Valentine’s Day. Such a weird holiday. It’s packed with history, yet the focus is aimed directly at the commercial aspect of Godiva truffles and Hallmark cards. Hmmmm, sounds a bit like Christmas. And the 4th of July. And Halloween. Of course, remove Godiva truffles and replace with gingerbread houses, hot dogs, and mini candy bars where needed. It’s definitely not a new observation, but it seems like any significant holiday has become a way for for companies to make money, money, money!

However, Valentine’s Day is always a little different for me because it happens to be the day that I was born. This has made my life interesting in several ways. The first being that people always remember my birthday which, naturally, makes me feel special. This, in turn, has made me into a freak that makes a huge deal out of everyone’s birthday. I mean, you were BORN on that day. You did the UNTHINKABLE. YOU CAME OUT OF A VAGINA FOR CHRIST SAKE!!! Here, have a Nobel prize. You deserve it.

Second, when I’m a single white female, which is more often than not, my other single friends, and even some that are not so single, are always more than happy to forget celebrating the Hallmark holiday and celebrate my birthday instead (which I consider to be a more important holiday anyway). This makes me appreciate the holiday even more because I’ve always got love on February 14th whether or not I’m getting laid.

Also, when I am not so single, the significant other has no choice but to make a big deal of both because I’m still a girl and I still want Godiva assorted dark chocolate truffles (hint hint) and to go sit in a nice restaurant in a pretty dress and feel fancy. Yes, it’s convenient that there is only one dinner out necessary, but referring back to my statement above, it still makes me feel special.

But yesterday after seeing the 16th consecutive commercial of a young hot couple making out after he gave her some awful heart necklace from Kay Jewelers, I started to get a little down because I don’t, in fact, have a boy to celebrate with this year. And then I understood why some of my friends would rather gouge their eyes out with a fork than acknowledge Valentine’s Day. And it made me wish that we could venture back to the day when “boys sliced a goat’s hide into strips, dipped them in the sacrificial blood and took to the streets, gently slapping both women and fields of crops with the goathide strips. [And the women,] far from being fearful, welcomed being touched with the hides because it was believed the strips would make them more fertile in the coming year.”

Alas, this morning I woke up and it was my birthday. And when that happens once a year, it doesn’t really matter what else is going on around you because, even if it’s only in your own mind, it’s still your day.

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Tags: valentine’sday, holidays, birthdays, Godiva, chocolate

Last night my cousin/roommate and her new boy friend (the space remains as of now) took a quick run to the grocery store to pick up drinks before we started up Superbad for the 80th time this month.  Upon returning home they found me screaming, twitching, and all around freaking out.  No, I don’t have tourettes or epilepsy or any other disease (that I know of anyway).  I had stumbled onto the Grammys at the commencement of Alicia Keys performance.

I’m currently on my 4th youtube viewing of it and it’s still not getting old.  Check out Alicia Keys performing at the 50th Annual Grammy Awards with surprise guest John Mayer.

No matter how cheesy her stuff gets, chances are I’ll still rock out to it.

Take this little quiz to determine which candidate is right for you.

After my little rant yesterday, I was quite pleased that I ended up with Obama again. Sweet.

(Via Coudal.)

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I found this silly little Valentine immediately after posting this post. Had to update and include it.

More original Obama art found here.

I will be the first to admit that I don’t understand politics at all.  I took the AP U.S. History class in high school.  In fact, I even enjoyed it due to the crazy ex-Vietnam vet that happened to be the professor.  I learned the whole checks and balances thing.  I (kind of) remember what each branch of government does.  I even (used to) know every past President’s name, the term(s) he served, and had a good idea of the good, bad, and ugly of each.

However, as much as I hate to say it, I don’t have - or want to have for that matter - a great deal of time to devote to the mudslinging that goes on.  Ideally, I want a bulleted list of what each candidate stands for, believes in, and has in store for the next four years.  The bullshitting and namecalling can be left at home, thank you very much.

However, I got something much better than a bulleted list.  In fact, I got something that I can relate to 100%.  This article from The Morning News compares the remaining candidates to technology.  It is with this quote:

At worst, Obama is Hillary’s equal, but what if he really is next-generation technology, not Blu-Ray or HD-DVD, but something entirely new, a force that is beamed directly into the limbic portion of our brains, something that the Republicans can’t even hope to grapple with?

that I emphatically know that my gut instinct to support Obama is correct.  What if Obama is the Steve Jobs of politics?  I like shiny new technology, yet when the state of this country comes to mind, it appears to be more like a 1997 Compaq that’s been thrown from a 10th floor window.  Not exactly something to pick up and try to put back together; you’re probably better off recycling what you can and throwing away the rest.

Essentially, something fundamental needs to change and putting another aging white male in office will not make that happen, at least not to the extent that is necessary.  I suppose I should state for the record that I don’t consider myself democratic or republican, if only for the fact that those labels mean I would be “for” something and “against” something else.  In a country that has “United” in the title, it seems a bit contradictory to have such opposing sides.  Maybe those labels were not always such contrasting forces, but from what I have seen in my 22 years, they are just that.

So from here on out, consider me part of the Obama-Bama Bo-Bama mania.