It's Friday, I'm in Love
Actually, I'm not in love...but The Cure is an amazing pick me up at the end of the week. It seems like only yesterday that I was mentioning that Fridays were magical, and the proof of that came to me this morning. I really had nothing of value planned for today. Oh sure, we were going to do things in class today in English, but it was going to be continuing to watch what we already read on the video of Julius Caesar and offering the kids a chance to go ahead and get the Act II test out of the way...we weren't going to progress forward into Act III or otherwise move forward. So imagine my gleeful surprise when Mr. H, the junior guidance counselor, showed up to do an entire period lecture on college prep. I was ecstatic! I couldn't believe that I had completely forgotten that I had agreed to give him today's class time a week ago. See what I mean about Fridays being magical? Next week I hope to conquer two acts of Caesar so we can watch the remaining bits of it on the video and finish the play before Thanksgiving. Can he do it? We'll have to wait and see!
I actually wish I were in love...I mean love starts to stink after a while because you start worrying if you're good enough for someone or if they even like you anymore (if they ever did to begin with)...but fresh love, new love is like some amazing drug. I sometimes ask myself why I would keep going back to the dating well time and time again, knowing full well that something is going to send me back here broken and bruised. The reason is simple of course. We live for that euphoric feeling of those first few moments, hours, days, weeks, of complete infatuation. We get all giddy, fuzzy, warm, and goofy inside when were with that new special person that you thought you would never find. The one who managed to hide for years while you were wasting time with all those other rejects and disappointments. You don't even have to be involved with the person, you could just have a crush and it feels wonderful. New love, really is like a drug that we get high from and keep wanting more...no matter how much of a destructive spiral it sends us into and how awful it makes us feel as we come down off the high and realize that the reality of either rejection or a relationship begins to kick in. Don't get me wrong, sometimes you eventually find that person who keeps the high going and whom you love and who loves you back forever (Mr. and Miss J are proof of that) but its hard work and its no surprise that so many people don't ever make it there. And after admitting all of that, I still wish I were in love...if for no other reason than I haven't felt that high in a while. Its not exactly easy to meet eligible gay men in my small town who a) aren't ugly/old trolls and b) who don't come with a huge set of matched baggage. I suppose I could lower my standards, but I don't think I should have to settle just to get the high (and believe me, too many people have done that). I don't want to invest my time and energy into a relationship anymore unless I think its going to pay off. I just hope that mindset doesn't leave me cold and alone.
On the subject of love, I'd like to introduce a little known gem from the film world called Unconditional Love. This film was released in 2002 from director P.J. Hogan (who also directed Muriel's Wedding) and which starred Kathy Bates, Dan Aykroyd, Rupert Everett, and Jonathan Pryce. With a cast and director like that, how could it not be a hit? Well, lets start with the plot synopsis...this is a comedy, drama, mystery, romance, musical which takes place in Chicago and the English countryside. Following me still? Ok, Grace Beasely (Bates) wakes up one morning to find two big things have happened to her...she has won a ticket to see her favorite singer, Victor Fox (Pryce), perform and her husband Max (Aykroyd) has decided to leave her after like 30 years of marriage. To make matters worse, when Grace goes to the performance to see Victor...she finds he won't be performing because he has been murdered by the Chicago Crossbow Killer....still following me? So she decides while talking to her midget daughter-in-law Maudey (Meredith Eaton...and no I'm not making this up) that she needs to go to England to Victor's funeral because she's never done anything crazy in her life. When she arrives in England, she reads a poem about unconditional love in the paper that is dedicated to Victor and she goes to discover who wrote it only to find that it is Victor's valet Dirk Simpson (Rupert Everett) who was also his secret homosexual lover. The two end up bonding and going back to Chicago to bring the Crossbow Killer to justice. Oh, and there's some singing of oldies tunes thrown in too. Whew....ok, so that was a long synopsis and sounds completely strange and out there...but it makes for a surprisingly entertaining and touching experience that shows a different side of love as well as what people will go through for the people they love. However, how do you make a trailer and an ad campaign for such a film? Its no wonder the movie flopped really...people need black and white trailers for movies they plan to see in the theater. It has to be one genre or another....not two or three in the same movie. Heavens no! But how can you not love a movie that sums up unconditional love in one simple conversation:
Dirk Simpson: I don't believe in unconditional love, I mean, what is it anyway? Cut off my ears, steal my money and I'll love you anyway?
Grace Beasley: Yes, and more.
Dirk Simpson: More?
Grace Beasley: You don't have to love me back.
The trailer (which is terrible) is included below...I recommend just finding the movie and watching it instead:
I actually wish I were in love...I mean love starts to stink after a while because you start worrying if you're good enough for someone or if they even like you anymore (if they ever did to begin with)...but fresh love, new love is like some amazing drug. I sometimes ask myself why I would keep going back to the dating well time and time again, knowing full well that something is going to send me back here broken and bruised. The reason is simple of course. We live for that euphoric feeling of those first few moments, hours, days, weeks, of complete infatuation. We get all giddy, fuzzy, warm, and goofy inside when were with that new special person that you thought you would never find. The one who managed to hide for years while you were wasting time with all those other rejects and disappointments. You don't even have to be involved with the person, you could just have a crush and it feels wonderful. New love, really is like a drug that we get high from and keep wanting more...no matter how much of a destructive spiral it sends us into and how awful it makes us feel as we come down off the high and realize that the reality of either rejection or a relationship begins to kick in. Don't get me wrong, sometimes you eventually find that person who keeps the high going and whom you love and who loves you back forever (Mr. and Miss J are proof of that) but its hard work and its no surprise that so many people don't ever make it there. And after admitting all of that, I still wish I were in love...if for no other reason than I haven't felt that high in a while. Its not exactly easy to meet eligible gay men in my small town who a) aren't ugly/old trolls and b) who don't come with a huge set of matched baggage. I suppose I could lower my standards, but I don't think I should have to settle just to get the high (and believe me, too many people have done that). I don't want to invest my time and energy into a relationship anymore unless I think its going to pay off. I just hope that mindset doesn't leave me cold and alone.
On the subject of love, I'd like to introduce a little known gem from the film world called Unconditional Love. This film was released in 2002 from director P.J. Hogan (who also directed Muriel's Wedding) and which starred Kathy Bates, Dan Aykroyd, Rupert Everett, and Jonathan Pryce. With a cast and director like that, how could it not be a hit? Well, lets start with the plot synopsis...this is a comedy, drama, mystery, romance, musical which takes place in Chicago and the English countryside. Following me still? Ok, Grace Beasely (Bates) wakes up one morning to find two big things have happened to her...she has won a ticket to see her favorite singer, Victor Fox (Pryce), perform and her husband Max (Aykroyd) has decided to leave her after like 30 years of marriage. To make matters worse, when Grace goes to the performance to see Victor...she finds he won't be performing because he has been murdered by the Chicago Crossbow Killer....still following me? So she decides while talking to her midget daughter-in-law Maudey (Meredith Eaton...and no I'm not making this up) that she needs to go to England to Victor's funeral because she's never done anything crazy in her life. When she arrives in England, she reads a poem about unconditional love in the paper that is dedicated to Victor and she goes to discover who wrote it only to find that it is Victor's valet Dirk Simpson (Rupert Everett) who was also his secret homosexual lover. The two end up bonding and going back to Chicago to bring the Crossbow Killer to justice. Oh, and there's some singing of oldies tunes thrown in too. Whew....ok, so that was a long synopsis and sounds completely strange and out there...but it makes for a surprisingly entertaining and touching experience that shows a different side of love as well as what people will go through for the people they love. However, how do you make a trailer and an ad campaign for such a film? Its no wonder the movie flopped really...people need black and white trailers for movies they plan to see in the theater. It has to be one genre or another....not two or three in the same movie. Heavens no! But how can you not love a movie that sums up unconditional love in one simple conversation:
Dirk Simpson: I don't believe in unconditional love, I mean, what is it anyway? Cut off my ears, steal my money and I'll love you anyway?
Grace Beasley: Yes, and more.
Dirk Simpson: More?
Grace Beasley: You don't have to love me back.
The trailer (which is terrible) is included below...I recommend just finding the movie and watching it instead:
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