Peterman's Choice*
Love At First Sight

Today's topic is food for thought.

There, we have morphed into our favorite topic -- food.

Judging from the booming business in our divorce courts, some who believe in love at first sight would do well to take a second look.

C'est la vie, c'est l'amour.
If it can happen to me, it can happen to anyone. It did and more than once but the one I remember best went, as they say, something like this: Walking to the bus stop after school, I saw a girl seated on a stone knee-wall.
She had thick medium-length, reddish hair, dark brown loafers, white knee socks (I know), a pleated, shortish school skirt, white blouse, blue blazer and the kind of freckled skin that can and had tanned… a little.
Her chin rested on her knees as she idly badgered an ant with a twig.
She popped up as I came to the corner and, leaving her books, walked over to face me, more or less, she was about 5' 6".
" I flipped for you," she said and went on to explain that she had watched that morning as I had got on the bus eating a piece of toast. And watched as I had pulled out my shirt to brush crumbs off my stomach and tucked it back in while reading.
"I don't do this kind of thing," she said in a husky voice while fingering the lapel of my seersucker blazer.
It had already been a day unlike any other and figuring: in for a penny, in for a pound, I held her close in a hug that lasted until the bus pulled up.
"I will," I said, "never forget you or what you have said." I kissed the top of her head and got on the last bus I would ride for twenty-five years.
My friend, Skin, who had been riding past in his parents car and knew her stopped by to find out what had been going on. I told him.
"Jesus Christ, you already have one unbelievable girlfriend. What about her?"
"It isn't going to come up," I said and it hasn't.

All of my life, I have believed/known, that is really about Shayna Punim ... Beautiful Faces ... A Constant, that no matter how wrinkled it might get, or how Monn-like it might become ... it is always going to be the same Face ...
 
If that face was Trustworthy in the begining, it is Highly likely that it will still be that way 60, 70, or 80 years later ... and if it really pleases one, all the better, because unless one is built like Johnny Puleo, it is the first thing one will see in the morning when waked up .......
 
There are some of us poor bastards that should have gone to meet the Mother, immediately upon being smitten .......  I have fallen in Love At First Sight a thousand times, because those faces all had most of the    stuff    I really like to see in a Face ... but there are those of us who are so enrapt with our discoveries that we don't look deeply enough into the Windows of the Soul ... to find the most important of all attributes ... Attitude .......
 
C'est la vie ....... C'est la guerre !!!

Thats   Moon   ya know .......
 
Past my Bedtime .......

If smitten is falling in love in a revolving door, smutten is what goes on in the elevator and an odd bird called Salky has the video to prove it.
Tiny fished-eyed transmitters catching persons, of mostly opposing genders, hurling themselves at each other and more like the lady who holding her purse behind her, often wound up clutching more than her clutch.
When he retired from a public position that had given him power over supers, doormen and elevator service guys, they started demanding money to keep quiet and it all came undone.
When viewers wondered why there was no sound, he pointed out that it would have been illegal.

Actually, rather than believing in love ay first sight, I believe in emotional radar.  We can instantly pick out people with whom we can work out our life's struggle - usually issues we bring along from childhood - or recreate the same problem and struggle.  See Maggie Scarf, Intimate Partners or any number of other books.  With our partner, we have a choice of doing the same thing as the previous generation or getting past the problem.  I see people divorcing and remarrying and the new partner is a copy of the old one.  The way to move beyond that is to change, to become a new person.  And the only way to do that is through inner work, frequently psychotherapy.  I know one man who said he was at a party and spotted a young lady who looked interesting whom he had never seen or met.  When the conversation opened, she told him she had run away from home at 14 and lived on the streets for years.  Et cetera.  He wondered how he could have picked her out of the crowd.  Emotional radar.  Works every time.  I told him how to avoid a repetition: work his own problems and change.

Not trying to be a cynic, but I think sometimes the term love is used a little too often and maybe the decision IS based on looks alone.  "Oh, I LOVE you..." then when some time has passed, they realize that what they thought was love was only a temporary infatuation.    "Ah, to be young and in love..." 

Whenever I read an actual newspaper, that is one of my favorite things to do...look at the wedding and anniversary announcements and see which couples favor each other. That one will work. Oh! That will never work! And so on and so forth...
Love at first sight? Of course!!! It also helps if you are a fool who rushes in!!

I met him more than fifty years ago, a friend of my brother and I knew, KNEW that he was it. Something in the eyes, something. Even though I'm going through a really tough illness, one that is harder on family, really, than me, our love has never faltered and my life is a wonder.

Love at first sight? I believe it. It changes and if you're so very lucky, it grows.

My children and grandbabies grow...so I still think I am very lucky!!

As for faces...waking up on Friday with the left side of my face swollen, I was pretty comical. And still no rain.

One person's infatuation is somebody else's love of their life. It matters not what the underlying algorithm happens to be that explains the chemistry of mutual attraction, provided the affinity is both mutual & healthy. Symbiotic relationships are hard but far from impossible to attain, unless of course you take yourself out of the game, at which point it becomes difficult to complain about trying to cope without your missing puzzle piece. I can't decide if life ws better or worse many years ago. In simpler times, divorce was rare, yet many for economic or social reasons were condemned to remain mreied forever. Now the internet and closer parity of the genders in economic opportunity expand our horizons. Alas, the temptations of the modern age also increase exponentially. Al Pachino's character in "The Devil's Advocate" categorizes god as someone who refuses to intervene but instead sits back and watches as man is confronted with the dilemma of simultaneously attaining talent & temptation. That cynical perspective may in fact be as good as it gets in this lifetime, but the alternative is to give up, never reaching out as the only remedy to isolate ourselves from pain. Thanks to pain, however, we learn from our mistakes. The first cut may indeed be the deepest, but it is true that what doesn't kill us makes us stronger. I just can't imagine life without the complexities of gender differences marbled into the equation.....let the games begin!

Yes Carolbabcock, the children and grandchildren.......so amazing. Talk about love at first sight! Meeting all those babies for the first time.....instant love.

Cynical perspective here. I have on more than one occasion in my life been struck by the "at first sight" lightning strike.....one time I just heard his voice behind me and I was struck before I turned around.......in many cases however I venture to say that what strikes first begins with "L" but is not necessarily Love.

Andy!!! OMG YES!!

It happened to my brother and sister-in-law. And, it happened to me and my husband. For us it was after years of other experiences. @ Bert, I agree - what doesn't kill us makes us stronger. hmmmm perhaps it runs in families....it happened to our parents and they were married for 52 years. By the way, n
one of us described it the same way as 'lust at first sight' either.

Please God, give me the gift of second sight. Or third sight even. I made an unfortunate life mistake of following my heart, not my head. Never again. It's true that the 'love at first sight' thing is like a bolt from the blue - I never believed in it 'till it happened to me. How does a thought like 'I'm going to marry that man' pop into your head at a time in your life when the last thing you needed was a husband? Especially one like he turned out to be, and, alas, I still love/hate him in equal measure.

Sorry but I'm with the cynics on this one.  Love, true and unconditional love, is something that has to be nurtured and developed.  Love at first sight is just another name for twitterpation or enfatuation, love may grow from it, but it isn't love...it is attraction.  I've known FAR too many couples who claimed it was love at first sight only to have it devolve into angst ridden marriages and horribly acrimonious divorces, guess they weren't a part of that survey.
 
Funny he should bring up Hammerstein, I was thinking of "Some Enchanted Evening" the second I saw the title of the topic.  A little twitterpation and romance can be nice, but it isn't goint to sustain you over the long haul, trust me on that.

Hazel I believe I am in the same camp as you.  I married someone that I love and cared about deeply, despite my serious reservations about his maturity and emotional issues, we did not get a happily ever after and I regret letting my heart get in the way when my common sense was telling me he wasn't going to stick around forever.  I still care about him but what he's done bred an equal amount of pain, I don't know if either will go away but it would be nice to simply be indifferent.

Ahhhh, yes, "being IN LOVE" --There's nothing like it! Intoxicating, fulfilling, magical, and even silly, our behavior becomes childlike and all smiling!

So hard to balance the logical, sensible, practical issues against the romantic ones. If humans could do that to perfection, no divorces, no domestic brawls, no "Romeo and Juliet." And probably fewer children born into our imperfect world to have their own go at it when their time comes.

I say, trust your senses and instincts and go for it if you feel attracted and all other signs are clanging on green! Measure joy against hurt and opt for joy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0odXnKhKBxQ

An observation I'd made at a Christmas party, (a couple,3,libations givew you that detatched observation point...)disclosed the following'truth'; My friend, his wife, and his mother, and his wife's mother and father.My friend,an ageing Sicilian,wearing the costume of the day:perfectly coiffed hair-piece, large and 'clunky' gold jewelery, lifts in the Aligator skin boots...Her father, Polish to the Max, with the costume of the day as well; perfectly coiffed hair piece, clunky gold jewelery, and lifts in his highly polished tassled loafers.   .   It would have gone un noticed,to me, as they always 'dressed' for 'special' occasions, except that a slight family disagreement escalated,and the participants all spilled out to the driveway. The Scene:  My God son's father, (Sicilian),his mother, on one side, and the new wife (Polish), her father, on the other..... and in that moment, from my vantage point, came this reality  she married her Father- he married his Mother!!   And a 'truth' became obvious ; you marry one like, or opposite, to your Mother/Father.....

While it is possible to fall off a log, a ladder, the front stoop and the wagon, the old "We didn't mean for it to happen," pitch is a lot of hooey.
Chicken pox just happen. You don't mean to run out of gas but to suggest that falling in love is an act beyond control? Maybe you and Barbara Cartland buy that but to the rest of us, the reason you caught a trout is that you went fishing.
All of which is okay and maybe even better than that assuming that you were not otherwise engaged, involved or… married.

Yes, love at first sight can happen, it does all the time.  Call it love, lust, infatuation, even kismet--I remember I would often lose up to 10 lbs over during one of those falling in love episodes. I was so "in love" I couldn't eat. What a wonderful exhilaration! But to keep it going takes work and commitment. That's the real magic. (Babies and grandchildren are exempt from this, of course.)

...and then there are the Match-makers....that was how I met my beloved. We were each told that our 'Friend' had found someone for us, with the exact same sense of humor.  Neither of us was actively 'fishing'(doff of the hat to Stoney)...and in fact, quite the opposite. So it came as quite a surprise, as that is,sometimes, to be introduced at an inconspicious function, and indeed, once together, we were doomed to be eternally together. I sure miss her. Who could replace one that had the exact same sense of humor?

I believe that we all receive what we most need when we need
it, like an I before e except after c. 
How else would we rhyme? 

There are rules of engagement that must be followed to
please the gods.  Ignore them and the
rhyme goes out with the reason.

The first rule is that beauty is in the eyes of the
beholder.  The second rule is what
were you thinking?

There is no rule that says
love at first sight means happily
ever after. 

Perhaps one day our government will be kind enough to define
love for us, and let us know who we can and can’t love and for how long.

I find it interesting that our legislators are teetering on
the brink of defining or redefining marriage as valid between members of the
same sex.

I can’t say I have a dog in that fight, but isn’t it a bit
odd that polygamy, a biblical and tribal institution,  was outlawed by the same people that want to
legalize same sex marriages?  Not that I
can imagine why any one man would want to live with more than one woman.  I believe in the one man, one woman and one French
maid ruling that was upheld by the supreme court in 1906…davis v. davis
v. mercibeaucoup.

Paolos, having been a working wife "bringing home the bread" in the relationship I can see the benefits of polygamy, there wasn't a day that went by for 5 years that I didn't wish there was another wife at home to do the cooking, cleaning, laundry, shopping, yard work, take half the husbands amorous attention.  Aside from being insanely jealous of the other person I can see the benefits, not that I'd actually ever do it though.

oh PAOLOS thank you for the belly laugh!

Your heart stops, time stands still, the scene freezes, and only you are aware of this happening.

Then you suddenly speed up to catch up with the rest of the universe.........but you never can forget........

Not to be a nitpicker, because it is love that makes the world go round. But!
I marjorie where you look for magic, you will find it!
And paolos no rhyme or reason goes very well hand in hand with a method to her madness!
I enjoyed the use of twitterpation!

ChefDeb, my pleasure, but please don’t encourage me.  Look what can happen…

Stoney ~ Just because you go fishing doesn’t mean the fish
wants to be caught. 

Is there a fishette born with the strength of character to
resist those bright and shiny baubles dangling in the water, not to mention that
big ol’ worm you plan to hook her with?

Nachista ~ it is that insanely jealous part that always takes the french maid out of the equation.  I know it is easy to make light of a situation, but in all sincerity, if you were doing all that and he didn't appreciate it, he isn't worthy of your attention.

I believe that many of us are here (on earth not necessarily
in the Village, although I’m certain it has been tried) to find our soul mate,

for example these two angelic creatures obviously belong
together.

I know they seem otherworldly, especially in Tennessee, but the
aura of extraordinary LOVE, auramorextraordinaire,
has no boundaries or state lines.

http://www.petermanseye.com/photos/600751

Road Yacht ~ I don’t know that I would want to find another
person with my sense of humor. 

My eight year old comes very close to having my sense of humor and she can annoy
the bejeezus out of me. Go figure.

French Butlers are  also available.....even to just hold your handbag in a shoppingmall so you can go to the fitting room.....

 by ee cummings

since feeling is first
who pays any attention
to the syntax of things
will never wholly kiss you;

wholly to be a fool
while Spring is in the world

my blood approves,
and kisses are a far better fate
than wisdom
lady i swear by all flowers. Don’t cry
–the best gesture of my brain is less than
your eyelids’ flutter which says

we are for eachother: then
laugh, leaning back in my arms
for life’s not a paragraph

And death i think is no parenthesis

Even though we all know that 'real boats rock' and we need to remind ourselves to rmember that that it once felt that way.....and learn from it

My mother always said that you end up with someone like your dad (daughters) or mom (son).  My brother has a wife that tries soooooooo hard to be not like my mom it's comical.  Her natural gut instinct is just exactly that of my mom, however, she has spent 30+ years trying not to be her mother-in-law's doppelganger.   I, too, think that I married someone just like my dad.......there are an awful lot of same character traits.   Love at first sight?  Not sure about that.....a part of me would love to believer that--and that unicorns exist, and that there's gold at the end of the rainbow and I'll find it--------

Paolos you are giving me a stomach ache from laughing!

Love at first sight hasn't worked out for me on several occassions.
But, I heard today of a new dating service on the west coast that has you sleep in a tee shirt, then freeze it and sleep in it and freeze it 3 times. At a mixer people sniff the tee shirts of the opposite sex and when they find one they like they take their picture with it and can then get introduced to the person of the tee shirt. Said to work.
The person who had this idea said it worked for her and her male friend, who was there, said he meet someone at one of the parties.

You have got to be kidding me.  Who wrote this today???   Is he a 16 yer old boy?  Love is more that just a "first sight" thing. What do we know of anyone's heart and character based on "first sight"  impressions?   Perhaps that is what is wrong.  Almost every single man on the planet is a visual creature.  If they don't like what they see in the first two seconds, then there is no hope. Is there a man left who is willing to SEE more than what is visible to their eyes? There is so much more than physical appearance.  Does any man care about a woman's character, work ethic, or her heart?  Are all they after is how someone looks?   If this is the case, there is no hope left for someone like me.  

If the word attraction were substituted for the word love in this little bit of Sunday Supplement pop psych, everyone could calm down and put the discussion in perspective.

I've been attracted to a few men in my life but most are like a gorgeous pastry...easy on the eyes, delicious at first bite, intoxicating, but no real substance in the long run...living on them wasn't a healthy option. 

TFTLATS v. TMBWITW

Spring rain, No, ........only the shallowest of adult men and women allow mere looks to dictate what is in their heart of hearts. It would be so foolish for anyone to be guided by such superficial and short-lived characteristics.

I am nobody's 'trip to Hollywood' by any stretch of the imagination but this is not why i, and most folks I care to know, believe beauty comes from within.

It has not been said or understood by most that 'love at first sight' is anything more than a metaphore for sensing such a thing as a bond with another person.

I believe, and have witnessed, that those few of either sex who are only interested in what is on the outside are doomed to a life if loneliness and dissapointment.

You seem to be a person of good heart and intellect.... So try turning the pages on those who may not appreciate you as you deserve.

Maybe you were not seeking input from an old fool like me so feel free to ignore it if you so wish.

Be very well

Ha!
When that often heard question: "What the heck is she doing with that guy?" has come up, it wasn't me asking.

Floyd loved us the very first time he saw us.....

Well, it might not have been first sight.  The first time I saw him he was right beside me and he was TALL.  I was scared of tall men, something to do with my father, another story.  I stayed away from him the best I could but he seemed to be following me around.  I had gone with friends to a church function hosted by his church.  The next weekend I found myself at a church retreat also sponcered by his church.  I shouldn't have been able to go.  It was my weekend to work at the hospital.  My charge nurse had switched my weekends without asking me, which was completely against the rules.  I had decided to go to the retreat as another friend was going and I had nothing better to do.  As long as he would do the driving and I could sleep I was fine.  I worked the third shift.  I WAS relieved when as time went on no TALL man showed up.  The next morning we were all sitting in circles in small groups on the floor in the common area.  I happened to be facing the door.  Suddenly it opened to be completely filled height wise.  The sun was directly behind him making a halo out of his golden hair.  He came in, and closed the door.  I looked at his face for what was really the first time.  His eyes met mine at that moment.  The air between us seemed electrified.  He took deliberate steps towards my circle and people scooted to make room as he sat down beside me.  We never left each others side for the rest of the weekend.  He is still at my side 34 years later.

Thank you, Peter Lake.  What I was trying to say was that I have yet to meet a man that could not see past how I look. 

Off Topic----Hazel........are you high and dry??  Hope all is well with you in your rain-battered part of the world.  Stay snug inside with lots of tea.

Now you come to mention it, RY~ I fell in love with Floyd at first sight.

Spring rain...... I reckon that is just a matter of when,.......not if.

Oldies say it best....
 
My love must be a kind of blind love,
I can't see anyone but you
And dear, I wonder if you find love,
an optical illusion, too?
Are the stars out tonight?
I don't know if it's cloudy or bright
Cause I only have eyes for you.
The moon may be high,
but I can't see a thing in the sky,
cause I only have eyes for you.
I don't know if we're in a garden,
or on a crowded avenue.
You are here, so am I.
Maybe millions of people go by
but they all disappear from view,
and I only have eyes for you

This however... 
 
http://www.jpeterman.com/Womens-Dresses/Cute-Plaid-Dress
 
was love at first sight.  But alas my budget tells me it is not to be, farewell my love...

dear PeterLake: you're CaryGrant to me, dear southsider.  And Jimmy Stewart.  Any man who comes up with "since feeling is first" - the love poem of all love poems to my mind - you're a trip to holly wood and more.  I know a very lucky lady who would agree with me, a lucky lady she is, having managed to capture your heart and soul...  As for love at first sight, though, I don't agree that there is such a thing...attraction, oh yes, but not love, not love as I define it - I met my husband of 42 years on a blind date.  We went to a fraternity pajama party.  And talked all night to one another, ignoring everyone else.  I liked him a lot, and he, me - and the attraction was mutual, but we didn't fall in love then, it took a while longer, and anyway I was a Jezebel (as was he):  we both had relationships back home that were still ongoing and not likely to die by natural causes - so we both had a lot of growing up and thinking to do before we could let ourselves fall in love at first sight, so to speak.  But when we did, it certainly "took."  Through hell and high water, we've held on, sometimes by the skin of our teeth, but I bet Stoney will agree, the love at first sight stuff that didn't happen on the first date certainly comes around eventually - and without a doubt, it was worth the wait.

lovebirdmom--what a nice, romantic story!  I wish I had a nice story like that.  My husband and I aren't particularly romantic. We got serious after only a couple dates and hitched up in 7 months. I think he may have fallen for me at first sight, but he would deny it now.  He's more like a 5th grader when it comes to that. We've been together nearly 28 years and we're going strong; just don't bring up any of that mushy stuff. 

Love at first sight, granted, it suspect.....leading with your heart not your head.  But sometimes isn't your heart telling your head "this is it?".  Isn't this the person that fulfills it all, even when you aren't aware of it....in your head that is.   It seemed to me that my love at first sight was a combination of head and heart and more than fifty years later, when he comes in the door, my heart still sends messages to my head and a little flip flop in my stomach.

RY:  I didn't marry my father, definitely - but my daughter did.  And I didn't marry my mother's personality either.  I married me.  Myself.  Don't you think that's what many of us do, but without seeing it until later on - in the beginning we stand too close to see the one we're in love with, as we back up we get a better sense of who they are - and when I did that, I saw me.    Albeit a lot taller and with much bigger feet....and so forth...;)

Marjorie:  5:04 is funny!  'that mushy stuff' ... sounds like He who I married.  He would prefer not to talk about "feelings" or to be around people who are talking about feelings, and he'd really rather nobody "share their feelings" with him, or share them when he's within earshot.  He's just not that kind of guy.

Northsider...... Well garsh......maybe if you squint real hard.....

Now your feet would surely fit the shoes of Claudette Cobert and Donna Reed.

I agree that love is blind......but certainly not stupid or for the faint of heart.

I think i better go see a superhero movie or or other action, adventure, monster movie now just to get my feet back on the ground.

P.s., if it was about 19 degrees cooler we would have dined at Skuttlebutts yesterday.

Peter Lake, you are right, love ain't for sissies.

missallen, love that song...one of the best!

Well, I just asked my husband if he believes in love at first sight and he looked at me with his gray eyes so level and he says "No."  Very simply, so simply, so straight, I asked him if he was kidding since that's what he does when he's joking, sometimes.  So:  "No" he says.  I didn't go away so he leaned back in his desk chair, pulled his reading glasses off and held them in his right hand, chewing on the ear piece a little, and gesturing with his left hand, like he was really going to let me in on some inner secret that he's never "shared" with me before, so I waited.  And he just said again "No."  And I asked, pretending shock and hurt, "well, what about me?  when we met?"  And he said No again, and I was getting really tired of that answer, and then he said, 'you?  it wasn't love at first sight.  It took 3 hours until I was sure."  So, that's the verdict in this house.  Love at first sight?  Two thumbs down.  Love at second sight, and after 3 hours?  Definitely possible if not probable.

Penny:  I made a bet with myself that your attentae would be getting signals that the topic today was "love at first sight" - and that you'd show up at the Village.  And I won.  Hi there, lady!

Ninety-nine days out of hundred, I say: "You're a beauty, you're so pretty or you look nice."
Based on some of the comments I have read today, I suppose I should be fearing the day that she wheels around to shriek: "You shallow bastard. When are you going to get past that?"
There does seem to be a mistaken impression that good looks are the only basis for a strong positive impression. I don't think so.
 

missallen, love that song...one of the best!

Paula, Hi! I was just about to send out a ..."is P4 on vacation?!?" shout out!   

l marjorie,  We have had our ups and downs.  We have even been in counceling a couple of times.  It was counceling to make things better though.  When we have been down we have always remembered the ups and knew they would come again.  Divorce is not a word or an option in this home.  If it wasn't so easy a lot of marriages would still be together.  That's one of the worse things that ever happened to the U.S. was making divorce so easy.  If it were harder, people might work harder at making their marriages work.  I know you are still together and I didn't mean to go off on a rant.  I come from divorced parents, who each came from divorced parents.  Both of my grandmothers were divorced twice and ended up living alone all the time I knew them growing up.  My husband came from a stable background.  He was an afterthought.  When we had been married two years his brother and sister-in-law got a divorce.  They had a little girl.  We watched, (from afar), as she turned into a little bag lady going to and fro between the two houses.  That is not how to raise a child.  We have two adult children.  One is married with two children of her own.  The other is getting out of the army this week after four years.  Our niece has never even been on a date and she is five years older than our daughter who did not marry young.  Coincidence?  I don't think so.  I have a step-niece coming from the same kind of situation who is getting married this weekend.  She swears that she will not have any children though.

carol~ your kind question sneaked in between other stuff, happily, I'm a bit north of the floods, but know the area well, and people who live there.

Stoney, I'll have what you're having.

Yeah. My cool husband just flew Ben E. King (writer of Stand By Me) from LAX to JFK so he can attend the Songwriter Hall of Fame Awards.

The song was recorded by over 400 artists.

Kind of reinforces my belief in the truth that love is doing just what the song says.

I do remember a day back in the mid 70's when I turned a magazine page and actually felt a physical shock looking at a photograph of the most gorgeous man I had ever seen. Charisma poured out of that photo, not just handsome. I received nothing but grief from friends who didn't think he was attractive but it was probably as close to love at first sight as I've had since The Beatles.

It was Tom Selleck.
He's still married to the same woman after all these years. I have good judgement chops.

Park I just scrolled up and I LOVE your husband's knowing courting of your heart. Still.

Nice to see you JaxZ~ Just as I am off to bed! Nos Da, dear people. x

Off subject: the rains came!!! Deep breath!
One of my favorite movies is "Out of Africa"...no love at first sights there!!

Hugs Haze!!! I've missed you so! Nos Da!

Just so y'all know it, and I am not telling a secret here
(am I Cap'n?), Jax is one of those
special women that will point out another good looking babe in the room to her
husband and then thump him upside the head for looking any longer than he
rightly should.  As I am my own witness,
it’s true!

Stoney ~ Speaking of... 99 out of 100, I remember a story, not verbatim,
about a man who played the dollar slots and won a hundred dollars!

Ninety-nine, she corrected. 
I’d bet she knows you’re past that.

Ahhh Tom Selleck, sigh.  My claim to fame, however diaphanous it may be... is having my photo taken with Tom Selleck as he was filming Magnum PI across the street from my school. He was gracious; I was speechless...so  simply smiled from ear to ear. He went on to marry Jilly, so I guess he wanted deeper conversation.. :)

Backstage @ The Birchmere with Kinky. Just heard Ray Price over the speakers singing For The Good Times- freaking epic- told my son who was at Bonaroo all weekend, it's the small venues where the great ones shine...

Paolos, don't make me tell secrets out of school. I pointed her (the truly artistically beautiful human) out repeatedly because she was stunning. Someone else's *ahem* spice was teased for not doing the same. I never thump him for looking too long. He never has. Looking does not live on the same planet as leaving, in my world anyway.

Penn your story is not thin it's wonderful. Every time I was in Hawaii a locol told me how normal and kind he is. He has a family summer place in Maine (very far from me), in a town of a few hundred and it's just the same.

Sorry Jax, she was all of that & more.  About that someone*ahem* else's spice, she has been known to thump that someone else's head for just the most casual of remarks. For instance let's say there is a bit of food left over when dining out and the sweet waitress is kind enough to say, "Do ya wanna box for that, sir?" and just so matter of factly I reply, "No, but I'd be happy to wrassle you for it."  Where's the harm it that, I ask, where's the harm in that? 

I better duck out before TT discovers what I've done. I've caused enough trouble for one day.

Y'all have a good rest of the night.

*hack* cough #snort......I'd have paid to see that with my iPhone handy. And I'm stealing that remark, though I know my discernment will have to be faultless when used.

I wouldn't want to cause a case of Love At First Sight in an innapropriate........ mammal for instance.

PARK your 5:48 was one of the most romantic vignettes I have seen or heard in ages...thank you for sharing that gem of a slice of your life with us. It has painted a wonderful picture in my head. Kudos.

Paolos~I use that line at Cosco all the time, with the modifier of "No, but we could arm wrestle for the check at dinner..."....and then some times,"I'm not mad at you,or mad enough at you, to box"....depends on the twinkle EyE factor (hers- - or mine)

Once you take away the hall of magic mirrors, the clown, minus their rease paint smiles have all climbed back into their tiny car and the air has been let out of the bigtop... Then it becomes clear that love at first sight is merely a ticket into the big show.

T is as pure as can be because it basks in the sights, sounds, colours of the moment. But it is love untested, trust has not been earned, devotion has not begun its test of time, has not been seen in unfiltered, true light.

It is the grand illusion that if two really work together toward the same goal,......just imagine

what IS  the sound of one hand clapping?

I think I won some kind of typo award for that post. Oy vey

PL~there's an app for that....

Thank you RY, but i already posses an aptitude for blunders.....

...and there's an over the counter medication for that.....as a matter of fact, I may just pour myself another....(doesn't fix the problem, but it does make you think you''ve seen it more clearly)....

I've loved many of you from first sight. The ones who took 2nd and 3rd looks, just as much. ❤

We had written letters for almost a year. He was an ocean apart from me. We started the letters as a friendly gesture, but when I finally saw him in that grey wool stetson hat coming down the ramp at the airport; I knew it was love.  I wonder if this counts as love at first sight?

Yes, Penn, you can love a hat at first sight