You had me at 'hello'.

A couple embracing in St. Mark's Square, Venezia, Italy

I've always equated this expression with other cliches such as "love at first sight" or "from the moment I saw you, I knew..." My cynical self always wondered how could someone know something like that without knowing anything about the person?

It seems, though, that no one really describes their relationship as a product of one of these cliches until they've been in the relationship for a while, so how do we outsiders know that he "had her at hello"? There is obviously some initial physical attraction, plus an element of mystery and a witty comment or two that make you want to know and hear more. Commence, love.

Speaking of love. In lieu of recent events this weekend, it would be hard to not question the existence of such a complex concept as love. How do you tell someone that love really does exist after she's been cheated on by a long-term boyfriend/possible fiance? When the divorce rate in this country is upwards of 50%? I think even the most optimistic of people would have difficulty making that argument. But I am drawn to the flip side as well: if there truly is no such thing as love, what are all these musicians writing and singing about (aside from sex, drugs, and alcohol)? What have millions of movies been based on? If there is nothing to debate, why have we been debating about love for ages?

People ask: how do you know if you're in love? The most common response is - "you just...KNOW." For people who think primarily in black and white, no gray area, this is a maddening answer, because there must be some concrete constant from one couple in love to another. It's probably equally as annoying for people who see gray areas as well. Is love different across cultures? Countries? Gay vs. heterosexual couples? Is it really just a chemical reaction in your brain of dopamine, norepinephrine and phenylethylamine?

I realize that I am not the first nor the last to pose these questions, but, as previously mentioned, the events of the weekend combined with my new relationship have brought certain things to the front of my mind. The fact that these thoughts have made me feel like I've had 18 red bulls and 7 cups of coffee is another matter entirely.

The butterflies are passive aggressive and put their problems on the shelf but they're beautiful. -- Ben Kweller

amore per sempre,
mers.

Every limbo boy and girl...

Lakeside in Neuchatel, Switzerland

Ciao tutti! It's been a while. With 3.5 weeks left of my junior year, you'd think school work would also start to taper off - of course, this is not how life really works, and I still have a international economics group research paper, two italian 300-word essays, a history paper, several labs, another economics exam...oh, and THEN a week of finals.

It may sound like I'm complaining, but oddly this is the part of the semester I enjoy the most. The skating season came to a close at the beginning of March, spring break served as an excellent midway break, and now I can truly, fully immerse myself into what are the most interesting classes I've taken here at Miami.

Now when I say the skating season ended in early March, this is a blanket statement, as we have still been having 3-4 practices a week, full weights, and one day in the dance studio. Individual skills, interval aerobic training, and making sure our programs fit in the confines of the ice show curtain. It's been a loooong post-season, let's just leave it at that.