Althouse: "When you say 'I love you', you are not just saying it to that person. You are saying 'I love you' to yourself, the planet & the Universe."

June 11, 2009

"When you say 'I love you', you are not just saying it to that person. You are saying 'I love you' to yourself, the planet & the Universe."

I'm following Yoko Ono on Twitter.

53 comments:

Jennifer said...: Be careful. She goes in spurts. When she's on, you can't hear anybody else.

Of course, some of the gems make it worth it. Unfortch, it's mostly self-promo.; 6/11/09, 11:15 AM
Chase said...: Glad to see she's beginning to make sense. She used to be undecipherable.; 6/11/09, 11:16 AM
JAL said...: I don't think the planet or the Universe gives a flip.; 6/11/09, 11:20 AM
Kate Gosselin said...: Wives everywhere should be on the lookout for women who would say "I love you" to everyone. It usually means they want to break up your husband's band. Or they want to sleaze it with your husband at a honky tonk in downtown Reading while you are on a very important book tour in California. You just can't be too careful.; 6/11/09, 11:23 AM
Rialby said...: Just finished "Can't Buy Me Love" a book by Jonathan Gould on the Beatles rise and fall - very solid book btw. He does a nice job documenting Yoko pre-Beatles without spending too much time on her.

She's never been anything but a shameless self-promoter and a talentless hack. I have no idea what Lennon saw in her.; 6/11/09, 11:31 AM
Bissage said...: When you say 'I love you', you are not just saying it to that person. You are saying 'I love you' to yourself, the planet & the Universe.

Mrs. Bissage bought an embroidered throw pillow with those exact same words but one of the cats has pretty much claimed it as his own property.; 6/11/09, 11:33 AM
Anonymous said...: The planet and the Universe just aren't that into you.; 6/11/09, 11:47 AM
A.W. said...: Yoko puts the "twit" in twitter.; 6/11/09, 11:47 AM
The Dude said...: I have a brother who always says "So, there he was, with a loaded revolver, two people walkin' away, and he shoots Lennon? WTF?"

Me, I would never repeat such a statement...; 6/11/09, 11:48 AM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: I hate Joko Ono ;); 6/11/09, 11:49 AM
A.W. said...: Bob

Now let's be fair. maybe he just loved her and put up with the rest because of love.

you sort of like how Paul mccartney put linda in wings with him although she couldn't hold a tune to save her life. we might not enjoy it when romance harms music, but who really can't understand the motivation?; 6/11/09, 11:53 AM
Joaquin said...: I'm following Yoko Ono on Twitter.

AND WHY?; 6/11/09, 12:09 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: ..we might not enjoy it when romance harms music, but who really can't understand the motivation?

The the consummation of romance can never live up to the romance in the music.; 6/11/09, 12:18 PM
ricpic said...: My mother said that whenever anybody cries they're crying for themselves. I don't know if this is true or not but it sticks in my mind because it was one of the rare moments when my mother made a statement about "life."; 6/11/09, 1:11 PM
MadisonMan said...: What if you say I hate you? Specifically, what if you say it to Yoko Ono? To whom are you saying it?; 6/11/09, 1:11 PM
Smilin' Jack said...: I'm following Yoko Ono on Twitter.

That's got to be the saddest thing I've ever read on this blog.; 6/11/09, 1:22 PM
ricpic said...: Yoko is one of those I-know-the-secret-of-the-universe-and-you-don't types. As such she is looking to be killed.
Just sayin' as you know who says.; 6/11/09, 1:35 PM
Anonymous said...: Yeah, I'm still glad I'm not Twittering. So, so glad.

*I hear she has an excellent relationship with her stepson, Julian Lennon, who I used to think was a cutie when I was in highschool and he had that hit record. Or, maybe it's the opposite of excellent, I can't remember. Still, he was such a cutie, 80s style.; 6/11/09, 1:43 PM
Ann Althouse said...: "My mother said that whenever anybody cries they're crying for themselves. I don't know if this is true or not but it sticks in my mind because it was one of the rare moments when my mother made a statement about "life." "

Once when I was about 6 years old and crying about something that happened to me (can't remember what), I got myself into the frame of mind where I believed I was crying for all the sorrows of all the people of the world and that as such I ought to keep crying for the rest of my life. Later, I stopped crying. And not all that much later, I realized I was wrong on so many levels. Nevertheless, at least one rational adult has told me (in recent years) that I was, in fact, right. It was not Yoko Ono, but perhaps Yoko would have said that, if she'd heard my tale of woe.; 6/11/09, 1:47 PM
Dust Bunny Queen said...: Yoko Ono is a twit.

Twitter is stupid.

Follow ME!!!! No No FOLLOW ME!!! Seems like a bunch of ADD affected lemmings running from one place ot another.

Follow me!! As if anyone is that interesting to follow. I like blogs where people can exchange ideas and discuss topics in the comment section.; 6/11/09, 1:55 PM
Anonymous said...: Nevertheless, at least one rational adult has told me (in recent years) that I was, in fact, right.

Make it at least two adults.

Can't vouch for the "rational" part.; 6/11/09, 2:10 PM
Skeptical said...: I can love someone without loving myself, the planet, or the universe.

It would be very strange, then, if I could not say 'I love you' to someone without saying it to all those other beings.

There's not much decent philosophy that can be tweeted. Maybe a few Socratic or Cartesian one-liners. But Yoko Ono? Come on.; 6/11/09, 2:24 PM
Palladian said...: Twitter? Is that still around?

"I'm following Yoko Ono on Twitter.

That's got to be the saddest thing I've ever read on this blog."

Better than following Yoko Ono off a cliff.; 6/11/09, 2:37 PM
Palladian said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 6/11/09, 2:47 PM
Palladian said...: Here's a typical evening at Yoko Ono's, from "The Andy Warhol Diaries":

Wednesday, September 3, 1986

"...Then got into the limo and went back to Yoko's and she had store-bought food, it was like the way we entertain at the office. Sean [Lennon] talked to us, he was being friendly, but he was bored... and I said, "Well, Sean, if you're bored, why don't you learn how to read the phone book. I mean, do you know the last person in the phone book? Do you know the first person?" So then we started looking and he called information and asked them for the number of AAAAAAAA Bar and they would say, "The AAAAAAAA Bar? Yes, sir." And then we called and asked for Richard M. Nixon's number and they said, "Wait a minute," and then there was a click like they were tracing us and Sean got scared and hung up, and then I scared him by telling him that it wasn't really hung up, even when you hang it up. And then Sam— Yoko's Sam [Havadtoy]— called the White House and a recording said if you wanted to talk to President Reagan to call back between 1:00 and 5:00 in the afternoon. And then we dialed F-U-C-K-Y-O-U and L-O-V-E-Y-O-U to see what happened, so we had so much fun."

So when Andy Warhol and Sean Lennon and the gang were dialing F-U-C-K-Y-O-U and L-O-V-E-Y-O-U, were they dialing F-U-C-K-Y-O-U and L-O-V-E-Y-O-U to themselves, the planet and the universe?; 6/11/09, 2:48 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: Lets see. The last person in my phone book is Zwiti R.

With a name like that I dont think he/she needs anybody to tell him/her.; 6/11/09, 3:04 PM
Kensington said...: When I say "I love you," I'm only saying it to the person I love.; 6/11/09, 3:14 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: and what else..
Shawn White was born that day Sept 3, 1986.

A random event at a random planet in a random universe.; 6/11/09, 3:15 PM
Kirk Parker said...: Aaron wins this thread!

However, let's not forget this either:

A man said to the universe:
"Sir, I exist!
"However," replied the universe,
"The fact has not created in me
"A sense of obligation."

-Stephen Crane; 6/11/09, 3:43 PM
Tibore said...: This is what I read:

"When you say 'I love you', you are not just saying it to that person. You are saying 'I love you' to yourself, the planet & the Universe."

This is the sound I heard:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zw8nzm1zPKA; 6/11/09, 4:05 PM
Kirk Parker said...: As long as we're not forgetting stuff, here's something else to not forget.; 6/11/09, 4:10 PM
J. Cricket said...: Haha. 48,000 followers. Only in your dreams, Annie.; 6/11/09, 4:11 PM
MadisonMan said...: Tibore: LOL!; 6/11/09, 4:15 PM
Superdad said...: Why can't the old hippies just go away and let the real growns up run the country for a while ...; 6/11/09, 4:52 PM
Palladian said...: "Why can't the old hippies just go away and let the real growns up run the country for a while ..."

Given the probably quality of US health care after Obama finishes fucking that industry up, the old hippies might "go away" a lot faster than they would otherwise.; 6/11/09, 5:00 PM
Penny said...: Better to burn out than to fade away. Party while you can, old hippies.; 6/11/09, 6:18 PM
john said...: Continuing from the Andy Warhol Diaries:

"Later that evening, I taught Sean the "You have Prince Edward in a Can?" phone joke, and calling up all these random store numbers. We had so much fun."; 6/11/09, 6:24 PM
bagoh20 said...: Don't cry for me Annetina.; 6/11/09, 8:40 PM
RLB_IV said...: The worst thing that can happen to youngsters is to give them great wealth. Yoko and John are a good example. In the old drug days, it was a mind killer and still is a mind killer.; 6/11/09, 9:02 PM
Crimso said...: "I got myself into the frame of mind where I believed I was crying for all the sorrows of all the people of the world and that as such I ought to keep crying for the rest of my life."

Immediately reminded me of the lyrics from a Gentle Giant song:

"Hope, I've hoped two thousand years,
but
no one hears, so I've cried, crying
vain tears.
Always too late, too late to cry, cry
for everyone."

Crying is a strange thing for me. I do it very seldom, I think because when I was a teen I convinced myself (for some sick reason that was at least partly due to typical minor familial dysfunctions) that I wouldn't give the world the satisfaction of reducing me to tears. The upside is that when I am reduced to tears (happy or sad) now, while still very seldom, it is an almost orgasmic experience. I suspect that if tears came easier to me that they would do a lot less for me.

And that Yoko Ono is one odd bird.; 6/11/09, 9:22 PM
Penny said...: "In the old drug days, it was a mind killer and still is a mind killer."

After thirty, LIVING kills those brain cells.; 6/11/09, 9:48 PM
Penny said...: Crimso, I never knew there was a band named Gentle Giant. A lifetime ago, I knew someone from chat whose nickname was Gentle Giant, and I immediately felt a sense of calm when he came into the room. I loved, and continue to love the sound of those words together, and the dichotomous visual image that I have since associated with Shrek.; 6/11/09, 9:55 PM
RLB_IV said...: @Penny, so they say. But is it true?
I am twice 30 and can tell you that the mental peak can manifest at 40 and beyond. Good news for the future?
Truly, the power of the mind lies in the belief and not in the age of it's being.; 6/11/09, 10:01 PM
Penny said...: I am all for the power of the mind too, but I am quoting what a neurologist told me.; 6/11/09, 10:07 PM
Crimso said...: "Crimso, I never knew there was a band named Gentle Giant."

Do a Youtube search for some of their old concert footage. I would recommend "Funny Ways" or "On Reflection" to give you a feel for what they were about. You'll probably either love them or hate them.; 6/11/09, 10:26 PM
Maxine Weiss said...: Wow, Sir Archy only has 12 followers? Guess he should have taken my advice early-on when I told him to drop the brogue. I guess that high-English schtick doesn't go very far outside the Althouse bubble.

http://twitter.com/maxinesplace; 6/12/09, 12:01 AM
Methadras said...: What a load of hippy-dippy pap-schmeared crap.; 6/12/09, 12:05 AM
Penny said...: I can see from your profile, Methadras, that you have never been a hippie, nor "pap-schmeared".

Let me take a wild-hared guess here. You've never been an empathic either?; 6/12/09, 1:40 AM
Methadras said...: "Penny said...

I can see from your profile, Methadras, that you have never been a hippie, nor "pap-schmeared".

Let me take a wild-hared guess here. You've never been an empathic either?"

Automaton ready to serve. I am a hippy and pap-schmeared free zone.; 6/12/09, 2:47 AM
The Scythian said...: I loathe the vapid nearly context-free world of twitter.

But it occurs to that that statements like this one are literally what the medium was designed for.

Kind of like bumper stickers without the bumpers.; 6/12/09, 4:35 AM
Methadras said...: Twitter will become nothing more than a sloganeering site. Oh wait.; 6/12/09, 4:01 PM
amba said...: How d'you know it's really her?; 6/14/09, 1:17 AM
Jennifer said...: Amba - Because 95% of her posts are self-promotion.; 6/14/09, 9:08 AM