December 31st, 2011
The Tower of Love
As the new year nears, we polled our readers for their Top 10 most romantic gifts. So here they are in no particular order of importance, #10 being my favourite!
1. A dozen mini frozen ice cream strawberries
2. A haiku describing the first date
3. Surprise tickets to see Mikhail Baryshnikov perform
4. A full fridge and pantry upon returning from an overseas business trip
5. A good-bye gift rushed through airport security
6. A supply of Pimm’s and sandwiches while punting in Oxford down the River Thames
7. A Makita drill with all the bits (seriously!)
8. A floral ring from the island of Sumatra
9. A bottle of champagne brought in from the balcony while staying at a Quebec during winter carnival
10. A piggyback ride when the tide went out at Mont St. Michel
May the new year bring more romance because “money can’t buy you love” … but sometimes it helps! Happy 2012!
Tags: Makita, Mont St. Michel, Oxford, Pimm's, Quebec, romance, Sumatra
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November 27th, 2011
"Regret is an opportunity not taken!"
Coming into the holiday season, I was thinking about not “The Three Wise Men” but “The Three Mad Men”, not one bearing any resemblance to The Mad Man Magnate, Don Draper but each delirious, delusional and daft in their own right.
Browsing book titles for gift-giving, I noted “Every Time We Say Good-bye” by Jamie Zeppa, as a Xmas gift to “The Three Mad Men”.
Introducing them in the order of appearance:
Mad Man #1 – After a year’s absence, he suggested a lunch date but had yet to receive my reply, showed up at the restaurant but on the wrong day, and left a voicemail wondering where I was?!?
Mad Man #2 – Gone 5 months MIA, out of the blue, he flooded my voicemail with invitations to B,L,D and then finally with tickets to the Prince concert.
Mad Man #3 – Postponed twice in the past two months, he left messages, pleading and begging for understanding and forgiveness. His EX-girlfriend was on her way to see him just as we were about to go for dinner!
Maybe no need to buy the book. Suffice to say to them “every time, (PAUSE) I will “say good-bye!”
Tags: Don Draper, Mad Men, Prince
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October 30th, 2011
In 1926, if only Baroness Karen von Blixen/Isak Dinesen, the famous Danish author of “Out of Africa” had a Blackberry, she would have been spared the endless yearning for Denys Finch Hatton, her English big game hunter while he was away on safari.
Well, I have to admit I had stolen a scene right out of the Baroness’ book this weekend. After chatting with my squash-mate at the pub, I discovered he was from Lusaka (Zambia) where I had fallen in love 25 years ago with One Lost Love. Within moments, we confirmed that he not only knew One Lost Love but also called him “Uncle”!
Gob-smacked, I grabbed my Blackberry and pinged One LL. It was morning there, a 6 hour time difference. We laughed at our good fortune and marvelled at how fate (and a little bit of Blackberry magic) had suddenly brought us back to a place and time over 25 years ago.
How could this possibly have happened? After a few drinks, the answer became clear. It had nothing to do with the power of love because ours was a lost love but it had to do with the power of our love for squash. Seriously, One LL had a squash court at home.
So as I walked home that evening, I thought of Baroness von Blixen who wrote:
“To be lonely is a state of mind, something completely other than physical solitude; when modern authors rant about the soul’s intolerable loneliness, it is only proof of their own intolerable emptiness.” – Out of Africa, 1937
Limitless
Tags: BlackBerry, Denys Finch Hatton, Karen von Blixen, Lusaka, magic, Out of Africa, squash, Zambia
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October 17th, 2011
Agapanthus Monet 1914-26
I recently noticed Claude Monet’s quote on my iTouch when I was at the Museum of Modern Art in NYC late September.
Around the same time, I read Elaine Sciolino’s article in the NYT’s Style Magazine about “Lumiere – The Louvre Less Traveled”. And I nodded in agreement that there was more to the Louvre than the 3 most popular visited works of Mona, the Winged Victory of Samothrace, and Venus de Milo.
She wrote “What about Michelangelo’s two marble nude Slaves…? The Dying Slave is beautiful, smooth-skinned, and young…; he seems to be in a deep slumber rather than on the verge of death. The Rebellious Slave is heavier, rougher, and tormented. They exude such raw eroticism, you feel as if you should turn away.”
She’s absolutely right as I managed to capture the two slaves in the Spring!
The Dying Slave-Michelangelo
The Rebellious Slave-Michelangelo
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October 13th, 2011
Love Naturally
Big news! When I met My Good Friend’s new girlfriend, I just KNEW they were meant to be together. Love is like that – simple, straightforwad, and easy to spot!
He’s extremely creative and cool, My Good Friend. He doesn’t do things in half measures. So when he proposed to her, he had strung Christmas lights in his parents’ backyard and convinced her to climb with him up this special tree. Seriously, who else would get down on one knee while dangling from a tree? Oh and by the way, did I happen to mention that MGF stands 6′5″ tall?
Their happy announcement made me stop in my tracks. So nice to be reminded that THE REAL DEAL does exist and that love still makes the world go around!
Tags: Christmas lights
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October 6th, 2011
Brought to you by our Head Ghostwriter for Love @ No Loves Lost:
Ninjas can appear out of thin air – at a snap of a finger, a flick of a wrist, a turn of a head. This Naughty Nija is fearless, feisty, and funny! Small but mighty, a skillful map-reader with super X-ray vision, I’ve navigated many passages from Ayers Rock to Zanzibar!
Mindful of my mystical powers, I tiptoe through the concrete jungle, eluding the Bay Stret Boys. Instead I hope to find my One Knight, confident, clever, and somewhat kooky. You stand tall, fit, and can finish a NYT’s crossword in a flash!
I am searching for One Remarkable Knight, not necessarily so shiny but you must be the tall tin man with heart, courage, and a brain! Are you still in OZ or have you found your way to me in YYZ?
© No Loves Lost 2011
Tags: Bay Street, knight, Ninja
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October 6th, 2011
This rare book which is entitled “The Lady’s Companion: or, an Infallible Guide to the Fair Sex” is one of the first self-help books in Britain. Their target audience? They claim “virgins, wives, or widows”. According to The Daily Telegraph, this book was written “to help women resist life’s temptations” and will be auctioned off this month!
Here are a few “pearls of wisdom” to ponder:
a. She that listens to wanton discourse has violated her ears.
b. An old maid is now thought a curse.
c. And my favourite which left me speechless – Do not look lusty men in the eye, because “one careless glance gives more advantage than a hundred words.”
Going once, going twice…..I’ll stick to modern-day Roy Lichtenstein’s advice!
Roy's_Advice
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October 1st, 2011
Hank Williams’, the “Monumental Musician’s” soon-to-be released lyrics as “The Lost Notebooks” October 4, 2011 on Bob Dylan’s label, “Egyptian Records”, wrote on January 5, 1951:
I
“God must have know that I was lonely
and no contentment could I find
for one day right out of heaven
he sent me you, Angel mine.
Chorus
Now my heart always singing
a song of love as divine
It will end again the sorrow
since I’ve found you, Angel mine.
II
I could never tell the world dear
of your love so true and kind
and how thankful I am for you
you are my life, Angel mine.
III
I just want to live and love you
I’ll always be your clinging vine
for there could never be another
as sweet as you, Angel mine.”
and about “The Love That Faded”:
“Vows that we made turned into lies/My life is empty, my lonely heart cries”
Tags: Angel Mine, Bob Dylan, Hank Williams, The Lost Notesboos
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September 19th, 2011
When is a date not a date? An ongoing debate with Mr. Hahaha who claimed our first and only face-to-face encounter of the funniest kind was exactly that – a date?
The conversation flowed as did the drinks, well, only two really, 1 being a latte. We laughed ourselves silly for a few hours and said very little about our work, a good sign.
As we headed home, he stopped me in my tracks with, “Seriously, this was fun, a great date!” So I had to set the record straight, “This was not a date. This was a meeting, since we met on-line. A date is when you ask me out.”
Alas, timing was everything. Our first date kept getting pushed back when suddenly last weekend while I was away, someone else he had been “seeing” took all his dates and he dumped me before our first date (to which my gal pals loyally corrected – you were not dumped!”
Although I snoozed, I didn’t lose. He bowed out ever so gracefully, politely, and respectfully by sending me a text and e-mail which told me the lay of the land, a big step from Mr. Rude Dude. He actually restored my faith in Man-kind. but it had to him…Mr. Hahaha.
*Song written by Isham Jones, lyrics by Gus Kahn, 1924.
Tags: First Date
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August 24th, 2011
Ever wonder what happened to the days when the Post Office was tagged with the huge responsibility to deliver letters to your faraway love (and of course, vice versa)?
One ritual I had while living in Africa was to resist opening my love letters until night fell. Then it would be the perfect time to pour myself a glass of red wine before I would rip them open quickly and then slowly read and savour each and every word, one by one.
Now we no longer have the luxury of time. Rapid replies to our lover’s e-mails, texts, pins and pings don’t quite hold the same meaning as they once had on paper. We hit “delete” far too quickly, far too often as we toss our relationships into the icon that says “Recycle Bin”.
Ah…our affinity with paper…love letters remain hidden in their respective envelopes, one piled on top of the other, neatly bound by a single ribbon (always a ribbon). Then one rainy day the ribbon is untied and those memories once safely stashed away would be released. And the past becomes the present…once again.
Tags: love letters, relationships
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