Kamis, 12 Maret 2009

You And Me Videos


First Love Video

Show Me Love Video

Because I''m A Girl

Love is Poem of our Heart

Love Me with the Lights On

Stay with me
I grow softer at your touch
warm eyes, warm skin
and heartbeats that rush.
show me how
love should be shared
hands holding me close,
tangling my hair,
not asking much
no questions,
just
breathing...

A Story From the Heart

I once heard a story straight from the heart
About a girl and how her world began to fall apart
It all started when she met the boy that made her life complete
Just thinking of him made her heart skip a beat
They were the couple everyone wanted to be
There were no imperfections as either one could see
As the weeks passed they fell more in love and were less aware
Of how often life turns out to be unfair
Until one day she finally gave in
She realized there was no way she could win
She said I'm sorry but i have to let you go
As he reached for her hand she pulled away whispering no
When she turned around a tear slid down her cheek
He just stood there speechless, forgetting how to speak
The next few days were the hardest at home
She truly felt she was all alone
Her mom pushed in her face how she had won
Her dad said "i knew he was just another one"
Her sister said "come on you'll be ok"
And her brother just tried to stay away
At school it was like her friends weren't even there
None of them seemed to really care
Her life had no more color, just black and white
Even getting out of bed turned into a fight
Despite their tries things just weren't like before
Then he decided "i don't wanna try anymore"
At that she tried to cut him out
But the more she ignored him the more her feelings began to shout
When she saw him that day she could no longer just walk by
And before she knew it her mouth opened up and out came "hi"
He looked up and said "so now we're talking?"
She just smiled and join his walking
Everyday they talked a little more
And everyday she began to like him a little less then before
As the months passed by she became more and more aware
About how its ok life's unfair
Because eventually everything becomes your past
But your memories will always last
And with that i hope you see
Not all love is meant to be
But hold on and don't give in
Stand tall, hold up your chin
And believe me when i say
The right one will come one day
He'll open your eyes to things you couldn't ever see
I know this because..this is a story all about me...

I love you

Sweet baby I
love you for real
I can't explain
just how I feel
You are to me
a special love
And the love I
feel is from above
To never hurt you
is my true desire
Yet right now
my heart is on fire
It burn in away
I can't explain
Completely different
from other pains
It's sadness
yet joyful too
Devastated
yet hopes crushed
Still strongly unbearable
yet copes
Baby I love you


One Wish

If I had one wish.
If one desire could come true.
If I had one wish.
My wish would be you.

If I could choose.
I would stay in your arms forever.
Our hearts would fuse.
And our love would become an endeavor.

I would wish for you to stay with me.
For you to be my love.
You would be my hearts key.
Forever my angel, my dove.

Forever is a long time.
To require in a single command.
I will write our love in a rhyme.
For it would be my demand.

I would ask of this.
Only with your permission.
Lost in a kiss.
Our love is my ambition.

So I wished upon the star.
The star that reminded me most of you.
My actions seemed bizarre.
But this wish I had to pursue.

If I had one wish.
My wish would be you.
And since I made that wish.
My wish has come true...

To soon to say i love you...

Touch of your hand, look on your face.
Lets me know, you're not a disgrace
Holding me close and never letting go,
Reminds me of feels, you would see in a tv show.
This is right, I can feel it so pure
I"m just afraid you'll leave me here.
We've gotten so close, than what we expected
You have showed me what it's like to be respected.
Kiss of your lips, is so nice
Gives me chills, like I'm covered in ice.
I'm starting to fall, but i know it's to soon
I guess i'll have to wait till a full moon.
Your hands on my body, so soft to the touch
Makes me wonder is this love?
But like i said, it's way to soon
I should wait, till a cow jumps over the moon.


Too Late

The sun may raise tomorrow
And with it the feel of your lips depart
Sadness may sweep down
And the jagged spikes will kill my heart
A hand may run through your perfect hair
Perhaps it shall be the shadow of mine
Where in that place we may have met
And kindly our souls did intertwine
Stories may tell of a sacred love
And this could be an enchanted spell
That may captivate those who stay
And perhaps I shall be the last who fell
Trapped in this single desire
A need that may need to be fulfilled
And as the moon comes back
Perhaps the air will be stilled
Maybe you shall return
To that place where we may have met
And we could hold each other
And our eyes could set
Maybe there will be a fiery passion
To set all others to shame
And my icy heart
Can perhaps melt in the flame
But maybe a touch that runs so deep
Cannot quite be completed
Maybe it is far too late
Perhaps that part of us is defeated

A History of Photography

BEGINNINGS OF PHOTOGRAPHY, The

First, the name. We owe the name "Photography" to Sir John Herschel , who first used the term in 1839, the year the photographic process became public. (*1) The word is derived from the Greek words for light and writing.

Before mentioning the stages that led to the development of photography, there is one amazing, quite uncanny prediction made by a man called de la Roche (1729- 1774) in a work called Giphantie. In this imaginary tale, it was possible to capture images from nature, on a canvas which had been coated with a sticky substance. This surface, so the tale goes, would not only provide a mirror image on the sticky canvas, but would remain on it. After it had been dried in the dark the image would remain permanent. The author would not have known how prophetic this tale would be, only a few decades after his death.

There are two distinct scientific processes that combine to make photography possible. It is somewhat surprising that photography was not invented earlier than the 1830s, because these processes had been known for quite some time. It was not until the two distinct scientific processes had been put together that photography came into being.

The first of these processes was optical. The Camera Obscura (dark room) had been in existence for at least four hundred years. There is a drawing, dated 1519, of a Camera Obscura by Leonardo da Vinci; about this same period its use as an aid to drawing was being advocated.

The second process was chemical. For hundreds of years before photography was invented, people had been aware, for example, that some colours are bleached in the sun, but they had made little distinction between heat, air and light.

  • In the sixteen hundreds Robert Boyle, a founder of the Royal Society, had reported that silver chloride turned dark under exposure, but he appeared to believe that it was caused by exposure to the air, rather than to light.
  • Angelo Sala, in the early seventeenth century, noticed that powdered nitrate of silver is blackened by the sun.
  • In 1727 Johann Heinrich Schulze discovered that certain liquids change colour when exposed to light.
  • At the beginning of the nineteenth century Thomas Wedgwood was conducting experiments; he had successfully captured images, but his silhouettes could not survive, as there was no known method of making the image permanent.

The first successful picture was produced in June/July 1827 by Niépce, using material that hardened on exposure to light. This picture required an exposure of eight hours.

On 4 January 1829 Niépce agreed to go into partnership with Louis Daguerre . Niépce died only four years later, but Daguerre continued to experiment. Soon he had discovered a way of developing photographic plates, a process which greatly reduced the exposure time from eight hours down to half an hour. He also discovered that an image could be made permanent by immersing it in salt.

Following a report on this invention by Paul Delaroche , a leading scholar of the day, the French government bought the rights to it in July 1839. Details of the process were made public on 19 August 1839, and Daguerre named it the Daguerreotype.

The announcement that the Daguerreotype "requires no knowledge of drawing...." and that "anyone may succeed.... and perform as well as the author of the invention" was greeted with enormous interest, and "Daguerreomania" became a craze overnight. An interesting account of these days is given by a writer called Gaudin , who was present the day that the announcement was made.

However, not all people welcomed this exciting invention; some pundits viewed in quite sinister terms. A newspaper report in the Leipzig City Advertiser stated:

"The wish to capture evanescent reflections is not only impossible... but the mere desire alone, the will to do so, is blasphemy. God created man in His own image, and no man- made machine may fix the image of God. Is it possible that God should have abandoned His eternal principles, and allowed a Frenchman... to give to the world an invention of the Devil?"

At that time some artists saw in photography a threat to their livelihood (see Artists and Photography ), and some even prophesied that painting would cease to exist.

The Daguerreotype process, though good, was expensive, and each picture was a once-only affair. That, to many, would not have been regarded as a disadvantage; it meant that the owner of the portrait could be certain that he had a piece of art that could not be duplicated. If however two copies were required, the only way of coping with this was to use two cameras side by side. There was, therefore, a growing need for a means of copying pictures which daguerreotypes could never satisfy.

Different, and in a sense a rival to the Daguerreotype, was the Calotype invented by William Henry Fox Talbot , which was to provide the answer to that problem. His paper to the Royal Society of London, dated 31 January 1839, actually precedes the paper by Daguerre; it was entitled "Some account of the Art of Photogenic drawing, or the process by which natural objects may be made to delineate themselves without the aid of the artist's pencil." He wrote:

"How charming it would be if it were possible to cause these natural images to imprint themselves durably and remain fixed on the paper!"

The earliest paper negative we know of was produced in August 1835; it depicts the now famous window at Lacock Abbey, his home. The negative is small (1" square), and poor in quality, compared with the striking images produced by the Daguerreotype process. By 1840, however, Talbot had made some significant improvements, and by 1844 he was able to bring out a photographically illustrated book entitled "The Pencil of nature." (See note HERE).

Compared with Daguerreotypes the quality of the early Calotypes was somewhat inferior. (See comments on Claudet). However, the great advantage of Talbot's method was that an unlimited number of positive prints could be made (see also Brewster ). In fact, today's photography is based on the same principle, whereas by comparison the Daguerreotype, for all its quality, was a blind alley.

The mushrooming of photographic establishments reflects photography's growing popularity; from a mere handful in the mid 1840s the number had grown to 66 in 1855, and to 147 two years later. In London, a favourite venue was Regent Street where, in the peak in the mid 'sixties there were no less than forty-two photographic establishments! In America the growth was just as dramatic: in 1850 there were 77 photographic galleries in New York alone. The demand for photographs was such that Charles Baudelaire (1826-1867), a well known poet of the period and a critic of the medium, commented:

"our squalid society has rushed, Narcissus to a man, to gloat at its trivial image on a scrap of metal."

Talbot's photography was on paper, and inevitably the imperfections of the paper were printed alongside with the image, when a positive was made. Several experimented with glass as a basis for negatives, but the problem was to make the silver solution stick to the shiny surface of the glass. In 1848 a cousin of Nicephore Niépce, Abel Niépce de Saint-Victor, perfected a process of coating a glass plate with white of egg sensitised with potassium iodide, and washed with an acid solution of silver nitrate. This new ( albumen ) process made for very fine detail and much higher quality. However, it was very slow, hence the fact that photographs produced on this substance were architecture and landscapes; portraiture was simply not possible.

Progress in this new art was slow in England, compared with other countries. Both Daguerre and Fox Talbot were partly responsible, the former for having rather slyly placed a patent on his invention whilst the French government had made it freely available to the world, the latter for his law-suits in connection with his patents.

In 1851 a new era in photography was introduced by Frederick Scott Archer , who introduced the Collodion process. This process was much faster than conventional methods, reducing exposure times to two or three seconds, thus opening up new horizons in photography.

Prices for daguerreotypes varied, but in general would cost about a guinea (£1.05), which would be the weekly wage for many workers. The collodion process, however, was much cheaper; prints could be made for as little as one shilling (5p).

A further impetus was given to photography for the masses by the introduction of carte-de-visite photographs by Andre Disdéri . This developed into a mania, though it was relatively short-lived.

The collodion process required that the coating, exposure and development of the image should be done whilst the plate was still wet. Another process developed by Archer was named the Ambrotype , which was a direct positive.

The wet collodion process, though in its time a great step forward, required a considerable amount of equipment on location. There were various attempts to preserve exposed plates in wet collodion, for development at a more convenient time and place, but these preservatives lessened the sensitivity of the material. It was clear, then, that a dry method was required. It is likely that the difficulties of the process hastened the search for instantaneous photography. Skaife, in a pamphlet, aptly commented (1860):

"Speaking in general, instantaneous photography is as elastic a term as the expression 'long and short.'"

The next major step forward came in 1871, when Dr. Richard Maddox discovered a way of using Gelatin (which had been discovered only a few years before) instead of glass as a basis for the photographic plate. This led to the development of the dry plate process. Dry plates could be developed much more quickly than with any previous technique. Initially it was very insensitive compared with existing processes, but it was refined to the extent that the idea of factory-made photographic material was now becoming possible.

The introduction of the dry-plate process marked a turning point. No longer did one need the cumbersome wet-plates, no longer was a darkroom tent needed. One was very near the day that pictures could be taken without the photographer needing any specialised knowledge.

Celluloid had been invented in the early eighteen-sixties, and John Carbutt persuaded a manufacturer to produce very thin celluloid as a backing for sensitive material. George Eastman is particularly remembered for introducing flexible film in 1884. Four years later he introduced the box camera, and photography could now reach a much greater number of people.

Other names of significance include Herman Vogel , who developed a means whereby film could become sensitive to green light, and Eadweard Muybridge who paved the way for motion picture photography.

Popular in the Victorian times was stereoscopic photography , which reproduced images in three dimensions. It is a process whose popularity waxed and waned - as it does now - reaching its heights in the mid-Victorian era.

(*1) Well, actually, not quite. Whilst Herschel used the term first in a lecture before the Royal Society on March 14, 1839, he was in fact beaten to the post by an anonymous writer with the initials "J.M." a few weeks earlier, on February 25. Eventually a scholar was able to determine that this anonymous writer was in fact Johann von Maedler (1794-1874), who was an astronomer in Berlin. However, Hershel was undoubtedly the person who, with his fame and position, made the word "photography" known to the world.

MUSEUMS of photographic interest

There is nothing quite like seeing the real thing! The following are a few of the major museums which display equipment and/or images relating to the history of photography;

Bath, Avon: The Royal Photographic Society Museum

Since writing this work, the Royal Photographic Society has passed on the contents of its vast treasure to the National Museum of Photography, Film and Television in Bradford. In the hands of an organisation better equipped to display and store the equipment and works of art, it will at long last mean that the many items donated to the Society over many years will become unlocked, and more generally available to people who are interested in the history of photography.

Birmingham: The Reference Library

Bradford, Yorkshire: National Museum of Photography, Film and Television

This Museum also incoprporates the vast collection of the Royal Photographic Society.

Edinburgh: Scottish National Portrait Gallery

Edinburgh: Public Library

Guildford, Surrey: The Guildford Museum (pictures by Lewis Carroll)

London: The Victoria and Albert Museum

London: The Science Museum

London: MOMI (The Museum of the Moving Image)

London: The Imperial War Museum

London: Kingston-on-Thames Public Library

Manchester: The Northwest Museum of Science and Technology

Oxford: Museum of the History of Science

Lacock, Avon: The Fox Talbot Museum

Edinburgh: The Royal Scottish Museum

1 Littre Of Tears

Details

  • Title: 1リットルの涙
  • Title (romaji): 1 Litre no Namida
  • Also known as: Ichi Rittoru no Namida / One Litre of Tears / A Diary with Tears
  • Genre: School, romance, family, human
  • Broadcast network: Fuji TV
  • Related TV shows: Tears of Happiness

Renzoku

Synopsis

15-year-old Ikeuchi Aya was an ordinary girl, the daughter of a family who works at a tofu shop, and a soon-to-be high schooler. However, odd things have been happening to Aya lately. She has been falling down often and walks strange. Her mother, Shioka, takes Aya to see the doctor, and he informs Shioka that Aya has spinocerebellar degeneration - a terrible disease where the cerebellum of the brain gradually deteriorates to the point where the victim cannot walk, speak, write, or eat. A cruel disease, as it does not affect the mind in the least. How will Aya react when told about her disease? And how will Aya live from now on?

Synopsis by Episode

Cast

Corelation chart
Enlarge
Corelation chart

Production Credits

Episode Titles

  • Ep 01: The beginning of my youth
  • Ep 02: 15 years old, sickness that steals up
  • Ep 03: Why did the illness chose me?
  • Ep 04: Solitude of two people
  • Ep 05: A handicapped person's notebook
  • Ep 06: Heartless glances
  • Ep 07: The place where I am
  • Ep 08: 1 litre of tears
  • Ep 09: I live now
  • Ep 10: Love letter
  • Ep 11: Faraway, to a place where there are no tears left to cry

Episode Ratings

Episode Kanto Kansai Nationwide
01 13.5 ??.? ??.?
02 15.1 ??.? ??.?
03 13.5 ??.? ??.?
04 12.3 ??.? ??.?
05 14.6 ??.? ??.?
06 15.2 ??.? ??.?
07 16.2 ??.? ??.?
08 15.4 ??.? ??.?
09 15.5 ??.? ??.?
10 16.6 ??.? ??.?
11 20.5 ??.? ??.?
average 15.31 ??.? ??.?

Source: Video Research, Ltd. (http://www.videor.co.jp/)

Reviews

by Daemonneko

Based on a true story, One Litre of Tears is about the life story Kitou Aya (1962-1988) a girl who had an incurable disease called Spinocerebellar Degeneration Disease (also known as SCA type 2; spinocerebellar ataxia type 2)at a young age of 15. Although the girl in the drama - Ikeuchi Aya, lived in the 21st century, her character was based on Kitou Aya's life, how she struggled and fought her disease and how she wrote her deepest thoughts until the last day she could hold a pen. Before she died, her writings were published including the poems she wrote while she is staying in a school for the disabled. This gave new hopes to people who suffers the same disease as she did and soon Aya received letters of appreciation and thanks from those people. At the age of 25, she succumbed herself into a sleep where she could no longer feel any pain.

Ichi Rittoru no Namida is a heart-warming drama that will make people happy for the simple fact that they are alive, and will give hope to those who suffers from diseases and will make them think positive about living instead of giving up easily.

I give this drama two-thumbs up!

Special

DVD Cover for 1 Litre of Tears Special
Enlarge
DVD Cover for 1 Litre of Tears Special
  • Title: 「1リットルの涙」特別篇‧追憶
  • Viewership ratings: 17.0
  • Broadcast date: 2007-Apr-05
  • Air time: 21:00
  • Insert song: Umarekuru Kodomotachi no Tame ni by Oda Kazumasa (uncredited)

Synopsis

This special is set half a year after the death of Aya. Her younger sister Ako is training to be a nurse, while Haruto has already become a neurologist at the hospital Aya was once treated at. The loss of Aya strongly affects Haruto, causing him to lose sight of himself. But after he meets Mizuki, a 14-year-old patient who has given up on living, he feels compelled to share with her the story of Aya's life.

Cast

Production Credits

Latest Fashion Trends

Fall Fashion Highlights
Highlights from the Fall 2009 Fashion Weeks shows from Diane von Furstenberg, BCBG, DKNY and more.
Spring Fashion
Yellow, harem pants, frou: all of these trends and more came down the runways of Marc Jacobs, Michael Kors, Diane von Furstenberg and the rest of your favorite designers. And we have all the pics for your fashion inspiration.
Worst Fashion Trends of 2008
The worst fashion trends of 2008 included black tights with everything, ugly shoes -- gladiators and shooties -- and maxi dresses.
Best Dressy Holiday Looks
You're invited! So now it's time to find a dressy holiday look: one that will work for most black tie, cocktail, business formal and formal holiday parties.
How to Wear a Scarf
A scarf can add warmth, complete a look or define your style. Learn the Dos and Don'ts of wearing a scarf the right way.
Quick 'n' Cheap Update: Bows
Add a feminine touch to your Fall wardrobe by adding a bow look to everything from blouses to shoes.
6 Tricky Trends -- Would You Wear These Looks?
Overalls, chartreuse and harem pants may seem like a good idea, but would you wear these new trends from Spring 2009 Fashion Week?
Longer Skirts
Hemlines take a dip to mid-calf and longer this fall. Add a longer-length skirt to your wardrobe to add a fresh perspective. Taller gals can go to near-ankle-lengths; shorter women look best in mid-calf lengths.
Would You Wear This Fashion Trend?
Sure, it looks good on someone else, but are you brave enough to take on sky-high stilettos, bows, lace, studs and other trendy fashion looks? Browse through the fashion trend gallery and cast your vote on which fashion trends you would wear.
Olympic Fashion
Photos from the 2008 Bejing Olympics, with an emphasis on Olympic fashion.
Vests
Vests are a great way to add a wearable, chic finishing layer to outfits you already own. Here are our favorites.
Fall Fashion
Find the latest trends for fall fashion for women.
Fashion Week, Fall 2008
See the latest designs from New York Fashion Week, Fall 2008.
What's That Sleeve Called?
Do you know your lantern sleeve from your balloon sleeve? Right now the sleeve is the design element in fashion. Find out what each new look is called with our picture gallery.
Top 5 Trend-proof winter buys
Ready for some fashion, but not quite ready for spring clothes yet? Don't be tempted to blow your budget on winter clearance items that you may never wear. Stick with timeless finds and you'll enjoy your smart picks for years to come.
How to Wear Gray
Gray may be the season's hottest hue, but that doesn't necessarily make it easy to carry off. Find out how to look great in gray.
10 Fall Trends You'll Love to Wear
Menswear, cute swing jackets, rich jewel tones and easy knit dresses top our list of fall must-haves for 2007.
10 Fall Fashion Classics You Need to Own
Trends come and go, but classics should make up the core of your wardrobe to keep you going from year to year. Find out which 10 fall items you need to own to build a timeless wardrobe.
Little Black Dresses
Make your special occasion worry-free with this classic pick for evenings, including reunions, cruises, weddings, dates and much more. Our seven favorite styles to buy online
Designer-Look Bags Under $75
Get the high-fashion handbag look at a budget-fashion handbag price of under $75. Find the season's best shapes and colors at a price you can afford for a bag.
How to Wear Skinny Jeans
Love the new skinny jeans but not sure how they'll work for you? Find out how to make this new trend work for your figure.
Leggings
Layering leggings under tunics and dresses is the hottest trend out there. Find the best leggings in all price and size ranges.
What to Wear with Leggings
Leggings layered under skirts and dresses are the hottest look out there. Find out how to wear leggings.
Who Starts Trends?
Find out how trends get started and who decides what's hot or not.
Hot or Not? When Fashion Trends Die
If you're wondering whether that great low-waisted pair of pants you bought last year look, well, a little too last year, we'll help you decide when a trend has died.

First Loves: Why We Never Forget Them

My first love? Mmmmm, that always puts tears in my eyes.

There isn't a day when I don't think about him and worry whether or not he's doing okay for himself in the world.

Do I remember my first love? You bet I do, like it was yesterday -- and it's been 19 years.

Do you remember your first love? Almost a silly question! Of course we do, intensely, passionately, maybe just a little sadly. Whether he's still by your side or just a memory that causes a sweet ache in your heart when you think about him, iVillagers' first loves are treasured parts of their lives. Here's what you had to say about the guys who first made your world spin.

He Still Lights My Fire
After so many years, just thinking about our first loves seems to send our hearts a-flutter. What is it about our first loves that grips our imaginations, even five, ten, twenty years past the fact? Whatever the cause and whoever it was, the one we first loved seems to be a permanent part of our consciousness. We can't forget him -- and who would want to?

"Oh yes, I remember my first love -- like it was only yesterday," Helma says. "It has been so many years, but I still remember what he looked like and how much I loved him. There was an age difference of about eight years -- I was 16 and he was 24 -- and he was afraid my parents would never go for it. To this day, when I feel a little melancholy, I find myself remembering his touch and his kiss. That's pretty amazing since I am soon going to be 42."

"We were passionate about everything -- loving each other, fighting with each other, even passionate when we were trying to hurt each other," recalls Mars. "I still think about him although I'm very much in love and completely happy with my husband. I saw him [my first love] several weeks ago, with his wife and baby. I looked at him and he looked at me and it was sweet for a moment. I hadn't seen him for a while; it was nice to see he's happy, too."

"We were the definition of 'not meant for each other,'" says Sasa of her college boyfriend. "My parents and friends couldn't stand him; we bickered constantly, broke up more times than I can count. But there was this thing between us. If you put us in a room together, there was just instant heat, undeniable attraction. When we finally broke up for good, I felt like someone had ripped my heart out. I still have his love letters and the tapes he made for me stashed in the back of my closet -- and it's ten years after the fact."

Dira first met her true love when she was 13, but it took another five years before her crush turned into a relationship: "We danced one dance, he took me home and we dated for two years through college. He was stationed in California and the long-distance thing didn't work out," she relates. "He's still in California, with a lovely wife, and I'm still single in North Carolina. He's definitely the one who got away ... but he will always be my first love."

When We Meet Him Again
Like Bogie and Bergman in Casablanca or Warren Beatty and Natalie Wood in Splendor in the Grass, every once in a while we're reunited with our first loves, if only briefly. These meetings can be bittersweet (and maybe a little off-putting to our current partners), but who hasn't wondered what it would be like to see him again?

Nia had pledged to marry her first love, but, what with one thing and another, ended up with another man. Twenty years after last seeing Jeff, he arrived at her mother's funeral. But even after so many years, the fire burned as brightly as it did when they were teens: "We talked about how we had loved each other so much. He told me how heartbroken he was when I went off and got married.... I often think about him and the purity of our live. We had never gone any further than kissing, but the closeness I felt to him was more than I feel today for my husband of 26 years."

Debbie was also recently reunited with her first love: "After 29 years," she tells us, "I just spent the night with my first love. We were just 14 when we first met at the swimming pool. Oh, it was true love, if there is such a thing at that age. Now, after all these years, we have found love again. This time, it's a different kind of love; we have had our past and now our present, and are looking forward to our future together."

Shopperlover's reunion with her first love happened online. "I get online in February, and here I am totally new to the PC. I was doing some exploring and who pops in with an Instant Message. Yes, him. My heart started to pound -- and, of course, my son had just walked into the room and my husband was passing by when I said, 'Oh, my God! It can't be!' So I had to explain who it was.... We have talked back and forth ever since. My heart flutters every time I get an email from him -- it makes me feel almost guilty, but I do love to hear from him."

He Was My First and Only Love
Some of us were lucky enough to get things right the first time. Once we found him (in the words of that old South Pacific song), we never let him go.

"My first love made my heart beat faster, gave me butterflies in my stomach and played the part of the bad boy," says Sela, "but he had a heart of gold underneath, which is what made me fall in love with him. In the end, he was the only one who could hold my heart. We've been together for eight years, married for six, and have an adorable little boy. My first love ended up being my forever love."

"I've only had one true love," confesses Lisa, "and I married him. We started dating senior year of high school and got married six years later. I just knew from the beginning that he was 'the one.' I don't know why, but I believe we were meant to be. I guess you could say he's my soul mate."

"The story of my first love is sort of an unusual one," says Jeny. "Believe me, I know how outrageous that sounds." After months of email courtship, Jennifer and her cyberboyfriend met in person early last year. "Soon after he arrived, any doubts we had about this relationship working out were gone. We've stayed in love ever since and do have plans for marriage in the future."

It Made Me Older and Wiser Sometimes first love teaches us a thing or two -- and not necessarily lessons we wanted to learn.

"He made me feel so wonderful," recalls Andri. "The 13 months we spent together were the happiest of my life -- until he broke up with me. Little did I realize he was cheating on me behind my back." On top of everything, her boyfriend had gotten her pregnant. "I was scared out of my mind and he wasn't much help at all. I finally gave in and told my mom, which was the best choice I ever made in my life. The experience made me grow up and I am such a better person for it. By the way, he got the other girl, with whom he was cheating on me, pregnant, then married and divorced her. He is single and has a 15-year-old son. Better him than me."