Tuesday, February 14, 2006

Ranty Valentine Rambling

Valentine’s Day! Hallmark at its finest.

Don’t you just love when greeting card companies, chocolate companies, and jewelry stores invent holidays, or at least blow existing minor holidays out of all proportion?

And don’t you wish that just once the public would catch on and not let this happen?

Of course it’s good for members of a couple to do nice things for each other. That’s one of the things that makes a relationship healthy! But exactly what does this mutual love and affection have to do with the jewelry stores’ subtle credo of If you don’t get your woman these diamonds, you are the world’s biggest loser and you’ll never get laid again…?

In my mind, I have romance defined as “making the other person glad that they are who they are, and glad that they are with you.”

If a couple needs heart-shaped boxes of chocolate * to do this, or overpriced blood diamonds, and they only do this on holidays, they’ve got problems that all the heart-shaped candy in the world won’t fix.

And speaking of hearts… to impress my biologist boyfriend, I leave you with this:

Hearts look like this.

They don’t look like this.

But even though it's a visually unappealing lump of muscle, my heart beats with great and abiding love for this biologist boyfriend of mine, just the same, every day of the year. :-)

Which is good, because I don’t actually get to see him on Valentine’s Day at all. Darn choir practice. But romance must include flexibility, after all. (Now please get your minds out of the gutter from that statement. ;-) )


* Please note that I have no objection whatsoever to chocolate. It’s not the chocolate’s fault if it is put into a tacky box.

11 comments:

Tirithien said...

Just as my heart beats for you, my love. :-)

Shall I tell the people the true origin of the heart shape?

Bainwen Gilrana said...

If you like. :-)

Tirithien said...

Well, folks, the theory is that the heart shape is actually from a percetly round female posterior. :-) So, when you send a valentine heart, you're actually sending an ancient fertility symbol as a sign of love. :-)

clew said...

I butt you. What a nice sentiment!

I heard a discussion on the radio yesterday about how men are pressured into going into financial ruin to provide Valentine gifts for women but there are no pushes to buy your man a big diamond pinky ring or a Rolex to prove your love.

No fair!

But quit acting like you guys are protesting an excuse to get all mushy on each other. :)~

Bainwen Gilrana said...

We don't NEED an excuse to get mushy! :-P

But I'm also protesting choir practice, because it means I have to have Valentine's Day the day after Valentine's Day. *sigh*

Michelle said...

I like your little disclaimer at the bottom. I don't think I'll let my husband read this post though - all he needs is a little more validation that it's okay to skip over the sentiments on V-Day. ;)

Martie said...

So...the heart shape isn't really very romantinc, huh? LOL

Anonymous said...

"I Butt You"... hahahahaha!!! Thanks, Clew, you made my day!

Where was that awesome and really-for-real heart when I was making my card for my Halloween forum?! I could have used that. I Googled images of hearts, but they were all so plastic looking. This one's a beauty!

Made up holidays. Valentine's Day = blecchh. But Mother's Day works for me!

Bainwen Gilrana said...

Mother's Day is a made up holiday, too, ya know. It was made up in Grafton, WV. By Anna Jarvis. I know these things. :-P

Anonymous said...

...and your point is...???

Kat said...

Wow...that was vivid! In Europe they have Mothers Day at a different time of year and say that it was made by someone else (in Europe) I'm skeptical of anything Grafton WV claims (as I grew up there and was unfortunate enough to have to have lived there for the first 19 years of my life!!)