Quotes: Love & its accouterments

A man just rode past my store in a motorized wheelchair with two American flags on long poles. It struck me that that is such a simple way to seem just that much crazier. Man in a wheelchair, most people feel a little pity or whatever; man in a wheelchair decked out in old glory, we think, wacko!

When I got out of high school I was still sixteen & I got a job at Wal-Mart. I didnt know what else to do. We needed the money. What little it was. Anyway, the night before I went down there I had this dream. Or it was like a dream. I think I was still about half awake. But it came to me in this dream or whatever it was that if I went down there that he would find me. At the Wal-Mart. I didnt know who he was or what his name was or what he looked like. I just knew that I'd know him when I seen him. I kept a calender & marked the days. Like when you're in jail. I mean I ain't never been in jail, but like you would probably. And on the ninety-ninth day he walked in & asked me where sportin goods was at & it was him. And I told him where it was & he looked at me & he said: What time do you get off. And that was all she wrote.

-Carla Jean, in Cormac McCarthy's No County for Old Men (2005)

List of Character Names in Cormac McCarthy's No Country for Old Men (2005)
-Llewelyn Moss
-Carla Jean Moss
-Sheriff Bell
-Loretta Bell
-Anton Chigurh
-Torbert & Wendell (Sheriff's deputies)
-Agent McIntyre

We were pronouncing Llewelyn "Yu-lin". And we were pronouncing Chigurh "Shi-gah" (because another character thinks his name is "Sugar".) He's the bad guy. Moss & the Sheriff are the good guys, & they love their wives, like good guys do. For those of you who aren't up on the scene, this beautiful little book will be the next movie by the Coen Brothers. I guess we'll see how they pronounce the names then. They actually spell Llewelyn "Llewellyn" on the back cover & call him "a good old boy", when he's only supposed to be twenty or so. Don't read back covers!

I'm a sentimental mourner,
And I couldn't be forlorner,
When you keep me on that corner,
Just waiting for you.

-Leo Robin & Lewis E. Gensler, "Love is Just Around the Corner" (1934)

Valentines can't buy her.

-Bob Dylan, "Love Minus Zero / No Limit" (1965)

I used to hate that line; & when I sang it, I would sing "artichokes can't buy her." Then, magically, one day, I got it. The idea is that valentines are a currency which she doesn't accept.

Sex boosts your immune system. Orgasm boosts the production of infection-fighting white blood cells, in some cases by as much as 20 percent.

Sex improves physical fitness. Vigorous sex burns calories. Regular sex can help tone the muscles of the entire body.

Sex improves mental health. Orgasm leaves you with a feeling of well-being. This bolsters the ego & helps you deal with life's problems.

-Dr. Judy Kuriansky, "Why Sex is Good for You", The Complete Idiot's Guide to A Healthy Relationship (1998)

Human female breasts are uniquely large among mammals. In the first place, they are a permanent feature in human adult females, whereas in other mammals they appear only when there are infants to be fed. In the second, and as an inevitable consequence of the first, it is only in humans that the breasts feature in sexual activity at all. In considering the sexual and sensual properties of the breast it is natural to ask why this is so & how it came about.

-Dr. Miriam Stoppard, The Breast Book (1996)

That's right - that's Tom Stoppard's wife writing a book about breasts. It's my weekend in five minutes! We have a day to celebrate love, & plenty to celebrate war, but whatever happened to Armistice Day?