Living in the Moment

We had a mother who held us in esteem and held us to account; told us we were magnificent and told us we were miserabvle; exhorted us to please her but found ways to forgive us when, all too frequently, we didn’t; and made certain that we knew she was there for us until, unimaginably, she wasn’t.

—NYT

Kasprzyk’s talent portion featured a slideshow of photo bombing and photo bombing techniques, which involve posing in others’ pictures without their knowledge.

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http://www.dailynorthwestern.com/campus/student-involvement-increased-for-nu-day-at-wrigley-1.2739253#.T62T8utrOxg

so…photobombing is a talent, eh?

It was like certain dinners I remember from the war. There was much wine, an ignored tension, and a feeling of things coming that you could not prevent happening. Under the wine, I lost the disgusted feeling and was happy. It seemed they were all such nice people.

O.K., so Noah and Allie may be a fictional couple, but Nicholas Sparks is a genius when it comes to composing a goose bumps–worthy love note. Novel turned movie The Notebook is the ultimate Valentine’s Day go-to.

‘My Dearest Allie. I couldn’t sleep last night because I know that it’s over between us. I’m not bitter anymore, because I know that what we had was real. And if in some distant place in the future we see each other in our new lives, I’ll smile at you with joy and remember how we spent a summer beneath the trees, learning from each other and growing in love. The best love is the kind that awakens the soul and makes us reach for more, that plants a fire in our hearts and brings peace to our minds. And that’s what you’ve given me. That’s what I’d hoped to give to you forever. I love you. I’ll be seeing you. Noah.’

—http://newsfeed.time.com/2012/02/14/top-10-famous-love-letters/#noah-to-allie-the-notebook

Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor were Hollywood’s It couple for over a decade. They fell in love on the set of Cleopatra in 1963, and married and divorced twice. Burton wrote this letter to Taylor during the early part of their first marriage in 1964:

‘My blind eyes are desperately waiting for the sight of you. You don’t realize of course, E.B., how fascinatingly beautiful you have always been, and how strangely you have acquired an added and special and dangerous loveliness.’

—http://newsfeed.time.com/2012/02/14/top-10-famous-love-letters/#richard-burton-to-elizabeth-taylor

I understand only half of these, but it doesn’t matter. I live for these things.

British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and his wife Clementine were married for 56 years and wrote to each other whenever they were apart. Winston wrote this letter to Clementine on Jan. 23, 1935, while she was traveling abroad:

‘My darling Clemmie, in your letter from Madras you wrote some words very dear to me, about having enriched your life. I cannot tell you what pleasure this gave me, because I always feel so overwhelmingly in your debt, if there can be accounts in love…What it has been to me to live all these years in your heart and companionship no phrases can convey.’

—http://newsfeed.time.com/2012/02/14/top-10-famous-love-letters/#winston-churchill-to-his-wife-clementine

My inner nerd self revels at the genius of this site. Happy Valentine’s Day.