Movies, Letters

A list of bad movie taglines, or really awful inspirational sayings. I've done my best to be original and cringe-inducing. However, if any of these mimic actual taglines, it's a case of cryptomnesia.

-Tomorrow begins, today. (Or, really, any variation on the past, present and future all colliding at once. Yesterday begets tomorrow. Tomorrow's yesterday is today. Forever started yesterday. Tomorrow remembers the past. Today, we find tomorrow. Today, we remember yesterday. Yesterday's dream is tomorrow's nightmare.)
-Fight the good fight. (Or any variation on X the good X. Eat the good eat. Sex the good sex. Break the good break. Drink the good drink. I feel like a warped five-year old. Do the good do. Believe the good belief.)
-The battle starts now.
-Give thanks. (Or any tie-in to a major holiday. Fall in love all over again. Celebrate Xmas/Kwanzaa/Hanukkah. The movie rises on Easter day. Bring in the new year. Discover Columbus' new world. Call off work on Labor Day.)
-The countdown begins on 10/09/08... (Or anything that "cleverly" references the date. Remember, remember the fifth of November [and I wouldn't be surprised if that was an actual tagline for V for Vendetta]. The anti-Christ is born on 06/06/06. Get baked on 04/20. Believe in the new millennium on 01/01/01. Get primed on 02/03/05. The thousandth is revealed on 09/09/09.)
-Who is the Candlestick Maker? (Or any question purportedly answered by watching the movie. What is drama? Where is Paradise? Why can't we all just get along? When is the salvation? How badly did you want to watch this movie?)

***

I recently wrote a physical letter for a care package. That is not so unusual. People generally include some form of correspondence with the items therein, so as to nourish the recipient's soul as well as their body.

What took me aback was how much I liked the act of (legibly) writing a letter. Most of my correspondence includes a keyboard as the writing tool. When I do write long hand, it is either in my journal, or for a first draft of a story. Very rarely do I find myself in a position to write to another individual. It felt sort of right.

Don't get me wrong. I do appreciate the convenience and immediacy email affords us. However, I think that we sacrifice a certain amount of intimacy for the alacrity. And I do not refer to bawdiness. Heaven knows so many have been brought down by lewd emails and texts. No, I refer to the fact that you are given something tangible, that sort of intimacy.

Think of the last time you received a note or letter, something handwritten. You had the paper itself, something to hold. You had their handwriting, unique and part of them. The imperfections that come with a handwritten note, maybe an erasure or two, a strike out, misspelled words.

Yeah, Luddism forever.

That sentiment makes the following more understandable, but not any more timely. I want a pen pal. Not a complete stranger, mind you, but someone I already know, and want to converse with in extended fashion. Yes, by modern standards, this is quite insane.

Realistically, there aren't many people I talk to to begin with, and most of them, I already have regular communication with them in some form. Besides, how do you explain this to someone? "Yeah, I know I could email you or text you or call you, but can I start writing you letters?" People already consider me a bit off, but even I consider this off-the-wall, even for me.