And in honor of this (potentially) romantic holiday I'd like to offer an explanation for what love really is. It comes from that font of romance -- an episode of
TAXI (written by Ken Estin).
Louie is trying to win back his
girlfriend, Zena. He asks if she loves him. She says she doesn’t know
what love is. He tells her she’s in luck because he does. And he’s
the only person alive who can say that. He’s read what everyone else
says love is and they’re always wrong. She finally asks him what it
is, and Louie says:
“Love is the end of happiness!
The
end. Because one day all a guy’s got to do to be happy is to watch the
Mets. The next day you gotta have Zena in the room watching the Mets
with you. You don’t know why. They’re the same Mets, it’s the same
room…but you gotta have Zena there.”
****
That to me expresses more heartfelt love than any bouquet or bling or blowout dinner. Which is good this year because you can't have any of those things unless they're delivered.
Happy Birthday, Ken!
ReplyDeleteHappy Birthday and Valentine's Day for tomorrow!
ReplyDeleteAs an early present, enjoy this video that went viral a few weeks ago of a Trumptard woman crying and hoping he has a plan to come back. It's hilarious.
https://youtu.be/mmDAW6a5mvo
Loving the Mets is the end of happiness.
ReplyDeleteIs it possible to get through even one day on here without somebody posting about the would-be dictator who formerly occupied the White House, or about his idiot followers? Just one freakin' day? I had hoped we could all stop being so preoccupied with him once he was out of office, but apparently that's not gonna happen. He seems to be succeeding in at least one of his goals, which is to remain front-and-center in the public's conciousness.
ReplyDeleteMaybe I'm just suffering from serious Trump overload.
Oh, happy birthday, Ken.
I used to like Valentine's Day, then I worked for a florist for a few years. This is hell week in the floral industry. I still have nightmares about it. Rose stems and rose petals everywhere. Knee deep in the damn things. Roses everywhere. Everywhere you look. Red roses, pink roses, white roses, yellow roses. Roses, roses, roses. Barely room to walk through the damn shop for the roses. Hoping you don't freeze to death, working in the cold until your fingers are numb, because the temperature in the shop has to be kept really low for the roses. Apologizing to customer after customer who accuse you of robbing them because our prices always go up on Valentine's Day, and trying to explain that the wholesalers raise their prices to us, and that the wholesalers raise their prices because the growers raise their prices to them. I still have nightmares.
You wanna finish off my sanity? Push me over the edge? Have Donald Trump show up at my door delivering a dozen roses.
Gale, you'll be happy to hear that was my final comment that will mention you know who! Woohoo!
DeleteFor some reason I'm reminded of the Hollywood Squares line in response to the question, How do you say I love you in Hawaiian? I hope he thought of it himself, though probably not, but Vincent Price replied, None. You can do it with a pineapple and a 20.
ReplyDelete@ Gale:
ReplyDeleteIt appears that the answer is sadly, no
I don't know if anyone else did this, but when I was in elementary school we would pass out valentines to everyone in our classroom. You would by a box of 30 +/- and fill them out. One year there were 31 people in the class. One girl didn't get a valentine. It wasn't like on TV when she didn't get any and her life was ruined. She did just fine without mine. Yet, I have always felt guilty about excluding her even though it was unintentional and technically not my fault.
ReplyDeleteHappy birthday, Ken. You've had such a great life. Wife, great kids, personal and professional success, tall and even though you're older than I am you'll probably out live me. Yeah, life's fair.
Troy McClure: I'll believe it when I see it.
Happy Valentine's Day everybody! May you all get yours.
M.B.
Talking about love, the "Taxi" episode that I best remember is the one where Louie goes bragging to his drivers about his lovemaking prowess with Zena -- until Zena talks to Alex (the great Judd Hirsch) and asks him why Louie has never made love to her.
ReplyDeleteThis Just In:
ReplyDeleteDonald Trump, with 43 votes, won out over the United States of America, with 57 votes.
Sinclair Lewis notwithstanding, It DID Happen Here.
What is past is prologue ...
Ken - best wishes ! My parents' wedding anniversary was February 14th.
ReplyDeleteHappy birthday to my good friend Anne. Oh, and to you too!
ReplyDeleteHappy Birthday, Ken! And thank you for everything you've done to entertain us over the years.
ReplyDeleteHappy birthday, and I hope you get vaccinated soon.
ReplyDeleteIn case I'm *not* the only one who hasn't seen this since it was posted in December, the link to the "home video" version of THE PRINCESS BRIDE, featuring some 70 celebrities filming themselves at home into this composite. It's pretty amazing - and, to make it relevant here - the very end features Carl Reiner, who died three days later, in surely his final screen performance..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lR8pA_WV9QI
wg
Have a fabulous birthday Ken!
ReplyDeleteAn incident in The Executioner's Song has been indelible in my mind since I read it circa 1984. Gary Gilmore argued that the class was too old for Valentines, then he received none. And we know how well that turned out.
ReplyDeleteHappy birthday, Ken.
ReplyDeleteHappy birthday, Ken.
ReplyDeleteAnd the worst explanation of love is, "Love means never having to say you're sorry." I hope Erich Segal didn't really believe that. To me, love means saying you're sorry before your loved one does.
Do elementary school children still exchange Valentine's Day cards? A week or so before V-Day, we were given a mimeographed sheet of paper listing the names of all our classmates, and we were required to show up on February 14th, or the school day closest to the 14th, with a card for everybody. No exceptions. Everybody got a card, even Lonnie Taylor, who you didn't like because he beat you up once for hitting him in the face with a football, like it was your fault he couldn't catch.
ReplyDeleteA friend of mine caused quite a commotion in the second grade Valentine's Day card exchange when he gave a special card, larger and more elaborate than what everyone else got, to one of his male classmates, and signed it, "I Love You -- XOXOXOXO."
Dennis--
ReplyDeleteYes, at the schools where I work. But the valentines had to be brought in early so they could be quarantined for a few days first.
Welcome to my world: February 13th.
ReplyDeleteHappy Birthday Ken. I have a FRIDAY QUESTION for you:
ReplyDeleteLilith Sternin Crane is one of my all-time favorite tv characters. While looking up the meaning of her unusual first name, I learned that Lilith was a demonic figure in Jewish folklore and the name is sometimes translated as “night hag” among other non-flattering things. Was this originally a tongue-in-cheek joke with the writer(s) who introduced the character?
Valentine's Day became painful for me in high school. Our school's Valentine's dance was a "tolo", or girls-ask-guys/"Sadie Hawkins" dance. All four years I was never asked out. My ego has never recovered.
ReplyDeleteNow, I found a benefit of being single on the holiday. The day after, I can buy a huge box of Valentine's Day candy at a huge discount, without feeling guilty.
My father was born on Valentines day in Chicago in 1922. 7 year before the infamous murder in Chicago. One of my son's was born on the 13th. We were hoping he would make it to the 14th. He missed by a few hours.
ReplyDeleteI look forward to enjoying an essentially new Taxi series - almost completely new to me, since that show coincided with my college daze with virtually no TV.
ReplyDeleteI DO remember another "Louie insight" - he was tapped to testify at trial - of course under oath. He stated that he LOVED testifying under oath, because (grinning maniacally):
"THEY GOTTA BELIEVE YA!"
I can go to restaurants just fine, and it can be done in California as well.
ReplyDeleteIn Florida and some other places it can be done with no masks and full capacity.