Valentines Day

Where to begin with this one? I should probably start with Miranda and try not to get lost on the way. Miranda started out as my penpal and quickly became one of my best friends. She was one of the most uniquely quirky, wonderfully weird people I have ever had the pleasure to know. She was beautiful, funny, smart and one of those people who usually knew exactly the right thing to say in any given situation. And even when she didn't, saying the wrong thing usually turned out to be right. 


In 2008, at the age of 25, she killed herself.


*I want to stress at this point that this is not going to be an upsetting post. Or at least I'm going to try and not make it an upsetting post. I just need to explain a little of the back story here.*


February 14th this year would have been Miranda's 28th birthday. In order to remember Miranda in a not-so-morbid way, my best friend (who I met because of Miranda) and I decided to go to London for the day, and do things she would have done if she were here. Like going to the cinema, seeing an exhibition, wandering around the shops etc. 


I found out the night before that the Prince Charles Cinema was showing a special double bill of Labyrinth and The Princess Bride. For those who didn't know Miranda, this choice of films could not have been more appropriate for us to see on this day if she had chosen them herself. The only snag was that Labyrinth was sold out.


On the off chance that Labyrinth tickets would somehow become available in the 24 hours that followed, my best friend and I headed to London on Valentines/Miranda Day anyway. Once at the PCC (after we were told there were categorically no tickets left for Labyrinth) we decided to see the imminent showing of Blue Valentine. It seemed an oddly appropriate choice seeing as it was Valentines Day. 

I won't go into details (as these are on my review blog) but it was a suitable mix of sweet love story and depressing bitterness. But it also left you with a sense of hope. No bad thing on Miranda day. 


After trying our luck for Labyrinth tickets again - and being told there were none - we went to one of Miranda's favourite London haunts (is it politically correct to say haunts when now refering to someone who's deceased?) The Cinema Store. Now, normally I would keep such gems as this place to myself, but to be honest I think they could use all the custom they can get these days as they have closed one of their 2 stores. If you're a film memorabilia fan and you happen to be going to London please pop in and have a look around, they're on Upper St Martin's Lane. Or go here http://www.thecinemastore.co.uk/. 


Anyway, following our brief shopping spree, we had a lovely dinner in 50's style American Diner Ed's and then headed back to the PCC for The Princess Bride. 

One of my all time favourite movies. I honestly don't think there is any better cinema experience than when you are part of an audience who all love the film you're watching as much as you do. As this was also the first time I'd seen The Princess Bride on the big screen it was a wonderful end to an almost perfect day.


The only way it could have actually been perfect is if Miranda had been there to celebrate with us. But for all I know, maybe she was.