So I was watching a movie at home Christmas night because I got snowed out of a trip to Santa Fe. (Damn you Al Gore!) It was the The Tao of Steve, and it was the only movie I could recall that was filmed in Santa Fe within the past few years. Although it was mainly filmed indoors, there were some nice outdoor scenes at an afternoon yard party at a beautiful home in the hills.
It was basically a relationship story featuring Dex, the slacker in Santa Fe, and Syd, the gorgeous set builder in town to build the set for the Santa Fe Opera. Dex didn't remember her, but he and Syd had had an encounter in college. That's the way Dex was, love 'em and forget 'em. You wouldn't know it to look at him, but he was a ladies' man. Not cute, not suave, not especially cool. But he was smartest guy in class, and the women loved him. It's ten years later, he's still not cute, and now he's fat. But he still had the knack. He was a Homme Fatale to put a name to it.
He had developed a set of three simple rules for picking up girls, to wit:
1. Eliminate your desire for the woman;
2. Do something excellent in her presence; then
3. Retreat.
We pursue that which retreats from us. If the guy does it right, she will follow. This worked so well for Dex that he lost all ambition to do anything else. He explained his attitude to some people at the above mentioned party thusly:
"Look, men try and achieve success for one reason: to impress women, right? That's the only reason they build companies, write books or compete in sports and stuff. The problem is, if you figure out how you could get laid without achieving anything then you could lose your motivation all together. So there's no reason to get off the couch."
Well, he met Syd, and he fell hard for her. His three precious rules fell by the wayside, and we got to watch him violate them right and left. So how did it turn out? Sorry. It' s time for me to retreat. You'll have to see it for yourself, but it's a cute movie. And whether you're interested in the life lessons or the brief scenes of the beautiful hills of Santa Fe, it's worth the time it takes to watch it.
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