1. Back in 2012, when I first retired and lived in Eugene -- and I might not have this history exactly right -- a downtown movie theater with more than one screen, each room with a small capacity, opened. I remember one day I was walking home from the bus station and I noticed that this new theater complex was screening matinees through the week.
Perfect! I'm retired. I'm only teaching two days a week. I'll have many free afternoons. I can do one of my favorite of all things: go to matinee screenings of independent movies, some made in the USA, some international, some fictional, some documentary at this new theater The theater was a mere eight blocks from our house, an easy 12-15 minute walk.
I took frequent advantage of these matinees, my free time, and my close proximity to this theater.
Well, of course, we moved to Maryland in 2014 and, on occasion, I drove to Bethesda or took the train into Washington, D.C., and watched late morning or matinee screenings of off the beaten path movies I enjoy so much.
I don't know exactly why I haven't made viewing matinee movies at home a regular part of my life here in Kellogg.
Today, I did it.
I retired to the Vizio room, scanned offerings on the Criterion Channel for a few minutes and decided to watch a movie I remember being at the Bijou in Eugene about thirty-five years ago, but that I missed.
It came out in 1985. I'm not sure when it arrived in Eugene. It's a Japanese movie directed by Juzo Itami. As I decided to watch Tampopo, I only remembered that it is a movie about Japanese food -- ramen to be precise.
I love Japanese food.
I love movies about food.
I was all in.
As the movie got rolling, I was REALLY all in. Tampopo is a fascinating comedy/satire, partly poking fun at Japanese cultural preoccupations with propriety and cuisine, but also, to me, a celebration of the mirthful dimensions of food. I loved how this movie's main story was about a widowed woman, named Tampopo, who has taken over her deceased husband's ramen house and, upon being told by two truck drivers that her ramen is subpar, strikes out on a far-ranging effort to learn how to make the best ramen possible.
This story alone would have made this a splendid movie.
But, to my delight, Juzo Itami interrupts this main story several times with vignettes having nothing to do with Tampopo's story, and tells miniature stories about food. Some of these vignettes are deliciously erotic (you might have heard of or seen the movie's famous erotic egg yolk scene), pointedly satirical, sometimes funny, at times touching, even grievous, and always imaginative and scintillating.
About halfway through the movie, I decided to go into full "Hey! I'm retired" mode. I fixed myself a martini which did just what I'd hoped it would -- it made the movie all the more delicious.
2. Debbie and I hosted family dinner this evening. I was in charge of cocktails and because we were going to have an Italian-style pasta casserole as our main meal, I fixed us each a Negroni, a combination of equal parts gin, sweet vermouth, and Campari.
3. For an appetizer, Carol, Paul, and Molly brought over two kinds of corn chips, salsa and warm and home made queso. We yakked a lot before we went to the table for dinner about many things, including Carol's summation of a talk she heard at a hospital conference she recently attended. The speaker asserted his analysis of the scorching hot North Idaho housing market, the low number of workers, and the impact so many open jobs is having on the local economy and beyond. The housing/real estate boom was particularly depressing to learn and talk about with so many people unable to find affordable properties to buy, let alone rental properties to live in. Our area needs doctors and nurses, but, according to this speaker, doctors and nurses are discouraged by the real estate market. They can't afford housing here.
Our discussion about the economy stimulated our appetites. For dinner, Debbie prepared a spinach salad and baked a dish composed of penne pasta, roasted red pepper and garlic, Italian sausage, tomato paste, sour cream, Parmesan cheese, and herbs. She baked it in our larger Dutch oven and I loved it so much that I swear I could have eaten the entire casserole all by myself (that's an example of hyperbole 😂). Christy brought a rose (rozay) wine and a red blend. For me, the red blend paired perfectly with our main dish.
What a great family dinner! Molly, Paul, Carol, Christy, Debbie, and I had a great time together. I learned more about economics, changes at the local newspaper, and all kinds of other things. In addition, thanks to Bonnie Farmin (delivered by Carol), I have two hot bowl holders and thanks to Christy, and her recent trip to I have five pencils that comprise what's called a Grammar Pencil Set.
Four of the pencils have a corrective imprinted on it. Here's what my set reminds us all of:
1. Should have, not should of
2. Love the Oxford comma (I do!)
3. I before E except after C
4. Alot is not a word!
The fifth pencil identifies its user as a Grammar Geek.
Christy sort of apologized that none of the pencils in my set offered to describe the difference between "lie" and "lay" nor was there a pencil distinguishing between "every day" and "everyday".
I thought for the fun of it, I'd try one more time to explain my attitude about "lie" and "lay" and "every day" and "everyday" and try to make it clear what makes one different from the other.
You might not want to read this -- no problem -- but I'll have fun writing this out!
The chronic misuse of "lie" and "lay" isn't a peeve of mine -- my observation is that eventually a difference between them won't exist. I predict the same for "every day" and "everyday". The continuing misuse of these words will, in time, simply become the accepted usage.
In case you were wondering, in the present tense, "lie" is intransitive. It never has a direct object. So if you are tired you go lie down you don't lay down. If a magazine is on a table, it's lying there not laying there.
"Lay", on the other hand, is transitive. When we improve our homes, we lay carpet, lay bricks, lay linoleum, or lay tiles.
We don't "lay down", unless your home improvement project includes covering a surface with a bucket of pillow stuffing, that is, down.
Every day measures time. You can always put the word "single" in between "every" and "day" when it's two words. For example, I do the Wordle puzzle every day. Or, I could say, I do the Wordle puzzle every single day (or every damn day).
When "every" and "day" are combined into one word, it's an adjective. It describes something that happens regularly or is common.
We like to shop at stores with everyday low prices.
When we get dressed in the morning, we usually put on our everyday clothes.
I know from my teaching days, that I could have gone over these distinctions every day (or every single day) in class and most students would continue to misuse these words. The misuses of these words are so ingrained that they have become a part (not apart) of our everyday ways of speaking and writing.
So be it.
I just like to indulge in a hopeless cause once a while and point out what's correct and what's incorrect.
It's fun for me.
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