It’s a special Project 365 day, readers.
1. It’s my half-birthday! I’m 27.5 today! Give me half a cake! I’ll even take half a present!
2. It’s also Marcus Flutie’s half-birthday! He’s 26.5 today and STILL FICTIONAL, DAMMIT.
3. It’s also Jessical Darling’s FULL birthday! She’s 26 today and STILL FICTIONAL, DAMMIT.
4. It’s Perfect Fifths Day, Jan. 19, 2010, the day on which one of my very favorite (#lassodicking) books takes place.
I’m celebrating Perfect Fifths Day by reading the book tonight. I’m a little nervous about the universe imploding, but I’ll go down with Marcus (and Jessica) in mind. Notso, and Tutie, I love you so!
Before the festivities could get under way, I had to Swiffer the floors. Swiffering is boring on most days, but it’s even more tedious when it’s keeping you from Something Truly Awesome.
To get me through my task, I cranked the Barry Manilow and got down with my Swiffer for some Perfect-Fifths-inspired Barry-oke. Be thankful this is a still image and not a video.
No, seriously. Send me a thank-you/half-birthday card.
(The camera timer snapped this photo during a fabulous kick-line-accompanied chorus of “Can’t Smile Without You,” by Barry Manilow, the greatest showman of our time.)
ZOMG! THERE’S A MONSTER ON MY HEAD!
Oh, whew! It’s just a hat.
No, it’s more than a hat. It’s a gift from my bestiest friend, Sarah, who is celebrating her 27th birthday today, far, far away from me.
If I haven’t mentioned it before, perhaps I should tell you now that I have an addictive personality. Once I find something I lurve, I lurve it over and over and over and over and over again.
Once upon a time, that thing was Monsters Inc., and I dragged Sarah to the theater to see it at least four times.
She complied without complaint because she’s just that awesome.
Then she bought me this hat.
Happy birthday, Sarah! Mike Wazowski!
(ZOMG! In my google check on the spelling of Mike’s last name, I see a Monsters Inc. 2 is in development!)
Rocky’s pre-naptime routine includes some good loving with his stuffed elephant, which he’s had since he was 9 weeks old. Someday I’ll catch step one in the loving process, but this is toward the end of the love session. In this photo, he has just flopped over onto his side and is chewing on the elephant while kneading it with his front paws and kicking it with his back paws.
My cat is so weird.
I’ve written in the past about Megan McCafferty’s Jessica Darling series, though I haven’t been able to form real, intelligent thoughts about the books – well, except for the genius that was the collaborative Twelve Days of Christmas, Jessica and Marcus style.
McCafferty’s giveaway on Twitter inspired a load of #lassodicking tweets from my fellow JD-loving buddies, which inspired our Christmas song, which finally inspired a scheduled group re-read of the series.
Which brings us up to date.
This week, I completed my first re-read of the book that introduced Jessica Darling, the Clueless Crew and Marcus Flutie to the world, “Sloppy Firsts.”
I’ve struggled with writing an entry dedicated to this book (really, for the whole series), because I turn into somewhat of a gushing, bouncing, quoting mess of a fangirl when I start thinking/talking about the series.
“Sloppy Firsts” is the journal of Jessica Darling, an overachieving, cynical, sarcastic New Jersey sophomore who says goodbye to her best friend, Hope, just days before Jessica’s 16th birthday.
The book is a combination of journal entries and letters to Hope, who was forced to move from New Jersey to Tennessee with her parents.
Just when she thinks she’s going to drown in excruciating boredom at Pineville High School, Jessica’s interest is piqued by the most unlikely person: Marcus Flutie.
He’s sloppily dressed, a slacker, a known drug addict (Dreg) and juvenile delinquent and probably spends more time in the office than he does in the classroom.
Somehow, he knows exactly how to push Jessica’s buttons, and she likes it.
Sort of.
The biggest tragedy of this entry is that “Sloppy Firsts” was published in 2001, and it took me until 2009 to read it. Jessica is two years younger than me (technically one and a half, as her birthday is my half birthday), and so many of the popular culture references from the book are ones that jump right out of my own teen years.
I’m not sure what I love most about this book, whether it’s the characters (I could be brain twins with Jessica, and I have a serious crush on smart, bad-boy Marcus), the story (so easy to relate to) or the words that McCafferty weaves together to make hilarious, angsty magic.
I’m a firm believer in keeping books in pristine condition, but I love McCafferty’s writing so much that I want to attack the books in this series with dog ears and highlighters, just so I don’t forget a single word of what I’ve fallen in love with.
Perhaps I just need to read these books a few more times to commit them to memory. God only knows how much of the Harry Potter series I have permanently sticky-noted in my memory.
Ed Kennedy is your average 19-year-old slacker. He’s a smart kid with lots of potential, but he chooses to drive a cab only because it’s an easy way to make ends meet.
He drives his cab, reads, hangs out with his smelly dog, helps out his mother when she needs it (and takes her verbal abuse), pines for his best friend and plays cards. Under it all, Ed lives an “I wish ___________ would happen,” life.
The book opens with Ed and his friends experiencing a bank robbery. After the strange end to the scary situation, Ed receives a card in the mail – the ace of diamonds. On that card are three addresses, the first message.
Ed is suddenly responsible for making a big impact on the lives of others. Along the way, he learns that these people make an even bigger impact on his life.
I loved, loved, loved this book. There were times it made me tear up and times it made me laugh out loud. Ed is an easy character to get behind and root for – wanting him to figure out who is behind the messages and why he’s been chosen to receive and act on them.
The only thing that keeps me from giving this book a five-star rating is the end. I have no intention of spoiling it for others, but it made me scratch my head. It was interesting, but I’m not sure I liked it. Because of that, I can’t say I loved the entire book. I loved 95 percent of the book, but unfortunately, that unloved 5 percent is pretty important.
Up next: “How to Buy a Love of Reading,” by Tanya Egan Gibson
