movies | Rachel Carrera, Novelist

Does everyone remember when Forest Gump’s business partner and best good friend in the wide world, Benjamin Buford Blue a/k/a Bubba, named the different types of shrimp they could make in their shrimp business?

“Anyway, like I was sayin’, shrimp is the fruit of the sea. You can barbecue it, boil it, broil it, bake it, sauté it. Dey’s uh, shrimp-kabobs, shrimp creole, shrimp gumbo. Pan fried, deep fried, stir-fried. There’s pineapple shrimp, lemon shrimp, coconut shrimp, pepper shrimp, shrimp soup, shrimp stew, shrimp salad, shrimp and potatoes, shrimp burger, shrimp sandwich. That- that’s about it.”

Well, if they’d have been in Florida instead of Alabama, they might have had something besides shrimp to catch and cook…

Let’s chat: Have you ever eaten alligator? Would you ever consider eating alligator or another reptile? What is the most ~~creepy~~ unusual thing you’ve ever eaten?

Author Dennis Lehane was born on August 4, 1965. He’s written several novels that were even made into movies such as Mystic River, Gone Baby Gone, and one of my favorite movies and books of all time, Shutter Island.

Happy 49^th Birthday, Dennis!

Now, since I have a new blogging theme in mind for August which I’ll officially announce tomorrow, I’ll give you a hint today. It involves humor. So to tie in my theme of humor with Mr. Lehane’s birthday, I’ll share with you the time that my sister and I went to see Shutter Island at the movie theater.

Michelle always gets a big bucket of popcorn when she goes to the movies. (Personally, I hate popcorn. I’m a Sno-Caps girl. But I digress.) As we stood on line for our refreshments, the cashier made a mistake and had to get a manager over to open the cash register. It felt like it took forever, and it almost did. As a result, we got inside the theater after it was already dark. We each got our respective snacks then settled into our seats. As the previews played, Michelle dug into her popcorn. And that’s when she bit into a human finger. No, I’m just kidding! That didn’t happen. LOL! She ate her popcorn, and I ate my Sno-Caps. But as the movie started, Michelle leaned over and told me she was feeling rather warm “down there.” It had nothing to do with hottie Leonardo DiCaprio on the big screen. Several times throughout the film, she wiggled in her seat and said something felt weird.

After the movie (okay, honestly it was after the credits… Michelle is a credit reader, and we’re never allowed to leave until the last credit rolls up and the lights come back on), we stood to go. Only Michelle couldn’t stand. She was stuck to her seat! She had to use both hands on the armrests to pry herself up, and when she did, there was a wad of chewed gum that was as large as her rear end stuck to her hiney! Ewww! Whoever left it must’ve chewed and spit out two entire packs of bubblegum! There were at least fifty strings of gum still connected between her butt and the seat. Poor Michelle was mortified, but at least most of the people had left by then.

But as maddening and embarrassing as it was at the time, even she laughs about it now. Can you imagine?

Talk to me: Have you ever read a Dennis Lehane book or seen one of his movies? Have you ever sat in gum? Have you ever left your chewed gum where it didn’t belong? What’s your favorite flavor of bubblegum?