Fraaandshippers, ahoy! Today we shall be discussing that inevitable feeling that makes half the world act like idiots and the other half watch amusedly from the sidelines: lurrrve. I apeak mockingly of it, to be sure, but recently, a friend put the question to me quite seriously: do you believe in love at all? This time, I actually did stop to think about my answer instead of the automatic "bah" that pops up at the very mention of that word. I was also forced to seriously consider the fact that three of my closest friends have found "the one" and plan to marry their respective choices while three others are prancing about in marital bliss and one refuses to let go of his "the one" even though it's never going to happen. Getting back to the seriously posed question forced me to come up with the following theory (now tell me who can't pass bloody maths, eh?):

"love" = (x* lust) + (y*affection)

x + y= 1

Ta-da!

For the non mathematically inclined, I think that overrated feeling called love is a mixture of affection and lust and no more. Eventually, both fade and you're left irrevocably bound to someone you don't really like that much anymore but have grown used to so you spend the remainder of your lives speaking but not talking, words to cover up the silences. My problem, I have come to realise is that I recognize affection for what it is and lust is always fun, but not to be taken too seriously. If the basic ingredients are missing, there is thankfully no "lurrve" going to happen, and never shall, if I'm lucky.