I decided to try to eat mine out of a shot glass, but every time I try to peel off a jagged piece of shell, it leaves another jagged piece of shell.

Nicely put, Tep. It's solid reasoning. Too bad it means that only those who are confident and capable enough to really read whether the woo-ee want to hear it will ever get to be the romantic male lead.

Though I did just watch Love, Actually, and it doesn't seem so bad to just be awkward Jack and Judy. Just less grand.

making the grand declaration of adoration is a matter of judging whether it would be well received.

Hubby makes grand declarations frequently, and I believe he's sincere, but I always feel like a small-b bitch when I can't return the declaration as fervently. I do love him and the idea of living without his comfortable, familiar mind and soul is horrific, but I'm not up to flowerly declarations of eternal, undying adoration.

I think guys are more apt to make big gestures like that than women are.

I do love him and the idea of living without his comfortable, familiar mind and soul is horrific

Who needs flowery? This is beautiful.

Laga, I generally take a knife and whack the egg in half and then scoop both halves out with a spoon. Trying to peel soft-boiled eggs is nigh impossible.

I decided to try to eat mine out of a shot glass, but every time I try to peel off a jagged piece of shell, it leaves another jagged piece of shell.

It's best to decapitate the egg with a knife and then scoop out the guts.

Nicely put, Tep. It's solid reasoning. Too bad it means that only those who are confident and capable enough to really read whether the woo-ee want to hear it will ever get to be the romantic male lead.

No, it means that life is NOT a romantic comedy. And sometimes someone who is smitten needs to adjust his or her perspective. If the woo-er thinks that he or she can't get a good read on the object of his or her affections, then that's a clear sign to proceed slowly.

The modern world and Sex in the City aren't ruining anyone's chances at being the romantic lead. Movies are contrived. They're meant to manipulate us so that we will turn our hard-earned money over to the movie studios. So they pick the "romantic" plots that make everyone sigh and wish "Why doesn't Lloyd Dobler stand outside MY window with a boom box???"

And I'll say it again: if whatshername didn't feel the same way about Lloyd Dobler as he did about her, then he's not making a grand romantic gesture. He's stalking her, and probably going to get a citation for a noise violation.

I wrote a man a poem once. Though he doesn't love me like I love him, he did like the poem. I think, whether I liked them or not, I'd be touched. Tep, hope you are feeling better. BTDT. Once in my finery in front of Symphony Hall.

BTDT. Once in my finery in front of Symphony Hall.

While whining on the phone to my mom today, she shared with me that she once, due to a massive hangover, had an unseemly laundry-making lower gastrointestinal explosion in London.

I told her she was very cosmopolitan. Then she clarified that she wasn't out in public; just in bed. Still, just being in London adds that touch of class, I feel.

Like Richard Belzer says about Paris, where he has a chateau, "Even taking a shit in Paris is cool, because it's Paris."

And I'll say it again: if whatshername didn't feel the same way about Lloyd Dobler as he did about her, then he's not making a grand romantic gesture. He's stalking her, and probably going to get a citation for a noise violation.

It's also worth noting that his grand romantic gesture came after he'd approached her and forthrightly, non-game-playingly asked her out, then had a relationship with her, then suffered an abrupt and painful breakup that he had good reason to believe had much more to do with her collapsing family life than the way she felt about him.

It wasn't an out-of-the-blue stalkery grand romantic gesture; it was a gesture with a lot of history and a fair bit of actually knowing her and understanding how her mind worked.

Which, again, makes it worlds different from the grand romantic gestures seen in 99% of the romantic comedies out there. But that's Lloyd Dobler; he's not just better than many actual guys, he's better than most clearly fictional and idealized men.