And We'll Celebrate With Burritos

For four years I hated my job. HATED. I worked for a place with such bad juju it affected my life in ways it shouldn't have. Though a little part of me died each time I walked in the front door I don't regret it. I don't regret the people I've met and all the wonderful experiences I've had because of it. For example, my friend Sarah got press passes to Duncan Sheik's new musical and took me to see it. And it was amazing. I even got to meet Two-fer from 30 Rock and Duncan Sheik himself. (That's huge. I almost played his debut CD down to a pulp I loved it that much.) It's a job that I wish I never had yet wouldn't be who I am without it.

One of the amazing people I met while working there is organizing a read-a-thon of To Kill a Mockingbird to raise funds for a literacy group in the Albany area. She asked me to be a reader and I've never been so honored. I'm up at 7:00 on Saturday and I, shockingly, don't know what to do with myself. Do I embrace my ancestry and read with a Southern accent? Or just do a Southern accent for the voices? I was advised to just do the voices and keep it real the rest of the time.

I'm going to confess something to you all. I've never read To Kill a Mockingbird. I've seen the play and I know the story. But the book and I never crossed paths. There were many books that weren't on my required reading list. Catch 22, The Sea and the Fury, Animal Farm, Catcher in the Rye. I've read many of them since. And I've liked most. Don't get me started on Catcher in the Rye. Seriously, don't. So I picked up TKaM in order to prepare for the reading and OMG I LOVE IT. I was immediately taken with the cadence of the prose. I felt like I was putting on a comfortable pair of jeans after wearing pantyhose all day. Every time I pick the book up I'm taken to a better place. It's wonderful.

This event is going to be big for me on many levels. I get to do something for a cause that deeply matters to me. That there are adults who can't experience what I do when I pick up a book like TKaM breaks my heart. My friend/mentor Karen was a volunteer with the literacy group. I loved hearing about her time with her mentee because she was directly helping someone better herself. It was inspiring. This event also gets be to sort of perform again. Though it's 20 minutes of me reading, it's 20 minutes of me using my voice- something I've told sounds pretty cool.

It's safe to say that Saturday will be a very good day. I can't wait.