines that capture head and heart and take us on that rocky ride for which we are passengers with a ticket to exit at any time, but rarely do we choose to get off. The soap opera ride always empties us out in a place where we can't find our luggage, don't know how to make it to connecting transportation, and are late for our next appointment. But occasionally, we encounter a story that rings so true to life that we are different because of the journey. There was some nuance in the narration or dialogue that made us feel understood and not so alone. Something there sounded familiar, and our soul followed the rhythm as if by heart.

I've been tagged recently in some form of meme asking me about the top 10 books that changed my life. I find this list a difficult task, because I realize there is a difference between my favorite books and books that changed me: the latter being works that anatomically rearranged me so that I could no longer see the world the same, or my place in it.

[tweet bird="yes"]Here is my list of Books that Changed Me, without qualification:[/tweet]

1. The Return of the Prodigal Son (Nouwen) 2. Blubber (Blume) 3. Crooked River Burning (Winegardner) 4. Prep (Sittenfeld) 5. Surviving in an Angry World (Stanley) 6. Making Toast (Rosenblatt) 7. Mountains Beyond Mountains (Kidder) 8. Detroit (Leduff) 9. Desire of Ages (White) 10. A Life's Work (Cusk)

Review: #TFIOS the Movie (no spoilers)

My unsolicited thoughts on "The Fault in Our Stars" the movie (sans spoilers, of course):

The Book v. The Movie, Thoughts: - The book was better, obviously, but the dialogue in the movie more believable.

Performances: - Debatable whether actor who played Augustus Waters was old enough to shave. - Directors made his part much more human versus the sort of incredibly positive man-boy of the book. - Shailene Woodley gave the performance of a lifetime as she immortalized role of Hazel; the breathy voice delivery was perfect; all emotional cues seemed perfectly organic.

The sex scene: - Going to defer to Annie F. Downs on this matter here because she speaks to The Issues of it better than I. - However, taking morality off the table, aesthetically the scene is beautiful; these kids and their swoony bedroom eyes though! - I also wonder whether the directors took into consideration that both of these kids would have been experienced in getting naked in front of strangers, given their medical histories, when they scripted them to be so comfortable in front of each other.

Hamartia: - Hazel pronounces this incorrectly. I felt wronged! But maybe it was a directorial decision for a kid who was mainly homeschooled (?)

The Ugly Cry: - I did get teary at the end but not overly so. It didn't feel contrived but the whole ending was handled really nicely. And by nicely I mean, as nicely as you can handle the meat-mallet cruelty of the end. - It was almost comical how much audible wailing was happening in our theater.

Recommendations: - Definitely go at a high-teenage-audience-member-per-capita hour. Like not the late late show. It really adds to the atmosphere to have teenagers filing up and down the aisles and walking in packs of 12 and asking each other to trade seats so they can sit next to each other. - If you are really opposed to this whole movie/book concept and want to criticize my brand of Christianity for supporting it with my cash moneys, I would recommend you engage someone else. I teach millennials and within the framework of pop culture, this book/movie fosters some great opportunities for dialogue.