What's in a kiss?

CUE SOPPY POST
So today I've had a day off, and stayed at home due to my near-fatal strain of man-flu I have contracted. Being confined pretty much to my room alone, I started flicking through coffee table photography books, and I rediscovered a photo that I have always loved.

The Kiss at the City Hall, by Robert Doisneau

This photo has always held a kind of fascination to me. I know it was staged, but it somehow doesn't matter - the way the man just takes the woman for an impromptu, spontaneous kiss... to me, this is just absolute definition of romance. Call me old-fashioned, but this is how it should be.

So I started looking at some more Doisneau photographs. He took lots of photos of couples kissing in Paris (some might say cliche,) but they proved to be incredibly popular. Just what is it about a kiss that fascinates us so intensely? 

The blurred people in the background on this are lovely - the shutter speed must have been so slow!

They even hold an almost sacred place in films - for what would Spiderman be without MJ's upside-downy kiss, or Lady and the Tramp without the spaghetti shenanigans? I put together a wee shortlist of the best kisses in film (not exhaustive.)

Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961)

A kiss in the rain never fails. Definite brownie points for that trench coat, too.

Spiderman (2002)

Well, it solved the "where do I put my nose?" question. If you have a big nose. Like me.

The Notebook (2004)

I'm a girl, ok? I'm allowed to like this. I'm allowed to like a muscular, sodden Ryan Gosling holding his childhood sweetheart in the rain. I am.

Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (2003)

Yay! Elf love!

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011)

Everyone knew it was coming. Everyone knew it would be awkward. It did not disappoint!

Whilst searching for the pictures, I came across a series of photos taken by a photographer in Central Park... I'll let you fill in the gaps yourselves.

That's the money shot, right there.

Oh, God. Am I going all soft?! What a worrying prospect.
Mx

Things that men should know

I apologise in advance - this post will be a little bit Owl-flavoured. The Obnoxious Owl (she's good, have a butchers) does little posts to her male readers occaisonally, instructing them, generally on matters involving their appearance, manners, sexual health and/or relationship ettiquette. Some of these points would be helpful for Mr. Megan, but he will never read this blog... never!

1. IF YOU SMELL NICE, GIRLS WILL LIKE YOU
I honestly do not think it is too much to ask for a lad to shower daily, apply deodorant (but don't give me any of this Lynx overdosage) and maybe a bit of aftershave... if you shave. If you don't shave, please go back to whatever cave you came from until you can grow a beard.

2. STUBBLE IS NICE
But bear in mind, if you're a little rougher around the face, you're going to have to go a bit gentler, or your bird is going to wake up looking like she tried to drink Cherryade and missed her mouth.

3. THE STATE OF YOUR BED/BEDROOM DIRECTLY LINKS TO YOUR SEXUAL PROWESS
If you can't make your bed, there's no way you can make babies. Also, you know that feeling you get when you're freshly showered and slip into fresh sheets? Yeah, we like that too. So you know... fresh sheets + fresh smelling fella = happy lady.

4. WEARING MORE THAN THREE BRACELETS AT A TIME WILL NOT MAKE YOU JASON MRAZ.
Nor will it make you attractive. Unless you are Jason Mraz.

5. IT'S KIND OF HOT TO BE A BIT JEALOUS
Ok, this one is directly stolen from the Owl herself. But seriously - a LITTLE bit of jealousy means you'll probably be getting laid that night.

6. THIS IS A TEXT THAT WOULD PRODUCE AN INSTANT FLACCID
hi babe :) saw you the other day! :P looking good ;) haven't seen you in ages! :( meet up sometime? <3 xxx
Oh look, I can see the exact facial expressions you're pulling from your emoticons. It looks like you just had a facial spasm in my inbox.

7. NEVER COMMENT ON A LADY GARDEN
You cannot crush pride in a more spectacular way. Don't even say you like it. Especially don't say you don't like it. Don't even comment - if you're significant other is British, she will appreciate your sense of decorum in the face of what is most likely a carefully-manicured garden.

8. NEVER REFER TO THE FEMALE GENITALIA USING ANY OF THE FOLLOWING WORDS:
Cunt. Fanny. Poonany. Axe-wound. Pussy. Winkie.

9. IF YOUR FAVOURITE BAND IS ALL TIME LOW/ENTER SHIKARI/SNOW PATROL, YOU CAN NEVER BE SEXY
But if I've seen you in a mosh-pit, it's hard for you not to be.

10. JUST BECAUSE A GIRL HAS HAD OTHER MEN, IT DOES NOT MEAN SHE IS A SLAG
And under no circumstances can you refer to the time she was seeing more than one man as "the slag phase."

11. TREATING ME LIKE I AM 3 YEARS OLD WHEN I'M DRUNK WILL NOT WIN YOU ANY BROWNIE POINTS
It might get you a pint in the face though.

Mx

06.03.11

So, today came around all too soon, I guess. I can't believe it's been a year, I still feel just as much of a mess as I did this time last year, I've just learnt to contain it better. It makes me really sad to look back on what I've done in the year since, how royally I have screwed up and how close I came to just losing it, but it also makes me a little bit proud to see that somehow, in some areas, I've managed to pull it back. It's also comforting to know that I do have some friends that really care about me, no matter how unexpected that seemed, I know that they're the ones I should hold onto. I suppose I've really known that all along.
Anyway, today isn't about me.
I tried really hard to find a good poem that could express loss properly, but they were all to religious and figurative, so in the end I thought I'd go with this. He really loved this song, well before Adele covered it, and he was absolutely mad on Dylan, so I thought this was appropriate.

When the rain is blowin' in your face
And the whole world is on your case
I could offer you a warm embrace
To make you feel my love.

When the evening shadows and the stars appear
And there is no one there to dry your tears
I could hold you for a million years
To make you feel my love.

I know you haven't made your mind up yet
But I would never do you wrong
I've known it from the moment that we met
No doubt in my mind where you belong.

I'd go hungry, I'd go black and blue
I'd go crawlin' down the avenue
No, there's nothin' that I wouldn't do
To make you feel my love.

Though storms are raging on the rollin' sea
And on the highway of regrets
Though winds of change are throwing wild and free
You ain't seen nothin' like me yet.

I could make you happy, make your dreams come true
Nothing that I wouldn't do
Go to the ends of the Earth for you
To make you feel my love.

Hope I'm not depressing you too much of late. I'll be back on form soon.
Mx