Carnivore vs Vegan

Down the road from the farmers market...

Helen: Nice boots. Did the cow die of natural causes?
Grace: I’m sure it did. Vintage, thank you very much. Reduce, reuse, re-wear.
Helen: Touché. But at least my wardrobe doesn’t scream “I gave up meat but kept the wardrobe of a Bond villain.”
Grace: And yours doesn’t scream, “peace, love, and pulled pork”?
Helen: I am at peace—with my food chain. Circle of life. Hakuna Matata.
Grace: Circle of hypocrisy. Hugging trees, wearing plants, then biting into a burger like it owes you money.
Helen: Pu-lease. You drive a gas-guzzler and preach emissions. Your oat milk alone could drain a lake.
Grace: Okay, water wars aside, let’s talk ethics. A cotton-wearing bacon-eating yogi?
Helen: And you’re a leather-bound contradiction. Kale crusader in cowhide.
Grace: You know, we could both just admit we’re doing our best and leave it at that.
Helen: But where’s the fun in that? Brunch on Saturday?
Grace: Only if there’s a vegan option.
Helen: Jonathan’s does a side dish of salad.
___________
Voice-over
For these two, each always tries to have the last word. Jousting carries judgement. And as Grace, feisty for a vegan, says, “Wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Perking up with Percolated Coffee

A rough day…
Joseph: I felt so down cycling back from town that I stopped for a freshly percolated coffee at Excelsior Caffé. That perked me up.
Wolfgang: Some have such sensitive and gloomy natures! What brought you so low this time?
Joseph: Brother-in-law wrote that he had been knocked around by chemo and radiation. I felt hungry because of this girth-reducing diet I’m on. I lost a video editing gig, at the ATM got confused and forgot my card PIN number. And being between houses, I felt homeless putting all my belongings in boxes. Plus, just feeling old… all this deepened my depression.
Wolfgang: Wow, that’s a good cluster of downers.
Joseph: Seriously, it was a rough day. The coffee helped a bit, though.
Wolfgang: Glad the coffee perked you up. And you have me to unload onto, right?
__________
Voice-over
Coffee to tide you over the dietary downs, and friends to bring you up from down under.

Gen X advice to Boomer

Daughter thinks her father should expand his social network…
Jessica: If you joined a club or went to church?
Clint: I could. Friends come and go. As you get older, you lose many of them. 
Jessica: There are plenty of good people who would love to spend time with you. What about Mario?
Clint: Ah, the plumber. Has a lot of energy. 
Jessica: You deserve to be around people who care about you and bring out the best in you.
Clint: I appreciate your concern. Sometimes I just think it’s enough to keep in contact with those who go way back. Lots to talk about.
Jessica: As you say, friends disappear, though.
__________
Voice-over
The daughter can see her father’s social circle shrinking and thinks he should get out more often. He’s fine with that. He’s reached a stage where he is happy with either praise or criticism.  

The Jaguar and the Gypsy Caravan

The travelling days…

Neville: Ah, Nancy, remember those days when we lived from place to place in the gypsy caravan of ours? Those were the times.

Nancy: And stopping at our friends' places for bathroom facilities – that's something I'll never forget.

Neville: Quite the visits, weren't they? Remember how our friends reacted when we pulled up in our caravan?

Nancy: Oh, how could I forget! It varied from house to house, didn't it?

Neville: There was old Bill and Sarah. They always grinned when they saw us pull up outside. Bill would say, "Here comes trouble! Towing a poor gypsy caravan behind a luxury car," and Sarah would shake her head, but she'd invite us in for tea anyway.

Nancy: Real troopers, those two, always so welcoming. Then there was Sally and Michael. I remember how Sally would tease us, "Back again, you wanderers?" But they'd set up the spare bedroom for us with fresh towels.

Neville: Ah, and the Woodwards, they were a hoot. George would come out with a beer for me and say, "Neville, you're still towing that thing around, eh? You could have bought a mansion with what you spent maintaining that Jaguar!" But he'd spend hours chatting about cars and life.

Nancy: Not everyone was thrilled to see us, though. Remember Roger and Emily?

Neville: Oh, yes, I do. Emily was a bit less than welcoming, and I think it had to do with Roger not having a job at the time. They were struggling with house payments and had a new baby to take care of.

Nancy: Emily had that tired look in her eyes, and I could sense their financial strain. Roger seemed embarrassed about their situation.

Neville: It was a tough time for them, and I understand why they weren't as hospitable. We tried to be considerate, playing the guitar at nights, but we could see they had enough on their plate.

_________

Voice-over

Guests can outlive their welcome but as hosts, an effort has to be made for the treasured guests. 

A friend like another brother

A reconnection…

Leonard: Just got a letter this morning. One from an old-time friend, T.E., I’d reached out to in my “only connect” campaign.

Virginia: Only connect? Sounds Forsterian.

Leonard: Walt Whitman originally. But I thought I’d better start reconnecting with old friends before health issues set a deadline making it impossible to write coherently any longer.

Virginia: So who has replied so far?

Here's to times past...

Leonard: Some haven’t responded. But T.E. did. Irrepressible letter writer, he always was.

Virginia: You go back far?

Leonard: T.E. is a year older than me. I’d worked in Saudi with him. We crossed the Rub' al-Khali in a convoy. My car broke down, he rescued us. Then he went all over the world, working in many countries, finally settling in the Portugal.

Virginia: A character then.

Leonard: Brilliant mind, great at business, sparkling conversationalist, huge heart.

_________

Voice-over

Sometimes we search beyond familial DNA for people who share our values, inspire us with their spirit, share the art of conversation with us. 

Rhyming as a signal of verbal intelligence

GM likes to rhyme responses.    
wh5: Robert only had 40 friends on Facebook a couple of months ago. Now he’s got over 200.
GM: Friends? What means friends?  I saw George’s profile. He claims 500 PLUS “friends.”
wh5: Well, maybe such people just collect people. Like stamps. Or insects. Grab them. Pin them. Display them. Label them “friends.”
GM: So is all this connecting to “friends” becoming a competition?
wh5: Seems so. And what is a “friend”?
GM: Someone you spend time with, send messages to, lend things to.
wh5: And an acquaintance?
GM: Someone who you glance at, meet by chance, then exist in an expanse.
wh5: And is this “competition,” you allude to, coming from people competing, or companies wanting growth?
GM: It’s froth. It’s growth. Both.

____________
Voice-over    
In structure, this is a cooperative conversation of question and counter-question to reach consensus.

Stylists sometimes caution against peppering our prose with alliteration, puns or rhymes. But there can be fun in it. Some like Geoffrey Miller go so far as to say rhyming is difficult to do, that a speaker has to try harder to make a rhyme, and likens it to a peacock display, or in a human context, a signaling of verbal intelligence.

Paul Newman and Robert Redford

Charles and Leonard discuss Paul Newman’s death.

...

Charles: Paul Newman died.

Leonard: Great actor. Lived in a small community. Ran a 250 million dollar business and gave away all profits to charity. Had quality friends.

Charles: Robert Redford.

Leonard: Helps to have someone like that say things like, “Certain friendships are too good and too strong to talk about ,” when you pass on. Some people you owe the debt of your identity to. Sundance became Sundance.

_____________

Voice-over

Memorable quotes:

from: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)

Butch Cassidy: You know, when I was a kid, I always thought I'd grow up to be a hero.

Sundance Kid: Well, it's too late now.

Butch Cassidy: What'd you say that for? You didn't have to say something like that.

from: The Sting (1973)

Johnny Hooker: He's not as tough as he thinks.

Henry Gondorff: Neither are we.

...