I'm really not sure what the point of Valentine's Day is - other than making money for card-makers, florists etc. If you're in a relationshp, then quite possibly you're going to have some stress about finding the right gift for him/her, organising a romantic evening or whatever. But if you're happy in your relationship, surely you don't need some officially sanctioned day to treat your partner as someone special. And a Big Romantic Gesture works just as well on any other day of the year - or maybe better, as it would be that much more unexpected. And with Valentine's day, there's always the problem if what you do doesn't measure up to your partner's expectations...
Oh, and for those of us languishing in singledom, it's at best irritating - big read hearts in every shop window, and no chance of getting a table for dinner. At worst it can bring on soul-destroying bouts of depression - the displays everywhere reminding you that you don't have someone, or of past happiness. It comes as no surprise that this day has an elevated suicide rate. (FYI, I'm somewhere betwixt these two extremes).
Last year there was someone I wanted to send a card to - just something to say "You have a Secret Admirer", noting more (that's all that my shyness(?) would permit me). Surely finding such a card should not be a difficult task... First there were all the "to my wife/girlfriend/dog" ones - not really appropriate to the situation. Next there were "I'm so desperately in love with you" ones - which would be rather overstating my case (and probably rather creepy for the recipient). Then I did find one with a fairly tolerable poem on the front - except that the final line inside the card was something like "... I want to get into your pants". Ah. I didn't even bother looking in the one that started "Roses are red, Violets are pluckable..."
In fairness, last year wasn't too bad. There was the small bit of excitement from sending the card (even if it never lead anywhere). In the evening, I busied myself in the kitchen making m00se and lasagne (a silly amount of effort just for one person, but that was, of course, the point). At 8 o'clock, I sat down with my food and, by the all-time most fortuitous piece of TV scheduling, watched Once More, With Feeling! (a.k.a. Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Musical) for the first time. And just like that, all was right with the world.
February 12 2003, 11:20:49 UTC 18 years ago
February 13 2003, 06:36:12 UTC 18 years ago
February 13 2003, 06:49:46 UTC 18 years ago
February 13 2003, 08:34:01 UTC 18 years ago
February 13 2003, 10:43:31 UTC 18 years ago
I'm not going to say whether I've signed up for it or not. Suppose I have - then also suppose someone completely random (say, for the sake of an arbitrary yet amusing and hopefully minimisingly embarrassing example, someone called "Owen") has signed up and nominated me as their Valentine, though I have not nominated Owen as my Valentine. If Owen knows I've signed up and Owen finds out that I haven't nominated hir, this is a knock-back for Owen. If Owen doesn't know whether I've signed up, then Owen will not know whether it's a knock-back or not.
I think it's got a lot of potential for good (for instance, if it permits the establishment of a wild and possibly even t00by relationship between myself and Owen which we had not admitted to one another, then this is a good thing) - but it only works properly if there remains an air of mystery to it.
Mentioning no names.
February 13 2003, 10:45:11 UTC 18 years ago
No wonder I couldn't be bothered with that vocab test on which y'all scored 574/200.
Actually, I'm in a lot better mood than these two posts suggest.