that's amore.

a manifestation of religious commercialization, today celebrates the martyrdom and feast day of saint valentine. taking over the roman holiday honoring juno (hera, to you greeks), goddess of women, marriage, and all the other gods and godesses, valentine's day appears as just another christian steamroll across pagan significance, similar to halloween's role of detracting attention from samhain, the pagan new year, and christmas' role of diverting attention away from the winter solstice. do people relaly need a specific, set day, to profess their love for one another? do people really need a day to serve as a reminder that they share some higher connection with another and that they are loved? i for one, would hope that people are showing love for their significant others every day instead of doing it on the fourteenth because it is "the day to show it." taking off my rose colored glasses, valentine's day looks like nothing more than a day of gross consumer fervor, where boxes of chocolates, boquets of flowes, and all things fuzzy and furry fly off store shelves. what a better way to pin a price on love. believe me whan i say this is not a bitter rant but rather an honest observation.

as for single people, what a day to reiterate their lone position. nevertheless, here on this singles awareness day, it was proven that singles too, can have a lot of fun - especially by having chicken wings at hooters (because couples don't bring their dates to hooters, and if they do, it probably won't last), strolling the promenade, and sitting down with coffee for laughs and conversation. while i sipped my espresso, opened little valentine postcards (like the ones i used to get in elementary school), and listened to my friends talk about everything from movies, travelling, jobs, co-workers, and professors, to the word angst, which prompted justin to think about teen angst and jessica to think of stabbing herself in the chest with a knife, underhandedly, i simply felt snug and content with being single, having cultivated my utter independent state for the past twenty two years. personal experiences and observations have demonstrated the ruining potential relationships have on focus and friendships, and it was out of a sense of courtesy to my friends, coupled with respect for my parents (who wanted me to concentrate on education first), that i have stayed unattatched all this time.

at some point in the evening, i ask a friend how he came to refer to himself as "my little brother." "it just feels right," he replies, and i am suddenly struck by everything that little phrase encompasses. it is what defines family - when talking to each other, sharing sentiments with each other, spending time with each other, having fun with each other, looking out for one another, taking care of each other, possessing a willingness to do whatever and whenever for one another, and simply loving each other unconditionally, "just feels right." it is when "it just feels right" do the bonds between people run so deep that there is no longer a need or reason to question why you love - you just do. [06.25.2003]

my thanks to my family - to my parents and my friends, who i love, still love, and will love.

who, being loved, is poor?
: wilde.