Years ago, my in-laws played host to several students that were part of the local high school’s foreign exchange program.  One such guest of the family was Gustav.   At the time, Gustav didn’t strike me as being particularly insightful.  Frankly, my biggest memory of him was that we all just wanted him to take a shower. 

But now that I look back on Gustav’s brief time with us, I’ve come to appreciate him, or at least something he once said when describing my mother-in-law’s cooking - “Not really a meal, not really a dinner.” 

You see, with Anne’s hectic schedule, she frequently relied on quick-cook meals such as salads, a piece of grilled chicken & a microwaved baked potato for dinner.  Good, but unfussy fare requiring minimal prep time.  Apparently, this type of cooking wasn’t to Gustav’s liking.  The other exchange students told us that Gustav’s mother would prepare elaborate multi-course meals for him every night, so it’s not surprising that Anne’s off-the-cuff cooking style left him wanting.

Gustav is long gone, but I’ve found that ”not really a meal, not really a dinner” lives on.  It serves as an easily understood metaphor for all things squishy or underwhelming - like this blog, for instance .  Some more examples:

***** 

Ashley Judd Films

While I can see that she’s a talented actress, so many of her films seem like drawn out Lifetime Movies of the Week - only with her boobs showing.  The films she’s chosen don’t seem to have enough meat to make great film, but they’re good as entertainment.  See what I mean? Not really a meal, not really a dinner.

The Presidential Race

John McCain - not really a meal, not really a dinner

Mike Huckabee - not really an appetizer, meal or a dinner - just gravy

Mitt Romney -  not really a meal, but listed as one on the menu

Hillary Clinton - not really a meal, not really a dinner

Barack Obama - dinner*

John Edwards - 8×10 glossy of supper on the cover of a cooking magazine

*I don’t want to get too political here - that’s not what Raw Drip’s about - but just let it be known that I think Obama is probably both a meal and a dinner. Whatever you call him, I think it’s nice to have another choice on the menu.

Morning News Shows

Granted, I grew up in the Jane Pauley/Bryant Gumble era of morning news shows, but didn’t they use to spend more time on, well, news?  Remember news?  That was the stuff that used to be brought to us several times a day, providing important information about global events - not just stuff happening in the U.S.?  These days,  the morning news reader only gets 60 seconds every half hour to brief us on the day’s news so we can get back to important information like the latest trends in hemlines.  With today’s “news” focus squarely on entertainment without, lets face it, actually being all that entertaining, I’m left with that “not really a meal, not really a dinner” feeling… 

*****

See how “not really a meal, not really a dinner” just works?  It smartly captures the subtleties we often struggle to describe - the difference between a meal & a dinner, between art & entertainment and between seeming different, but sounding the same. 

So here you go.  Take Gustav’s term and use it freely- it’s my little gift to you.  I only ask that you cite Raw Drip as its source so, maybe some day I can pay for a meal, maybe even a dinner.