Head over heels over the moon in an aeroplane over the sea

I don't think I have ever been head over heels, over the moon, crazy in love with anyone or anything. Sure, I love a lot of things (and people, some of whom I've never met and will probably never meet, some of whom aren't even real - i.e. Special Agent Seeley Booth on Bones). But my robot programming lacks the passion and the severity of emotion required to be in-love love with anything. Still, I have always been curious about love, with the songs people sing about it and they way they describe it. Here is what I've learned from my adventures in l-o-v-e so far...

*Love at first sound. I heard Radiohead for the first time in high school, when the radio club played "Karma Police" one day before the morning announcements. This was the first time a song ever stopped me in my tracks. To this day, Radiohead is still my favorite band and there isn't a song I don't like. This is the instantaneous, everlasting kind of love, like with a best friend or soul mate, someone who just "gets you."

*The Neutral Milk Hotel phenomenon. When I first heard Neutral Milk Hotel (the song "In the Aeroplane over the sea"), I thought it was ok, but the singer's voice kind of grated on me a little. Still, I was interested enough to listen to it again later. And oddly enough, the more I listened to it, the more I liked it. This is the kind of love that grows on you, slow and steady.

*Love at first taste. See Yogen Früz (the most delicious and umlaut-laden frozen yogurt ever) and the peanut butter-Nutella-banana sundae I had at Gate House. A little is awesomely delicious, but too much of it can be bad for you.

*Unrequited love. Been there, done that, moved on. Requited love is so much better.

*Reel love. As seen in the movies or on TV. Hyperbolic and unrealistic and at times completely illogical. As in, I have a mental list of hot, famous dudes I want to marry, but only in theory, not for serious.

*Real love. A.K.A. true love. It can have its ups and downs but is always authentic. I think this is what people mean when they refer to their "better half," like when two people bring out the best in each other and treat each other with kindness and respect.

Lyric of the moment: "What a beautiful face I have found in this place that is circling all round' the sun. And when we meet on a cloud I'll be laughing out loud, I'll be laughing with everyone I see. Can't believe how strange it is to be anything at all..."