“Sometimes I doubt your commitment to Sparkle Motion.”

The Movie: Donnie Darko, 2001 (Richard Kelly, director and screenwriter)
Who says it: Beth Grant as stage mother Kitty Farmer
The context: Rose Darko (Mary McDonnell) does not seem willing to go the extra mile to support their daughters’ competitive dance troupe.
How to use it: To acknowledge that others do not share your obsessive devotion to something.

I thought I understood this movie -- kind of -- but then I watched the director's cut of it, and realized I didn't have the slightest idea of what was going on. Humbling. Thanks to JJ McMillan for suggesting the line.

The word for the Pittston Fair is "small." The He-Man contest was cool, though. Contestants had to move about 20 big logs from one wood cradle to another; toss a log over a clothesline and back; flip a tractor tire over; carry two five-gallon buckets of something -- maybe nails? -- from one mark to another, and then drag a sledge with a cinder block in the opposite direction. Impressive.

And this line felt particularly appropriate, because as small as the Pittston Fair is, it has its own beauty pageants -- two. The Strawberry Queen pageant seems to be for high-schoolers, while the Little Blossom targets very young girls, maybe 5-7. The little girls seemed to be having fun walking around with sashes on, and I hate to be judgmental, but that whole subculture just horrifies me.

I'm off to Hallowell this morning with my pie. It's not perfect-looking, but I'm not exactly entering this contest to win it.