The I Love You Blog

I Love You Lego

noreply@blogger.com (I Love You) — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 15:05:00 +0000

I knew there was a lot of love out there for Lego, but didn't know about I Love You Lego. Sing it:

I'm gonna pick up the pieces

And build a lego house

If things go wrong we can knock it down

My three words have two meanings

there's one thing on my mind

It's all for you

Ed Sheeran, "Lego House"

Some say their love reaches stratospheric heights. These Toronto kids sent their Lego out of Earth's atomosphere!

And some propose marriage with Lego? A filmmaker renders his love story with a food blogger in Lego, complete with Star Wars references:

<p>&amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://video.news.com.au/2185529570/Lego-proposal"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;VIDEO: Lego proposal&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;gt;</p>

Dharma Comics Love You

noreply@blogger.com (I Love You) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 15:13:00 +0000

Wanted to share the love that is Dharma Comics with you and thank the artist, Leah Perlman, for allowing me to post her excellent work here. I love to receive her comics every few days via the Dharma Comics Facebook page (please feel invited to check out the I Love You World Graffiti Project's page too).

Leah is also one of the founders of San Francisco's Happiness Institute -- looks like a fun place to visit! Wishing Leah all the best with her wonderful projects.

St. Dwynwen's Day

noreply@blogger.com (I Love You) — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 19:31:00 +0000

Today is St. Dwynwen's Day, a Welsh "romantic" holiday, named for the patron saint of friendship and love. I'm not wishing you a "happy" St. Dwynwen's Day because its story is brutal and violent. According to the National Museum of Wales, it begins:

Dwynwen lived during the 5th century and was, by all accounts, one of the prettiest of Brychan Brycheiniog's 24 daughters. The story goes that Dwynwen fell in love with Maelon Dafodrill, but unfortunately her father had already arranged that she should marry someone else. Maelon was so outraged that he raped Dwynwen and left her.

The Welsh are also known for their love spoons, often designed with keys, which are thought to be the origin of "key to my heart." For a list of Welsh love traditions please visit the BBC's Welsh Courting Customs.

Hey Cupcake. I Love You.

noreply@blogger.com (I Love You) — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 15:20:00 +0000

Cupcakes and photo courtesy of Cakes by Miriam

Freaks, Geeks and Strange Girls on cupcakes as Valentine's gifts: "Damn I love cupcakes...I know a lot of you are currently having major fits over what to buy your other halves, I'm not really one for gifts, in fact I hate it when a man buys me something (don't ask) but if my boyfriend bought me these tasty little works of art, I'd be putty in his hands."

Image and cupcakes: The Cake Store

Dan Savage on cupcake porn: "Something women enjoy but men do not ... something erotic ... something that repulses most men ...Cupcakes? The now-ubiquitous cupcake isn't explicitly sexual, I realize, but our culture does encourage people—women in particular—to sublimate their erotic desires by stuffing their faces with food." (thanks to Stephen Cain for the quote. It doesn't represent the current thoughts of this blog, but ... interesting to note anyway : )

Swiped from Uber Cupcake Monster

A Kawaii cupcake -- in love with a pie?

To conclude our cultural musings on the cupcake, in Peabody, Massachusetts, an airport security officer confiscated a red velvet cupcake amid fears it was a security risk. Its gel-like frosting was suspect.

The Happy Graffiti Song

noreply@blogger.com (I Love You) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 15:25:00 +0000

Plink plonk plink ... Some nice I Love You's here. I've posted the URL to Happy Graffiti before, but want to mention them again. So darn happy they're in the world!

A Plaque o' both your Houses! Le Case di Giulietta e Romeo

noreply@blogger.com (I Love You) — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 15:00:00 +0000

In Verona, Italy, you can tour the Casa di Giulietta (House of Juliet), a 14th century home which has been presented to tourists as a setting in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet since the late 1800s. Juliet's balcony, built in 1936, is one of the most visited places in the country, as 'Heaven is here / Where Juliet lives," I guess. Teen-aged sweethearts hang out in the courtyard (avoiding the six euros entrance fee), the lovelorn write letters and emails to Juliet asking for prayers and advice, lovers stick love notes and paint love graffiti on the walls, and tourists rub the 1970s bronze statue of Juliet's right breast for luck in love. Wedding packages for tourists at the casa start at 1000 euros; couples are also married at the Tomba di Giulietta, also created in 1936.

One visitor warns to keep your valuables close in the huge crowds in “Wherefore art thou...wallet?” Reviews from tourists range from "Where have all the romantics in the world gone?? Soak up the atmosphere, read the love notes and take it for what it is" to "Have any of these people actually read the play? I hate to break it to them, but at the end R & J KILL THEMSELVES."

Although the house was built in the 1300s, it has no connection to the play. A review from Frommer's Guide to Italy is harsh:

Someone somewhere in Verona is chuckling about the cash they have made from this tacky, modern invention that was created to epitomize the fictional story of Romeo and Juliet. The balcony was created in 1936 and has no connection whatsoever to the fictional Shakespearean characters, but was declared to be "Juliet's balcony" to attract tourists. Although the famous story was set in Verona, perhaps some tourists are unaware of the fiction part and presume that a real Juliet once stood on this balcony conversing with Romeo, or, they just notice the massive crowd flocked around the horrid site and figure it's worth a look-see. To add to the cheesiness of several couples attempting to reenact the famous love scene (where art thou dignity?), there are hundreds of thousands of love letters scribbled onto post-it notes inside the historically insignificant house.

I thought I'd want to see Letters to Juliet, in which a young woman's lost letter to Juliet is found fifty years later, but the trailer seems to give away the entire plot:

I will find the book by Lise and Ceil Friedman (Stewart, Tabori & Chang, New York, 2006), upon which the film is based. Its publisher writes:

Letters to Juliet is the story of these letters and the volunteers who have been answering them for more than 70 years—volunteers who first acted privately, and who are now sanctioned by the city of Verona to answer thousands of letters each year as part of the Juliet Club. Complete with selected letters, this romantic and poetic book also contains the history behind Shakespeare’s tale and the monuments that fuel the legend.

The Juliet Club? From Julietclub.com: "Juliet's secretaries reply to thousands of letters pouring in from everywhere. They offer advice and support or they just listen to all those who feel the need to talk about love. Juliet's powerful guidance is a bridge spanning over all geographic and cultural distances."

Photo swiped from Julietclub.com

What about Romeo's house? Oh, it's just some old thing a few blocks over from the Casa di Giulietta -- a run-down private home that was given a small historical plaque. It didn't inspire films and books or attract millions of tourists, but it looks as though Romeo's House of Pizza of Loudon, Tennessee, makes a mean pie. Which is its own kind of romance.

In the Throes of Love

noreply@blogger.com (I Love You) — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 15:22:00 +0000

From performance artist Lilly McElroy's project, I Throw Myself at Men:

For this project I went to a lot of bars and I literally threw myself at men who I didn't know. I used my body as a projectile, hurling myself toward strong, vulnerable men who were waiting to catch me. Poised in a perpetual state of social awkwardness and in full possession of the ability to subvert stereotypical gender roles, the photographs pose questions concerning relationships, social connection, sex, gender, and the desire to form relationships quickly that are both intense and long lasting.

I placed ads on Craigslist.org looking for men who would meet me blind date style in bars and allow me to throw myself at them.

See photos of the artist throwing herself at men here. Thanks to mIEKAL aND for sharing.

Straight From The Heart?

noreply@blogger.com (I Love You) — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 13:26:00 +0000

From a Syracuse New Times interview with Bryan Adams, about recording his live album:

Q: When you first recorded this album didn’t someone scream through the whole show?

A: Here’s what happened. The idea on Bare Bones was we were going to record the whole thing in one night. We were in Oslo, Norway, and there was a guy—a big fan, obviously—and he just kept going “I LOVE YOU, MAN! I LOVE YOU!” And he’d do it in the most inopportune moments. In between songs was fine, but in the middle of a very nice sort of slow song, he’d just go, “I LOVE YOU, MAN!” So I walked off the stage that night and said, “Well, I guess were gonna have to record another night.” I thought it was funny.

The History of Love

noreply@blogger.com (I Love You) — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 14:10:00 +0000

Read Nicole Krauss's heart-breaking novel The History of Love this week. A couple of I Love You quotes for you:

"When I'd come in, she'd call me into her bedroom, take me in her arms, and cover me with kisses. She'd stroke my hair and say, 'I love you so much,' and when I sneezed she'd say, 'Bless you, you know how much I love you, don't you?' and when I got up for a tissue she'd say, 'Let me get that for you I love you so much,' and when I looked for a pen to do my homework she'd say, 'Use mine, anything for you,' and when I had an itch on my leg she'd say, 'Is this the spot, let me hug you,' and when I said I was going up to my room she'd call after me, 'What can I do for you I love you so much,' and I always wanted to say, but never said: Love me less.”

and

"Then he almost but didn't say the two sentences he'd been meaning to say for years: part of me is made of glass, and also, I love you."

I Love You The Movie Inspires I Love You The Album

noreply@blogger.com (I Love You) — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 06:04:00 +0000

Guessing you haven't seen Marco Ferreri's I Love You. I am not trying to be cooler than you (I'm a film idiot) -- the bizarre 1986 French film is not well known. The following passage from musician Jason Urich is the first reference to the movie I've seen. But what a wonderful, lovely reference...

"This record was recorded and pieced together during a very transitional period of my life. A lot was influx in regards to location on the planet and people and relationships within said planet. My feeling regarding these changes had a tendency to fluctuate between very excited and confident with uncertainty and alternatingly unsure and nervous, sometimes fluctuating between the two rapidly from second-to-second. I became very hyper aware of the relationships of opposite emotions and started to notice these types of relationships more and more around me. Around this time I was recommended by a friend to watch the movie "I Love You” by Marco Ferreri. In this movie Christopher Lambert plays a character that falls in love with a talking keychain. More specifically a keychain that only said the words “I Love You” when whistled at. Around that time I was starting to mold the material that would make up this album into more cohesive pieces. I began to use the phrase “I Love You” as a mantra of sorts while working on this material. Running the phrase over and over in my head until the words started to break down and render the phrase foreign again. In these meditations I became more at peace with the music making process and more unsure/unfamiliar with it at the same time. This feeling spilled over into my understanding of myself going from feeling very in tune in body and mind to completely adrift in a large universe, again in very rapid succession until all that remained was a vibration. It feels silly and potentially useless to describe such personal and brief experiences in words, however it is my hope that within the record I am able to communicate these ideas/feeling to sound where it might make more sense."

Jason Urich's I Love You launches next week. Looking forward to experiencing its "eerie sound scape of fractured tones, warm sheets of sound, and cryptic voices." Beyond words.

Our First Attempt at Love Graffiti

noreply@blogger.com (I Love You) — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 19:23:00 +0000

Hearts by Cyan and me. Icy inspiration from Craftberry Bush. Cold weather courtesy of Ma Nature.

I think the subway commuters could use extra love, so we'll make more!

I feel the conflict within you. Let go of your hate.

noreply@blogger.com (I Love You) — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 13:55:00 +0000

From Entertainment Earth

Spray It, Screen It, Wear It: Nathan Reimer Loves You

noreply@blogger.com (I Love You) — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 03:52:00 +0000

I Love You Graffiti Photo: niznoz of Flickr

In 2005, Nathan Reimer surprised New Yorkers with three little words, repeated hundreds of times, like a mantra in the streets. In an interview we did at iloveyougraffiti.com, he said, "I really put my heart into writing every single one of those words. I meant it all. I love people, I love this city, I loved the experience and I wanted to get that message across above everything else."

Photos of his work are still shared all over the internet, usually without credit or information about their locations. The photo I see most is this one by niznoz. It's not an exaggeration to say that millions of people have experienced Nathan's I Love You's.

Since the graffiti, Nathan has infused all of his projects with "I love you." This 2006 ELLE Girl article mentions his silk screened work which, back then, could be found at arts collective I See Love.

"It's ok ... I love you" on my butt : )

Poster by Nathan Reimer, as seen in The I Love You Book manuscript.

Nathan, who grew up in California, returns to the west coast with his young family for his latest project. Portland's The Make House offers "screen printing/silk screening services, graphic illustration, design, photography, web development and creative construction services as well as fine art" and "screen printing studio rental, classes and workshops."

Above is a poster from his new series of animal prints. I chose this one because the background is a repeating audio wave form of the artist saying, "I love you." Seems to be a pattern here: Nathan has moved from words to the wordless, but maintains the repetition element. More info about the print here.

I wish all good things to Nathan and his family. I also thank him for the I Love You t-shirt he gave me years ago. As you can tell from the following photo, it has seen repeated wear (there's that repetition again!).

In 2012, may we all attempt to wear out I Love You. I doubt that it's possible, but let's have fun trying.

On Relationships

noreply@blogger.com (I Love You) — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 12:19:00 +0000

The difference between knowledge and wisdom is the applicability of what we know into our daily lives. May we all close the gap between what we believe and how we act in the world.

-Buddhist Boot Camp

More here.

Love, hope, optimism ~ not mere words • wave forms we animate • marvels of the human spirit.

-Raffi (on Twitter: @Raffi_RC)

Let It Love, Let It Love, Let It Love

noreply@blogger.com (I Love You) — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 12:42:00 +0000

Photos swiped from Craft Berry Bush.

Lovesicles! Chilly-willy graffiti, but warm and fuzzy. If it ever turns into winter around here, we'll make some like Lucy of Craft Berry Bush did last January. Might be fun to hang them in trees.

Let it snow love!

My New Year's Resolution:

noreply@blogger.com (I Love You) — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 20:37:00 +0000

Image: The Hands-On Housewife

Ancient Kissing Wasn’t Just for Valentines, Expert Says (National Geographic)

The science of smooching (Chicago Tribune)

Scientists Agree: It’s in His Kiss (Wired)

Saliva: Secret Ingredient in the Best Kisses (Live Science)

Ohio Wesleyan Professor to Present Kissing Lesson (Press Release)

I Love You x 5

noreply@blogger.com (I Love You) — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 17:31:00 +0000

Photo: by michelhrv / Flickr

I Love You in German, Chinese, French, English, and Cambodian! Captured by Michel Y. HERVE in Kampong Speu, Cambodia.

Five I Love You's for January 5th. It's 30 degrees Celsius in Cambodia and 0 degrees in Toronto, so I appreciate the warmth.

Science of the Heart

noreply@blogger.com (I Love You) — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 14:49:00 +0000

"Since emotional processes can work faster than the mind, it takes a power stronger than the mind to bend perception, override emotional circuitry, and provide us with intuitive feeling instead. It takes the power of the heart."

– Doc Childre, Institute of HeartMath

Some people think that the heart can't be trusted. If you'd like to read about scads of science exploring the idea that your heart is the only thing worthy of trust, please visit Science of the Heart: Exploring the Role of the Heart in Human Performance. I'll share my thoughts when I get through it all.

First Words

noreply@blogger.com (I Love You) — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 20:48:00 +0000

Diane Franklin spent two decades fearing her paralysed son would never be able talk again after suffering brain damage in a car crash.

But she told yesterday how, after all this time, Simon Ellis suddenly said to her: “I love you.”

Simon has stunned doctors by speaking again – and he even wished his mum a “Merry Christmas” for the first time since 1992.

Diane, 61, was warned he would be left permanently without speech because of the injuries he suffered when he was 18 in a smash caused by a drink-driver.

But Simon, now 37, finally spoke as she visited him in a care home. The mum-of-four said: “They told us he would die in intensive care and he hasn’t been able to speak for 19 years.

“But now he has started. I’ll never forget when he said ‘I love you’ to me.

More at The Mirror.

Happy New Year!

noreply@blogger.com (I Love You) — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 05:01:00 +0000

Woody Guthrie's New Year's resolutions, 1942. Via Boing Boing.

Seventy years later, happy 2012.

Let's wake up and love everybody : )

Happy Graffiti

noreply@blogger.com (I Love You) — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 15:39:00 +0000

Liz Rockey writes:

Today, while walking on Cathedral Street in Baltimore I saw the best graffiti ever—the words “I Love You” were written on the sidewalk in orange spray paint. This reminded me of the power of words (even words written by a stranger) and the ability for them to bring about a smile on someone’s face.

Yay, Liz! I think I know just how you feel. Check out her happy photos at LizRockey.com.

For Real?

noreply@blogger.com (I Love You) — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 15:09:00 +0000

“The moment you stop to think about whether you love someone, you've already stopped loving that person forever.”

― Carlos Ruiz Zafón, The Shadow of the Wind

I Love You Graffiti ... Sorta

noreply@blogger.com (I Love You) — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 14:26:00 +0000

The Item Name at Amazon.com for the above product is "I Love You Graffiti Silver Lining" but the listing doesn't include a description.

It took me a minute or two to figure out that it's a balloon. "Ships uninflated" was the tip-off.

In related news, here are a few photographs of the I Love You graf in Vancouver from Ilesha geisha.

Dreaming

noreply@blogger.com (I Love You) — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 12:59:00 +0000

Good morning! I've just had a dream in which I worked in a place where beautiful books were made and friends were there but I can't remember who, exactly, but it was book after book like I've never seen in every colour of the rainbow with every kind of text -- there was a magic room with books of different sizes and shapes and everyone was sharing their amazing work with each other like it was one big collaboration and now I'm wondering what it is I'm supposed to be doing with my life, exactly.

Everyone had a hand in everyone else's work, and this was acknowledged and celebrated instead of hidden. There could be no such thing as awards, as every book was an accomplishment that represented something wonderful about everyone. But the book "came through" its "author." The book was ice-cream and the author was its flavour. There was no petty squabbling about whether vanilla was better than strawberry.

Have you ever had a dream like this? It feels like I was being taught something. Shown a world that doesn't exist so I will want to create it. I woke up feeling exhilarated. But hurt with longing.

"Navigating Love and Autism"

noreply@blogger.com (I Love You) — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 04:32:00 +0000

By AMY HARMON

GREENFIELD, Mass. — The first night they slept entwined on his futon, Jack Robison, 19, who had since childhood thought of himself as “not like the other humans,” regarded Kirsten Lindsmith with undisguised tenderness.

She was the only girl to have ever asked questions about his obsessive interests — chemistry, libertarian politics, the small drone aircraft he was building in his kitchen — as though she actually cared to hear his answer. To Jack, who has a form of autism called Asperger syndrome, her mind was uncannily like his. She was also, he thought, beautiful.

So far they had only cuddled; Jack, who had dropped out of high school but was acing organic chemistry in continuing education classes, had hopes for something more. Yet when she smiled at him the next morning, her lips seeking his, he turned away.

“I don’t really like kissing,” he said.

More of this amazing love story at The New York Times.

Thanks to Hazel Millar for sharing.