You've Got Mail

“I turn on my computer. I wait patiently as it connects. I go online. My breath catches in my chest until I hear 3 little words, "You've got mail." I hear nothing, not a sound on the streets of New York. Just the beat of my own heart. I have mail...from you.” -Kathleen Kelly (played by Meg Ryan)

The movie "You've Got Mail" has been on television at least once a week over the Christmas break. And yes, I have watched it... at least once a week over the Christmas break. I can quote almost the whole movie by heart, and my dad fails to understand why I would consistently watch a movie if I know what they are going to say before they even say it.

I think it's because I love their dialogue. I love the way they share the miniscule details of their lives with each other, but it brings each of them such joy. This is probably a sure sign that I need to get out my "nerd" flag and wave it proudly, but statements like this cause me to fall in love with Joe Fox (aka Tom Hanks):

"The whole purpose of places like Starbucks is for people with no decision-making ability whatsoever to make six decisions just to buy one cup of coffee. Short, tall, light, dark, caf, decaf, low-fat, non-fat, etc. So people who don't know what the [heck] they're doing or who on earth they are can, for only $2.95, get not just a cup of coffee but an absolutely defining sense of self: Tall. Decaf. Cappuccino."

That, you say, is not romantic. That, you say, is meaningless. That, to me, ladies and gentleman, is pure poetry. It is everyday philosophy. It makes me laugh and causes a warm feeling in my heart. A man who can humor me about common life far surpasses Brad Pitt with six-pack abs.

I am not afraid to admit that I have had a recent experience with online dating. After much nudging from friends, we all signed on together to see what it had to offer. Though Tom Hanks was in the back of my mind, I knew that nowhere in that chat room would I find Joe Fox. I soon found that my heart would begin to race if they properly placed their commas and *gasp* used a semicolon every now and then.

Like in the real world of dating, you have to make your way through some — how do I put this — interesting experiences in order to find something that halfway resembles what you want. I had a Casanova ask me if I had any kids that I didn't know about (something tells me I would remember labor pains...); another, after like two sentences back and forth, started pondering moving to Arkansas.

Stir in a guy who wrote me a message in which he played the part of him and answered with what he proposed I should say; a 45-year-old who had my GRANDPA as a professor, and you have my "You've Got Mail" experience. I have met some really nice guys, some who have become friends, and I feel like it wasn't a total loss; who knows — God could have fun things in store for me. Ha!

Perhaps my favorite line of the whole movie is when Kathleen Kelly has just broken up with her boyfriend, and they are talking at a cafe. He asks, "What about you, is there someone else?"

When you've watched the movie as many times as I have, you eventually catch her facial expression along with what she says. She just looks at him with this hope; with this longing, and she says, "No...no...but there's the dream of someone else."

I don't foresee that any of my internet chatting will lead me to a beautiful flower garden in New York City where I will meet up with this eloquent, educated man with a Golden Retriever named, "Brinkley." First of all, a large, slobbery dog is not part of my romantic picture; but ultimately, I realize that this is not reality.

I do, however, like Kathleen, keep the dream! :-) All my love, Ashton