"Hearting" from the Lovestead

Ya know.  I've never been able to bring myself to say I "heart" something or someone.  It's sorta like "gone missing" which I'm sure news reporter Ashleigh Banfield coined while delivering the news on MSNBC a few years back. 

"Gone Missing" caught on, and damn, it's never had the decency to go missing ever since.  I still would rather say someone is missing because I can't visualize how you go do something like that---on purpose that is.

I think I'll go missing today.  The question is where?

It just seems like the activity would be limited to a small number of people who really have reason to disappear because of naughty things they've done.

Most of the reports of folks who've "gone missing," however, deal with individuals kidnapped, murdered, lost on mountains during storms, etc. 

I don't think they consciously made the decision to "go" there when they're missing.

Seems to me that missing is a "state of being" not an action.

Okay, that off my chest, let's talk hearting. 

This is the month for hearts, and, granted, they do symbolize love.  I'll go along with that.

Who decided to turn "heart" into a verb anyway?

I don't "heart" whoever this person happens to be.  This person has half-heartedly created a grammatical abomination. 

They probably didn't mean to create such a stir.  They probably thought it was neat to stick in a heart drawing rather than the word "love."  The originators of this probably were graphic artists just having fun.

Then, others came along and missed the point, turning the symbol into another supposed verb synonymous with "love." 

I understand how it could all transpire, but I'd still much rather say I LOVE something than heart it.

Of course, when you've got a name like "Love," you get kinda defensive when people bypass it for a body part.  No pun intended!

Iz all this hearting stuff gonna lead to a whole new bag of musical references during the "love" season

I promise to heart you all the days of my life.

Heart is All You Need.  (Poor Annie.  She's gonna have to change her blog title).

I honestly Heart you.

Heart is a Many Splendored Thing

Heart Will Keep Us Together

To Know, Know, Kno-o-o-w Him Is to HEART, HEART HEART Him and I Do

April Heart 

You Always HURT the One You Heart

Heart Me Do

You've Lost That Hearting Feeling

Chapel of Heart

Baby Heart

Young Heart

I Can't Help Falling in Heart

You Can't Buy Me Heart

Endless Heart

Well, you get the point.  "Love" needs to remain supreme as the term for expression one's most passionate, heartfelt emotion.

With that in mind and with the universal sadness many of us feel this morning regarding the sudden death of the much loved singer Whitney Houston, I can't help but think of "I Will Always Love You." 

I can't imagine those words being expressed any other way or any more beautifully than what she was able to do with her voice. 

And, on the "heart" discussion, we need to use the word as properly as singer Tony Bennett did 50 years ago when he first sang "I Left My Heart in San Francisco."  

Basically, let's say what we mean and mean what we say.

Some words are meant to be timeless and pure.  "Love" is one of those.