A Trip Down V-Day Lane

It's V-Day's today and whether you acknowledge it or not, it's here. I'm beginning to think it's really not a big deal. Even when I had a boyfriend, it wasn't a big deal, although I always expected it to romantic, but most of the time, I was disappointed. It's nice to receive platonic gifts from friends and family because that's what really the holiday should be about. I suppose V-Day serves as a reminder how we've failed at love in some respect. It's holiday to throw in your singleton face. Then again, it's just one day out of the year. I've increasingly grown cynical over the years when it comes to love. I mean, you'd be bitter to after the tenth time certain someones told me they just wanted to friends or told me "um, I kinda have a girlfriend." Yeah. Then again, even if you do have a SO, celebrating can still be a drag. A lot of guys certainly don't want to spend money.

The other day I began thinking about the past decade of V-Days. I remember in elementary school I always wanted to get one of those cute little Peanuts card and a candy heart inscribed with "Be Mine" from my crush. I had fantasized that little Danny Penrod or Wes Prediger would announce their love for me, but alas, this never happened. The first V-Day that I actually had any sort of date was in 1997. I went out on an unofficial date with this guy named Ben. I think we went to dinner and then he kissed me for the first time. Of course two months later he'd break up with me and then got married. The long distance thing didn't help either. The following year I went on a date with Greg. He made me a mix tape, a lame one actually, bought me a card and flowers. We never hooked up because I didn't like him in that way. A week later I told him we should only be friends. He didn't take it well. He also got married. In fact, he's on his second marriage. 1999 was an interesting V-Day. I was living in LA with my cousin. We decided to have a V-Day dinner party. A guy who I liked came but the only problem was he was sorta dating my best friend. All I remember about the evening is crying. My cousin got upset over some guy, too, so it just became a huge cryfest. He also got married a couple of years later (I see a pattern forming). Worst V-Day ever. The next year, I went out with some dude I'd met working on a movie. It just happened to be V-Day so it wasn't anything special. I didn't really like the guy so nothing happened and later on things would get awkward. I think back in my old days, I actually went on dates where guys actually bought me dinner. I also didn't put out as much as I do now. Hmmm...Anyway, I can't seem to recall V-Day 2001 now. Something probably happened. 2002 was probably the best V-Day because I actually had an official boyfriend and was in love. My boyfriend surprised me with celebrating it on the 13th. I came home from work and he had gotten take out from my fave restaurant at the time and made me a card. At the time he thought I thought it was lame to celebrate it the night before, but I suppose that's what made it special. Of course my friend accidentally stopped by unannounced and had no idea we were having a romantic dinner. That was funny. The next year, I got fired on V-Day. I felt depressed but my boyfriend took me out to dinner then to see the movie The Apartment. I feel asleep. He bought me the Magnetic Fields "69 Love Songs," one of my all time fave albums. Ah, sentiment. 2004 we were living in Ohio and went up to Mt. Adams in Cincy for the day. We had dinner and he bought me a Walkmen cd. Because we were living at home, we rarely got out together, so it was special that we could get away for a while. In 2005, we were living in Chicago. The weekend before V-Day, we took a day trip up to Milwaukee just for the hell of it. It wasn't much of a trip because we had no idea where to go. On the actual V-Day, we did nothing. I think we got into a fight. A few days later, we separated. Now onto V-Day 2006. We had gotten back together at this point, but we seriously did nothing. Didn't even acknowledge the day. Last year was when Frenchie moved to town. My old roommate and I went to dinner at a Turkish restaurant. It was a completely platonic evening. Ah Frenchie. I can't believe he's gone! This year I plan on hitting some bars with my single friends. I don't like singles mixer because it forces singledom on you even more. This weekend there's an anti-Vday party potluck emphasizing being single. Why must us single people rally together? It's like, "hey, I'm single, let's all hang out and wallow in it." Seriously, being single is better sometimes because relationships are bitches. But, I'd rather hang out with other singles than couples any day. And it goes to show even if you're in a relationship, sometimes V-Day can truly suck. Next year V-day will be on the weekend and be thrown in our faces even more. I don't care either way.

The idea of it is nice. A day full of love or anti-love songs streaming on the internet, an excuse to eat lots of cookies and candies, an excuse to wear red, an excuse to bitch about relationships or the lack thereof, and yet another excuse to drank. Here, here, St. Valentine!