Celebrating Valentine's

Valentine's Day. Also known as Single Awareness Day. Also known as Yet Another Commercial Holiday To Celebrate In One Day That Which Should Be Celebrated Every Day. There have been times when I have felt like this ...



However, this is not one of those years. This year, although quiet, has been very nice.

Took Spork out to dinner last night. As part of his continuing research on Ramen shops, we tried Chabuya on Sawtelle. Nice atmosphere. Yummy croquettes. Toppings on the ramen were delicious, but the actual ramen noodles were a bit eclectic for my taste. And almond jello. Grilled him on everything. Climbing the ladder at work ... exciting things on the horizon. Fitness. Love life. Travel plans. Personal financial plans. Actually, grilling may be overstating the case. He's so excited about so many things that the information flowed like lava. Some big sisterly advice. I'm just so happy to see him with so many good options.

Finished cleaning out the stuff in the garage. Everything but the extra set of dishes that I hope to loan to Bork and Genie this summer.

Went with Wonder Woman to see Music and Lyrics. And I can emphatically recommend that you NOT see it. Yeaaaahhhh, it was really awful. But I did a room-mate-ly thing for Valentine's, and what can be more ubiquitous than seeing a romantic comedy on VD? To make up for the absolute loss of 96 minutes of our lives, we went and got food from Clementine's.

Received several electronic Valentine's cards from friends near and far.

Won at Catan last night. Okay, okay ... not central to Valentine's, but it made me feel really good.

And my first ever regular mail-delivered Valentine. Cards and letters in the mail seem so nostalgic and yet even more real. Reminds me of the letters I would write back in college, back before I got my first email account. Choosing stationary. Writing ... splaying my thoughts and feelings onto paper in my own hand. Addressing, stamping and sending my letter across the land like a messenger bird. Waiting for a reply. The pricks of joy at finding "real mail" mixed in with the bills and advertisements. Repeating the whole cycle. And as much as I love the immediacy and documentation of gmail, it just doesn't compare with the simultaneously earthy and heavenly sensations of real mail.

Anyhow, this Valentine's has been a collection of small celebrations. And instead of feeling like the guy at the vending machine, I feel more like this ...