Chapter Theme Song:.

"Yin & Yang," Adam Ant Romantics are particularly good at balancing opposites.

YANG & YIN.

224b Treat her as your best friend-You'll build intimacy.

Treat her as a stranger-It will add spice to your life!

Lighten up! Have more fun together. Experience the joy of life!

Get serious! Successful relationships require work!

Romance is easy! Just express yourself. Romance is "adult play"!

Romance is hard! Plan, shop, hide, wrap, write, surprise, deliver, drive, call, remember, woo!

Actions speak louder than words. Do something, don't just talk-Talk is cheap!

Communication is the cornerstone of a good relationship.

Travel inspires romance: exotic locales, foreign food, new experiences, high adventure!

Home is where the heart is: A cozy fire, a romantic bedroom, and a hot tub!

"Shake up" your life! go to a motivational seminar! Do something outrageous! Go skydiving!

"Slow down" your life. Meditate. Find your center. Listen. Shhh.

"Love is a force more formidable than any other. It is invisible-it cannot be seen or measured, yet it is powerful enough to transform you in a moment, and offer you more joy than any material possession could."

-Barbara De Angelis Romantics thrive on dynamic tension!

MOZART.

225 The dozen most romantic classical compositions of all time?

1. Liszt-Siloti: "Un Sospiro (A Sigh)," Concert Etude in D Flat Major 2. Debussy: "Girl with the Flaxen Hair"

3. Beethoven: "Moonlight Sonata," 1st Movement Op. 27, No. 2 4. Debussy: Arabesque No. 1 5. Mendelssohn: "Venetian Boat Song," Op. 30, No. 6 6. Chopin: Waltz in C Sharp Minor, Op. 64, No. 2 7. Beethoven: "Fur Elise"

8. Mendelssohn: "Song Without Words," Op. 62, No. 1 9. Chopin: Nocturne in F Sharp Minor, Op. 48, No. 2 10. Brahms: Waltz in A Major, Op. 39, No. 15 11. Brahms: Waltz in E Major, Op. 39, No. 2 12. Saint-Seans: "The Swan" from Carnival of the Animals 226 The next twelve most romantic classical compositions of all time?

13. Rachmaninoff: "A Night for Love"

14. Debussy: "Clair de Lune"

15. Granados: Spanish Dance No. 2 ("Oriental") 16. Chopin: Rondo in C Major, Op. 73 17. Scriabin: Fantasy in A Minor, Op. Posthumous 18. Debussy: "Prelude to the Afternoon of a Fawn"

19. Bach: "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring"

20. Schubert: Impromptu in G Flat 21. Ravel: "Jeux d'eau"

22. Rameau: Gavotte and Six Doubles 23. Schubert-Liszt: "Serenade"

24. Ravel: "Bolero"

ELVIS.

227 For your Elvis fan: Visit Graceland on your next vacation.

Hold a yearly birthday party on January 8th.

Use Elvis stamps every time you mail something to him or her.

Get all 147 Elvis records that were certified gold, platinum, or multiplatinum.

Plan your vacations with the help of the book, The Field Guide to Elvis Shrines, by Bill Yenne. It's a truly astounding resource.

228 Take a favorite CD and paste a new label over the original one: Retitle the album using her name or some personal reference. Or simply rename it "Our Songs."

229 Get every recording ever made by his or her favorite musical group.

230.

Musical love note: "Play the CD The Emancipation of Mimi, by Mariah Carey. My message to you is song number two."

Musical love note: "Play the CD Come Away With Me, by Norah Jones. My message to you is song number one."

Musical love note: "Play the CD Surfacing, by Sarah McLachlan. Listen to song number two."

Everybody has a favorite singer, song, group, or type of music. Use this knowledge in your romantic gestures!

Song #2: "We Belong Together"

Song #1: "Turn Me On"

Song #2: "I Love You"

Musical love note: "Play the CD No Name Face, by Lifehouse; my message to you is song number twelve."

Musical love note: "Play the CD A Day at the Races, by Queen. My message to you is song number two."

Song #12: "Everything"

Song #2: "You Take My Breath Away"

LAME EXCUSES (#S 14)

231a Lame Excuse #1: "Real Men aren't romantic."

Says who?? Somebody on a TV talk show? Some character in a movie? Your buddies? (Experts all, on matters of the heart, no doubt.) Let me tell you something: If Real Men aren't romantic, then Real Men are lonely.

Not true!

231b Lame Excuse #2: "Being romantic is going to cost me a fortune!"

As the Beatles said, "Money can't buy me love." It's true. Money can buy you companionship, attention, sex, and status-but it can't buy you love or happiness. Being romantic can cost you a fortune, but it doesn't have to. There is no correlation whatsoever between the size of the sentiment and the size of the price tag.

Not necessarily!

231c Lame Excuse #3: "I don't have time."

Bull! You have 1,440 minutes every day-the same as everybody else. How you use those minutes is up to you. Yes, work is important. Yes, your golf game is important. But do you really need to watch that rerun of Gilligan's Island again? The truth is, we all have time for what's truly important to us.

Give me a break!

231d Lame Excuse #4: "I forgot."

That's okay. Just don't do it again. You're allowed to forget occasionally, but not consistently. If forgetting is a habit, you're sending a clear signal that he or she just is not that important to you.

Uh-Uh!

LAME EXCUSES (#S 58)

231e Lame Excuse #5: "I'll be romantic later-after I get my career in order."

"Later" usually comes in about forty years-much too late for most partners to wait. And I know this next comment is a cliche, but it's so, so true: None, on his death bed, ever wished that he'd spent more time at work.

The busy executive excuse.

231f Lame Excuse #6: "I shouldn't have to prove my love by being romantic."

Romance isn't about proving anything. It's about expressing something.

The belligerent excuse.

231g Lame Excuse #7: "Maybe next week."

Question 1: How many weeks have you been saying this??

Question 2: (Sorry to be morbid-but...) How would you feel if your lover passed away without you having expressed your true love for him or her?

The procrastinator's excuse.

231h Lame Excuse #8: "What will the guys think?"

First, why should you care what the guys think? Second, who says that you need to tell the guys how romantic you are? Third, even though many guys won't admit it, most of them would love to know the relationship secrets of romantic guys!

The pseudo-macho excuse.