Tuesday, February 08, 2005

Trying to Study

Tonight I have been trying, in earnest, to study. I look at my books, my list of tasks and the spreadsheets on my computer, but it is no use. I can't concentrate. I just can't study like I want to...me...the diligent student. My preoccupation? Television.

More specifically...sappy movies.

Ever since we got cable TV, it has been the death of me. It has been the death of my good study habits. Tonight, I was enthralled and mystified by two movies on Turner Classic Movies.

First, it was an Alan Alda and Ellen Burstyn movie called, Same Time, Next Year. It was a play adapted into a film script. It is about a couple who meets in the 1950's at an inn in Northern California. They instantly become attracted to one another. Both married to others, the two decide to meet at the inn at the same time every year. Their affair lasts about 30 years. They love one another while lovng their spouses. It is quite beautiful. These two people have enough love in their hearts to love two people. Never have I found a movie about an affair so intriguing and true.

The other movie I watched...well, technically, am watching ...is The Bridges of Madison County with Meryl Streep and Clint Eastwood. I read the book a long time ago. It captured my heart. The characters are so passionate and yet so naive. They are so innocent and lost in the love they feel for one another. I know...it is the ultimate in sappy films, but I can't help myself. What can I say? I am a romantic.

Isn't that what love should be? A connection so strong that it spans time and distance. Love should hit you straight in the chest...so hard that your breast literally hurts from the emotion welling up inside of you. Your heart pounds deep and fast with purpose and conviction. And, most of all...your lips are numb with anticipation and your finger tips long to touch the one you love. What a wonderful feeling. What a glorious feeling.

It is great that someone can experience all of this in real life...and then when they are having withdrawals or maybe need an extra shot of this "drug"...you can watch a good old fashioned sappy, romantic movie. I hope this genre never goes away. I think I may be an addict.

Now, please don't tell anyone I have this weakness. It is just between you and me. Shhhh.

P.S. Here are some of my other favorite sappy movies...they always pluck at my heartstrings: An Affair to Remember, The Notebook, Green Card, and, one of the best, Cinema Paradiso. If you only have time for one...you must see Cinema Paradiso.

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