Love: Part VII

Welcome to Love Part VII, the July edition of what has become one of my favorite posts of 2012, on Chief 187™Chatter.

To know me is to appreciate my love of Love. From love songs to romance books, sweet love plots in movies and beyond I have embraced the notion of love whole-heartedly in my life.

Even the destruction of love fascinates me as it, too, is a part of the human condition. But mostly I cling to the uplifting, optimistic strains of love soaring.

Love includes a vast inclusivity. Familial love, romantic love, friend love, failed love and, unrequited love are all fascinating to me and keep me interested.

Here are this month’s inclusions in “Love: Part VII”.

Songs:

“I Need You” – LeAnn Rimes This song has a longing, a spirituality, and a brutal honesty that I respond to every time I hear it sung by Rimes’ powerful and soulful voice.

“Something About You” – Level 42 A frothy hit from the mid-1980s, upon closer inspection, is a well-crafted and written song that endures for decades. Universal, poetic, and full of passion, this song will outlast generations.

“Somebody That I Used To Know” feat. Kimbra – Gotye Avant garde , grating, plaintive, and full of angry emotions that we can all identify. I’m obsessed, I’ll admit it.


Movies:

Grease – I wanted to be Sandy. I knew Danny and Sandy’s parts when I sang along with my cassette tape in my bedroom.

It was the only movie I saw several times in the theater as a child. It is a classic.

She was the good girl. He was the bad boy. They fell in love one summer when pretenses were missing.

Reunited unexpectedly in high school we see each try to fit in the other’s world.

Finally, each one tries to change to please the other. Perhaps the message isn’t a healthy one, but who cares?! It’s great entertainment and has love as the central theme.

Grease II – I know, I know, blasphemy, right? But it’s not. Certainly it’s not as good as the original. It’s frothy, cutesy, and a copy of the first, but it still has some value as another love story like Grease. Michelle Pffiefer is sexy, ditsy, dreamy, and humorous. As a pre-teen sorely looking for more high school romance stories, this fit the bill with catchy tunes.

When Harry Met Sally – This, I believe, has already been on the Love list, but with the passing of Nora Ephron I felt compelled to put it on again. When Harry Met Sally entertains, makes you laugh, still makes sense over twenty years later, and brings tears to the eyes when Billy Crystal’s Harry tells Meg Ryan’s Sally why he knows he loves her. Priceless.

Books:

Fireball: Legends Don’t Fall From the Sky by Godwin Kelly – I’m only one chapter into this book but already I am captivated, scintillated, and fascinated by this NASCAR legend and his “other woman” whose love story is, apparently, epic. I thought I was picking up another NASCAR biography but it turns out I’m reading a darn fine romance!

Kathy Sue Loudermilk, I Love You: A Good Beer Joint is Hard to Find and Other Rare Facts by Lewis Grizzard – I won’t lie to you, I haven’t read this book in about twenty years, but I loved it. Grizzard was one of the first authors I read anything he put out. Known as a humorist, he was so much more. His observations, recollections, and humanity reached across generations, decades, and continue to entertain, inspire, and bring forth laughter posthumously. There’s a love story here… several.

The Promise by Danielle Steel – It was the first Steel novel I ever picked up; I was 14 and unaccustomed to the genre. I was drawn in instantly, highly invested, and unable to put the book down until completion. Being impressionable, I often credit d.s. for my stubborn belief that I would love my man forever… It’s been over 25 years!

My list grows ever longer. A mix of my past and present are accounted for in each month’s edition of “Love”. I hope it inspires you to look at your heart and provide joy for the things that inspire “Love” in you.

Please join me tomorrow for a delicious and decadent Tantalizing Thursday on Chief 187™Chatter.