Leftover Jeopardy Questions. Or Are They Answers?

"I'll take potpourri for $200, Alex." Potpourri means "all those leftover questions - or are they answers? - that we ran out of time to toss at the contestants, and now we're putting them in a miscellaneous category so our researchers' time wasn't wasted."

Ha! Today you're getting potpourri, better known as casserole made out of leftovers you forgot existed. Open up. Here comes the airplane.

"What have you been up to, Bitty?" "Oh, you know, nothing much, except seeing Indiana Jones in the theater." Sidebar: anyone my age barely missed seeing Indiana Jones movies in the theater the first time around, so whatever you think of this new installment, it's pretty doggone cool to hear the theme music in surround sound. I happen to like this new one. It has a few corny lines that the writers didn't control themselves on out of sheer giddy glee that they get to work on this project. But in my opinion "Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" can stand with dignity by the first three Indy's.

"What else have you been up to, Bitty?" "Oh, you know, nothing much, except seeing 'Lars and the Real Girl'. "What's that, Bitty, I've never heard of it!"

Well, you should have. It's quirky and sweet and set in the far reaches of a northern state, all of which describe some stages of my existence. You can rent "Lars and the Real Girl" and I highly suggest you do. It's not for kids - they'd get bored in ten minutes - and there are a few references that should be over their heads because they don't need to think about things like that yet. But it's a "good clean movie" and portrays real faith beautifully. It's not a blockbuster, explosion-driven action movie. And I like it. A lot. The summary, you ask? A loner with "issues" who can't really talk to people starts taking around a lifesized doll with him as his girlfriend, and his family and the small town he's part of have to decide how they'll handle it. I LOVE this movie. It sounds corny, but it's actually quite profound. Believe me. See it. Thank me later.

"What else have you been up to, Bitty?" "Oh, you know, nothing much, except playing disc golf on Memorial Day." "What's disc golf, Bitty?" It's like playing golf with frisbees. There's a course in our town and I did the worst of my group, cause you know, I like to affirm people and wouldn't want to make them feel badly by doing better than oooowwww, my arm and shoulder are STILL sore. Alas.

"Anything else you've been doing, Bitty?" "Besides setting off a gigantic neighborhood chain reaction of dog barks by taking Charlie and Daisy out on a walk last night? Besides the little neighbor girls showing me how they climb a large bush in their yard? Besides making cookies with quick oats instead of old fashioned oats? Besides watching "Northern Exposure" dvds while ironing? Besides attempting to stop a sinus infection before it starts? Besides reading murder mysteries involving cats and aging actresses?"

Not much.