THE AMATEUR MARRIAGE

began the book last night. opens with the first encounter of a pair of lovebirds in 1941 baltimore. eh. we'll see if it picks up. perhaps i just wasn't in the mood.

update: 12/12/04
flying through a novel. it was okay-written, but getting swept up in a lifestory is certainly an experience. i cried. the plot was quite believable, and that's what made it so heart-wrenching. why does life have to be so complicated??? the whole soulmate thing doesn't always overcome, or does it? do you think you'd be happier with a companion more like yourself? would you choose peace or passion, if they didn't come in one package? would you sacrifice your true love in this lifetime if there was a chance you could be together in the afterlife?

update: 12/13/04
and just how long can happy memories keep you going? i read somewhere (i think in one of those self-help relationship books) that a good gauge of a healthy relationship is that you have 5:1 good memories to bad. it also outlined three kinds of relationships, with some interesting points about these. unfortunately, i think the book's in a box in the basement, along w/my many others, and i can't remember the title (perhaps it's 'when anger hurts').

anyway, the amateur marriage made me think of it. also, there's a scene in the movie, just married, where the dad tells the son that the pictures in their scrapbook only captured the happy moments, and those are the ones you have to turn to sometimes to get you through the bad times.

but sometimes, sadly, it's not enough. why isn't it enough? should it be? and what does it mean when the one you love wants to photograph the bad times (literally)? what does that imply about the kind of mindset that person has? so how then, could that already rocky relationship be expected to survive?