Valentine's

[th3l0rd]

Just a question that comes to my mind every year... (Scrooge mode on) Why people insists on celebrating Valetine's day with that excess of loveliness, good feelings and all those good feelings? He was beheaded at age 97 so we should simply remember him by looking at an old man's detached head and if one feels generous give one the his/hers beloved ones (Scroog mode off)

[Dan Hocker]

Just a question that comes to my mind every year... (Scrooge mode on) Why people insists on celebrating Valetine's day with that excess of loveliness, good feelings and all those good feelings? He was beheaded at age 97 so we should simply remember him by looking at an old man's detached head and if one feels generous give one the his/hers beloved ones (Scroog mode off)

I'm pretty sure you have the greeting card companies to thank for the way valentine's day is celebrated.

[TerryE]

And the florist industry. And chocolatiers.

[srboone]

My answer would be: why not?

Sure there was more than one St. Valentine, and of the three that are used as a reason for Valentin's' Day, nothing is really known about them; Sure, the reasons given for honoring them are more legend than anything else. Sure, the papacy stopped celebrating it as an official holiday in 1969 (after being celebrated for nearly 1500 years); and sure, Valentine's Day didn't become associated with " romantic love" until Geoffrey Chaucer made the connection in 1382.

But...so what?

If the question you're asking is "Why is "this" day celebrated as a day of romantic love as opposed to "that" day?" my answer would be: start a movement.

If you're asking "Why celebrate a day that is only used for commercial gain?" Don't celebrate it.

If it's more of "You people make me sick with your protestations of romantic love on this day." Then stay inside today. Or deliver a severed head to someone. (That's actually a cool idea!)

This isn't supposed to be a snarky response to your question (since I also do not feel it necessary to get overly romantic on this day, either. But, I'm not bitter about it at all.)

On this day, two things come to my mind:

1) the greatest college party I ever went to: It was a St. Valentine's Day Massacre party. Everybody came dressed as a eith 1920's gangster or a mob moll. A few (me included) came as bullet-ridden corpses.

2) the cruelest thing I ever did as a kid. In the 1970s, you gave valentines to all of your classmates. For hours, the guys would get togther and we would discuss which ones we would give to each of our classmates. We looked for the non-commital ones that we all felt we could get away with giving to the other guys in class. Then there were the ones that we had to give to least popular girls in class. Finally, there were the "safe" classmates that could get any of them. One year, my mom, bought me a box of valentines that couldn't be distinguished one form another in this manner (and they all had heart-shaped suckers in them to boot!") I was at a loss and all my friend were yucking it up over what would surely be a laugh-fest the next day when people openned their valentines from me. To make a long story interesting, that night, I stayed up late crossing out words and rewrting the ones that had to be. There was one that was perfect as it was, for my purposes, so I wrote a nasty little "Roses are Red" verse in it and replaced the sucker with an empty stick from one I'd already eaten.

It made Hannah cry and I got sent the principal's office for that on. (one of many trips I took to Mr. Van Lays' office in elementary school).

Today, I don't feel the need to rain on anybody else's parade on this day. It's not for me, but let them have their fun.

But maybe this day will be more to your liking: search for "Sweetest Day." (I had a relationship end because I didn't know what this was--Rebecca was a Hallmark Card junkie.)

[srboone]

Happy Valentine's Day, by the way!

[Dan Hocker]

Maybe I'm just a closet "sap" [sap mode on] but I don't feel that there needs to be a holiday to celebrate romanticism. If you truely care for your significant other, than romanticism should be a regular occurrence, and shouldn't need a holiday. [sap mode off] I do like the idea of the severed head, or maybe some mob killings to celebrate the Saint Valentine's Day Massacre.

[bsaenz24]

I think the severed head is a sick idea unless it's a signed limited edition head....and since the head pretty much would have to be a limited edition (unless it's from a twin, triplet, etc.), the only really issue is getting the person to sign the head before you remove it.

[th3l0rd]

srboone, it was just an suppoesd-to-be-funny post, not really serious. The only thing I can't stand is the excess of loveliness that happy people slap in your face in this day (and all holidays in general) so if you are sad your mood gets worse and worse and the fact that 99% of the people totally obsessed by Valentine's Day doesn't even know the basics of the holiday (and it's funny to tell them the truth and see their schocked face :P). BTW full respect to everyone's beliefs !

I have to fully quote Dan. You should celebrate your beloved ones every day as much as you can and not concentrate everything in one day

I will propose the mob party to my friends ! That's sound great, except that in US during 20s it was illegal to drink alcohol (I can be wrong on thi) so I'll have to use a parallel universe version

[th3l0rd]

I think the severed head is a sick idea unless it's a signed limited edition head....and since the head pretty much would have to be a limited edition (unless it's from a twin, triplet, etc.), the only really issue is getting the person to sign the head before you remove it.

ROTFL ! maybe if it's a bald one you can get a remarqued one too

[Dan Hocker]

srboone, it was just an suppoesd-to-be-funny post, not really serious. The only thing I can't stand is the excess of loveliness that happy people slap in your face in this day (and all holidays in general) so if you are sad your mood gets worse and worse and the fact that 99% of the people totally obsessed by Valentine's Day doesn't even know the basics of the holiday (and it's funny to tell them the truth and see their schocked face :P). BTW full respect to everyone's beliefs !

I have to fully quote Dan. You should celebrate your beloved ones every day as much as you can and not concentrate everything in one day

I will propose the mob party to my friends ! That's sound great, except that in US during 20s it was illegal to drink alcohol (I can be wrong on thi) so I'll have to use a parallel universe version

Why do you think the mob guys got killed. Something about moving in on a different mob's underground alcohol territory.

[bsaenz24]

ROTFL ! maybe if it's a bald one you can get a remarqued one too

Classic!! Of course, then you have to find out if the artist who is doing to remarque prefers the head attached or not when you send it. That could drastically affect the shiping costs, so forget about it you international folk!!

[Dan Hocker]

Classic!! Of course, then you have to find out if the artist who is doing to remarque prefers the head attached or not when you send it. That could drastically affect the shiping costs, so forget about it you international folk!!

That's pretty easy, just head to your local tattoo shop. Or acquire your head from a pre-tattooed bald man.

[srboone]

I was just in the mood to write some elongated. But I got a Valentine's Day card today--from a co-worker who knows the story of my Valentine to poor little Hannah back in 1978.

Card1.jpg

Card2.jpg

I rank this one pretty highly on the awesomeness scale of Valentine's Day cards I've recieved in my life. However, I would have worded it differently:

Roses are red,
Violets are blue,
Sugar is sweet,
But what are you?

The roses are wilting,
The violets are pox,
Your sugar bowl's empty,
So, thus is your box!

Then, it should have been accompanied by the same fancy box, only with the heart-shapped chocolate/peanut butter candy missing. But I still like it lots!

[srboone]

Classic!! Of course, then you have to find out if the artist who is doing to remarque prefers the head attached or not when you send it. That could drastically affect the shiping costs, so forget about it you international folk!!

But the international folk could have replicas of the tattooed head--kind like trade H(ead?)Cs!

[Grant Wootton]

Hmm, a international day of love, loathing and heads on sticks - how could this possibly be wrong ???