**Official** Love Story discussion thread.

The puffs must go, but the chocolate can stay.

Bit o'trivia: The Mormon Church owns Coca-Cola.

More trivia: Bill O'Reilly from Fox News, will no longer drink Pepsi-Cola because the rapper named, "Ludacris" is being employed to promote it. O'Reilly said, "No more Pepsi for me. Hello, Coke."

more trivia: Coke & Sprite are promoted by The Roots and every major Rap act in last 10 years.

even more trivia: Sprite currently promoting tour featuring Jay-Z and other rap acts.

Didn't Joan Crawford own Coca-cola at one time or was that Pepsi? Boy I'm getting punchy. I need to get some sleep.

Good night all, have an early day tomorrow.

Undomiel,
I'll make sure to read your Obi-Can bashing posts tomorrow. I'll try not to take it personal or get my feelings hurt, but to be honest I'm a little dense when it comes to such things. It takes a WHOLE lot to hurt my feelings. Seen too much and been through too much, the little things just don't bother me anymore, seems like your the same.

Friends --until tomorrow anyway.

Joan Crawford? Pepsi.

Nai,

Great cereal box. Now we know Padme's dieting secrets.

Abstract,

Personally, I rarely (if ever) drink soda of any kind, be it Pepsi or Coca-Cola. I never eat Cocoa Puffs. heh heh. I don't care what rap group sings for what company. But I did want to talk about something ludicrous so other people would post something "un-ludicrous." heh Guess not!

U,

How are you doing? I'm too tired to post anything earthshattering tonight.

Sami,

Well hanging in there. Got a bit o' the nausea this evening, but it should pass... eventually. (Just for the record, if you're female and over 40, get a mammogram, soon! And don't let anyone tell you, breast cancer is caused by anything women do to themselves! Breast cancer is common in women over 40, so much so, there are countless organizations and help groups on the subject.). The first person that tells me my bc was caused by my diet, I'll punch 'em in the nose. hehehe!

U,

Yes, I had a mammogram last year and will have another one soon. I'm over forty. Ha Ha. iIt's good advice, though.

Hope you're doing okay. I think about your situation every day.

Thanks for the concern.

U,

No problem. Life being what it is, we have to stick together.

*sniffles and dabs her eyes off with the sleeve of your jedi robes* Thanks

U,

So, if you live in FL, what are you doing on so late, if you don't mind my asking?

lol Here, want my social security number? heh heh heh.

Not much to add to that except that if there is ANY history of BC in your family or you fall into the "High risk" catagory (I did and compounded by the fact that I smoked for nearly 20 years... hey!! 5 MONTHS Smoke free as of next week) get your base line at 35... It only hurts for a little bit and that way if something funny shows up later they have a basis for comaparisen....

Freindly nieghborhood public Announcement..
Personal q U, and you don't have to answer... but did you find it early or later? Hang in there... lurkers care too...

U,

No, it's just my eyes are about to fall on the keyboard.

My son left to go get coffee. So, I can be on without interruptions. Like, mom, I wanna play EQ now, can you log off?

And I'm at home, so no nosy bosses peeking over my shoulder, even tho I only go on at lunch and breaks.

DB, congrats on the smoking! I'm up for that shortly. Wowzers, that's an accomplishment!

I found it late. Lost one of my breasts over it, too. The doc was going to have a plastic surgeon there to immediately replace it, but he was in too big of a hurry to remove the cancer to wait for a plastic surgeon to be available for the operation. And I have serious doubts about the smoking causing your breast cancer. There are entirely too many women with good diets, that don't smoke or drink, who've had it. My mom was not a smoker or a drinker, and she had it. It's a female thing. I swear, they blame smoking on everything. It's great you don't smoke anymore, but saying you increased your chances of getting it because you smoked, is nonsense. Smoking causes LUNG, throat and mouth cancer, NOT breast cancer.

Doh. Sorry, but that ticks me off.

U,

My aunt had bc around 25-30 years ago, in what must have been the dark ages of treatment. She survived and lived to be 83.

It never recurred.

Sami,

Wow, that's great to hear! Well he didn't find any more in any of the surrounding tissues (and he even removed the lymph nodes and checked them as well), but he still felt I needed the extra precaution of chemo so ... No hair. Boy do I look silly.

Sami,

Wow, that's great to hear! Well he didn't find any more in any of the surrounding tissues (and he even removed the lymph nodes and checked them as well), but he still felt I needed the extra precaution of chemo so ... No hair. Boy do I look silly.

U,

Hair will grow back. Yes, keep up the chemo. It will stop soon.

It?s been quite a while since I made a relatively longer post on the thread. Part of the reason is that work has kept me from composing my thoughts, and partly because lately, I?ve noticed a rather distressing trend in the thread.

This thread has become, in many ways, a haven for intelligent, objective discussion on the Love Story, arguably the central theme of AOTC and the entire Prequel Trilogy. (This is not to say that I don?t enjoy the lighthearted moments when we tease each other. U, have you seen ?Bone Collector? yet?) Admit it or no, this forbidden love is at the heart of all that is to come as regards the fate of the galaxy (on a more impersonal scale) and of two young people whose only fault is to have been born at the wrong time, in the wrong place, and under the wrong circumstances. There have been quite a few spirited discussions between the ?ayes? and the ?nays?, and we?ve all learned from the opposing views and opinions presented by the advocates of either side. Lately, however ? and I hope I am wrong about this ? I detect a rather disturbing vein in the discussions, particularly when the ?nays? discuss their views on opinions expressed by the ?ayes?.

Admittedly, most of us who liked the Love Story are romantics ? there?s never been any dispute about that. What disturbs me is the underlying tendency of those who don?t share our opinions to dismiss them as unrealistic, overly-idealistic, or immature. If I may say so, I think this is a rather generalized view of romantics, and a rather superficial appreciation of what it is to be a true romantic.

Let?s take the view of romantics as people who easily fall in love, are easily taken in by pretty faces, grand gestures, or honeyed words. I disagree. The true romantic is one person who finds it very hard to really fall in love, precisely because of the level of commitment we know true love demands. We are the kind of people who have an ?all or nothing? philosophy ? we may feel great affection for people, but it takes a helluva lot more than just pretty words or fantastic gestures to really win our entire hearts.

A certain fellow named ?Shadow? has dismissed our view of the love story as a ?cute and cuddly thing? simply because some of us comment on Anakin?s physical qualities ? my good fellow, do you honestly think that just because we think Hayden Christensen has beautiful blue eyes, our entire understanding of the Love Story is limited to that? Haven?t we spoken time and again of the darkness that lurks around these two people, simply waiting to leap out and devour them? Haven?t we talked, time and time again, of the troubles Anakin has to face, and will have to face? Haven?t we discussed the issues, the fears, the uncertainties that have been dogging him all his life and will ultimately explode in his face when and if the only woman he loves will be taken away from him? Where were you, my good man, when PLJ was discussing the Love Story in light of Joseph Campbell?s mythological writings? Where were you when Jedi-ES was talking about Anakin?s inner fears and the depth of his love for Padme? Where were you when Undomiel compared Anakin to a gifted child with special needs, and talked about the anxieties, the fears and yes, the insecurities that these gifted people have to face in a world that sometimes demands too much of them without really understanding their personalities?

Romantics, contrary what some people may think, do not close their eyes to the faults of their loved ones, neither do we excuse or justify them. Jedi-ES has spoken some pages back, on our inherent instinct to look beyond these faults to the soul of the person we love ? some people take this to mean that in looking to the soul of a person, we automatically dismiss these flaws. Nothing could be further from the truth. Let it never be said that romantics don?t know how to get mad at the people we love, or to get frustrated at times with some of their shortcomings ? we do, believe me, we do. All we are saying, though, is that we don?t throw in the towel with t