Kiss and Tell

I’m not the kind of girl that will kiss and tell but today, I've been inspired to write a blog post about...wait for it...kiss, kisses and kissing!  Settle down little donkeys (said in my best Shrek accent!), don’t get too excited...I’m just watching The Notebook :)

In The Notebook, there are some of the most romantic and passionate kissing scenes I’ve ever seen in my life a movie.  How is any man (or woman) ever supposed to compete with that?!? 

What is it about a kissing scene that makes me us feel so....ummm....ummm....I’m not quite sure how to put it into words but you know the feeling, right?  When your heart feels so full, your body starts to tingle (ahem!),  and your eyes swell with tears of joy or pain depending on whether or not you’ve ever experienced such a kiss.  Have you?  You're right, it's none of my business!

Seriously though, have you ever kissed someone or been kissed by someone (makes me wonder...is there a difference?), and you felt the earth move, or your heart swelled, or you felt light-headed, or had a feeling of love go through your body from head to toe, or you felt weak in the knees, or you felt like you were going to pass out, or your leg lifts (you know, like in the movies?), or you felt like you were the only two people in the world, or you wanted to rip your clothes off and/or their clothes (sorry but I write this blog from a place of honesty!)?  What is it about a kiss that allows you to feel (and give!) so much love?  What makes a kiss so passionate or romantic?  Is it the person you’re kissing that makes you feel that way or is it the way you feel about that person that makes you feel that way?  When you love someone, could that person be anything but a good kisser?  Could you ever really fall in love with a bad kisser? What makes someone a good kisser?  Again, is it the feelings you have for that person and them for you that makes them/you a good kisser or is it simply his or her lips or tongue?  Does groping holding each other make a difference in the quality of the kiss?  Have you ever rated the people you've kissed?  Am I too much of a romantic to think that love has anything to do with it?  Maybe it’s simply just chemistry or lust or a dare (remember junior high and high school?) or maybe even desperation (not that I know anything about that!)?   All of these questions remind me of a scene in Pretty Woman when Julia Roberts tells Richard Gere that she’ll have sex with him but no kissing allowed (she’s a prostitute, remember?).  Is kissing really such an intimate act?  I would say yes but I’m a hopeless romantic (is that why I’ve never been married?).  Anyways, this blog post isn’t about what I think or feel or have experienced, it’s a critical view of kissing because I don’t kiss and tell, remember?

So what is a kiss?  According to Wikipedia, a kiss is the act of pressing one's lips against the lips or other body parts (ahem!) of another or of an object (ew!). Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely. Depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, affection, respect, greeting, friendship, and good luck, among many others. In some situations a kiss is a ritual, formal or symbolic gesture indicating devotion, respect or greeting, as in the case of a bride and groom kissing at the conclusion of a wedding ceremony or national leaders kissing each other in greeting, and in many other situations. Depending on the culture, relationship and context a person may kiss another on their lips, cheek, head, hand and each of these gestures may carry a different social significance.

So besides the obvious, when I think about the word "kiss", I think about Greek men : 

Chocolate Kisses:  Yes, I’ve been sugarless for 18 days so that’s the first thing on my mind...chocolate! For those of you who aren’t familiar with chocolate kisses, Wikipedia describes them as a type of chocolate manufactured by The Hershey Company. The bite-sized pieces of chocolate have a distinctive shape, commonly described as flat-bottomed teardrops. Hershey's Kisses are wrapped in squares of lightweight aluminum foil with a narrow strip of paper, called a nigglywiggly (who said this blog wasn't educational!), protruding from the top.  There are many types of kisses including milk chocolate, dark chocolate, white chocolate and caramel filled.   

Eskimo kisses:  I’m not sure why this was the second (technically third!) reference that came to mind but it did so I had to search Wikipedia for an explanation.  The act known as eskimo kissing in modern western culture is loosely based on a traditional Inuit greeting called a kunik.  A kunik is a form of expressing affection, usually between family members and loved ones, that involves pressing the nose and upper lip against the skin (commonly the cheeks or forehead) and breathing in, causing the loved one's skin or hair to be suctioned against the nose and upper lip. A common misconception is that the practice arose so that Inuit could kiss without their mouths freezing together. In fact, it is a non-erotic form of greeting that serves as an intimate way of greeting one another for people who, when they meet, often have little except their nose and eyes exposed.

Butterfly kisses:  A song by Bob Carlisle that makes me cry every time I hear it because he wrote it for his daughter.  According to Urban Dictionary, butterfly kisses occur when someone flutters their eyelashes on another's skin so they just feel the tickling sensation.

French kiss:  Since this blog has been self-rated as PG...I have nothing more to say.   

The Kiss:   One of my favourite paintings is The Kiss (original Der Kuss) by Gustav Klimt.  I thought it would be interesting to share a few fun facts (redundant...aren't all facts fun?) about the painter and his painting so after some extensive research, I came up with the following from Wikipedia:    

• The Kiss is his most famous work.
• He began work on it in 1907 and it is the highpoint of his so-called 'Golden Period'.
• It depicts a couple, in various shades of gold and symbols, sharing a kiss against a bronze background.
• When he painted The Kiss, Klimt was 45 and still lived at home with his mother and two unmarried sisters - but behind the respectable facade he was a man with a ferocious sexual appetite. Klimt fathered at least three illegitimate children and probably many more. He was obsessed by women and he had a fixation with redheads. It is no surprise that the woman in The Kiss has red hair.
• According to writer Frank Whitford: "Together the man and the woman form the shape of a penis and I think that is intentional - it's about sex and about the fulfillment of sex between a man and a woman." (oh my, I guess this blog isn’t as PG as I thought...sorry Sarah!)
• Two figures are situated at the edge of a flowered escarpment. The man is wearing neutral colored rectangles and a crown of vines; the woman wears brightly colored tangent circles and flowers in her hair. The couple’s embrace is enveloped by triangular vining and a veil of concentric circles.  Similarly juxtaposed couples appear in both Klimt’s Beethoven Frieze and Stoclet Frieze.
• In The Kiss, Klimt depicted a couple locked in an embrace. The rest of the painting dissolves into shimmering, extravagant flat patterning. This patterning has clear ties to Art Nouveau and to the Arts and Crafts movement and also evokes the conflict between two- and three-dimensionality intrinsic to the work of Degas and other modernists. Paintings such as The Kiss were visual manifestations of fin-de-siecle spirit because they capture a decadence conveyed by opulent and sensuous images.
• Klimt's use of gold had been hugely influenced by a trip he had made to Italy in 1903. He went to Ravenna where he saw the Byzantine mosaics in the Church of San Vitale. For Klimt the flatness of the mosaics and their lack of perspective and depth only enhanced their golden brilliance and he started to make unprecedented use of gold and silver leaf in his own work.
• The Kiss is a discreet expression of Klimt’s emphasis on eroticism and the liberation therein. The Kiss falls in line with Klimt’s exploration of fulfillment and the redeeming, transformative power of love and art.The Kiss deviates from Klimt’s frequent portrayal of woman as the lascivious femme fatale.
• The piece is currently at the Österreichische Galerie Belvedere museum, which is housed in the Belvedere palace, in Vienna, Austria.

The Kiss by Gustav Klimt

So dear readers that was your art history lesson for today (you’re welcome!).  Now let’s move on to other references to kisses that come to my mind (yes, that’s a scary place indeed!):

Kissing under the mistletoe:  I have no idea how or when the tradition started so after a quick search, I discovered that according to ancient Christmas custom, a man and a woman who meet under a hanging of mistletoe were obliged to kiss. The custom may be of Scandinavian origin.  It was described in 1820 by American author Washington Irving in his "The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon":

"The mistletoe is still hung up in farm-houses and kitchens at Christmas, and the young men have the privilege of kissing the girls under it, plucking each time a berry from the bush. When the berries are all plucked the privilege ceases."

Kiss me at midnight:  Besides being a song off of the ‘N SYNC Christmas Album (remember what I said about honesty...just sayin’!), it’s something people do at the stroke of midnight on New Year’s Eve.  This year, I’m proud to say that my Mom, Dad and brother were the recipients of my hugs and kisses at midnight.  Maybe the next New Year’s Eve, I’ll have an actual smooch with someone special :)

Cheek kisses:  In a cheek kiss, both people lean forward and either lightly touch cheek with cheek or lip with cheek.  The cheek kisses are usually between friends and family, and usually accompanies a hug. 

Cheek kisses x 2:  French-Canadians and French people generally have the cheek kiss as previously described but is then repeated with the other cheek.  Depending on the country and situation, the number of kisses is usually one, two, three or four (ooh la la!).

"You may kiss your bride":  Words, that I hope to someday hear, spoken to my husband :)

Blow a kiss:  It might sound dirty (ahem!) but it’s actually not (geesh!).  It’s the action of kissing one's hand, then blowing across it as if to carry the kiss through the air to another person

A Mother's Kiss:  Not only is it a precious gift to a child but it's also a poem by Frances Harper written in 1895 (the first four verses):

A Mother's Kiss

My mother's kiss, my mother's kiss,
I feel its impress now;
As in the bright and happy days
She pressed it on my brow.

You say it is a fancied thing
Within my memory fraught;
To me it has a sacred place--
The treasure house of thought.

Again, I feel her fingers glide
Amid my clustering hair;
I see the love-light in her eyes,
When all my life was fair.

Again, I hear her gentle voice
In warning or in love.
How precious was the faith that taught
My soul of things above.

Kissing booth: A kissing booth is an area at a carnival where a desperate person kisses people for money.  According to Wikipedia, these are more a fictionalized than a historical common occurrence, even at carnivals

Kiss:  It’s a musical band and they scare me! 

“Kiss from a rose”:  A lovely song by Seal

“Kiss”:  A song by Prince (I love the bath scene in Pretty Woman when Julia Roberts sings this song!)

“Kiss me”:   A song by Sixpence None the Richer

“This kiss”:  A song by Faith Hill

“Kiss me in the rain”:  A song by Barbra (do I really have to include her last name?)

Isn’t that a beautiful song?  I guess they didn’t have music videos in 1979! 

Thinking about songs brought me back to kissing scenes in movies.  Right now, I’m thinking that the best kissing scenes are in The Notebook but there are also the kissing scenes in Bridget Jones Diary, How Stella Got Her Groove Back (Taye Diggs...need I say more?), Spiderman (the upside down kiss), ET (they don’t all have to be romantic!), Ghost, Titanic, Lady and the Tramp, Love Actually, Catch and Release, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, The Lake House and Dirty Dancing.  Did you notice how I did not mention movies starring my FH John Cusack?  Do you really think I would promote watching my FH kiss another woman? Besides the kissing scenes involving my FH and a slut another woman, kissing scenes in movies are so memorable that even the MTV Movie Awards has an award for best kissing scene (The Notebook is an award winner!)! What are your favourite kissing scenes?  I hear that there have been some pretty steamy kissing scenes in Grey’s Anatomy and Private Practice but I don’t watch either of those television shows.  Maybe I should start :)

There are so many great kissing scenes in The Notebook that I couldn’t decide which one to include in my blog post so I found a compilation video of many great scenes from the movie which includes some of the kissing scenes (my favourite scene is when he takes her out in the row boat and they feed the white ducks then it starts to rain...how romantic!): 

What about kissing scenes in books?  I'm hoping that there were some great kissing scenes in The Notebook but I haven't read the book.  If I remember correctly there were some good kissing scenes in one or more of Judy Blume's novels.  I'm so surprised that I can't think of any memorable kissing scenes in books.  Can you think of any?  I'm sure I'll come up with some as soon as I publish this post!  (yes, I'm too lazy to get up and peruse my book shelves to help jog my memory!)

Types of kisses:  loving, romantic, passionate, friendly, lusty, steamy, hot, awkward, unwanted, long, short, pecks, wet, dry, sloppy, runny, saliva-y, stinky, drool-y, first date, respectful, memorable, intimate, disgusting, warm, cold, blister-inducing and my favourite...leaves you wanting more.  Can you think of any other types or words that you would use to describe a kiss? 

How could I forget the most memorable type of kiss?  The first kiss!  Do you remember your first kiss?  I was...oops...I almost forgot that I don’t kiss and tell :)

Steal a kiss:  Have you ever stolen a kiss or had a kiss stolen?  It’s when you give someone or receive from someone a quick little kiss when they/you aren't expecting one.  I believe you have to be pretty bold and confident to steal a kiss (and romantic?).  “Steal my kisses” is also a song by Ben Harper. 

PDA:  Although the word “kiss” isn’t in it, PDA does imply that there’s some smooching going on so I’ve added it to my list (this is my blog afterall!).  PDA is an acronym for “public displays of affection” which basically means kissing in public.  My motto is "the more PDA the better!"  Oops...I keep forgetting that I don’t kiss and tell :)

Being the positive person that I am, I have included all of the “positive” stuff associated with the word “kiss", however, there is a dark and ugly side to this word (besides the fact that lots of people go without kisses.!). 

Kiss off:   To dismiss, get rid of, or reject someone rudely or crudely.  The saying could be used as follows:

• “She gave me the royal kiss off” which means she told him to “take a hike”. 
• “Kiss off!!!” which is a kinder and gentler way of saying F*ck off (I added that star for Dad!). 

Kiss my ass:  An expression of disdain or dismissal, and is a vulgar way of saying “go away!”.  I believe the UK version of “kiss my ass” is “kiss my arse”.  Is this correct my British friends?  (Yes, I’ll do anything to make this blog interactive!).  The saying could be used as follows:

• “If you don’t like this blog post, you can kiss my ass!” :P