I goof around. Ergo, I exist!

I never watched any Woody Allen movie until I came to America.  Here in the new home, I think my first Allen movie was Banana Republic; I laughed throughout.  (Years later, when I watched it again, I found plenty that were not funny.  I think it is a movie that was for a particular time, and not one for all time.)

I watched a few more.  Once, I was talking about Allen with a graduate school mate, Steve.  I told him how much I loved Allen for both the artsy and the commercial aspects in his movies.  Steve agreed.  And more.  Steve, who was Jewish, said that I probably do not get some of the "inside baseball" jokes that are truly Jewish.  We both agreed that whether or not I got those, Woody Allen's movies easily reached a diverse global audience.

Over the years, I have watched a lot more of Allen's movies. Even brought him into more than one post here. (like this)

But ...

For years the evidence has accumulated: Allen is an astonishingly lazy director.

As in the recent years. Well, the last two decades.  Like Scoop.   If it were not for the fact that it was a Woody Allen movie, I doubt if I would have even picked that up to watch.  Of his recent ones, I did enjoy Match Point.  And even though Blue Jasmine won good reviews, I could barely watch the first thirty minutes and I then called it quits.

So, why does he make these kind of movies now when he can rest on his laurels?

Allen is bluntly honest. “I’m lazy and an imperfectionist,” he explained in a 2015 NPR interview. “Steven Spielberg and Martin Scorsese will work on the details until midnight and sweat it out, whereas for me, come 6 o’clock, I want to go home, I want to have dinner, I want to watch the ballgame. Filmmaking is not [the] end-all be-all of my existence.”

There is a profound bottom-line.  Pick your profession.  And that can always be used to fill the blank in "______ is not [the] end-all be-all of my existence,” right? (I will not be dragged into this aspect of Allen's life, at least not in this post!)

I have always had a fondness for people who make it clear through their decisions in life that "______ is not [the] end-all be-all of my existence.”  Because, hey, that has always been my approach too.  While I might be disappointed that many of my plans did not work out, even those "failures" are not the end-all be-all of my existence.

The handyman that the friend suggested was even way more committed to that philosophy that I am.  A guy who can fix just about anything.  Perhaps a few years older than me.  But, no ordinary tradesman he is.  An undergraduate degree years ago.  From the few minutes I talked with him, it seemed like his was a conscious and calculated decision on what he wanted from life and what would define his happiness.

I was so impressed that I bought a book that was related to his undergraduate subject and mailed that to him.

I don't worry about "______ is not [the] end-all be-all of my existence” primarily because of the conviction that I am here but merely on borrowed time.

John McCain, whose time might be running low because of the cancer, addressed that by quoting one of my favorite authors: "Everybody has to die, but I always believed an exception would be made in my case."

Of course, McCain will be remembered for a long, long, long time.  And Woody Allen too.  Most of the rest of us, on the other hand, will be forgotten like the millions who have gone traveled this one-way route.  Yet, we expend so much time and effort on ______, as if it is the end-all be-all of our existence!