Maybe Me

Woman: "'I remember' is more romantic than 'I love you'."

Man: "Why?"

Woman: "I was in a relationship for five years, and he loved me in all the ways I was supposed to be loved. He had the motivation, the patience, the consistency- I convinced myself that should've been enough. But what I was missing was the fluency. He didn't remember things about me the way that I would remember things about him. And I know it sounds silly, but... I'd buy his favorite mouthwash at CVS because I remembered he liked the taste. I wouldn't cook with oranges because I remembered he hated them. And I didn't realize how much I needed that reciprocated until a year ago when I reconnected with this guy on Hinge (speaking about a different man). There was absolutely no foundation for a relationship, but after we met, he caught me off guard with 'Let me make you dinner'. And I said, 'Just reminding you, I'm celiac'. And even though we hadn't spoken in a year, he said 'Oh don't worry, I already got your favorite chickpea pasta'. And I just stood there in the kitchen because... I have never been in love with this man, and he has never been in love with me, but in that moment, I felt strangely seen and loved because it wasn't just 'Oh, he remembered I have an allergy'. It's that after a year of silence, there were still details about me that felt worth holding onto. And that felt more intimate than any partner saying 'I love you' to me because declarations of love are just words, but remembering is the action of it. Because you can fake loving someone, but cannot fake remembering. And, most importantly, it implies that I think of you in your absence, whether it's convenient or not. Like when you're going about your day, and suddenly there you are; I find you in the mouthwash isle, I find you in the fruit bowl, I find you in the thousand small choices I make without thinking. Because even though I don't want to, for the rest of my life, I will remember my ex hated oranges.

The man extends his hand to shake hers and asks: "What was your name?"

She answers: "Sophie."

He responds: "Preston, nice to meet you."

It cuts to him, back to walking the street, with a close up on him with his coffee to-go cup with the words 'Follow for more Perspectives on Love' superimposed next to him.

The snail. We Look About Us. 1932. Illustrated by Hugh Spencer.

remember everyone...

thursday watch: the conditions for thursday are here, but a thursday incident has not yet been confirmed

Walnut was born in a species-recovery breeding program in the 1980′s.  The program had crane chicks hand-raised by human volunteers, and at that time they did not fully understand the measures necessary make sure that the chicks do not imprint on humans and retain their identity as cranes.  

As a result, her keepers believe, Walnut does not recognize other cranes as members of her own species.  

It has not been proven that Walnut killed her previous suitors; however, there is a persistent rumor in the white-naped-crane-conservation community that she did.  

Because this species is highly endangered, and the gene pool of the captive population is small, it’s pretty important for the survival of her species that Walnut A) mate, and B) not kill a bunch of other cranes.  

The actual name of the keeper is Chris Crowe.

They both arrived at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute in 2004.   

Walnut immediately began paying special attention to Chris--and ignoring the eligible male crane in a nearby enclosure.  

Walnut initiated their courtship, performing the opening moves of a mating dance.  

Chris realized that if he reciprocated the mating dance, it might be possible to artificially inseminate Walnut with her participation and consent.  (The process normally involves restraining the bird.)  

It worked!  

Chris and Walnut have had five children, who were raised by other crane couples at the facility--sometimes the biological dad and his mate--both because it’s unclear whether Walnut would accept the chicks as her own, and because Chris is not equipped to be a Crane Dad.  

However, the Institute provides her with artificial eggs to sit on, and Chris takes his turn looking after them.  (This would not work with real eggs because he can’t sit on them properly, but Walnut seems to feel that he is on the job if he just stands over them.)

she has not been PROVEN to have killed her exes, but there is a PERSISTENT RUMOR (really officers she's simply DEVASTATED, she sobs, wearing a new feather boa unfortunately resembling her most recent deceased husband)

His name is Chris CROWE. (Mrs. Walnut Crane-Crowe?)

the mental images of a whole human man learning and performing the crane mating dance, and "sitting" on artificial eggs so she thinks he's performing his duties as a husband and father (and apparently OBJECTS if he does not?)

"chris, buddy, you gotta marry the possibly-murderous crane lady for the GOOD OF THE SPECIES." (alternately: "chris, my man! good news! we found you a very interested lady! She's 36, she's very spirited and independent, she holds a very important and rare status in her society! ...Is there a downside? WELL...")

for example, we have a microscope that is perfectly functional, good microscope, but its software is abandonware because the company refused to maintain it. the company is still in business, still makes essentially the exact same software, but they made all of the old tech incompatible with new software to force people to buy the new microscope tech. it would cost a quarter million dollars to replace this microscope. this perfectly good microscope.