RARA-AVIS: Love is a many splendoured thing (even when it's on-topic)

From: Rene Ribic ( reneribic@bigpond.com)
Date: 25 Feb 2004


>
> Can we have a definition of "love"?
>

I can't define love, without resorting to a dictionary, just give a few examples: It's how Mike Hammer feels about his gat; how Travis McGee feels about his boat. It's also the bait that's used to hook suckers and pull them into the dark vortex that is the plot of the average noir novel or movie. The lack of love is what slowly killed Cornell Woolrich while he wrote his purple pulp masterpieces (and some not-so masterpieces). It's what does for the protagonists of David Goodis novels. In this particular instance, it's the feeling one noir-head has for another noir head who has practiced random acts of kindness such as mailing out an old Peter Rabe paperback just coz he knew the receiver would appreciate it*. Even if one (or both) noir-heads work in a job that many people don't approve of , such as military technology or market research and is silly enough to crack a (barbed) joke about it. That's what love means to me.
(I've also heard that love is a warm puppy but that assertion just makes me reach for my Magnum .44.
 I'm told it's how God/Allah/Buddha feels about even the least of his/her creations but who am I to speak for the Supreme Being?)
* Not that miker is the only Kool Kat to practice such kindness. Others such as Jim Stephenson, who sent me a home-made CD of some of the coolest music around and "Texas" Bill Crider who e-mailed me one of his seminal articles about "paperback originals" from Gold Medal and Dell
(now re-christened "noir novels"). Like the song says, "love is in the air". Love,

Rene

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