Still Alice

Okay. Happy birthday, Mom.

- Oh, is that for me? - You don't look 40, much less 50.

Charlie, please. But thank you. I appreciate it.

- Can I open this now? - Yes, open it.

Oh, my goodness.

- Oh, I love it. - Do you like it? Oh, good.

It's so beautiful.

- You can exchange it. - I'm not going to.

- You always get me things I love. - Good.

- Sorry I'm late. - Oh, hey. Hey, isn't Lisa coming?

No. We split up.

Yes, I did notice your status popped up to single, yet again.

I forgot your present. I left it in my locker.

That's okay. I hope you didn't spend too much.

- No, don't worry. He didn't. - Where have you been?

The ER was like a madhouse. One guy came in, six stab wounds.

- One missed his heart by an inch. - No. Tom, it's dinnertime. Please.

- Not yet it isn't. - Nearly.

- So, what kind of antibiotic do you...? - Mom, have you spoken to Lydia?

She wanted to be here, but she had a really important audition.

- What for? - A guest spot on some TV thing.

- Something Enemy. - Maybe this'll be her big break.

- Yeah, maybe. - Don't hold your breath.

Stop it.

You guys must have been something growing up. Dolls with heads cut off.

No, my sister and I were very close.

Oh, no. I'm sorry, I was talking about Anna and Lydia.

My goodness. I don't know why I said that.

We're here to celebrate you, Mom. Dad, what about a toast?

Dad!

Toast.

Yes, yes, yes.

To the most beautiful and the most intelligent woman...

- I have known in my entire life. - Thank you.

- Happy birthday. - Cheers! Happy birthday!

- We love you. - I love you.

- Cheers. - Cheers, darling.

My name is Frederick Johnson.

I'm associate professor of cognitive science here at UCLA.

I'm here to welcome our speaker who just flew in from New York.

Now, in my dissertation, I spent about a chapter and a half...

vituperatively citing today's guest and saying why she was wrong.

For the record, every time that Alice and I have argued, she was right.

Alice Howland is the Lillian Young Professor of Linguistics...

at Columbia University. She famously wrote her seminal textbook...

From Neurons to Nouns, while raising three children.

I'm sure getting more than a few "A-ha" moments from them.

And it is now considered one of the cornerstones...

of linguistics education all over the world.

Please welcome Dr. Alice Howland.

Thank you so much.

Most children speak and understand their mother tongue...

before the age of 4, without lessons, homework...

or much in the way of feedback.

How do they accomplish this remarkable feat?

This is a question that has interested scientists at least since Charles Darwin...

kept a diary of the early language of his infant son.

He observed, "Man has an instinctive tendency to speak...

as we see in the babble of young children."

Much has been learned since then.

But today I'd like to focus on some recent studies from my lab...

on the acquisition of past-tense irregular verb forms in children...

between the ages of 18 months and two and a half years.

Now, you may say that this falls...

into the academic tradition of knowing more and more...

about less and less until we know everything about nothing.

But I hope to convince you that by observing these baby steps...

into the...

Into...

I... I knew I shouldn't have had that champagne.

Into the word stock of a given language...

we will learn crucial information...

about the relationship between memory and computation...

that is the very essence of communication.

Lexicon.

I have that same thought. Makes sense.

- I saw it. - Yeah, I thought about that.

Okay. I'm gonna go down and get Shel. I'll be right back.

- Hey. - Hi.

Hey, no, I'm sorry.

You just caught me by surprise.

Come on in. It's...

It's messy, but, you know, I was in the process of cleaning.

It's fine, honey. Don't worry.

The boys are total slobs. The kitchen is the main battleground...

but I've got them in training, so we'll see how that goes.

- So where are they? - Working.

Doug's at Starbucks, Malcolm does some catering.

I guess that's what they mean by working actor, huh?

- You involved with either one of them? - Doug's gay.

And Malcolm and I did have a thing, but it's over.

He got me in with Open Space, though.

- It's, like, the best theater company. - Yes, I heard.

Oh, thank you. Yeah, I'm done.

It would have been awesome if you saw No Exit.

- Daddy said you were good. - I was all right. It wasn't my best night...

but at least he could get, you know, like, a sense of it.

Figure out why he's doing...

you know, me a solid with the company.

What do you mean?

- It's really nice of him to help out. - How is he helping with the company?

It's our responsibility as members to raise equity...

for the productions we put on. Eventually we get a cut...

of the box office. We're sort of shareholders.

So basically you have to pay to act?

No.

It's a theater group. It's just the reality of the situation.

That's how it is. It's Los Angeles.

Lydia, don't you think it's time you reconsidered things?

You're so smart. There's much more you could be doing with your life.

- Like going to college? - Yes. Yes. Like college.

Like we've never talked about that before. Every single day of my life.

I figured out what I wanted to do, and I'm doing it. It's a good thing.

- But on whose dime? - You're helping Tom with med school.

- You helped Anna with law school. - Sweetheart, those are real careers.

I just don't want you to limit your choices.

- You want to make my choices. - No, I don't.

I'm really happy.

I'm sorry. I don't...

I don't wanna argue about this.

- Just forget I said anything, okay? - It's forgotten.

- Gonna check your phone? - It's just a game.

Your sister and I have an developed obsession with "Words with Friends."

- That's cute. - You don't wanna play with her...

- she's a demon. - I'm not surprised.

John?

Hi.

John?

Want one? Here you go.

Two for one at the Shoe Warehouse.

Two for one, Shoe Warehouse.

Two for one at the Shoe Warehouse.

So... I don't know. That's all he said.

Two for one at the Shoe Warehouse. Here you go.

- One? - No, thanks.

Ali?

- I was wondering where you were. - Don't. I'm really sweaty.

- How did it go? - What?

- UCLA. - Oh, it was good.

They were...

- They were really receptive. - I'm sure they were.

How was Lydia?

Good. You know.

You guys argue?

Well, we spent the whole evening trying not to.

I have to say the news that you're bankrolling her theater company didn't exactly help her.

I told you about that.

- You didn't. - I thought I did.

- You didn't. - You're not gonna like this either...

but I have things to do at the lab.

- Maybe walk me over there right now? - No, I don't wanna go back to campus.

I just went for a run. I really need to be home right now.

- Are you okay? - Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine. I just...

You said we were gonna spend the evening in.

I did. We will. The sooner I go, the sooner I'll be back...

and we can watch a movie.

I'm sorry. I'm just exhausted.

Get some rest.

Relax.

I've started forgetting things, little annoying things...

like words and names.

And I got lost, completely lost...

running on campus.

I talked to my doctor, but she said it could be menopause.

Last time I'd had a period was February.

But then I had one again, in September, before my birthday, so...

Are you taking any pills, medication, supplements?

I take a multivitamin, flaxseed oil, calcium, iron.

I occasionally take a sleeping pill when I travel.

- Have you had any head injuries? - No.

Would you consider yourself depressed or under undue stress at the moment?

No. I work a lot, but I thrive on it.

- How's your sleeping? - It's fine. Like, seven hours a night.

Now, I'm gonna ask you to remember a name and an address.

- I'm gonna ask you for it again later. - Okay.

John Black, 42 Washington Street, Hoboken.

- Can you repeat that for me? - John Black...

42 Washington Street, Hoboken.

- Good. How old are you? - I'm 50.

- What's today's date? - November 26.

- Where are we? - We are on the third floor...

of New York-Presbyterian.

Can you spell "water" for me?

W-A-T-E-R.

- Now can you spell it for me backwards? - R-E-T-A-W.

Can you tell me what you see on these cards?

Pliers.

A ladder.

A sea horse.

A screwdriver.

An elephant.

- Tell me about your parents. - Well, they're both dead.

My mother and my sister died in a car crash when I was 18...

and my father died in 1999 of liver failure.

- Hepatitis? - Cirrhosis.

He was an alcoholic.

And what was he like towards the end?

Incoherent. Incontinent.

To tell you the truth, we didn't really see a lot of each other.

He lived in New Hampshire, and we weren't that close.