Kate O

Nasty Woman. She/Her.

[Kate O @KateO623]

Watching and playing along with #Password. The password was “Grouch.” My clue was “Oscar.” The 9 year old guesses “basketball.” The #BBN runs deep in this Kentucky home!

[Kate O @KateO623]

@dst6n01 I have enjoyed your thoughts on SSR. As a librarian, I think our upper level kids don’t get enough free reading time. And don’t get me started on leveled reading. But I hadn’t thought about dysfluent readers. And now I will.

[Jon Finkel📚💪 @Jon_Finkel]

It's the summer of '92 and I'm visiting my grandparents solo in Florida. I'm 14.

The main activities were the dog track, dinner at 5pm & movies with my grandfather. He wasn't into movies so he'd see whatever I wanted as long as it was "appropriate".

I hatched a devious plan - that turned disastrous...

First thing to keep in mind:

We weren't seeing movies on opening weekend. No.

My grandfather did not spend money on entertainment.

We were hitting the Delray 6 Cineplex built in like 1958.

$2 movie tickets for films that had come out months earlier.

Now to point #2...

The movies available to me on this trip in the summer of '92 were the new releases that came out in the spring of '92

No opening weekends

These were movies (back then) caught in the dead period:

2 months out of the theater and 5 months from being at Blockbuster

So...

In the spring of '92 the ultimate "I want to see this but I'm too young but I'm a teenage boy how can I see this" movie came out:

Basic Instinct

This is pre-internet.

I was in 8th grade.

I knew NOTHING about it other than Sharon Stone was hot and I heard you saw boobs...

So I float to my grandpa that we see Basic Instinct.

I dance around the plot and why I'm excited and call it a "Michael Douglas" movie.

The guy from Wall Street (which I also hadn't seen).

My grandfather says "fine" - then out of nowhere asks my grandmother to come.

Whaaat?

Now I'm freaking out.

I don't know much about this movie, but I KNOW my grandmother shouldn't see it

Especially with me.

But there wasn't anything I could do.

I wanted to see it and couldn't think of a way to tell my papa that grammy shouldn't go...

So off we went...

The whole ride in I'm half-excited / half-terrified...

We pull up.

Get 3 tickets for $6.

Get 3 popcorns for $3 and...

The theater is PACKED.

It's loaded with horny old WWII vets wanting to see Sharon Stone naked.

"This must be some picture," my grandmother says....

Ugh.

My grandparents wave to various friends as we try to find three seats.

I'm mortified, realizing what's about to happen.

What have I done?

We end up in the 2nd row up front.

Me, jammed in between my grandfather and grandmother. I'm a sandwich of humiliation.

The movie starts...

I don't know if you remember the beginning of Basic Instinct

But there's nudity. And sex. And more nudity.

And I'm watching it. In public.

Sitting between my grandparents...

I wanted to disappear. As the opening credits roll and as the sex on the screen gets more intense...

My grandfather blurts out so the whole theater can hear:

"You see that, Geraldine! We should have been actors!"

The joke brings the house down.

It was like a peak Chris Rock punch line.

The entire room is hysterical. Then he says loudly:

"You're not gonna believe this! But my grandson took us to see this picture! I should listen to him more often!"

Another wave of laughter rocks the theater.

I wanted to shrink to nothing.

I didn't know embarrassment could make you shake.

But I was vibrating...

For the next 100 minutes or so I had to watch Sharon Stone's boobs ten feet tall on the big screen in the front row.

Sitting between my grandparents.

Red faced. Filled with regret.

What a movie haha.

If you enjoyed this, share it and follow me @Jon_Finkel for more.

And be sure to join thousands of readers who get my Books & Biceps newsletter weekly for free (link in bio).

[Kate O @KateO623]

@dst6n01 I am a teacher (middle school) and I don’t know what SWBAT means. But my answer would be: read to and with my child. Always my answer.

[Kate O @KateO623]

@dst6n01 New Kid by @JerryCraft Really the epitome of a middle grades novel AND it’s a graphic novel. MS Librarian here BTW.

[Shannon Watts @shannonrwatts]

Payton Washington is in the ICU after she was shot for getting in the wrong car in Texas

Kaylin Gillis was shot to death for driving into the wrong driveway in New York

Ralph Yarl was shot in the head for ringing the doorbell at the wrong house in Missouri

It’s the guns

[Sam Ghali, M.D. @EM_RESUS]

Here’s the Chest X-Ray of a young girl suffering from a condition that is now the #1 cause of death in children and adolescents in the U.S.

What’s the diagnosis?

[Kate O @KateO623]

@dst6n01 THIS!! In my district all Title 1 money goes to K-5 and my middle school gets 30-35 in a classroom with 40% of incoming 6th graders below grade level in reading. MS is where readers go to die. We need more help.

[The Problem With Jon Stewart @TheProblem]

State Sen. Nathan Dahm (R-OK) has penned several bills loosening gun restrictions, including the nation’s first anti-red flag law. He thinks these bills protect the Second Amendment – and that they make us safer. We think it's probably one or the other. Watch it on @AppleTVPlus.

[colmon @colmonelridge]

To those who voted for HB470, knowing it will lead to kids suicide attempts and kids suicide deaths, more abuse and harassment of Trans kids, know that those attempts, those deaths, those victims of abuse, are on you. You mortgaged your political standing on the safety, the graves, & the mental health of LGBTQ kids. That is an unforgivable and deadly abuse of power and extreme government overreach.

[Governor Andy Beshear @GovAndyBeshear]

Kentucky is losing quality teachers. We can't remain competitive because we rank 44th nationwide for starting teacher pay. And without teachers to lead our classrooms, our children are falling behind.
1/3

[Kate O @KateO623]

@petersagal @wjrfoundation Is a local group working with kids of incarcerated parents. They have programs in all the local schools, hook kids up with mentors, and even arrange visits when possible (and wanted). You could not go wrong giving to them.

[MeidasTouch @MeidasTouch]

Whew. Hakeem Jeffries took the GOP to school from A to Z. Literally. (h/t @Acyn)

[Kate O @KateO623]

I will stop sharing this when we have sensible gun laws.

[L. Louise Lucas @SenLouiseLucas]

Today is the 10 year anniversary of the Sandy Hook shootings. Please watch this video again that the parents of Sandy Hook put together and share it. We can never forget.

[Kate O @KateO623]

@gildawabbit Is this you telling me to take it off my son’s Christmas list?

[Kate O @KateO623]

PS - I’m fine. Mom had a little knee surgery. Nothing to worry about.

[Kate O @KateO623]

Hospital staff: now you get some rest.
Also hospital staff: vitals check, doctor stops by to say hi, phone calls (seriously) and the beeps.

[ACLU @ACLU]

Unpacking the full results of yesterday’s elections will take time but one thing is clear:

The vast majority of people in this country want to protect abortion access.

In Michigan, Kentucky, Vermont, California, and more, voters proved — abortion is a right we will fight for.

[Kate O @KateO623]

@KevinWFaris Huck Finn, Grapes of Wrath, Roots