Aimee

@aimeelevitt.bsky.social

590 Followers 1098 Following

Mild-mannered girl reporter for hire. Food, business, books, historical oddities. And dogs. aimeelevitt.com

An add for an event called Jazzin' at the Shedd [Aquarium] featuring a front on a black background with a strip of its chest and one its legs visible, a parody of the poster for the 1995 movie Showgirls.
A quote from the New York Times: "The new pope, who was born Robert Francis Prevost, hails from the Chicago area, where he grew up in a southern suburb just outside of the city."
A supermarket freezer case of pre-made burgers, including Billy Goat brand, selling for $16.99
Donald Trump wearing Yul Brynner's headgear from "The Ten Commandments" (1956). AI generated by Craiyon.
A Clydesdale horse pulls an open carriage through a park
A cast-iron pan containing a pancake in the shape of a gingerbread man
For example, the main narration of Intermezzo is primarily in the present tense. There are two main ways of demonstrating action in present tense: simple present (he walks) and present progressive (he is walking). These are not interchangeable, and when you substitute “he is walking” for “he walks,” you create a sense of distance and sluggishness. “He walks” is directly on the line of action. “He is walking” implies that the main focus is elsewhere, still to come. It’s a kind of anticipatory, on-the-balls-of-your-feet, falling-forward sensation. It’s always bothered me that Rooney deploys present progressive when she should deploy simple present. This is especially the case in Intermezzo. Just popping the book open randomly, you find “she is looking down at the soles of her feet, crossed on the mattress” and “Ivan is standing on his own in the corner, while the men from the chess club move chairs and tables around.” The present progressive, those “-ing” verbs, are anesthetizing because they sap energy from the line of action.