A Romantic Blog Entry

Thursday, February 22, 2007

(I lied)


'tis the season to get married fa la la la lah, la la la lah.

Start of a New Year and I already have invitations to three wedding. Attended one last month and another one two Sundays ago and I'm still reeling from the 8-10 course dinners. I'm officially thrust into another phase of my life where marriage is THE topic of conversations after those halcyon days of 'My Little Pony', 'She Ra', birthday parties, boy bands, teachers with eternal PMS, and the not-so-halcyon days of school rankings, graduation and career.

Recently asked a friend whose wedding is due in a couple of months about her preparation status and she gave the coolest answer, "It's just a wedding." She's right. We can get so caught up with all the nitty-grittys of Hollywood theatrics and commercialised norms that we may forget to give the quiet reality that comes after the "I love you."/ "I do" its due importance. Such as arguing over television channels or whose turn it is to clean the toilet.

Just thinking about marriage is already giving me the jitters. Before fretting over the ceremonial bit, getting the right partner is key and, depending on the kind of stuff you're brainwashed with while growing up, finding someone who meets both your logical and emotional list of criteria is as easy as walking through a wall of fire in your birthday suit and drenched in petroleum.

This reminded me of a movie synopsis.

There are three kinds of married people in the world.

First, whose marriages are arranged, I've never quite understood that, but I'm sure they know what they're doing.

Then there are those who fall in love and marry their soul mates. These I believe, are the most fortunate people in the world.

And lastly, there are those couples that marry for their parents, for money or play it safe and marry a friend. These are the most unfortunate ones in the world, and they don't even know it.

It's hard to fathom what a soul mate really is, especially when it's elusive to many. But ironically, a Ctrl F7 on the phrase "soul mate" yielded "friend", "pal", "playmate", "companion", "partner" and "chum". Thus, I shall continue to leave it to divine providence and maybe a little bit of creative romancing.

I admit after having witnessed a barrage of weddings and fuzzy wuzzy hearts, I could not help ponder about the art of romance. Sure, romance is one of love's catalyst, but there are just too many worn out SOPs (standard operating procedure) around.

Look at Valentine's Day, while the hearts, ribbons, pinks, reds and chocolates make nice accessories, I don't understand what's the obsession about having a date on the day that's hyped up by evil card makers *ahem*Hallmark *cough*, retailers and restaurants to wring us dry of our consumer dollars. Unless maybe... if you're a girl and you'd hoped for some free dinner on that day or something. But fine dining with servings that disappear after barely three inhalations at ridiculous prices is not my thing.

Anyway, for the record, I did have a DATE. And it got very hot and sweaty in the process.
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You would be too if you ran about 5km and then end it off with dinner at a prata place.

And when it comes to fresh flowers, I firmly believe that they belong to the ground they once grew. So whenever I receive those bouquets, well-meaning senders would be left feeling as if they just run over a lonely granny's one and only pet. Musical serenade is acceptable but please knock me out if I have to listen to a rendition that goes all melodramatic like "I'll fight for you, I'll lie for you, walk the wire for you, I'll die for you..."

Maybe I'm just emotionally constipated. Hardly anything moves me nowadays but fortunately, there had been a few spark plugs that reminded me that I'm still capable of human emotion like Edwin McCain's songs and the 'The Pickle King' play by a theatre group from New Zealand called Indian Ink Company. It's been weeks since I watched the show, but its ending message still echoes.

"The secret to preserving love, is to simply make it fresh everyday."


For folks who still wake up everyday with hearts fluttering at the thought of your beloved, keep up the good work. For couples who had to think hard about the last time you felt that way, it might be time to add some zing in the relationship before it's too late. So how fresh is your love?

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