Practice Something's on your with one clear stress group.
Something's on your mind, Lenny.Mighty Aphrodite · 1995 — Chapter 3 of 15 · 2'12" · C1
Lenny and Amanda's Hamptons Fight, Explained: old passion
Lenny tells a listener that the romance is gone: he sees a happy couple on Park Avenue and remembers how it used to be. Back home, the fight is about Amanda's boss, his Hamptons house, and a tick bite. 'You used to hate the beach,' Lenny says, but what really bothers him is Jerry Bender's attention.
What happens
Lenny opens up about his marriage: Amanda keeps dragging him to dinner parties, where he feels their old closeness is gone. At home they argue — she wants to go to her boss Jerry Bender's Hamptons house for the contacts, he refuses and resents the attention Bender pays her. The scene ends with Amanda asking him to drop it.
Listen for
put up withgot a crush on youmentally undresses youold passion
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Phrase of the scene
old passion
the desire that used to be there
A sidewalk couple reminds him the heat is gone.
The old passion is gone, but we still split the bills.
Also in this scene
- put up with
tolerate something unpleasant
- got a crush on you
has a crush on you
- mentally undresses you
undress someone with the eyes
- potential contacts
people who might be useful later
- Big deal
so what
Everything marked in this scene
22 notes across 44 lines
evenings hosted as social work
He frames last night as another command performance.
Listen, last night I was at one of those dinner parties again.Practice And then last with one clear stress group.
And then last night it was with the Grossbards on Park Avenue.Practice And then after with one clear stress group.
And then after that, we were driving home...Practice and I don't with one clear stress group.
and I don't know what to say.the bulky weekend newspapers
A man carrying the Sunday papers looks like early love.
And, you know, they're walking home and, you know, the guy's carrying the Sunday papers."first apartment" is useful here.
in our first apartment, you know, how romantic it was."terrific times" is useful here.
We had such terrific times.the desire that used to be there
A sidewalk couple reminds him the heat is gone.
I don't know, it's been so long since there's been, you know, the old passion between us.existential there: The phrase there's been, you know, the old shapes the meaning of the line.
I don't know, it's been so long since there's been, you know, the old passion between us.so what
She shrinks his tick story to nothing.
- A tick? Oh, wow. Big deal. - For you, it wasn't a big deal.so what; nothing much — Dismissive; tone decides if it stings.
- A tick? Oh, wow. Big deal. - For you, it wasn't a big deal.tolerate something unpleasant
She will endure ticks for gallery contacts.
For the potential contacts, I can put up with a few ticks.people who might be useful later
Ticks are priced as future gallery names.
For the potential contacts, I can put up with a few ticks."international spy" is useful here.
You know, it's like you're an international spy."all over town" is useful here.
- You got contacts all over town. - I plan to have my own gallery, and soon."own gallery" is useful here.
- You got contacts all over town. - I plan to have my own gallery, and soon.has a crush on you
He names the boss's look as a crush.
You used to hate the beach. And Jerry Bender has got a crush on you.crazy, no way — Casual pushback; keep crazy on paper.
- This guy stares at you. - Oh, no. That's nuts.undress someone with the eyes
He upgrades a stare into mental undressing.
- That's seriously crazy. - He mentally undresses you."normal look" is useful here.
- That's his normal look. - It's not his normal look."drop this" is useful here.
Okay. Okay, let's-- - Or kiss him on the lips, maybe. - Let's drop this. Please?Lenny and Amanda's Hamptons Fight, explained
What's really going on
The scene sets the loss of romance beside a petty argument and lets us see how they connect. Lenny's monologue is pure nostalgia — the couple carrying the Sunday papers reminds him of his own early marriage, and he admits it has been 'so long since there's been' the old passion. Amanda, meanwhile, has become someone who wants the Hamptons house and the right people, and Lenny cannot tell growth from betrayal. So the fight about a tick bite is really about class and attention: he is angry that she cares, and angrier that Bender does. His charge that 'Jerry Bender has got a crush on you' is the accusation under all the rest, and her 'Let's drop this. Please?' is the marriage's usual way of ending an argument it never resolves.
Theme
MarriageLenny mourns the lost passion while Amanda chases connections, so a small fight exposes a marriage drifting apart.
ClassThe Hamptons house and the right people matter to Amanda, and Lenny resents the world she is moving toward.
What you'll learn
- Use put up with in the same situation
- Hear got a crush on you as pressure, not small talk
- Catch who the line is aimed at
- Notice how "put up with" changes the exchange.
- Listen for the attitude carried by "put up with".
Listen for
- Something's on your — Practice Something's on your with one clear stress group.
- And then last — Practice And then last with one clear stress group.
- And then after — Practice And then after with one clear stress group.
- and I don't — Practice and I don't with one clear stress group.
For the potential contacts, I can put up with a few ticks.Amanda's justification for the Hamptons visit: she'll tolerate the bugs because the connections are worth it to her career.
You used to hate the beach. And Jerry Bender has got a crush on you.Lenny lumps two grievances into one: her change, and the boss's interest in her, which is what really stings.
I looked out the window and I see some guy and this pretty girl.The moment that starts Lenny's doubt: a random happy couple makes him measure his own marriage against what it used to be.
If he looked at me that way I'd hit him with a brick.Lenny's exaggeration about how Bender looks at Amanda, half-joking and half-serious jealousy.
And, you know, they're walking home and, you know, the guy's carrying the Sunday papers.The detail that makes the other couple's life feel warm and ordinary — exactly the domesticity Lenny feels he has lost.
Questions about this scene
Why does Lenny feel his marriage has changed?
He misses the closeness and romance of their early years, and he thinks Amanda has become obsessed with dinner parties, contacts, and appearances instead.
Why does Lenny refuse to go to the Hamptons?
He hates the beach and says he got a tick bite last time. But the deeper reason is his resentment of Amanda's boss, Jerry Bender, and the world he represents.
What does 'got a crush on you' mean?
It means someone has romantic feelings for you. Lenny accuses Amanda of ignoring that her boss has a crush on her, which is the real source of the fight.
What does Amanda want from the Hamptons trip?
She wants the useful people she can meet there. Her line about putting up with a few ticks shows she sees the discomfort as a fair price for potential contacts.
How does the argument end?
Amanda tells Lenny to drop it, and nothing is resolved. The scene closes on the same gap it opened with: affection running out and neither of them naming the real problem.
Mighty Aphrodite · 15 chapters
All chapters →
Up next · Chapter 4Let sleeping dogs lieLenny Wants to Find Max's Mother
Chapter 1out of left fieldLenny and Amanda Debate a Baby
Chapter 2put my foot downLenny and Amanda Name the Baby
Watching · Chapter 3old passionLenny and Amanda's Hamptons Fight
Chapter 4Let sleeping dogs lieLenny Wants to Find Max's Mother
Chapter 5in the ballparkLenny Meets Linda Ash
Chapter 6gone straightLinda Tells Lenny Her Backstory
Chapter 7long shotLenny and Linda at the Races
Chapter 8a hundred percent definiteLinda Reveals She Gave Up a Child
Chapter 9a way with wordsLinda Asks Lenny for a Favor
Chapter 10level with youLenny Negotiates With Ricky
Chapter 11gave up on youLinda Says She's Starting Over
Chapter 12killer instinctLenny Visits the Boxing Gym
Chapter 13drove me up the wallLenny Sets Linda Up With a Farmer
Chapter 14superfluousLinda and Kevin's Blind Date
Chapter 15flew off the handleKevin Blows Up at LennyChapter 3 of 15 · about 44 min to go