... for the one-hundred-millionth-and-one time ...
Everyone who knows me knows that I think that scene at the end where Rose promises Jack that she will "never let go" ... just before she chunks him over the edge of the ice floe they are drifting around on ... in the Atlantic ... is one of the lamest scenes in movie history !!!
Tonite, as I was preparing dinner and thinking about the things that made me smile this week, the movie was unfolding in it's tried-and-true fashion ... then there came a scene ... that I am pretty sure I have never let penetrate my brain before ... it's just before Rose & Jack stand up on the bow of the ship ... and do the "flying" thing ...
Jack is pleading his case. Telling Rose that he's "too involved" now ... that he needs to "know" that she will be "all right" when they disembark in New York.
Rose: It's not your job to save me ...
Jack: I know. Only you can do that.
Stunned. My jaw dropped. And, yes, I admit a tear emerged in the corner of my eye. It struck ... like an iceberg ... just a little too close to home.
How have I missed this part ... in the hundred million times I've had to endure this movie with Jessi ?!? Jack tells Rose that life is about adventure ... and risk taking ... and living to the fullest. And I am struck dumb by the thought that his description is exactly the life I want to be living ... with a man just like Jack Dawson!
So there you have it .... hidden beneath the sappy, over-dramatic veneer .. there is really a message here for me ... ... in TITANIC ...
Imagine that!
Random ... coincidence ... I think not.
Pondering ... pre-pondering ... post-pondering ...
At a meeting that involved three other women that I find amazing ... it was suggested to me from the git-go that we had a lot of material to cover ... so there wasn't time for ... pondering!
Really. Me, ponder?!?
I am known to be an on-my-feet thinker and an off-the-cuff responder ... spontaneous by nature ... my retort was that I was not a PRE-ponderer ...
... something more like a POST-ponderer.
This, of course, has led me to webster.com for some clarification of exactly what all of this PONDERING meant:
Ponder - to think about; to reflect on ..
Everyone knows that's just another word for over-thinking. Guilty as charged ... on some levels.
Moved on to pre-ponder ... we've all heard the phrase "preponderance of evidence" on those lawyer shows ... so how does it relate?
Preponderance - a superiority in weight, power, importance, or strength
Yeah ... but we were talking about Pre-pondering versus Post-pondering ... so here's what I found ...
Preponder - "Preponder, it turns out, isn't in the free Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, where you just searched."
So I went to a less "reputable" online dictionary, http://dictionary.reference.com/ and came up with this definition:
Preponder - To preponderate
Not only did that make me smile ... it literally cracked me up ...
Yes, indeed ... I was laughing out loud ...
Preponderate - to exceed in influence, power, or importance
So it appears if you "preponder" that you give too much credence to the information before it's even been presented ... sure that makes sense ... something like manic-depressive overthinking ...
I am definitely NOT a pre-ponderer ...
POST-pondering wasn't listed anywhere ... so it's totally unique to me ... oh, wait ... maybe that's YOUnique to me !!! Gotta love it!
So there's Rose & Jack ... standing on the very fartherst front point of the ship ... "flying" ... into what's coming next ... it's a beautiful scene ... visually ...
So why did my mind immediately go to "fear of flying" ... I wonder.
Once considered a very racy novel by Erica Jong, The Fear of Flying, is the story of Isadora Wing, one of the most hilarious and touching anti- heroines to ever appear in fiction. A compulsive daydreamer, a seeker of saviors and psychiatrists, the author of a book of supposedly erotic poems, and a full-fledged phobic who fears flying but will not allow that fear to keep her off planes, Isadora relates her adventures and misadventures with wit, exuberance, and the sort of absolute candor that for centuries was permitted only to men.
... intimacy, life, joy, and adventure ... those are the themes of the story ... and are all of the things I am wanting to find in the life I want to be living ...
... yep, me & Rose & Isadora ... we are all yearning for the same things ...
Profound ... and a little scary.
A couple of other random conversations sort of diminished the glow of the original exchange ... but the picture ... well, it still captures the hope & enthusiasm ... of what's coming next ...
... and it continues to make me smile ...
Today was spent at the American Legion ... doing BINGO duty.
A phone call ... it was an unlikely encounter ... in typical MJ-fashion ...
... made me smile ...
MJ: Hello, American Legion, this is Mary Jane.
Caller: Hello?!? Is this the VFW ?
MJ: No. This is American Legion Post 1.
Caller: Oh. Is this Mary Jane Rogers?
Rogers. That's my maiden name. LOL.
MJ: Yes. Yes, it is.
Caller: Well, this is (name withheld to protect the innocent)!
It was an old friend ... a boyfriend at times in my long ago past ... before internet, cell phones, or marriages. Not the first time we've talked in recent years ... but it has been at least a year or so ... since some address book malfunction or other caused his number to be erased from "my memory" ... in my phone, silly!
Seems he was trying to call a VFW post ... because he was supposed to be judging a chili cook-off there ... but, in his own words, his "stupid-smart-phone" connected him with the American Legion ... and ME!
A wrong number ... a very fun re-connection!
Not so stupid ... on the phone's part ... I'm just sayin' ....
Random things ... make me smile ...
As for FLYING ... I'm not really afraid ... have always been willing to take off ... on some adventure or another ... seems I've been an adventurer for longer than I care to remember!
... in the words of Jack & Rose ...
Do you trust me? Yes. I trust you!
Good things are happening!
http://www.lifelessons-mj.blogspot.com/
(c) March 2011
That is CRAZY? That is also crazy that he recognized your voice, etc. Very, very funny.
ReplyDeleteHe said he'd recognize my voice ... anywhere ... LOL ... it was fun!
ReplyDelete