One of the Balloon Juice comments this morning brought back happy memories of being in grade school and sorting through packs of little valentines to find the perfect valentine for each friend. Passing them out at school was fun, and so was getting valentines. So easy to forget what mattered when we were Littles.
Now, at this age, [ahem] this was my favorite valentine today.
Roses are red,
Violets are blue,
If you attempted a coup,
I’m coming for you.Happy Valentine’s Day.
— Jack E. Smith ⚖️ (@7Veritas4) February 14, 2023
I’m feeling a little bit blue and a lot cranky after seeing my vet this week – the one who failed us with Tucker – and then realizing that it will be one year tomorrow that I lost Tucker. Aren’t emotions interesting things, the way they come out sideways sometimes?
Anyway, if you are a valentines person, Happy Valentine’s Day!
As for me, I’m sticking with the Special Counsel for my celebration today.
Open thread.
Baud
Happy VD to your too, WG.
cain
I’m not a big fan of valentines day – it just seems kind of scarring for kids who are outcasts. Even if you are forced to give valentine candy/notes to every kid – kids know – they have all kids of ways to still make you feel like an outcast.
Nice for adults I suppose. I did wish my wife ‘happy valentines day’ – she told me to fuck off :D She doesn’t like VD lol
ETA yesssss! #2! It’s been so long!! Gonna drink tonight!
ETAA – extra awesome – I beat out Raoul Paste!
Raoul Paste
Wishing you well (as are many others here) on this Valentine’s Day
thruppence
Huh. We just adopted a new rescue dog named Tucker. Sweet guy, though he doesn’t seemed to have been trained about the difference between inside and outside.
Joseph Patrick Lurker
Valentine’s Day is a a meaningless, bullshit holiday
Geoduck
I randomly filled all the valentines envelopes in grade school, but I remember it being a mildly tedious ritual, not something to hate or look forward to.
sab
Spouse is not well. Vomiting all day. ( Problematic in a one bathroom house.) Grateful that I stayed up last night baking it, and agrees with me that he and his tummy don’t need to see the cake just yet.
Next year cupcakes if anything.
I made some side cupcakes that were delicious. Meanwhile we have this huge cake in NE Ohio that nobody wants
ETA I am fine and he did not get near it.
Andrya
@cain: If children deliver valentines privately to their friends, no problem. If the school participates, and announces or (worse) displays how many valentines each child gets, it’s abuse. I was a social outcast in elementary school (long story), and my classrooms set up a corkboard to display how many valentines each child got. My section of the corkboard was always empty. I still feel like crying when I think about it.
Apparently some schools are now using competitive “send valentine flowers to people you like” as a fundraiser for school activities. If I saw a way to shut this down, I would do so.
Old School
@Joseph Patrick Lurker:
It’s certainly no Sweetest Day.
Baud
@Andrya:
Yeah, I wish I had my current outlook when I was a kid.
Suzanne
My whole team at work is moving toward a very important deadline on Friday (100% DD insurance, aka completion of Phase 2). So I have been sending Architect Valentines.
The first one reads, “My love for you is not to scale”.
Second one reads, “Sadly, I missed Valentine’s Day. Sorry, I had a deadline.”.
I did not share any of the inappropriate ones, but there are lots of jokes about structural erection.
Baud
@Suzanne:
If it lasts longer than four hours, good job calculating the weight bearing load!
Ohio Mom
We celebrated VD by having Ohio Dad’s car battery dying and having to wait in a parking lot far from home for a jump. The car is at the shop now, waiting to get a new battery tomorrow.
That was enough excitement for one day for me.
@cain: In Ohio Son’s early elementary elementary school days, everyone had to prepare cards for everyone in the class. I guess it was part handwriting practice but Son did not have the fine motor skills to copy that many names so I would end up addressing them. Then they had a big class party and much candy was consumed and the extras sent home. So I guess the kids who felt left out could drown their sorrows in too much sugar. Made me nostalgic for my childhood in the Bronx, where Valentine’s Day was not observed.
Amir Khalid
@thruppence:
Congratulations to you, especially Tucker. Here’s to many happy years together for you guys.
Andrew Abshier
After being single since 2010, Valentine’s Day has become one more day of the week. I have received greetings from some women I know in the Argentine tango community, so that has been nice. I may go to a milonga (tango event) this evening and see some of them.
Omnes Omnibus
Not something I really take part in, but for those of you who do, I hope it’s a good one. The ‘Mats.
Suzanne
@Baud: It better last longer than four hours.
Omnes Omnibus
For those who don’t care for the holiday.
gwangung
I’d celebrate more if there was a “we”.
sab
I don’t have much of a sweet tooth. My sauerkraut cake is insanely chocolate but not very sweet.
Worst sweet is the frosting, and that is adjustible.
Baud
@Suzanne:
We’re still taking about buildings, right?
WaterGirl
oops, i screwed up the time zone conversation. This was supposed to go up at 6 blog time, not right on top of Anne Laurie!
HeleninEire
Hi Watergirl. OT. Please go see your email. Thanks.
Jeffro
Everybody needs to listen to the Drive-By Truckers’ Valentines’ Day classic, Feb 14th.
(today is fine; once a month is even better)
Kent
HS teacher here. At this school the choir sells valentine serenades as a fundraiser. Anyone can buy one for their student girlfriend or boyfriend, or people can buy them to serenade their teacher spose or significant other.
It is all very cute. They break up into boy and girl mini choirs and roam the school in the afternoon delivering all their serenades door to door. The boys were just in my room serenading a girl with some love song and then giving her flowers that her boyfriend ordered up. They do it right, all the boys are in tuxes and the girls are all in black gowns or tuxes themselves. I guess the choir uniform is unisex so they can pick either one, but only some girls are bending, I didn’t see any guys in gowns.
The kids are all right folks. The kids are all right.
kalakal
A happy Valentines Day to you WG and to all Jackals that take part in it.
Mrs kalakal and I celebrate every year as it’s the anniversary of when we first “met”*
This year we’re taking Paxlovid together 🙁
* It was a social media thing, we were an ocean apart, the date is pure coincidence.
Wwe first actually physically met in the romantic surroundings of Newark Airport on July 4th. It was great, there was even a firework display 😀😀😀
Josie
All the elementary classes my sons were in required valentines for every child. A roster was sent home, and valentines were to be addressed to every child on the roster. If directions were not followed, that child’s valentines would not be distributed. As far as I know, no one ever broke the rules. I was grateful for the rules, since my oldest boy was not particularly popular.
Nelle
I got called to get the 5 y.o. granddaughter from school (she’s in kindergarten). She had a temp of 103 and a huge headache but she hid it until after the class Valentine’s party. I wonder how many of the other students will have caught it and be sick the rest of the week. Of course, even if she improves, she won’t be going to school tomorrow. She is limp on the sofa, watching endless Wild Kratts episodes. It could be worse. But I can’t take it all day tomorrow. I may be reading a lot of Frog and Toad books, as well as Betsy and Tacy books.
Leslie
Hugs to you, WaterGirl.
@Andrya: What a horrible thing for your school to do. I’m sorry.
Scout211
💝 Happy Valentine’s Day to all who celebrate.
My birthday was last week so I typically get my birthday and Valentine’s Day squished together. Last week the birthday cake I got from Mr. Scout was a mini ice cream cake in pink with hearts on it. 💕 Like always, it was dual purpose. 💘
Delk
As mentioned this morning, I have a colonoscopy scheduled for tomorrow morning so my Valentines Day is about to become memorable… 🚽🧻❤️🔥
JPL
@Joseph Patrick Lurker: Bah humbug!
kalakal
Now here’s a chap who’s keen on chocolate. Sadly I don’t think his intention was to wow his beloved with a romantic treat
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/feb/14/man-facing-jail-over-theft-of-almost-200000-cadbury-creme-eggs?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other
Scout211
@Delk: Be sure to celebrate today with lots of yellow Gatorade and lemon popsicles. Both helped me immensely on the clean-out day. Good luck tomorrow.
kalakal
@Andrya: Oh how unkind. I’m sorry
JoyceH
I’m having fun trying to reconstruct my life, having had my old email go away. Sigh – I’d had that email for twenty-eight years. I tried to get it back, but it was utterly and irrevocably gone. Now I need to remember all the places that have my email address and get them updated. What larks.
evap
My sweetie and I look at it as an excuse to eat more chocolate than we would normally eat in one day :)
Andrya
@Kent: You need to consider if having all this during school hours rubs salt in the wounds of kids who are social outcasts, not allowed to date, etc.?
When you say “the kids are alright” have you looked, really looked, to see if the popular kids are flaunting this in the faces of the unpopular kids?
Even teaching at the community college level, I am required to ask my students their preferred pronouns to insure they are comfortable in my class (something I totally support). But a 16 year old is much more vulnerable than a 20 year old- and school, high school or college, should be a safe haven for everyone. Including those who are physically unattractive, isolated by their families, on the autism spectrum, etc. Putting an isolated teenager with acne through a humiliating experience is no better than putting an LGBTQ+ teenager through a humiliating experience.
Betty Cracker
My husband gave me four kinds of chocolate and a Douk-Douk pocketknife, which is the blade used by the French Foreign Legion. 💘 🍾
Happy Valentine’s Day to all who celebrate, and may the day land softly for those who do not.
Eric S.
@Delk: i got my first last year on VD. First year in several that I got some. 😁
SiubhanDuinne
Florida once again flies its bigot banner. Pensacola College cancelled a weekend performance by the extraordinary singing ensemble The King’s Singers because one of the group’s members is gay.
Gift link to the NYT story.
I feel sick and sad and enraged, simultaneously. Fuck these god-bothering narrow-minded pricks currently running the state and the schools.
ETA: Pensacola Christian College is a private Baptist-affiliated school, not a state institution. I didn’t mean to imply that it was part of the Florida state system.
Baud
@SiubhanDuinne:
I hope they got paid in advance.
ETA: FWIW That’s a private school.
zhena gogolia
@Andrya: Ugh. That’s sadistic.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
can it kill a ‘gator?
JPL
@SiubhanDuinne: At least it is a private christian school and like it or not they can make their own decisions. Pay attention to what is happening in GA. One bill prevents teachers from saying gay until students are sixteen. That is so harmful to little ones with same sex parents. Talk about opening the door to being bullied. That is so harmful to gay students who are already bullied. I’m calling my reps tomorrow whether it helps or not.
what Baud said also
zhena gogolia
@Betty Cracker: I got a lovely watch when my old one gave up the ghost (this was a few weeks ago but we called it the Valentine’s present). He also picked up some chocolate at the campus center, ergo it’s gluten free, dairy free, nut free, no doubt flavor free. But we’ll see. It has a pretty pink wrapper.
He got pajamas and some post-it notes. He’s happy.
SiubhanDuinne
@Baud:
Caught that the minute I posted and put in an ETA to that effect. Thanks. Still bigoted, but we can’t put this one on DeSantis, I guess.
trollhattan
The holiday that’s not a holiday (see, also, Halloween).
We have houseguests–friend going through a rather sudden divorce and her (formerly “their”) dog, so my dog’s Valentine is a new girlfriend.
Thankfully, they get along (one never knows) and I’m learning 2 dogs = 3 dogs worth of antics, such as yesterday when spouse is on a Zoom with clients and said dogs, who had been sleeping all afternoon, decide to try and figure out the rules for tug-o-war and all 120 or so pounds of them are charging through the house, barking and growling.
Epic.
JPL
@zhena gogolia: My niece visited last weekend and I googled gluten free chocolate. btw Most chocolate is gluten free so you are in luck.
Both my DIL and niece recently had nice promotions, so I purchased champagne, chocolate and tiaras from Amazon..
HeleninEire
Happy Valentine’s Day to all my Balloon Juice boyfriends (you know who you are…and what you did!) And also to all my Balloon Juice girlfriends. You are the BEST.
trollhattan
What about glutton-free? Is that a thing?
JPL
@trollhattan: Only on this special day.
Splitting Image
From Joe My God, the feel-good story of the day:
Infamous Tiki Torch Nazi Kills Himself Before Drug Trial
The title just about says it all, but reading the whole article allows you to savour it a touch more.
Steeplejack
@Andrya:
I was appalled by your earlier comment, and I assumed you were talking about elementary school. My niece and nephew are both in grade school and this past weekend were preparing Valentine cards for everyone in their classes. Even when I was in grade school a hundred years ago we did cards for all of our classmates.
But at age 16 you’re talking about high school, and my reaction is who the hell does that exclusionary bullshit, much less have the school be involved?! I thought it would have died out in mean-girl middle school. Anyway, sorry for your trauma.
Anecdote: My brother was a little lax on his card-prep oversight Sunday, and my nephew ended up with neatly addressed Valentine cards neatly inserted into blank envelopes. His expression when my brother asked him how he was going to know which card to give to which classmate should be in the dictionary next to “Whut?” So there was some delicate opening, envelope addressing and resealing.
JPL
@Splitting Image: ha may he rest in hell
prostratedragon
@SiubhanDuinne: It’s been too ling since I read New Testament thoroughly but as I recall, Jesus wasn’t too big on “Thou shalt not.”
jackmac
It’s been a weird Valentine’s Day as my wife, son and I somehow picked up a COVID infection this week (yeah, we’re fully vaxed and boosted). My daughter, who lives 100 miles away, thoughtfully sent us a bouquet of flowers and cupcakes to cheer us up. She’s an absolute sweetheart!
We’ve been knocked on our respective asses by this infection (akin to a very nasty cold and/or flu) but we’re starting to turn the corner. So to everyone who helped create and encourage vaccinations — and not TFG of course — we’re in your debt because without the shots we’d probably be in a lot worse shape.
twbrandt (formerly tom)
As an awkward gay teenager struggling with his sexuality, VD was an excruciating ordeal back then. Glad that’s way in the rear view mirror.
Andrya
@Steeplejack: My own experience was in elementary school. Fortunately, my middle school and high school did not do valentines. I was responding to Kent’s endorsement of something similar (choral valentines to selected persons) during class time in high school. I apologize if I was not clear.
If there’s a rule “if you do valentines, you must do one for everyone in the class” I have no problem with it.
UncleEbeneezer
zhena gogolia
@prostratedragon: He didn’t like divorce. They skip that part.
kalakal
@Splitting Image: Oh dear, how sad, nevermind.
zhena gogolia
@Andrya: We did it only in elementary school, and you had to do one valentine for every kid in class. There was no official observance of it in junior high or high school.
WaterGirl
@HeleninEire: So nice to see you here!
I checked my email and wrote you back.
Van Buren
9 years ago, pretty much to the minute, as my family was loaded into the car for what was intended to be a week long tour of potential colleges for my oldest to attend, my brother called to tell me my dad had been taken to the hospital and that it looked like his kidneys were failing. 20 minutes later he called again, said, “He’s gone” and hung up.
Hard to feel warm and fuzzy on this day ever since.
WaterGirl
@kalakal: wow, there’s a longer story there and I would love to hear it. Maybe if we do a zoom again sometime.
kalakal
@jackmac: Sorry to hear, glad you’re starting to feel better. It’s not fun
Steeplejack
@Andrya:
Sorry, I thought you were the 16-year-old. Even more unbelievable that an elementary school would allow that bullshit.
Almost Retired
Mrs. Almost Retired and I are snowed in near Moab, Utah, while trying to use our Golden Codger National Park pass, or whatever it’s called, to visit some parks. We asked the helpful park ranger if he thought it was OK to head into the park today despite the snow. He asked what we are driving and where we are from.
Me: “We drove up from Los Angeles in a plug-in hybrid Prius.”
Helpful Park Ranger: “Go back to your hotel room”
kalakal
@WaterGirl: Sure, more than happy to tell it. I enjoyed the zooms.
brendancalling
I’m lucky enough to be seeing two people, neither particularly close to me geographically. They’re both super awesome.
I still miss my ex though, the one from Ukraine. Funny how some people get under your skin like that. I should be over her by now. It’s been 4 (5?) since we split, and we were only a couple for 2.5 years or so.
@Splitting Image: I would have preferred he stood trial, but I’m glad he’s dead. No one will remember him either, just like you don’t remember the moldering leftovers you find at the back of the fridge and quickly throw into the trash with the other garbage.
HumboldtBlue
Dear GOP/NRA:
Cameron
@SiubhanDuinne: I’m sure the state system will catch up posthaste.
brendancalling
@Andrya: PREACH!
I barely acknowledged Valentines Day at all in school today. I didn’t bring even bring candy. The one reference was my daily slide was pink, and had an image of St. Valentine getting shot with arrows. I was hoping someone would ask WTF IS THAT?? but no one did.
Gvg
I had no idea some of the rest of the us was still so savage. I went to school in the late 60’s early 70’s, sister was 70′ thru 80’s and nephews are in now. The rules in Florida elementary schools were always a roster got sent home and kids did a valentine for every classmate. The only variation has been rules about candy, allowed, how much, allergies, wait till after school to eat, etc.
Nothing much was done in middle school. High school was more sweetharts not friends so same as usual. I had no idea i had escaped another scar because i was shy and not popular.
WaterGirl
@Van Buren: Yep. I feel you. My mom died on Halloween.
WaterGirl
@Almost Retired: Hahahahaha
JPL
@WaterGirl: For both of you, I’m so sorry. I remember being panicked that my youngest would be born on the day my dad died. He wasn’t fortunately. Some dates you can’t forget.
C Stars
At my 12 yo’s middle school they do candygrams, which cost a dollar and are handed out in the morning period, and are definitely a form of popularity contest. My kiddo said their advisory (homeroom) teacher gave them one out of pity, and that was the only one they got. But my kid did bring little bags of treats (we had quite a few leftovers from doing my 4th grader’s Valentines, where the rule is that you have to give a valentine to either everyone in class, or no one) and gave treat bags to their friends at lunch, which I was happy about. So, I dunno. I think, being one of the quirky kids, my kid just doesn’t hang out with candygram-buying people. And, in fairness, they didn’t buy any candygrams for anyone else. The Stars Spouse and I went out to lunch at a nice cajun restaurant. Then I went home and got sick (beignets–>too rich). Pretty so-so day, tbh.
prostratedragon
@WaterGirl: So did my father; mother 8 years and 3 days later, so that’s a quiet week for me.
Corrected for stunningly bad math.
HinTN
@Ohio Mom:
Praise the lord!
WaterGirl
@prostratedragon: That’s hard. 💕
Kent
Yes, it was not the popular kids and no one was flaunting anything. Everyone was enjoying it. Some were trans and gay kids, both in the choirs and on the receiving end. And this had nothing to do with me or other teachers. It was 100% organized by students
And it was only a few kids. Out of 75 students in my 3 afternoon classes we got a total of four choral valentines delivered. So it’s not a thing where there are a few left out. Everyone had fun and clapped. It was a nice break in the afternoon.
C Stars
@Nelle: Ugh, good luck with that! The good thing is at that age they usually bounce back pretty quickly. But I suppose you’ll probably have to keep her home anyway because of the 24 hour fever rule. I lean hard on screen time when my kids are sick (and, well, some other times…). But sometimes it’s nice to hold them when they’re all limp and snuggly and not squirming a million miles a minute.
prostratedragon
Something from the King’s Singers suitable for a Valentine:
Roger Moore
@JoyceH:
Wow, that sucks. I’m lucky because my primary email- the one I really care about- is through my college alumni association. I’m a life member, and I don’t see anything happening to the school, or the alumni association, in my lifetime.
Spanish Moss
I have sons, none of whom were into Valentine’s Day, but still did the card thing in elementary school. One year we got inspired, and taped bloody eyeballs (leftover Halloween gumballs that looked gruesome and were individually wrapped) to construction paper hearts with the inscription, “I only have eyes for you, Valentine”. They were a big hit! So every year after that we had to come up with a new “unValentine”. Good times.
kalakal
@WaterGirl: So did my mum and my wife’s mother died 2 years later on the day after Halloween.
WaterGirl
Another Valentine’s Day gift!
Ohio Mom
@Splitting Image: You left out the best part: Von Nukem was arrested in Arizona trying to bring 15 kilos of fentanyl over the Mexican/U.S. border. He killed himself to avoid his court date (from Raw Story).
If anyone remembers the photo of the tiki torchers with their mouths wide open, he was the one in the black shirt.
What Have The Romans Ever Done for Us?
Me and the Mrs. are watching some of the Valentine’s day episodes of Bob’s Burgers and 30 Rock.
SiubhanDuinne
@WaterGirl:
My mom died on the 26th but her funeral was on Hallowe’en. I have not really been able to enjoy the holiday since then.
Roger Moore
@JPL:
There’s “made without ingredients that contain gluten” and then there’s “made in a facility that excludes all gluten to eliminate the risk of cross contamination”. When something is officially gluten-free, it’s supposed to be the second. When I visited Bob’s Red Mill, they were proud to show off that they had a completely separated part of their mill that handled exclusively gluten-free products. That’s why they have, say, both oat flour and gluten-free oat flour. It’s not that some oats contain gluten and others don’t. The gluten-free flour is processed in the part of the plant that strictly excludes any wheat, and they can charge a premium for that.
Andrya
@Kent: I’m doubtful. If this was simply musical performances during school hours, with no distinction among students, I’d agree. If only a very few students got choral valentines- if it was like winning the “best soccer player” trophy- then it was harmless. Not winning a rare trophy should not traumatize anyone.
However, if a large number of students got choral valentines, during class time, but the unpopular ones did not, then I call it abusive. I’m glad the LGBTQ+ students did not feel unhappy- but they are not the only high school students at risk. Students whose families isolate them (that was me), students with autism or poor social skills, overweight female students (that was me also), will be denigrated/othered even in liberal contexts where LGBTQ+ students are completely accepted. The daughter of a friend of mine went through hell in high school in the liberal SF Bay Area because she was (moderately) fat.
“Everyone enjoyed the performances”? How do you know that? Did you take a long hard look at how the outcasts really felt? Did you identify them and/or ask them?
Even if this was 100% organized by students, faculty have a responsibility to see that every student has an emotionally safe environment.
Mr. Bemused Senior
@prostratedragon: thank you for that.
Ohio Mom
@JoyceH: I changed my email a couple of months ago because we switched providers. I was able to go through my inbox in advance and alert everyone. A bit of a chore but nothing like what you are trying to do. I feel for you.
On the upside, there were tons of organizations and businesses that had never seemed to accept an unsubscribe request I was finally able to get rid of.
eclare
@Steeplejack: That is precious.
WaterGirl
@SiubhanDuinne: It’s not what it used to be.
Another Scott
@zhena gogolia:
As well he should be!
TheGuardian:
A little appreciation goes a long way!
:-D
Cheers,
Scott.
WaterGirl
@JoyceH: I would be inconsolable if I lost all my email.
Guessing you used a web-based mail program, and didn’t have your messages in a mail program on your computer?
kalakal
@WaterGirl: Now that’s a gift!
Kent
You know what? They are high school students. In my case, seniors who will be graduating and out in the real world in 4 months. They are far better at being inclusive and respectful than our generation ever was. I’m not going to micromanage every moment of their lives for fear that some kid somewhere gets left out of something. That would be a Sisyphean task anyway in this day of 24/7 social media. Sometimes you just have to trust them and let them do their own fun things too. And yes, this was fun. And yes, everyone seemed to enjoy the brief interruption.
MisterForkbeard
My wife and I (and both kids) came down with Covid as an early v-day present.
We don’t normally celebrate much on the day itself, but we flat cancelled it other than giving the girls some valentines candy. Just no one feeling any of it this year.
JoyceH
@WaterGirl:
Yep, and now I’m missing my long-lost beloved Eudora. Why don’t they seem to actually download the messages to your computer anymore?
zhena gogolia
@JoyceH: I loved Eudora
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@What Have The Romans Ever Done for Us?: you mean Anna Howard Shaw Day?
M31
omg I loved that program
*sniff* RIP
M31
Thanks, Biden
cain
@sab:
Ugh – I’m sorry to hear that. I hope your spouse feels better.
cain
@Andrya:
I can well imagine – how awful. I think I also had some of that – but also I think I was still in the ‘girls are yuck’ 4th grade and 5th grade and sometimes getting those cards gets you singled out. But in general, it’s just another way to have a popularity contest.
Another Scott
Meanwhile, from the Nobody Could Have Predicted Department…
(via nycsouthpaw)
Cheers,
Scott.
Andrya
@Kent: Students today are far more tolerant of LGBTQ+ peers, and also of racial minorities. (And that is totally good.) However, they are not more tolerant of physically unattractive peers, peers with poor social skills, peers perceived as “weird”, or overweight female peers.
Certainly you should not be expected to micromanage every moment of your students’ lives. However, faculty are responsible for making the school safe (including emotionally safe) for all their students. College students can drop a class or otherwise avoid a destructive environment- high school students are a captive audience. This imposes a special obligation for faculty to insure an emotionally, as well as physically, safe environment.
Every one of the reasons you give could also have been given by my elementary school faculty (literally 60 years ago) who set up the corkboards that displayed exactly how many valentines each child had received.
What Have The Romans Ever Done for Us?
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: That’s on the list after Up All Night and the McFlurry/Plunder episode
Baud
@Another Scott:
Users are shit. I’m with the AI.
Mr. Bemused Senior
@Another Scott: brain the size of a planet and they ask me to find cat videos.
Baud
@Another Scott:
Three excellent rotating tags.
WaterGirl
@JoyceH: They do if you are set up with pop. i always stick with pop rather than imap.
WaterGirl
@zhena gogolia: Eudora and wordperfect.
WaterGirl
@Baud: yes!
MomSense
@Baud:
HAHAHAHA!!!
prostratedragon
@Mr. Bemused Senior: 💖
surfk9
Today is my 70th birthday. Having Valentines day as your birthday is a mixed bag. Mrs Surfk9 and I separate the occasion into two events. More fun. Staying the week in Sonoma County, had exessive lunch in Healdsburg this afternoon and am looking forward to Lobster tonight with a wonderful sparkling wine we picked up this weekend at a winery that is a harvest host we stayed at. Tomorrow, linguini and clams on the wharf in Fort Bragg.
James E Powell
@Omnes Omnibus:
I played that for my students who asked for a Valentine’s Day song.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@surfk9: Happy birthday!
MomSense
@surfk9:
Happy anniversary!
I made pastitsio for dinner and now I’m cuddling with my pup. Youngest and his SO went out for a romantic dinner.
Steeplejack
@surfk9:
Happy birthday! 🥂
surfk9
@Dorothy A. Winsor: Thank You! For us, today is Valentine’s Day and tomorrow is the birthday. Actually my wife has decided that this entire week is birthday week in honor of the 7-0. Looking forward to the excess.
Sister Golden Bear
@Van Buren: I feel for you. My mother died on my birthday, which is just before the Fourth of July. Neither has been particularly festive since then.
prostratedragon
@JoyceH:
Still pining for pine here (like terminals for simpler tasks). But you remind me thst I need to stabilize my email situation. How aboutBlueMail? It’s cross platform and free. I haven’t tried it, but it looks good.
eclare
@surfk9: Happy birthday! And yum! I am so jealous.
eclare
@Sister Golden Bear: Oh gawd, that is awful. I cannot imagine.
Princess Leia
Did I miss news about the John Cole panther arrival? Wasn’t it this last weekend?
Miss Bianca
So, here’s how we do Valentine’s Day out here in the frontier West:
He (looking in Natural Grocers bag): Is that oat flour?
She: Yeah. And a Chocolove chocolate bar. Happy Valentine’s Day.
He: Oh, yeah…I heard something about that on the radio. Guess I’m gonna have to say it with car parts. I ordered you some more today.
She: Awwww…thank you!
Aaaaand…scene!
OK, it will never make for a shmaltzy Hallmark movie. But believe me, that is some 5 Languages of Love shit going on there!
Omnes Omnibus
@Miss Bianca:
What kind of car parts?
Manyakitty
@Kent: glad the students found a way to celebrate 💖
schrodingers_cat
I got roses and chocolates from a local chocolatier so I am not complaining. I also have a terrible cold. Will probably go out this weekend.
Manyakitty
@Mr. Bemused Senior: it’s the white mice, man. They commissioned the whole experiment.
Manyakitty
@surfk9: happy birthday! Enjoy!
Nelle
@SiubhanDuinne: One of my friends was a founding member of The King’s Singers, so I have a fond interest in the group. How do these christianists decide which are the really, really important sins and which ones aren’t a big deal? If it involves the genitals of others, it is really, really important. If it involves hoarding money, or finding a scheme to get money, or letting people go without food, or shelter, or healthcare, it is unimportant. And it is incredibly unimportant to judge others.
Nelle
@WaterGirl: My mom died on Christmas morning, but I was on the other side of the dateline in New Zealand. So Christmas, for me, was over and I was on the Boxing Day. I’ve been kind of confused about it ever since…I have an intellectual knowledge and and emotional sense of it that differ.
Anoniminous
@Splitting Image:
Nazis killing themselves on Feb 14th is a yearly holiday I wholeheartedly support.
Another Scott
Meanwhile, Wonkette tells us that the Democrat is leading in a Mississippi governor race poll.
Presley’s not a liberal Democrat, of course. But he is a Democrat and would be a big improvement.
Cheers,
Scott.
surfk9
Thanks for all the birthday wishes. Lobster good!
On to four more days of birthday excess.
prostratedragon
@surfk9: Hey, Happy Birthday!
rikyrah
@sab:
🙏🏿🙏🏿🙏🏿🙏🏿
rikyrah
@surfk9: Happy Birthday🎂🌞🍧🍨
NotMax
@surfk9
Celebrate!
(Color me envious, love me some lobster.)
Bruce K in ATH-GR
For the longest time, I hated Valentine’s Day, and couldn’t ignore it because it was my birthday, and whenever I needed to give my date of birth, people would say, “oh, a Valentine’s baby! So romantic!” when honestly, I was generally more in a mood to celebrate it the Chicago way (a la Al Capone to Bugs Moran on Valentine’s Day 1929).
My luck has improved in the past decade, though.
NotMax
@Bruce K in ATH-GR
Χρόνια πολλά!
WaterGirl
@Nelle: In my experience, the emotional sense always wins.
@Bruce K in ATH-GR: Romantic? It’s almost like they think it’s a year instead of 9 months before a baby is born?
narya
@Andrya: I doubt you’ll ever see this, but I wanted to post it anyway. I’ve been thinking about this comment for two days, and, as a fellow social outcast through high school, my heart breaks for you, especially for the child-you. I’m so, so sorry that happened to you.