Valentines Update. YOU HAVE BEEN SO WARNED.
So all week John has been dropping hints about a dinner we were going to be having on Valentine's Day. So I was pretty excited. Then on Sunday he lets it slip that he hasn't made any reservations yet. Of course, Valentine's Day is always booked up and everywhere decent was probably full a week ago. That's fine; no biggie. John doesn't have anything to prove or make up for and Valentine's Day is a bit hokey anyhow, so I was fine with nachos at BP if we even went out at all.
At 5.00 on Tuesday, after the exchanging of the presents (he got a four month membership to zip.ca and I got Roman Holiday and the sixth season of Sex and the City), he lets me know that "Oh, by the way, we have 5.30 reservations at Paradiso (squee!)." WHICH HE HAS HAD FOR WEEKS. Sneaky-sneaky.
So off we went, and there was champagne and lobster tail and chocolate fondue and live jazz and it was super. We came home and watched Roman Holiday (I cried) and then crawled happily into bed while he picked out movies for his ziplist.
Also, I got my tickets in the mail for the New Pornographers/Belle & Sebastian. Ticketmaster has proven me wrong. I was sure they were going to get lost in the mail, since I got email notification that they'd been sent - twice!
All right. So yesterday was Valentine's Day. There are two things that traditionally happen around this time of year to the mean Valentine-hating folks. First, they rant about how this holiday was a crude invention of greeting card and flower companies. Second, they state how far above the pettiness they are. I'm not going to go into a diatribe about these people being bitterly lonely or jealous. While it might be true for some of them, it certainly isn't for all. Anyway, if they get a rant, then I get a rant, too.
Point the first: Valentine's Day has its original roots in Ancient Greek fertility festivals held around this time of year. February fourteenth was also associated with the time when songbirds would pair off to mate. As early as the fourteenth century, medieval courtiers were giving eachother handwritten notes and calling eachother Valentines. Greeting card companies may have exploited it, but no more than they did Christmas or birthdays.
Point the second: if you're too cool for Valentine's Day, then why are you barking about it? I don't celebrate, understand or approve of Mother's Day, Father's Day, Arbor Day, Labour Day, Flag Day, Kwanzaa, St. Patrick's Day, Robbie Burns Day, Easter, Ramadan, Chanukah, Lent, or anything to do with Bahá'í, but you can celebrate your pants off and I won't bitch. Just ignore Valentine's Day; let the lovebirds celebrate in peace, and buy yourself some discounted candy on the fifteenth.
At 5.00 on Tuesday, after the exchanging of the presents (he got a four month membership to zip.ca and I got Roman Holiday and the sixth season of Sex and the City), he lets me know that "Oh, by the way, we have 5.30 reservations at Paradiso (squee!)." WHICH HE HAS HAD FOR WEEKS. Sneaky-sneaky.
So off we went, and there was champagne and lobster tail and chocolate fondue and live jazz and it was super. We came home and watched Roman Holiday (I cried) and then crawled happily into bed while he picked out movies for his ziplist.
Also, I got my tickets in the mail for the New Pornographers/Belle & Sebastian. Ticketmaster has proven me wrong. I was sure they were going to get lost in the mail, since I got email notification that they'd been sent - twice!
All right. So yesterday was Valentine's Day. There are two things that traditionally happen around this time of year to the mean Valentine-hating folks. First, they rant about how this holiday was a crude invention of greeting card and flower companies. Second, they state how far above the pettiness they are. I'm not going to go into a diatribe about these people being bitterly lonely or jealous. While it might be true for some of them, it certainly isn't for all. Anyway, if they get a rant, then I get a rant, too.
Point the first: Valentine's Day has its original roots in Ancient Greek fertility festivals held around this time of year. February fourteenth was also associated with the time when songbirds would pair off to mate. As early as the fourteenth century, medieval courtiers were giving eachother handwritten notes and calling eachother Valentines. Greeting card companies may have exploited it, but no more than they did Christmas or birthdays.
Point the second: if you're too cool for Valentine's Day, then why are you barking about it? I don't celebrate, understand or approve of Mother's Day, Father's Day, Arbor Day, Labour Day, Flag Day, Kwanzaa, St. Patrick's Day, Robbie Burns Day, Easter, Ramadan, Chanukah, Lent, or anything to do with Bahá'í, but you can celebrate your pants off and I won't bitch. Just ignore Valentine's Day; let the lovebirds celebrate in peace, and buy yourself some discounted candy on the fifteenth.