Shaddup Already!
2006-09-11
Oopsie, aka "I said WHAT?!?"
Alright, so all my animals with reasonable life spans are named after characters in my favorite book, To Kill a Mockingbird. The characters weren't chosen at random and my animals have really grown to fit their names.Scout is a tomboy, adventurous kind of kitty--just like the character in the book. The character was designed after Harper Lee, who wrote the book. It's a fictional story with roots in her true childhood.
Boo Radley is a bit of a booger, but he's got a heart of gold. In the book, Boo Radley is the ever-feared, reclusive, creepy neighbor who turns out to be a hero in his own right.
Atticus is the patriarch in the family. He is an attorney with principles. He lives what he believes and sets a great example for his children. Atticus, my dog, hasn't quite grown into his Atticus-shoes, but he has already shown himself to be a compassionate, loving creature.
The one character that is missing is Dill. Dill is based on Truman Capote, the real life friend (and cousin, I think) of Harper Lee. Dill is short in stature, but a huge character. Imaginative, funny and always looking for trouble are the best ways to sum up Dill.
I envision my Dill being something like this:
Or maybe this:
Or possibly one of these:
Or this:
Or I might just go for one of these:
In reality, Dill will probably be a mix of all of these as he will come from a shelter or rescue. Of this I am fairly certain.
Anyway, today in class one of my students asked if I got my pets' names from To Kill a Mockingbird. I said yes and then I said the only character I wanted a pet named for, but didn't have was Dill.
Then I said it.
I can't believe it came out of my mouth.
I said....
I want a little Dilldog.
Now the other "d" word is not one I use at all. I chalk up my lack of censoring skills to this fact. And it didn't really sound that bad until a student said, "You want a dilldog?"
I had to keep a straight face.
It was difficult.
Oh so difficult.
I didn't get the impression any of the students caught the misstep, but I could just picture one of these angels going home and telling their parents that their language arts teacher wants a dilldog.
Oy.
And a little one at that.
