You've Got Mail

If I could live in any movie world, I would choose to live out my days as Meg Ryan in "You've Got Mail". I mean, a movie that includes Pride and Prejudice, a children's book store, Joni Mitchell music, Tom Hanks, twinkle lights, coffee... AND all the lead females wear tights every single day? I've not been to heaven, but it must be something like that.

I'm pretty sure that I could use a quote from the movie to answer almost any question you could ask. They're appropriate for almost any situation. For instance...

When at a party... "That caviar is a garnish!" When someone asks the importance of Starbucks... "so people who don't know who on earth they are or what in the world they're doing can, for only $2.95, get not just a cup of coffee but an utterly defining sense of self... Tall! Decaf! Cappuccino!" When talking to your soulmate... "One hundred fifty-two insights into my soul!" When discussing finances... "If you need more, ask me. I'm very rich. I bought intel at 6." When complimented... "Thank your, ladies and gentlemen." When considering whether to read any Jane Austen novel... "Read it. I know you'll love it." When you need to make a hasty exit: "This place is a tomb. I'm going to the nut shop where it's fun." When discussing relationships... "Oh yeah, right, it's a snap to find the one single person in the world who fills your heart with joy." When shushed during a movie... "A HOT DOG is singing. You need quiet while a HOT DOG is singing?"

But there are also some real truths in YGM; things I think about in the dead of night. In fact, I believe I started this blog with one of them many moons ago. Like this: "Do you ever feel you've become the worst version of yourself? That a Pandora's box of all the secret, hateful parts - your arrogance, your spite, your condescension - has sprung open?" Or this: "Sometimes I wonder about my life. I lead a small life - well, valuable, but small. And sometimes I wonder, do I do it because I like it, or because I haven't been brave? So much of what I see reminds me of something I read in a book, when shouldn't it be the other way around?" The irony, of course, is that so much of my life reminds me of something I watched on YGM, when shouldn't that be the other way around? I've never quite figured out the answer.

I could go on. It's the movie that, sad as it may be, sort of defines my life. What movie defines your life? In the words of Kathleen Kelly, "I just want to send this cosmic question out into the void. So, goodnight, dear void."