Swear Not By The Moon

I don't have anything to ramble about tonight. I'm just in the mood to share.
This is one of my very favorite episodes of this television show. I love, love, love Dorothy Jane. The show is silly and fun, but I mostly love Dorothy Jane when she talks to herself or the "Man in the Moon". It's a sad, pathetic crush she has, but so sweet just the same. Tell me if you like it and/or if you remember this show too. Every time I watch I feel like I'm 14 again. :o)

Short and Sweet: The Signal

Tonight, a poem and song.

Once again, Carol Lynn Pearson:

The Signal

In case of crowds
Or other muffling circumstances,
I've designed a sign
That should get through:

If you notice me
Breathing,
That will signal
I love you.

And introducing Marie Digby and I cute, fluffy little pop song I found today:

(I love the imagery in it.)

Technology Ruins Romance

Raise your hand out there in cyberspace if you're getting a little sick from all this sugary, mushy stuff I've been posting lately. Me too! I'm ready for something light-hearted.

I accidentally came across three shorts on YouTube the other day. The first one was listed on my page as a video being "watched now", so I clicked on it. They really made me laugh and are so true! Here's what the makers have to say:
"In this day and age, all the beautifully tragic and emotional romantic situations from older movies and books are a lot more difficult to come by. Lost loves, missed opportunities, lovers' quests...are all taking on new shapes and forms.. This new series of shorts might give you an idea of what we mean."

Just for fun I'm also including a clip that contrasts two scenes from two different movies. "You've Got Mail" which is a remake of "The Shop Around the Corner". I like both movies, but it's funny to see the differences.

My husband reads a lot of historical biographies and whenever there is an excerpt from a letter between spouses their word are so meaningful and well written. It makes me think of the scene in the movie "Anne of Avonlea" when Gilbert questions Anne on the way she has the characters in her story speak to each other. " 'Wilt thou love me, oh fairest of the fair?' Anne, nobody talks like that. In real life, she'd have pitched him." I suppose I agree with Gilbert, but it would be nice if we hadn't strayed so far from good language. All this shorthand texting instead of writing things out kind of ruins the meaning behind what we say!

This poem was published in 1984 before most of today's technology was around, but I like the thoughts in it. It's another Carol Lynn Pearson poem, because yes, I have a book of love poems by her if you haven't guessed.

Love Letters

It's a shame--
All this tenderness
Callously tossed into
Your mailbox
Between a utilities bill
And an ad
For motor tune-ups.

The postal service,
I propose,
Should have a special line
For love letters,
Should send them
The scenic route,
And deliver them
At sunset
With dignity
And--where possible--
A rose.

Ross and I don't have any love letters to share, but we do have old e-mails and instant messaging chats that I printed out and kept. I guess that's not quite the same as a hand-written, possibly perfumed letter that passed between us. :o)

Someone Like You

When I was at Ricks College my freshman year, my mom came down for "Women's Week". Among the many activities planned we attended a dance performance called Extravadance. It was all the different dance companies performing together, but one number still stands out in my mind.

It was a dance done by a talk, dark haired young man dressed in a white, collared shirt and black pants, and a tiny blonde girl in a long sleeved white dress that came to her knees. He was lifting and throwing and spinning her like she weighed nothing at all. They stood on opposite sides of the stage at one point as the song went into a crescendo. She gracefully ran across to him and leapt into the air, spreading her body out long, then wrapped her petite figure into a tight ball around the one strong arm he held out at his side in a ninety degree angle. It was all so beautiful and moving to watch. Few things show romance in quite the way dance does. I wish to this day I could watch it again.

One thing that made the dance all it was was the song. It was called "Someone Like You" and was, although I didn't know it at the time, written for the Jekyll and Hyde musical. It took me years to figure that out and track it down. I've known about it for a while and finally downloaded it yesterday. It's been playing in my ears all day long. It's hopeful and powerful and full of drama. I. LOVE. IT.

So that's what I want to share with you tonight, and you may not care, but I'm going to express my thoughts about it anyway. In addition to its association with the extremely romantic dance performance, I loved the song for its message. Remember what a romantic I am and understand how I love to listen to the words and the passion of the tune as a young woman dreams with all her heart for the kind of man that could love her and show her things and take her places that she hasn't experienced on her own and possibly bring her to a better spot in life than she knows she in now.

Don't get me wrong. I don't believe that a woman is nothing until she has a man. I believe that a woman needs to be her own best self. I also believe that the Lord planned the institution of marriage because men and women can make each other better than they would be apart.

What does this mean to me now that I am married to my wonderful husband? I still have fears and insecurities and faults. I listen to lyrics like "Wanting to fly, but scared to try..." that apply to me more often than I'd like. But then the chorus starts, "But if someone like you found someone like me, then suddenly nothing would ever be the same. My heart would take wing and I'd feel so alive if someone like you found me." And then I remember that I'm lucky enough to have him already! Right here and now and in the present tense. I can go to him and pour out my heart and he'll help me work through whatever it is and I'll feel better and be better. And it works the other way too.

In the final chorus, she sings out so strong and hopeful and happily, "My heart would take wing and I'd feel so ALIVE!" I love that. I love being in that place and knowing my happiness is with this man that I truly love.

I'm putting up two versions of this song for a few reasons. One is that the version I love best by Linda Eder cuts off the first verse of the song. Her voice is unbelievable. What an amazing talent!!! (I downloaded her version from the original Broadway soundtrack.)


I don't care much for Colleen Sexton's voice, but she still does fine (better than I ever could) and you can feel her emotion. Also, you can get a kick out of David Hasselhoff's overdone performance here. :o) (P.S. I think she's doing up her blouse at the beginning of the clip because he's been tending to her shoulder and not for some inappropriate reason that I wouldn't want to post on my blog! ha ha)

"You want to be in love in the movies!"

Last night when I put up the "Sleepless in Seattle" clip, I laughed at the line the character Becky says. "You don't want to be in love. You want to be in love in the movies!" I think that is all too true of us sometimes. Actors and actresses can create a world that isn't quite reality, but really romantic anyway! So who cares, right? :o)
I found a movie and television kiss montage online that I liked. It is great because it mixes old and new, comedy and drama, sweet and passionate. (Plus--hooray-- these seem to just be kisses and not necessarily leading to anything else...)
Here's another cute poem by Carol Lynn Pearson that I love as well.

Work Around It

Is it hard
To kiss me
When I'm smiling?

And attempt to control
Might only compound it.

You may just have to
Work around it.

In the wee small hours of the morning

Being the mushy girl that I am, I spent a lot of time as a teenager thinking and dreaming about the boy I'd marry someday. And I really love my bed. I could write an entire post just on how much I love my bed. So I loved to curl up and fantasize about who he was or how we'd meet. (Let's be honest, I got to a point where I knew that I wasn't going to meet him in Helena.)

When the movie "Sleepless in Seattle" came out I had just turned 16. I was so in love with just the movie poster that I knew I'd love the movie. I actually used to want to get the poster from a video shop and put it in my bedroom. I just love the two characters staring out into the distance waiting and wondering about each other. Sigh...

This is a section of the movie for your enjoyment. Two things I love about it:
1) The scene with Annie and Becky watching "An Affair To Remember" and bawling and crying over it, especially when they mouth "Winter must be cold for those with no warm memories. We've already missed the spring." (2:12 through 4:36 if you want to skip ahead)

2) After Sam puts Jonah back to sleep and Annie leaves Becky for the night, Sam and Annie sit outside and look up and out into the distance. The look on Annie's face as the wind plays with her hair is great! I never have liked the song that played in that scene, but I love how they look. (6:35 through 8:10)


When I'd steal my mom's Sleepless in Seattle soundtrack tape (Cassette tapes. Now those were the days!) and cuddle up to my huge boom box on my bed at night, one of my favorite songs to listen to was "In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning" by Carly Simon. (Originally a Frank Sinatra song, I think?) I always wished it was the one playing in the scene where they're both outside thinking and dreaming. I'm not sure at the moment what part of the movie it's in, but it's wonderful and sappy. It always fit the mood I was in as a teenage girl. It was a fun time that I look back on with fondness. Can I still say HOORAY for being on the other side however?! :o)

If I were on the poster that I love, I'd have something like the Sleeping Giant mountain behind me. Helena is a cool old town and I'm sure I could find a lovely backdrop. I asked Ross if his hometown, Garden Grove, California, had any prominent landmarks or something that it was known for. He replied with "The Crystal Cathedral". Uh, no. Then he reminded me that his house was 4 blocks from Seal Beach, a 1/2 mile from Cypress, and Westminster was just on the other side of the freeway from his high school. Guess there's not quite the same small townish feel there! I do know, however, that Garden Grove used to be known for it's strawberries, so Ross's half of the imaginary poster can have strawberry fields in it. Go ahead an laugh at the silly image of this poster now. hahaha

I'm getting into the wee small hours of the morning now, but I do have to tell you I'm enjoying myself with all this romantic stuff!

Idaho hiccups are embarrassing

Ross and I met through my cousin and his buddy from his mission to Brazil. They were dating and because I was always with Michelle and Ross was roommates with Brian, Ross and I got thrown together a lot just after we met. Neither of us claim love at first sight, but we were definitely curious about each other. And wouldn't you know it? During all that "get to know you" stuff we ended up embarrassing ourselves at least a few times.

One night we went to a midnight movie at Varsity Theatre on the BYU campus. I don't think we were very early for it because when we got there there weren't enough seats for all of us together. Somehow I ended up sitting on a row on the side of the theater next to Ross. There were only four seats there and the other two were taken by Brian's friend Gary (whom Michelle ended up marrying, but that's another story!) and Gary's brother. Michelle and Brian kept walking up towards the front and when Michelle realized I hadn't gone with her she was shocked. (I guess she knew I wasn't normally very forward!) And then the small talk started...

We talked about this and that, but to this day we still laugh about what Ross said. First he asked where I was from and I told him Montana. The conversation progressed to what I was majoring in. I didn't hesitate in telling him English because that had always been my plan. I then explained that I wasn't in school right then, that I was working for Novell, what I did there, blah, blah, blah. He then said, "So...if you were in school, what would you be majoring in?" Yep. I just looked at him and said, "Um, English." Poor guy felt kinda stupid. Right up until he asked me, "What part of Idaho are you from again?" Poor guy kinda felt stupider. ;o)

One of my embarrassing moments was a night we went to a playground with Michelle and Brian. We weren't doing anything special, just talking and playing around. All of a sudden I got the LOUDEST hiccups! I couldn't seem to keep them quiet or control how quickly they came. I guess I should be glad that's the worst my body was doing? But still, embarrassing at the time and now whenever I get the hiccups like that we refer to them as "playground hiccups". Silly, but true.

Thankfully I know I am not the only one who's had these experiences. My sister-in-law Celina was in a group for a class with my brother Jeff and she was elected by everyone else to be the one who told Jeff his zipper was down! Embarrassing for both of them, I think. She also called him Jay for a while before he had to finally correct her.

I also know a girl, who shall remain nameless ;o), but can reveal herself in the comments if she really wants to, who went four wheeling (I think?) with a cute boy and then ended up puking into the safety helmet she was borrowing. Poor girl!

I was going to put a clip on here to represent this kind of a moment, but I could only find it in Hungarian (of all the random languages)! It was from a very short lived musical TV series from 1990 called Hull High. I'm not even sure why this sticks out in my memory. There's a scene where a guy named Mark meets new girl Camilla and is taken with her. As they talk she says she's moved from Philadelphia, to which he blurts out, "Liberty Bell!" She looks at him weird and moves on. As she walks away it shows him banging his head on the locker, grumbling, "Liberty Bell..." haha

Did you humiliate yourself in front of your future spouse, former boyfriend, a crush you had, or even just a cute guy you didn't know? Raise your hand out there in cyberspace!

Also, in honor of that English major Ross had to ask me about twice, here's one of my favorite love poems by Carol Lynn Pearson:

My Context
You love me
Out of context.
You love me as a noun
Lifted from sentence,
Paragraph, page.

But seeing me
Surrounded by
All my other nouns,
My verbs, adverbs, adjectives,
And now and again
An expletive--
Would you love me then?

Or could you love me,
Maybe, even more?

When you have found
How complex compound
My structure is,
When you have seen
My meaning multiply
And multiply,
When you know
Not only where
I am written
But how I function--

Would you,
Could you care to join me
In some marvelous
Conjunction?