This summer while I was browsing the video aisles at Hollywood Video (what a shocker, right?), a movie entitled "Everything is Illuminated" caught my eye.A young Jewish American flies to the Ukraine in search of a woman who helped his grandfather escape Europe during World War II; he has a photograph and the name of a village. He hires the Odessa Heritage Tours, made up of a gruff old man and his English-speaking grandson. The three, plus grandfather's deranged dog, travel in an old car from Odessa into Ukraine's heart. Jonathan, the American, is a collector, putting things he finds into small plastic bags, so he will remember. Alex, the interpreter, is an archetypal wild and crazy guy. Alex asks the old man, "Was there anti-Semitism in the Ukraine before the war?" Will they find the village? The past illuminates everything. (Plot summary from IMDB.com)
I'm a huge fan of most independent films and of Elijah Wood, so I enjoyed this one immensely. The reason I connected so well wasn't because of the acting or the movie itself in as much that I identified with Jonathan because he was a "collector."
Now I realize that people collect things. I have shelves full of books, cds, and dvds, many of which I've never read, listened to, or watched respectively. I also collect things to remind me of events, places, even "reminders" of times good and not so good. For example:
I collect McFarlane Sports Figures.
I don't collect them all, just ones from my favorite teams, or in cool poses. I spent many years collecting, unopened action figures hoping that one day they may be worth something....Not these....they are lucky if I make it out of the store without cutting myself while opening the dangerous "clam-shell" packaging.
Then there are things that I just thought looked cool...
It could hold spare change, or a set of keys, lately it's held my "shuffle" like it's something to be beheld. If you turn the light on behind it and look straight at it...you can see the light coming through it's eyes and that can be kind of creepy!
This little thing I picked up in New York at a street Festival...
It's made of recycled motorcycle parts...and it's a scuba diver! It doesn't matter that I haven't been scuba diving. I've always wanted to!
And on this shelf...are tons of memories/reminders...but my "monkey nut" I picked up at Ichthus last year and at the time contained a tasty beverage to enjoy in the humid day.
So why am I talking about all of this? Well I have almost every movie ticket stub, sporting event ticket, concert ticket, and any other armband, lanyard, or piece of information that got me into any conference, concert, or activity that I've been to. I guess they aren't necessary. For the most part they sit in a drawer or a box until I decide if and how I'm going to display them. However on my latest trip I took the greatest caution when carrying my newest keepsake.....a football ticket. Now this wasn't any ticket. This was the ticket to Green Bay, Wisconsin, to Lambeau Field, to see Brett Favre play his "possibly last" home game. I won't bore anyone with why I like Brett, except to say he's the responsible party that got me started watching NFL football. So I take a lanyard from something I attended and put it in my bag, knowing that I wouldn't want to put the ticket in my pocket and bend it. It survived sitting at my apt for 7 months before the game. It made it to Wisconsin with all of my luggage and Christmas stuff to take home. It was pouring the rain and I had put the tickets in the pouch - under my jersey - which was under my big jacket. We're sitting outside the gates before the game in the freezing cold and as they finally open the gates to let us in I hand my ticket to the "kid" at my station and what does he do..... HE BEGINS TO TEAR IT IN HALF!!!!!!!
Now I wanted to document this...because I realize that people have to tear tickets if they aren't being scanned. I guess the Green Bay Packers can't afford to scan theirs. It seems with 70,000 people in attendance at the game and most every game, the people tearing the tickets would KNOW the correct way to tear the ticket. At the bottom of this ticket (where my index finger is pointing) is a perforated line making it easier to tear the ticket. Out of habit (or out of being compulsive) I sometimes even start bending my ticket before I give it to someone to make their job easier. This happens at concerts, movies, anything. So i'm just standing there with my hand outstretched, my mouth hanging open, and he looks directly in my eyes and says, "Oh man...sorry about that!" "Sorry?" I wanted to shout? He didn't even act remorseful. He knew when handing it back that he had tore the ticket INCORRECTLY....you could see it in his eyes. I wanted him to be skinned alive right then (I've seen it done on Buffy) or at the very least be given an autographed jersey or been able to go to the team Locker room to meet everyone...but NO, I just got an "Oh well it happens" type of response that left me lit for the next 10 minutes. All that preparation was nullified in about 2 seconds.
I kinda got over it, but now when I see it laying in my room it irritates me even more....so much so that I've dedicated an entire blog to it. That's not healthy.
