The Bohemians and the Cynics

A typical easy-going conversation at 3:15 in the afternoon involves talk of a theatrical audition, discussion on movie portrayals of historic archetypes, and questions on the age of cynicism.

The following was heard while a Coldplay CD was being played on the iTunes of the gray iMac.

“How was your audition?” Benedict asks Ricardo, regarding a play he had tried out for.

Before Ricardo even gets a chance to answer, Benedict tells him, “You’re getting more and more Bohemian every day.”

“What’s that?” Ricardo asks.

“Have you seen Moulin Rouge?” Benedict asks.

“Yeah,” Ricardo says with a slight nod.

“It’s those guys,” Benedict continues, “the artsy, I-don’t-care-about-the-real-world craptacular stuff. Beauty, freedom, truth and love.”

“Oh yeah,” Ricardo says, despite the blatant sarcasm from the previous remark.

“You’re too young to be cynical,” Eunice declares to Benedict.

A pause of about ten seconds ensues as the players gather their breath.

Just when the thought was about to die, Jorge revives it by asking, “What’s the right age to be cynical?”

Benedict follows up the same question to Eunice, “Yeah, what is the right age to be cynical?”

“Twenty-two,” shouts Mr. Cameron from the other room.

Everyone laughs.

Twenty-two, indeed.

My friend's girlfriend broke up with him Sunday night. He's doing fine, and he even has gained a new perspective on love based on 1 Corinthians 13. He wrote a blog entry about it. This was my comment:

Love is ACTION. It's not just words. People forget that. It's not this abstract idea floating about, where everyone and anyone can have their own say about what it is, and how we can gain it.

Contrary to popular notion, love is tangible. It can measured. Love is measured by how much you give for the other, not so much as what you promise or intend or feel or dream. If you love little, you give little. If you love much, you WILL give much. You will even give your own life, much as a mother would take a bullet for her own child. That's how much love costs.

Anybody who ever lets the words "I love you" escape from their lips must have the strength and decency to back those words up. Anybody who says those words as a passing thought, without doing what is necessary to substantiate them is a LIAR and a HYPOCRITE.

In the divine perspective, let's remind ourselves that "For God so loved the world that He GAVE ..." Not "is going to give" or "could give."

And what did He give? That which cost Him the most: His own Son.

Maybe it's time we redeemed those three words from their postmodern worthlessness.

Feeling a tad better now. Souped up my blog's template. One of these days I'm going to format it myself with HTML magic.

Sorry if I'm a bit pessimistic again tonight.

The Dodgers are out of the playoffs. Not that I really watch baseball, up until this weekend. I guess it was just interesting to see how the underdogs could pull it off. Yesterday they performed a miracle by playing a perfect game, something worth celebrating over.

Today I went through a major, gut-wrenching, disappointment. I really don't want to get into the slightest of details about it. Not even a whisper. But if you've felt short-changed all your life in this one particular area, and something good finally comes up, you're bound to wonder if you're being set up for the major fall. Turns out I was right. Good thing I came emotionally prepared.

So yeah, that happened. After that experience, I wanted the Dodgers to win, at least just as a symbol of hope for me. Didn't happen. Life goes on. As it should.