bluelovesorange | sometimes my black heart beats with something other than scorn

The death of the dinosaurs was only one piece of luck that allowed humans to evolve. There were important others, and one of them was love. By "selecting" the ability to love as a crucial part of our biology, evolution made us what we are. Contrary to what philosophers, moralists, theoreticians, in-laws, and counselors have always argued, love is not a choice. It is a biological imperative. And just as evolution favored human beings who were able to stand upright, it favored human beings who felt love. It favored them because love has great survival value. Those who felt love made sure their offspring survived, those offspring inherited their ability to love, and they lived longer and had more offspring of their own. In time the tendency to love became part of our genetic endowment, and then it became more deeply ingrained than a mere tendency, aptitude, or bequest, and its richness began to subsidize every enterprise of our lives. Humans became emotional venture capitalists.
-- A Natural History of Love by Diane Ackerman

And a music video dedicated to one of my first loves, Louise Brooks: