Nicolas Cage and Lisa Maria Presley. Renée Zellweger and Kenny Chesney. Britney Spears and that guy she was married to for 55 hours. Sure, we all laugh at these blink-and-you'll-miss-'em marriages and chalk them up to celebrity flakiness, but it does make you wonder...was it really love at first sight?
Saturday night, I attended the engagement party of my friend Sean and his bride-to-be, Brittany. As far as parties go, this one was, well, odd. There was food present and drinks-a-plenty were present. The only thing not present was the bride. At least not physically. She was still 864 miles away, give or take a few miles, in Oakland, CA. But thanks to the internet and a couple of webcams, the fiancée du jour was present and projected onto a stucco wall. Which was a real shame since the bumpy wall gave the impression that the blushing bride had a horrible acne flare up.
As I made the rounds, I realized, not a single person there gave hope to the quickie marriage. Of course, most of the people there were Sean's old boyfriends, who, like my blog friend Ms. Bees Knees, believed in the age old saying, "Once you have cock, you never go back." But there was one optimistic hopeful in attendance.
MACKENZIE: So...how long do you think it'll be before they get a divorce?
ME: I dont know. I'm starting to think this isnt a joke.
MACKENZIE: Yeah, me too. It really is love at first sight.
ME: I dont know if it's so much love at first sight as it is, two people who had really great sex the first night and thought, well, if it's this good now, imagine ten or twenty years from now.
MACKENZIE: You're funny. But no, I still think it was love at first sight.
ME: Really?
MACKENZIE: Yeah. I totally think that you can find eternal love in those first few seconds it takes to land your eyes on someone.
ME: But then, wouldnt that be called, lust at first sight?
In a room full of non-believers, I wanted to believe that maybe there was such a thing as love at first sight. I mean, is it still possible? Could Sean and Brittany really be in love? For a swift, whirlwind wedding between a converted bi guy and a straight gal, the whole thing was creating a lot of questions for everyone, but the groom and virtual bride.
The next morning, waking up from a tequilla-shooter haze, I drove with Sean to the airport. He was on
SEAN: You know, David, I really appreciate you coming with me to the airport.
ME: Yeah, well I'm still a little drunk. I dont know any better.
SEAN: Well, anyways, I do. You know a lot of people dont think this is gonna work out.
ME: You dont say.
SEAN: Yeah. But I'm telling you it will. I just know it will. It's like...when you go to Disneyland and you know, no matter what, no matter how expensive the souviners and food are, no matter how long the lines are, no matter if a ride's down or if it's gonna rain, you just know that no matter what you're gonna have fun. It's more than a gut feeling, but I know I'm gonna be happy.
ME: But...you're bi! You used to have sex with guys! Like, arent you gonna miss that?
SEAN: Honestly? No...I mean, maybe down the road, I will, but I love Brittany way too much to hurt her. And if those old feelings come up, well, then I'm just gonna have to fight that much harder to stop them. Im not gonna give up that easily to temptation. I love her, dude. I really do.
So, maybe it's not that we're all cynical, non-believers in love. But maybe when it comes to matters of the heart, it's just that we havent experienced love at first sight, first hand. After all, doesn't it make more sense to believe in something that you've experienced more than once before then not believe in it at all? Maybe, we should all pay a little more attention to those first few seconds.
Saturday night, I attended the engagement party of my friend Sean and his bride-to-be, Brittany. As far as parties go, this one was, well, odd. There was food present and drinks-a-plenty were present. The only thing not present was the bride. At least not physically. She was still 864 miles away, give or take a few miles, in Oakland, CA. But thanks to the internet and a couple of webcams, the fiancée du jour was present and projected onto a stucco wall. Which was a real shame since the bumpy wall gave the impression that the blushing bride had a horrible acne flare up.
As I made the rounds, I realized, not a single person there gave hope to the quickie marriage. Of course, most of the people there were Sean's old boyfriends, who, like my blog friend Ms. Bees Knees, believed in the age old saying, "Once you have cock, you never go back." But there was one optimistic hopeful in attendance.
MACKENZIE: So...how long do you think it'll be before they get a divorce?
ME: I dont know. I'm starting to think this isnt a joke.
MACKENZIE: Yeah, me too. It really is love at first sight.
ME: I dont know if it's so much love at first sight as it is, two people who had really great sex the first night and thought, well, if it's this good now, imagine ten or twenty years from now.
MACKENZIE: You're funny. But no, I still think it was love at first sight.
ME: Really?
MACKENZIE: Yeah. I totally think that you can find eternal love in those first few seconds it takes to land your eyes on someone.
ME: But then, wouldnt that be called, lust at first sight?
In a room full of non-believers, I wanted to believe that maybe there was such a thing as love at first sight. I mean, is it still possible? Could Sean and Brittany really be in love? For a swift, whirlwind wedding between a converted bi guy and a straight gal, the whole thing was creating a lot of questions for everyone, but the groom and virtual bride.
The next morning, waking up from a tequilla-shooter haze, I drove with Sean to the airport. He was on
SEAN: You know, David, I really appreciate you coming with me to the airport.
ME: Yeah, well I'm still a little drunk. I dont know any better.
SEAN: Well, anyways, I do. You know a lot of people dont think this is gonna work out.
ME: You dont say.
SEAN: Yeah. But I'm telling you it will. I just know it will. It's like...when you go to Disneyland and you know, no matter what, no matter how expensive the souviners and food are, no matter how long the lines are, no matter if a ride's down or if it's gonna rain, you just know that no matter what you're gonna have fun. It's more than a gut feeling, but I know I'm gonna be happy.
ME: But...you're bi! You used to have sex with guys! Like, arent you gonna miss that?
SEAN: Honestly? No...I mean, maybe down the road, I will, but I love Brittany way too much to hurt her. And if those old feelings come up, well, then I'm just gonna have to fight that much harder to stop them. Im not gonna give up that easily to temptation. I love her, dude. I really do.
So, maybe it's not that we're all cynical, non-believers in love. But maybe when it comes to matters of the heart, it's just that we havent experienced love at first sight, first hand. After all, doesn't it make more sense to believe in something that you've experienced more than once before then not believe in it at all? Maybe, we should all pay a little more attention to those first few seconds.
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