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31 january 2002

a plethora of new stuff! like...

the review

lid

photos! no kidding.

thinking ahead

ATTENTION, AMERICA! You have exactly 16 (sixteen) shopping days left before Valentines Day. Off you go, prove your love the retail way. Shoo!

This week, I decided to take a little field trip among the pre-Valentine madness here in Winston-Salem, a.k.a. middle America. From the humble supermarket, to the bookstore that seems a little too interested in my sensual well-being, to the drugstore--I don't have to go far to feel the love.

Now, I'm not one of these who gets visibly Scroogy about St. Valentines' Day. In fact, I'm all for a day devoted to celebrating those for whom you care. It's a swell idea. Somewhere between theory and practice, though, V-Day has gone terribly awry. The whole holiday--the requisite boxed chocolates, stuffed critters, and flowers--doesn't ring of I love you so much as it does I did what I was supposed to, or I'm off the hook until next year.

I wish we had a day that was less about romance. Something that encourages you to reach as much humanity as you can. A day to be unpredictable, and unrecognizable. The English language thins out on love. We need to supplement our meager words with actions.

Therefore, following are this year's suggestions for a joyous Valentines Day, Den style. Celebrate well. Show your work.

• Take Valentine cards to a local retirement home or homeless shelter. Show love to the forgotten.
• Go the whole day without honking in traffic or wielding fingers.
• If you have single parent friends, offer to keep their children while he or she goes on a date.
• Instead of going out for dinner, serve it to people who need food in your community.
• If you love someone, say so. Holding out on those words doesn't empower you--just the elephant in the room.
• Been to the doctor lately? Send a 'thank you' card to the nursing staff who cared for you. They work hard, and their pay is not thanks enough.
• Get a different perspective. Watch Babette's Feast, Harold and Maude, The Lovers, Bossa Nova, Cinema Paradiso, or Rushmore. Celebrate the odd, eccentric loving moments.
• You've been burned? We all have. Get out there and love some more.

Plan your Valentine-ing well. As always, forget the roses. Remember to love.