"I could be in love with almost everyone"

In the context of the Love song that line might have different meaning for you... but my question is, do you think you could fall in love with someone on any given block or place of employment or party or whatever, and is it cynical to think so? Or is Fate at work bringing you and your one true Soul Mate together?

Er, I think there's a some possibilities between those two extremes. I don't believe in One True Love nor Finding Your Soul Mate, but I don't just fall for anyone either.

And I think, besides meeting someone you could fall for, timing also has something to do with it. You could meet a person who seems quite perfect in every way, but if the time is simply bad for either or both of you, you might still not fall for her.

http://c.myspace.com/Groups/00020/76/24/20804267_l.jpg
twee thread needs bunny

I believe in magic
because it is so quick

I like the idea that there are a select few hundred candidates.

The capital, however, despite its vast population, is a void when it comes to the pursuit of 'meeting people'. The statistics of love in London are bleak: around 8 million people, half of them female, which leaves 4 million; eliminate the ones who like guys more than girls, and you've got about 3 million; then shave off Tory voters, under 26s, over 36s, under 5ft 6ins, those with bad haircuts, City boys, frequenters of Firkin pubs, etc, and you're left with about 200 elusive suitables.

It's a barren land, so when you do spot the glimmering needle in the sodden haystack, you can't leave it until you bump into them again: you won't.

I went to see a friend strut it up with his dance troupe in a club in King's Cross. On my way out, I met one of my 200. We traded chemically potent glances and I left. I took a cab home. And then, remembering my statistics, took it straight back. I'd forgotten something. I said it was my gloves. Really it was his number.

i hope this story didn't end in potent sodium chloride eyes.

I definitely do not believe in the fate/soul mate/one true love thing. I think a lot of what Tuomas had said is true. I love my husband very much and have committed to him for life. Does that mean that there is nobody else out there that I could potentially love? No way. I think that potentially there are loads of people I could fall in love with in the world but choice, timing, chance, and whether or not a relationship wiht that person could actually work all play a part and determine with whom we end up.

ljubljana that is the best story!

That journalist had a great column in the Guardian newspaper called 'Losing Sight, Still Looking' about dating while going blind. You can get to it from that link up there. Dunno what she's doing now and whether that is having to include adaptation to totally losing her sight.

oh i meant your story about taking cab back to the club!

That's the journalist's story.

The statistics of love in London are bleak: around 8 million people, half of them female, which leaves 4 million; eliminate the ones who like guys more than girls, and you've got about 3 million; then shave off Tory voters, under 26s, over 36s, under 5ft 6ins, those with bad haircuts, City boys, frequenters of Firkin pubs, etc, and you're left with about 200 elusive suitables.

This seems like dubious maths to me, although I suppose the devil is in the "etc".

I think she sounds awful. Maybe that makes me one of the etc. I don't live in London anyway. FINE. I hope she dies alone.

(I don't really)

(I still don't want to marry her)

whats wrong with those over 36 and city boys

d'oh i never actually clicked the link lol.

i think the over 36ers are the ones that have been "holding out" for the "perfect" girl i.e. they are jerks who think too much of themselves (yes, yes, i know this is not true for ALL of them)

that link is shit

i think the over 36ers are the ones that have been "holding out" for the "perfect" girl i.e. they are jerks who think too much of themselves (yes, yes, i know this is not true for ALL of them)

Oh shit, I've got just got 13 months and a week before I turn into this jerk. :/

What about divorcees?

yes, when I read that comment I thought it was not a very nice thing to say about Alba.

though he probably hasn't been "holding out" really.

actually that (what tehresa said) is a terrible thing to say about people over 36. why not assume that they are just people who have been unlucky, unhappy, lonely, etc? or, conceivably: that they are on their own and OK about it.

I'm 37 and god I love flirting with men on the internet.

dude i said it obviously does not apply to everyone, but i'm sure that might have something to do with the author's reasoning for ruling out over 36s. that, and depending on her age, maybe she just didn't want to date someone a certain number of years older or younger than she was. i have nothing personally against over 36s... in fact, i'd like to think they might have their shit together a little better than guys my own age.

Dudes of any age are unlikely to have their shit together.

true :-\

I could be in love with almost no-one.

what is wrong with under 26s?

ya really

AND WHAT OF THE LONELY 26s

whatev fuck it imma watch some kung fu and take some advil

if we're stretching metaphors beyond breaking, i'd like to announce that in many case dudes actually have their shit very very together –– to the point of constipatorial impaction.

"200 elusive suitables" is just a great phrase.

i had kerfuffle on the "dear random person i saw today, i love you" thread about this, but basically i'm with enbb & tuomas: no 'one person' out there for me (tho i def love the one person i'm with right now). it's all about chemistry, and though i wouldn't say "i could be in love w/almost anyone," i'm a compatible dude. i could see myself working with a wide variety of people.

there is no 'one person' but that doesn't mean you shouldn't feel that way about a person you find. maybe you should.

there is no god, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't believe in one. maybe you should.

you are not who you imagine yourself to be, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't imagine yourself to be that person. maybe you should.

i'll be here all night

I think Arthur Lee is dropping truth bombs re: our preciousssss individuality. Also by dint of that he's asking people to disagree. Also by dint of "disagreeing" with people one is agreeing with other people. But do you think you could fall in love with someone on any given block or place of employment or party = yes; and is it cynical to think so? = no. For me. Here. Now.

"i could be in love with almost everyone" != "i could be in love with almost anyone"

Quite. It also doesn't mean "I could be in love with almost everyone who shares with me a very limited set of values".

i'll be here all night

-- gabbneb, Sunday, March 23, 2008 11:25 PM (Sunday, March 23, 2008 11:25 PM) Bookmark Link

maybe you should. be.

"i could be in love with almost everyone" != "i could be in love with almost anyone"

i was gonna say

i think the best word in the whole phrase is "almost"

What about that line in context though:

Yeah, I heard a funny thing
Somebody said to me
You know that I could be in love with almost everyone
I think that people are
The greatest fun
And I will be alone again tonight my dear

I've never been quite sure how to read that: is it just the "I could be in love" line that somebody said to him, or also the "I think that people are the greatest fun" bit?

Either way, to me it seems to suggest that he could be in love with almost everyone - but he'll be alone again tonight. It's a rather resigned to hopeless lonliness song, really.

"i could be in love with almost everyone" != "i could be in love with almost anyone"

I'd venture to guess Lee went with "everyone" because it sounded better.

I think the narrator is disappointed with the person mentioned in verse 1 and is projecting his disillusion onto people in general. I'm not sure whether "I could be in love with almost everyone" is a direct quote, with "I" being the "somebody", or if the I is the narrator as observed by the somebody. In either case I think it's a sort of resignation into a state of bewildered amusement with the people around him.

Yeah I think I like that idea, esp thinking of the late 60s free love thing. Sort of a "hey you can just have anyone!"... but he's alone, that concept isn't working for him.

maybe he was just high and thought he'd be willing to go home w/ anyone, but realized he's really bad at pulling high and would have to just go home alone.

i parse it like this--

Yeah, I heard a funny thing somebody said to me: "You know that I could be in love with almost everyone! I think that people are the greatest fun!"... And I will be alone again tonight, my dear.

i.e., "somebody" is saying i could be in love w/ everyone, i think people are fun; arthur is saying "ha, ill be alone again tonight"

If trza is right, then dude just needs switch to beer, problems solved.

I think Arthur Lee is dropping truth bombs

Bryan Maclean

I'd venture to guess Lee went with

MacLean

arthur is saying

Bryan

u rite

arthurs the one singin dood

bryan's the lead vocal (perf if not volume) and wrote the words dood

all cApS

there is no 'one person' but that doesn't mean you shouldn't feel that way about a person you find. maybe you should.

-- gabbneb

i think this is OTM. you should treat the one you're with like they're the only one. but also, saying there IS someone for everyone, or there ISN'T someone for everyone... it's not that easy to say. some ppl go their whole lives never really meeting anyone right for them, some have a succession of pretty great relationships, some find the person that feels like the only one in the universe who they could ever be with.

I've had a few parters I felt were right for me, thought I'd settle with... and for whatever reason it didnt happen. The last one, was my own fault, I did things that screwed everything up :( I'm lucky we're still friends. The guy I have now you can be damn sure there is NO way I'll mess this up. But there's no accounting for what he may end up feeling, or anything! So I appreciate the here and now like woah.

i think that a lot of people hate the idea of a 'soulmate' or whatever you call it, because if you find that person and then something goes wrong and they die early in your relationship...well, then you're kinda fucked.

it's a much more secure feeling to think that that's a multitude of 'pretty suitable' ppl out there for each of us, rather than just one perfect partner.

Yeah, that's true. Also, I think the idea of a soulmate requires the existence of some sort of supernatural element or fate or something, which I just don't believe in. Sure you can meet someone with whom you very quickly connect and form a strong bond, but unless you do believe in fate, there's no reason to think this can't possibly happen again.

What constitutes 'settling'? I have two close friends who I have considered to have done this - one very practical I-can-manage kind of person whose husband walked out on her, and she found another guy (interweb) within two months, gets on great with him, and does love him, but I don't think she's in love with him. Another a hopeless romantic who had a string of disastrous one-sided relationships, finally found someone to reciprocate, and settled down with him. Not in love with him. Kids in both cases (one on the way and one already here).

The first woman and I have a mutual friend. She was with a guy for 14 years and they were madly in love for about half that time. (The first half). When they split she swore she'd never see anyone, beyond a date or two, if she wasn't in love with them. Now she's wondering, is it better to wait for that, or 'settle'? And she really, really wants kids. And apropos of 36-year-olds, she's 36 (so am I).

xpost - sorry tehresa, should have italicised the story...

i always assumed bimble was a boy. ljubljana describes me perfectly except for the london part. will that do?

Bimble is a boy.