mush

Around deadtime (3am) last night, I had a horrible nightmare in which I was dying, the why and how of which I don't even want to go into. I rarely remember my dreams, but when I do, they are terribly lucid and powerful. The thing is, I was whimpering in my sleep as my horrible death went on and on until Mark woke me up. Even then, I was crying and shaking--tears come to my eyes even now remembering it. Not to be overly mushy, but it was only when he held me tight that I could stop crying and fall asleep again. He was my hero and my comfort, and I'm incredibly glad that he's in my life.

I take a lot of shit for being cynical, especially when it comes to romance, but it's not that I'm stoic or unemotional. Quite the opposite, in fact--I'm all pudding inside my hard candy shell. To prove it, I've put together some of my favorite heart-touching moments. This is by no means an exhaustive list, the order means nothing, and I'm sure there are many more romantic moments captured in film and literature, these are just the ones that came to mind.

1) Little Women--at the end, Professor Baehr comes back to give Jo the book she wrote and he published, and, thinking she had married, leaves in the rain, heartbroken. Jo runs after him and explains that it's her sister that had married and she is single. He says he has nothing to offer her, being poor, that his hands were empty. She clasps his hands in hers and says "they're not empty anymore."

2) Shrek 2--Shrek is afraid Fiona really wants the handsome prince charming, so he takes a love potion to become handsome and not an ogre, although he loves his ogre life. She has the opportunity to become and stay her beautiful human self, along with a human Shrek, but denies it, choosing instead to be herself and love him for the ogre he is.

3) Singles--"I was just nowhere near your neighborhood."

4) Virgin Suicides--High school heartthrob Trip Fontaine falls in love with Lux and sits next to her during a school assembly about hurricanes. Their hands inch closer together as the film drones on about warm and cold air masses colliding. You can feel your high-school heart beating the way it did that first time you held hands with someone when you were 14. Just when they are about to make actual contact, someone in the auditorium rips ass and the moment is shattered by embarrassment. Trip tells Lux he's going to take her out despite her strict parents, and before leaving leans over and whispers in her ear, "you're a stone fox."

5)
Some people hate a Shakespearean remake, especially starring the likes of Ethan Hawke. I think if you truly "get it," you appreciate this version--Hamlet's use of video-tape and pictures nicely reflect the applicability of Hamlet's betrayal, confusion, grief, love, hesitation, etc in the 20th century. If I could play any part of any play ever written, I'd be Ophelia, hands down.

6) Wuthering Heights has an amazing collection of heart-grabbing lines. I truly believe only a woman could capture the real power of love this way, not that men don't love too--it just would've been different if a man had written it.

"If he loved you with all the power of his soul for a whole lifetime, he couldn't love you as much as I do in a single day."

"I want to crawl to her feet, whimper to be forgiven, for loving her, for needing her more than my own life, for belonging to her more than my own soul."

"...he's more myself than I am. Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same."

"Be with me always. Take any form, drive me mad, only do not leave me in this dark alone where I cannot find you."

7) Elephant Love Medley from Moulin Rouge. Something about Ewan MacGregor's voice. Plus this incorporates so many fantastic 80's songs, it boggles the mind. Go ahead--sing along.