Darn you, romantic dramas! No One finds love like this. Ever.

 

Pocket-size plot summary: Boy sees girl in an old photo from the early 1900s. Boy wants to meet girl so he goes back in time, meets girl, loses girl...the rest is up to you to discover.

(WARNING: This movie IS for the faint of heart and those who weep openly! You will cry so get those tissues out now! No shame need be involved as this will remind you of all the joys and sorrows of being in love. You might need a little aspirin for the paradoxes of time travel, but that's what makes this fun and keeps those tissues from getting completely soaked.)

Back in 1982, "Somewhere in Time" aired on network television. I sat through the film spellbound by the beautiful scenery and sincere acting. Critics in 1980 (when the theatre-run movie first opened) did not like it nor could they understand why anyone else would. At the time I was only 12, at an "impressionable" age where B movie fare such as "Xanadu" and "Grease 2" made me ooh and ah. Twenty-two years later, I still love this romantic fantasy as much as ever, even though I tend to go for more mind-bending work such as "Mulholland Drive."

What the critics don't get and what is just plain wonderful is that "Somewhere in Time" no longer carries a "bad movie stigma." The Richard Matheson-scripted film enjoys a strong following among people who love lavish cinematography and lush film scores. Quirky movie guides often list "Somewhere in Time" as a must-see. 

You don't need a book or a critic, though, when you've got that magic feeling you get from this Jeannot Szwarc-directed piece. Movies today may be a lot smarter, charge your brain better and depict our often cruel world with frightening clarity, but can you honestly remember the last time your heart was tugged at with gooey-free innocence and yearning? If not, give "Somwhere in Time" a chance.

Many who enjoy Christopher Reeve's varied film career cite "Superman" as the work that made them take notice. For me, it was his role as the good-hearted Richard Collier who goes the distance for true love and is unwilling to face its loss. Jane Seymour, the 80s tv-miniseries darling and now a beloved celebrity, proved she could lend an understated touch to her acting and a modesty that suited the 1910 setting of "Somewhere in Time."

......


No matter who you love (or hope to love someday) the below can speak to the romantic in all of us! I kind of blame "Somewhere In Time" for my ridiculous ideas about love, especially this impassioned speech character Elisa McKenna breaks out into during the middle of a play she is starring in:

The man of my dreams has almost faded now.
The one I have created in my mind.
The sort of man each woman dreams of in the deepest and most secret reaches of her heart.
I can almost see him now before me.
What would I say to him, if he were really here?
Forgive me, I have never known this feeling -
I've lived without it all my life.

Is it any wonder, then, that I failed to 

recognize you?

You - who brought it to me for the first time.
Is there any way I can tell you how my life has changed?
Any way at all to let you know what sweetness you have given me?
There is so much to say . . . I cannot find the words.
Except for these -
I love you.
Such would I say to him, if he were really here.

No one knows how to hurt a woman like another woman does.

I first read this book in 1986 and have read it twice more since then. Joyce Carol Oates is the first contemporary American author I remember impressing me enough to linger with me long after I'd read her work. "Solstice," like other works by Joyce Carol Oates, does not paint a pretty picture. 

Great fiction is often about complex, sad, scary, bitter relationships. Happy relationships are better left to the Harlequins of this world. Sometimes when you're in a weird, complex mood you want weird, complex reading, catharsis and all that...

"Solstice" lingers like someone's presence after she's left the room. If you look at some reviews written about this book, there is mention of everything from stormy psyches to lesbian subtext. Whatever the motivation behind Monica and Sheila's relationship, fascination and even some kind of subtle hatred works into it.

Monica is transfixed by Sheila and Sheila seems to need Monica as some kind of dumping ground. They'd probably just as soon want to walk away from each other with a clean break, but they can't. As Shelia says, "we'll be for friends for a long, long time...unless one of us dies." Probably a normal thing to say, but still sort of creepy.

They behave more like people in love than friends; what they have is not exactly chemistry, but it has drawing power. I always thought this novel was more about hatred than love, but sometimes hatred is love in confusion.

I am not proud of who I sometimes am, especially the past year and a half. Prayer, meditation and grounding myself more help a little, but not as much as I would like. I thought I was becoming stronger emotionally and working harder at getting rid of unwanted feelings, but they always manage to creep back in.

Even knowing this person I like thinks I'm an idiot, I still continue to wish I were capable of even just one cogent conversation with her. My guilt makes me worry she knows when in reality there's no way she could tell. Ironically (or not?) she is the model of composure I long to emulate.

But it's not just this crush that's been plaguing me, it's what at heart of the crush and what has always been my downfall. Being an emotional person is not all that great a thing to be. I'd much rather be like Spock and not react to anything, the bad or the good.

Once again I turn to Wiki How and its sound advice for help:

Don't Let Your Emotions Rule Your Life

What a difference one word makes. Two slightly different quotes attributed to Havelock Ellis. One sounds more hopeful ("Dream are real while they last.") while the other is more pragmatic ("Dreams are only real while they last.")

I found The World Of Dreams for free through Google Play books and am already enmeshed in it. A wonderful alternative to Freud, Ellis is willing (or was) to explore other possibilities regarding dreams besides the sexual aspect and so far I don't see him blaming the mother at all, which is kind of refreshing. :)

I've just begun, but already I am loving the book. I'm hoping to use it to help with getting rid of my nightmares.

Lots of great articles in today's New York Times...

All of the below are from today's New York Times:




You don't have to live in New York City to appreciate this article about houseguests:

http://nyti.ms/1jXLalI



...

I think a lot of us have done something in our past that still haunts us to this day, something that we long to apologize for, but aren't sure if it would do more harm than good. What follows below sounds like very good advice!


From today's Workologist column in the New York Times:

Question:

About 20 years ago, I served in a management position. I had great employees — but I was a horrible boss.

 

I’d like to write an apology to one person in particular who really stuck out his neck for me, but whom I treated badly. He’s retired now, and 83 years old. I don’t want to upset him by bringing back bad memories. On the other hand, I’d like to tell this man

how lucky I was to work with him, and how much I learned from his example. 

 

Bad supervision can scar the soul. I’d be immeasurably pleased if even one of the managers who wronged me in the past took the time to apologize.

 

Should I let this go or send the letter? MARCIA MACINNIS, MASHPEE, MASS.

 

 

Answer:

I think you should send it. And even if you don’t send it, you should certainly write it.

 

In fact, you may want to write it twice. First, write a version for you: Articulate whatever helps you reach catharsis about your past actions and regrets. Then start fresh or revise the original to send to the person you supervised. No need to dwell and co-workers, on the specifics of your past sins in this version —  he probably won’t need to be reminded. Focus on the apology and the positive effect he had on your life.

 

You seem sincere, and that’s the key: Anything that comes across as contrived or having an ulterior motive would be worse than no apology at all. Just make sure that what you send isn’t overly focused on you; that risks coming across more as self-pitying or even excuse-making, rather than representing real contrition.

 

With those caveats, this sounds like a good thing for him, for you — and maybe for the rest of us. We have all had regrettable moments as bosses and employees, Maybe we need an annual day of apology to all slighted colleagues.



also from today's NYT:

He will always be "Walter" from Fringe to me, but no matter who he is playing, I love him so much!:

John Noble in "The Substance of Fire"