*how valentine's day is like thanksgiving

Ah, good old VD. Hehe. From wallflowering it at the school dance to listening to lectures about tiger mating rituals; from nothing says "I love you" more than ... a plush Marvin the Martian doll? to nothing says "I love me" more than 12 straight hours of Buffy; from trailer park pate to bona fide foie gras; from falling asleep you-know-when to falling in you-know-what ... I'd like to think I've seen it all and can now observe Valentine's Day as neither a hater nor a rabid, nail-biting girly-girl. Moderation, my friends, is key to surviving any holiday*.

Went to Mariposa last night - my smart and sweet boyfriend (does that sound like an inside joke to you?) arranged to beat the insane crowd and sub-par VD service by making reservations for the 11th instead of the 14th. Sublime seafood: SHRIMP. If ever I went allergic, I don't know how I'd console myself. Here, a recipe for quince jelly and the politics of foie gras ... was going to link PETA-approved sites but couldn't myself stomach the videos. I'm still glad I tried it.

For the (VD) haters, my worst ever 14th: the one where the ex complained for a week straight about the overcommecialization of Valentine's Day and how it is all about women, and how all men who get into it are just poor saps with materialistic girlfriends. The day of, he had flowers delivered to me and when I went over to his place to thank him he had left the invoice smack in the middle of the kitchen counter, $81 and NO SENSE. Jackass.

Best-ish: Eighth grade. Not because he sweetly went on a panicked hunt for extra-scarce roses the night before, but because of the general magic in the air. There's nothing quite like the anticipation that comes with a first romance. It was all downhill from there, culminating with the $81 bonehead. Then the tide turned and I was with someone who was very much into VD, but by then I was sort of over it in general.

One of the by-products of getting old, I guess.

But shrimp, I'll never get over shrimp.

:)