“Dignity, always dignity.”

The Movie: Singing in the Rain, 1952 (Betty Comden and Adolph Green, screenwriters; Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly, directors)
Who says it: Gene Kelly as Don Lockwood, silent film star making the transition to talkies
The context: Don is describing the theme of his career as we see him tap-dancing for small change, riding broken-down horses and otherwise humiliating himself for show business.
How to use it: When you’re making a fool of yourself for something you love.

On the subject of making a fool of oneself for love: did everyone see Steven Tyler sing the national anthem at the beginning of last night's World Series game? On the one hand, the intent was touching; on the other, the execution was unspeakable. I don't know what it will take to get that sound out of my head.

Yesterday afternoon Joseph, Ashton and Joseph's friend Kumi went "pumpkin patching" with friends who have twin two-year-old boys. I tagged along. We drove far, far, far out in Fairfax County and found not a quiet little pumpkin patch, but an enormous pumpkin theme park that included at least half a dozen big slides for kids, hayrides, petting zoos, and live demonstrations of how to milk a cow. It was all a little overwhelming, and I was mildly shell-shocked to begin with because Joseph and Ashton made me listen to their Samantha Fox CD on the drive out. (Note to all record companies everywhere: the fact that digital technology lets you preserve something forever does not necessarily mean that you should. Seriously, you think future archeologists will want to listen to late-era disco? Should we let them?)

Traffic was bad coming back, which made me late for dinner with my Aunt Debbie and her husband, Ziggy -- and the irony was that Debbie and Ziggy live in the same general direction of the pumpkin patch. Joseph and Ashton could have dropped me off, except that 1) I didn't know exactly where I was going and 2) I was supposed to give my brother Ed a ride to dinner. So we went back to town, I ran around and hyperventilated and picked up Ed, and we were about an hour late to dinner, which Debbie and Ziggy were very, very nice about.