OK, I admit it. Readily, Proudly, and without reservations. I am a softy. You don't see many of us these days. Women from my generation forward have been instilled with notions that we all must be tough as nails, and hard as steel, and cold as ice. Well, sorry to disappoint my feminist sisters, but I cannot even force myself to get a little chilly. I cry. I get goose bumps at the silliest things, sometimes at the most inopportune times.
Goose Bumps:
"Momentary roughness of the skin caused by erection of the papillae in response to cold or fear. Also called goose flesh, goose pimples . "
Houghton Mifflin
I tend to disagree with the dictionary definition of goose bumps, as neither fear or cold elicits this phenomenon in me personally. I get them when I am moved in a reminiscent way.
Things that make my papillae erect:
"Nobody puts Baby in the corner"..Dirty Dancing
The "vroom-vroom...crash" in "Leader of the Pack"
Shirley Temple movies...All of them
"Brian's Song"
"Teen Angel".. Mark Dunning, 1960
The end of "Lorenzo's Oil"
A particular, lecherous look my sweetheart gets in his eyes sometimes"
" Today, we celebrate our Independence Day"..the movie.
The aroma of cinnamon on a snowy day.
Couples that have been married over fifty years.
"Go now, there are other worlds than these." A line, repeated frequently in Stephen King's "The Dark Tower" series. (If you read it, the line is very poignant)
"Love means never having to say you're sorry"..Love Story
The opening riff of "Crazy on You"..Heart
This is just the short list. I average a few instances of goose bumps every day.
Does that qualify me as a sap? A sentimental fool? You bet it does. Does it get me teased? Yeppers, mercilessly.
Do I care? Not a whit.
Do I think we all should be a little more sentimental and a little less cynical?
Indubitably.
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Comments: 33
I think that song is "Why do Fools Fall in Love"....and it gets me too. Many of those Oldies do.
Laurie,
Glad to know I'm not the only one. Both you dear ladies attest to that.
That moment in "To Kill a Mockingbird" when Atticus leaves the courtroom.
Almost any moment in "Life is Beautiful"
"Rosebud" from Citizen Kane
"It's a Wonderful Life"...all of it
"Stellaaaaaaa"...Streetcar Named Desire
and when Lana Turner's mother dies in "Imitation of Life"...I bawl through that whole movie..
When Forrest is running through the Washington Monument's reflecting pool to reach his Jenny...Man, that gets me right in the ole heartstrings.
You're so cool, that's why you get those goose bumps. I'm so glad you call them bumps and not "pimples." Somebody tried to correct me with that nonsense once and I looked at him askance. Those are the same folks that try to jam an "O" in front of my appellation. Possum Dung!
In South Luziana they have a cute name for goose bumps from the French word "frisson." If someone down there hears the opening riff of "Crazy on You", they might say, "Ooo-weee, that gives me the frissons, cha'"
Now, a true confession. Burt Bacharach's song "Alphie" from the 1960s gives me the frissons. Now that is probably not a "hip" memory but my experience with the frissons is they often occur from the most mundane of memories and less from the glamor of yore.
Great tale,
Colonel (O)Possum
Serina,
Yes, youre' weird, but aren't we all? And thank you , so am I.
Believe it or not, I have Dave Mason's autigraph...he signed a piece of the stage set that had been destroyed at a concert about 30 years ago....
I am a FEMINIST, and to me feminism is about choice, not roles. I get sentimental because I AM ME, not just because I am female. I am fortunate enough to know a number of softy men too.
That vroom-vroom-CRASH sound gets to me too.
LOVE SONGS get to me. I am in love and the good ones make me smile, and the break-up ones make me want to kill every man in existance for whatever reason. Would my Sweetheart ever do that to me? Not likely, but that any man would, I know how the woman would feel. Any woman would, I know how the man would feel. Why do people who were in love one minute break up the next?
24 Hours From Tulsa, by Gene Pitney pisses me off. The nerve of the man for falling in love with somebody new, and all that. No jury in the land would convice that man's ex for killing him, after a song like that, whoever the story was about.
cajun French for "that gives me shivers" - sometimes we use frissons for goosebumps too...
good one Donna...
I am a compassionate person who prays for everyone, blesses everyone, loves every thing - I'm weak and I'm strong and I'm me.
Salud,