but you just might pull it off. i'll give it my best shot. good luck. thanks again. ♪ all my blues going to roll away ♪ ♪ one fine day, yeah. ♪ one fine day chorus: ♪ one fine day ♪ ♪ one fine day ♪ one fine day ♪ ♪ one fine day ♪ all my blues going to roll away ♪ ♪ one fine day... rebecca, you're back! oh! i'm so sorry about your father. it was a total shock. it's nice to have you back here, rebecca. my condolences on your father's death. thank you, melaku. in my country, we do not work for a time after the death of a loved one. we take time to remember. sounds like a good idea. in the united states, sometimes we move too fast.

is everything o.k. at school? can you make up the work you missed? my advisor says i could start over next semester or cram for the finals this year. so...? you won't be seeing much of me for a while. i'll be in my room studying. rebecca... we thought you might stay in boston for christmas. san francisco is my home now. i'm going to finish school and write my songs. i'm going to make it happen... here. good for you. what are you doing for the holidays? hmm, not much. i'll be right here. um, you're going to be all alone. melaku is going to visit some ethiopian friends out of town. oh, it'll be good for him to be with friends. i'm sure he misses his family.

and i'm going home to see my parents. well, nancy will be here. i'm sure we'll be fine. ( doorbell rings ) i'll get that. you go study. rebecca, you have a visitor-- a male visitor. who is it? ( whispers ): alberto. oh, just ask him to wait in the living room. i'll be right there. i forgot how handsome he is! rebecca, welcome back. i sure have missed you. this is such a surprise. i just had to see you. i know things have been... been very tough for you and i'm sorry about your loss. thank you. and i appreciated your beautiful flowers.

please, sit down. well, it was the least i could do. now, i want to help you get back into the swing of things, so... i have something here to cheer you up. tickets to the san francisco opera. best seats in the house. they're doing amahl and the night visitors. you know the "night visitors" are the three kings and they're following the star to bethlehem. that's very nice of you... i'm sure you'll enjoy it. i'm sure i would, too, but i can't make any plans. i have to cram for my final exams. a ton of school work, huh? yeah. i lost so much time because of... it's going to take every waking hour just to catch up. well, maybe a little diversion might help. look, if i fail my exams, i lose my scholarship. now, i would really love to... i'll take that as a "yes" and you can see how your studying is going later on in the week.

thank you. well, i've got to get going. don't panic over your exams. i know you, i'm sure you'll do just fine. so, i'll call you later in the week? o.k. i'm really happy you're back. me, too. bye. bye. lucky woman! he wants to take me out saturday to the opera. to the opera? oh... very nice. maybe you two will spend the holidays together. i don't think so. i'm not even sure about the opera. i mean, i have so much studying to do. what's that expression-- all work and no play...

you know, if i don't study for my exams i'm not going to pass my finals. i don't know, angela, i'm just so exhausted. it's probably just the trip and all. my advice-- go out and have a grand time. you'll be able to study better, believe me. and alberto seems to really care for you. i guess so. well, it's time to get back to the books. are you all right? just overwhelmed by everything. when rebecca comes back to san francisco she's trying to catch up with her studies. and she's really feeling the pressure. the finals are going to be tough, real tough.

if you don't pass, you risk losing your partial scholarship. you can take incompletes and repeat your courses next semester or you can study like mad and go for it. i'd like to try to take the exams. she decided to take the final exam. i would personally probably err on the side of taking incompletes. alberto got opera tickets and he invites rebecca to the opera. i have something here to cheer you up. tickets to the san francisco opera. best seats in the house. it's very difficult for rebecca to break away from her study. i can't make any plans. i have to cram for my final exams. she will always pick work over having fun. i think it's good to work hard, you know, to get what you want. i remember very clearly i have to give up certain things to be successful in what i was trying to do.

i wanted to get my education. was the definition of a success when you were young the same as it is now? when i was young, success mean more like power, more influence. to me, success is happiness and since i was little, i thought about happiness. i didn't really think about what success meant. but when you're faced with a choice between being a good wife or husband and successful in your career then how do you define what success is? you find a balance. speaker: it is very difficult to decide. i would never decide for one of these things. for me, success is to find a balance between all these things.

don't you ever leave the library? no. what day is today? friday. friday? oh, no! well, you only have 17 shopping days left till christmas. shopping? you must be kidding. you've got to get out. you're not going to take that musical dictation final, are you? yup. huh, no wonder you're going crazy. i'm going over to the music lab to study for it. do you want to join me? yeah, thanks. i need all the help i can get. hmm. ( playing simple melody ) how you doing? terrific-- you got all the right notes this time. really? except there should be a dot above these to indicate staccato. i'll fix that.

you're going to ace this test, i know it. i have a lot to learn... real fast. don't we all! i hope all these exams are worth it. ( playing riffs ) hey... hey, i can't keep up with you. that's not for you, it's for me. all i want to do is play my music-- not go to school. why on earth are you here? i'm just trying to get my parents off my back. "billy, you'll never make money playing in a band. "you have to go to college. do something respectable." wrong! ♪ don't you know, baby? ♪ hey, baby! ♪ want to be a rock 'n' roll star? ♪ whoo! i don't think my dad ever really approved

of my plans to go to music school. it was so hard to make him understand why music was so important to me. did he tell you you'd never make a living? constantly. ( sighs ) parents are all alike. well, they don't know what they're talking about. ( plays riffs ) i've got plans. i'm going to pitch my songs to the moles. ( plays riffs ) you're kidding, right? no. the word is that they're looking for new material. you should audition for them, too. oh, i don't do their kind of music. anyway, i don't think i'm ready for that. ( strums chord ) don't be so sure. you have big-time talent. don't sell yourself short. they're a hard-rock group, aren't they? ( strums blues chord ) rock is where the money is these days. money isn't all that important to me. come on! no, really! making music is all i care about.

making music is like breathing. ( strums sweet, melodic chords ) uh-oh, she's getting sappy on me. bill, i'm serious. i have to make music. i can't imagine my life without it. listen, seriously, think about the audition. you never know how school will work out, so the more irons you have in the fire the better off you are. anyway, meeting them will be a real education. ( plays blues riff ) hey, it might even be fun. i don't know. listen, i help you study. you come with me, you know, to the audition as my backup singer. all right, it's a deal. ( wails on guitar ) sorry.

( phone rings ) hello? rebecca, how are you? you can't go. oh... well, i'm disappointed. no, i... i get it. maybe we can go out after your exams. o.k. happy homework! bye. hello? ramón. hey, man. what are you doing here at this hour?

it's almost midnight! i went to the opera. ah... amahl and the night visitors? who'd you go with? no one. i thought i'd just drop by. you want a drink? no, not really. you probably want to get home. no need to rush. alex is home with the baby-sitter. your ex-wife gets him for christmas? yeah... he's got to fly to l.a. alone. i feel sorry for him. it's not easy being shipped back and forth. you must be really angry at chris. nah, she's his mother. i understand. she loves alex as much as i do. it's just this divorce has screwed everything up. i don't know. sometimes falling in love can be the worst thing. yeah, or it can be the best thing. i suppose. just don't get married. that's when all the problems start.

what's with you? you're usually so positive. you sick or something? listen, i'm considering a vacation in aspen-- you know, spend the holidays skiing. maybe you can come with me. you know, spend some time in the great outdoors, take a break from the restaurant. let me feel your forehead. you must have a fever. cut it out! i'm fine. i thought we might enjoy the time together, you know, especially now since mama and papa are in mexico visiting relatives for the holidays. ah, it's a great idea, really. but i can't. not with the restaurant, and alex will want to be home for new year's. sorry, it's impossible. i guess this is what it means to be getting old. all my friends are either married or moved out of town.

my brother's all tied up with work and his kid. my retired parents are now traveling around the world and the woman i'm interested in is busy with school. oh, now, i get it-- woman trouble. no, not really. rebecca was supposed to go out with me tonight, but her schoolwork got in the way. i guess i'm losing my fatal charm. so, rebecca's resisting? amazing! thanks for the sympathy, brother. let me get you a drink. here, these will cheer you up. pictures from the retirement party. they just came back. you know, rebecca's a very dedicated student. that she is. maybe too dedicated. what does that mean?

i'm surrounded by dedicated career women... all day. it'd be nice to be the center of attention once in a while. oh, come on! remember elena? you were the center of attention with her. that was different. maybe she wasn't the right one for me. well, what about rebecca? maybe, maybe not. she's all tied up with her music. it doesn't have much to do with my life. you sound just like a spoiled brat. she's been through a lot. her father just died! she has a lot of pressure at school. she probably needs some understanding right now. as usual, my older brother provides insight into the workings of the opposite sex. with age comes wisdom. ah, well, you're tired and i have to get up early in the morning. it's time to go home. all right. so what is it you want in a woman?

everything. good luck. nice tree! maybe i should put one up this year. absolutely. this was good-- talking, i mean. we haven't done that for a long time. so, do you miss having someone in your life? i liked being married. but the next time she's going to have to be the right woman for me and for alex. it's not so simple. you and rebecca-- now, that's simple. things are never as simple as they might appear. let's just say at the moment rebecca doesn't seem to be very interested. well, if it's what you want, you have to be patient. me, patient? you kidding me? i've never been patient in my entire life. yeah, don't i know. hey, remember when we were waiting for abuela at the train station? yeah, yeah, yeah. stop, don't remind me.

bill offers to help. listen, i help you study. you come with me, you know, to the audition as my backup singer. all right, it's a deal. speaker: rebecca wants to focus on her final exam. no time for the opera. you can't go. oh... well, i'm disappointed. no, i... i get it. maybe we can go out after your exams. alberto decided to go to the opera by himself. alberto is feeling kind of down. i guess this is what it means to be getting old. all my friends are either married or moved out of town. my brother's all tied up with work and his kid. my retired parents are now traveling around the world

and the woman i'm interested in is busy with school. i think he's searching for love. what about rebecca? maybe, maybe not. at this point he realizes that he's going to leave the way open for his brother. speaker: bill wants to be a rock 'n' roll star. ( wails on guitar ) rock is where the money is these days. money isn't all that important to me. come on! no, really! making music is all i care about. making music is like breathing. ( strums sweet, melodic chords ) uh-oh, she's getting sappy on me. you think bill is right? there's no such thing as being right. maybe rebecca... rebecca is, of course, more devoted to the concept of art. do you think it's greed that bill is pursuing rather than...? well, yes, greed is good. money's, of course, money's important, but not...

money is not everything. by the caption center wgbh educational foundation] funding for this program [with captioning] was provided by: additional funding is provided by:

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