Becky's Greatest Hits Vol. II

Ted: The day before she died, she asked to see me alone, remember? She said she knew we were safe with you and always would be because once when she asked you to, you gave up the thing you wanted most. Newland:  [ after a long pause ] She never asked. She never asked me.

"We made a deal when I was 7 and a half,  night life was The Muppet Show!"

"I'm the guy who does his job... you must be the other guy."

"What gift do you think a good servant has that separates them from the others? It's the gift of anticipation. And I'm a good servant; I'm better than good, I'm the best; I'm the perfect servant. I know when they'll be hungry, and the food is ready. I know when they'll be tired, and the bed is turned down. I know it before they know it themselves." (I sometimes feel this way as an admin.  That's why I'm so good at it.)

"Law School? At this point, I'd settle for Charm School!" 

In the movie, La Bamba , a biopic about the life of the late Ritchie Valens , Lou Diamond Phillips plays the young singer trying to break into the music business.  Ritchie struggled through an impoverished childhood with a single mother and a delinquent older brother.  As his new manager, Bob Keane, takes him through the paces of finding his place in the daunting music business, he explains that to really make it he needs to go out on his own and leave his band mates behind.  Ritchie: What about my band? Bob: To be honest, Ritchie, I can't use any of them.  Is that a problem? Ritchie: Yeah, they're my buddies. Bob: You're gonna have to ask yourself what's more important.  Your friends?  Or your music. Ritchie: My family. If ever anyone gives you shit about your "establishment" job or how many hours you work or how you gave it up for "the man" you can feel free to share this.  Your reasons may not look like much to othe...

"I curse you. Until you do right by me everything you think about is gonna crumble....." 

(It's the last day of school here in the Piedmont of North Carolina.... This classic is always worth a re-run.) School should always be over by the end of May. Preferably before Memorial Day. Always speak in code.  Always. There are always mean girls.  70's, 80's and so on. Mean Girls weren't invented by Millennials. But there are always nice girls too, and you just can't beat an awesome big sister type.  Even if she's not yours. There's always a guy spouting some wisdom. It may be questionable..... But he's ALWAYS got some advice. There's always a mean guy that mysteriously is allowed to hang with the cool nice guys. There's always a dippy coach that thinks he's still cool. There's always a mean coach that THINKS he's noticed everything. There's that one cool teacher that wants to inspire no matter how little you really care. There's that one teacher who's ...

"Do you think God knew what He was doing when He created woman? Huh? No shit. I really wanna know. Or do you think it was another one of His minor mistakes like tidal waves, earthquakes, FLOODS? You think women are like that? S'matter? You don't think God makes mistakes? Of course He does. We ALL make mistakes. Of course, when WE make mistakes they call it evil. When GOD makes mistakes, they call it... nature. So whaddya think? Women... a mistake... or DID HE DO IT TO US ON PURPOSE?"

  "Look at it this way. Considering the type of people you are and the environment you're in, you have to admit the strong possibility this may be the only chance you ever have in your entire lives... to have sex!" 

"Do you realize what you've done? You've taken a woman who loves you, one of the great women in the world  and thrown her away. I lost her too, but I will get over it because I am shallow and self-centered. But you, you won't, because you are "complex". You will feel terrible anguish for the rest of your life. This is turning out to be a pretty good day...." 

Love Actually has become such a holiday favorite, it's hard to believe it's only been around since 2003!  It's definitely a very modern take on the holiday season with several interwoven stories ranging from a lonely world leader to body doubles in a raunchy movie to an aging rock star attempting a comeback....and a whole lot more in between.  With all those varied storylines, you may even wonder what it really has to do with Christmas?  I guess, for me, it's the idea that we're all more alike than we are different, no matter what our circumstances.  And is there ever a time when we're more tied together, no matter how you feel about them, than during the holidays?   And for as much as some of them break my heart, here are my favorite stories in the film.  I can't even go into how they're all dovetailed to one another, so you'll have to watch to see...... How can you not feel compassion for an intelligent world leader who still can...

"Why do you suppose we always chase the ones that run away?" "Immaturity?" (Dangerous Liasons, 1988) "People die down there!  And dying when you're not really sick is really sick, ya know?  Really!" (Better Off  Dead, 1985) "Maybe we should just forget about fighting the phallacracy for a night and go and have a good time?" (PCU, 1994) "You're like the Ernest Hemingway of bullshit!" (Housesitter, 1992) "When you say things like that you make it impossible for me to hate you!  And I really hate you, Harry!" (When Harry Met Sally, 1989) "If you're from Africa, why are you white?" "Oh my god, Karen!  You just can't ask people why they're white!" (Mean Girls, 2004) "You're so young." "I'm 16.  I'm old enough to know when someone's acting like a total a-hole. Oh.  And you know what?  I bought another S...