subjunctivity?

In grad school, I learned about the pitfalls of subjectivity and came to have a healthy relationship with subjects and subjective things. So I thought when I encountered the subjunctive (tense, that is), I'd be fine. I mean, heck, it's only a letter or two of difference, and it has the same kind of vague, hypothetical, flighty quality of subjective things.

But then I discovered that the subjunctive is a multi-faceted beast that includes the past perfect subjunctive, present perfect subjunctive, the future subjunctive, and (my personal favorite) the imperfect subjunctive. And all this when I don't even know how to conjugate a simple present tense sentence like "I feel..."

So I'm in a little over my head, but the up-side is that my five channels of public access TV have been doing wonders for my comprehension - both listening and reading. Last night, I watched a Chinese film broadcast with Spanish subtitles about a woman who becomes obsessed with buying the largest television possible and installing it in her home. In the meantime, she also gets busy with the neighbor man who drives her to town every day. Much of this I could have figured out without the subtitles, it's true. But I had my dictionary handy, so I learned some important things, like how to say "braided noodles" in Spanish.

I also watched a heart-rending though inspiring film about the wheelchair-bound German woman who purportedly invented the teddy bear. This one was in German with Spanish subtitles. I'm impressed with the diversity of programming, even if all the late late night stuff is about hair growth ointments and the weight-loss phenomenon known as the "Hollywood Patch." (I've avoided dialing in for any free promotional materials.) Though as much as I'd like to say I've picked up some German and Mandarin (or Cantonese?) phrases from all this TV viewing, I have to admit that as long as I'm wrestling with the subjunctive, there isn't room for much else.