Courtship has been practiced in different countries, in various ways, for hundreds of years now. And one of the most romantic acts in my book is the old fashioned love letter on parchment.

People nowadays rely on getting hook ups in bars, clubs or wherever. The whole concept of “pursuit” has slowly becoming extinct. They call it “the chase” now and the goal isn’t really a commitment or a serious relationship but, er, something else. Faint are the traditions or practices, which usually accompanies courtship and that includes, writing love letters on parchment back and forth.

I loved the feeling when I first received a love letter back in highschool. What made it extra special was the fact that the sender was a guy I was crushing on at that time. It was sent under an unusual circumstance, which I really don’t want to get into but to cut it short, it didn’t end good. Ah, well — kids. LOL.

What really brought this on, though, is the memory of the last time I got a letter from a guy [I'm not entirely certain if it really was a love letter].

Holding the paper and seeing the inked hand-writing, caused a lump in my throat. Yea. It has to do something about feelings and stuff. Heh. But I had to approach it with a lighthearted demeanor simply because, like how it is traditionally, women aren’t suppose to make their affections known until the man has proven himself. Call me old fashion. Teehee.

Bottomline, though technology presents a lot of avenues for communication, like mobile calls or sms messaging or instant messaging, nothing beats love letters on parchment. It’s a lot more personal. You can be sure that the guy put in a considerable effort in producing such a letter — picture the scene in the movie, Kate & Leopold, wherein Hugh Jackman’s character wrote a letter of apology to Meg Ryan’s character. He used a quill! Wasn’t it romantic?

I’m simply refusing to accept that we’ve reached the end of the age for love letters. The idea makes me sad.

Your turn. How do you feel about sending and receiving love letters? Or do you just prefer hitting the send/receive button of your Outlook? Or perhaps you prefer brevity or mobility — and are more inclined towards instant or SMS messaging, respectively?

Post from: Blisstree

Where have all the love letters gone?

The reason why I’m asking is because a few days ago, I saw this movie, Imagine Me & You, which stars Matthew Goode, Piper Perabo and Lena Headey and it got me into thinking about flowers.

In the movie, they had scenes where in they show different reasons why you give flowers to another person and basically it tells us that flowers do speak of our intention and of the person we’re giving them to.

Luce [Lena Headey] runs a flower shop in the movie, and did the flowers for Heck and Rachel’s [Matthew Goode, Piper Perabo] wedding where they met and fell for each other.

Piper’s favourite flower in the movie were Lilies, too. There was a scene wherein they talked about some of the flowers’ meaning. And when she asked about Lilies, Lena said that the flower’s message is “I dare you to love me.”

And I did a little research on Tulips and I found out that they actually tell the person you’re giving them to that you’re desperately in love.

Hmmm. Curious thought.

Flowers have been playing a big part in the whole sphere of love and romance that somehow it has become a cliche. However, it’s still considered one of the most romantic ways of letting the other person know how we feel without words. This brings me to think that it is important that we do consider their meaning so we can best relay the message.

Though, I do wonder how much of it — your favourite flower, I mean — is true in describing you as a person.

Thoughts?

Post from: Blisstree

What’s Your Favourite Flower?

As an idealist, I’ve always wanted to experience that perfect date. Sadly, nothing in life can ever be perfect though, it is a lot more interesting that way anyway, so I settled for the next best thing — watch a perfect date, in my opinion, on film. Hehehe.

It started with Before Sunrise that ended in Before Sunset.

Yea, I loved these movies which tells the tale of two characters, Jesse played by Ethan Hwake and Celine played by Julie Delpy, who finds each other by chance aboard a train then decides to get off in Vienna and spends hours and hours and hours getting to know each other through conversations then ultimately falling for each other. It ended with a promise of meeting each other again if they do decide to make things work between them. Of course, viewers had no idea after that if they did go through with it and we all can only assume that they would — every story should have a happy ending after all, right? However, the sequel picks up on the story 9 years later and they weren’t together and the fact that Hawke’s character is actually married. This time they met in Paris while Jesse was promoting the book he’d written about that night they spent in Vienna. And so, their conversations resume.

The New Yorker describes it as “an orgy of talk-flirtatious, soulful, boastful, self-depreciating talk, some of it borderline pretentious but all of it utterly convincing as the intelligent and foolish things said by people who connect through their tastes, ideas, and passions.”

Why do I love it? Because it’s simple. Pure conversation with a dash of tension and a handful of moments that make you think of similar experiences wherein you don’t want a good thing to end. It gives you a glimpse of what can actually happen on a date — a good date, that is. Hahaha. It had no special effects or a soundtrack that can move you. It simply didn’t romanticise that getting-to-know-you or i-like-you-do-you-like-me stage, or at least the “hollywood” type of romance in movies, that is.

I can’t think of a much better date than to be able to talk to him about anything and everything. Of course, it’s equally important that he can form an opinion about something. I love an occasional good, wholesome debate.

Post from: Blisstree

Best Date captured on Film

The one movie that stands out in my mind as being the absolute most romantic movie I’ve ever seen is The Notebook.

Plot Synopsis via Amazon: The movie focuses on an old man reading a story to an old woman in a nursing home. The story he reads follows two young lovers named Allie Hamilton and Noah Calhoun, who meet one evening at a carnival. But they are separated by Allie’s parents who dissaprove of Noah’s unwealthy family, and move Allie away. After waiting for Noah to write her for several years, Allie meets and gets engaged to a handsome young soldier named Lon. Allie, then, with her love for Noah still alive, stops by Noah’s 200-year-old home that he restored for her, “to see if he’s okay”. It is evident that they still have feelings for each other, and Allie has to choose between her fiance and her first love.

One way I could always tell if a man would walk through fire for me when dating was how willing they were to endure one full length romantic chick flick with me.

What are some of the best romantic chick flicks you can think of?

Post from: Blisstree

Most romantic movie of all time