Valentine's Day!

>>So I promised a Valentine's blog depicting the events of how I spent it. Because it's a day late, I'll be posting two blogs today. This is the first of the two.

>>Step back a bit. Think about Valentine's Day in the first place. Where did it come from? Did men really want to express how they felt to their lady friend aside from any anniversaries they would share? Did women force such a holiday into place because they didn't feel loved enough? Does it have nothing to do with either genders' wants, and simply couples everywhere wanted a day to celebrate what they were? Or, perhaps, it's a bigger thing, a bit like Christmas, where maybe at one point the holiday had great meaning, but now is completely comercialized?

>>I did some research. Now, I'd love to think that it has to do with the Greek god Eros, or as his more popular name that the Romans gave him, Cupid. However, he is only a symbol of it. Sadly, it is a Christian holiday, created by Pope Gelasius in 496. Believe it or not, the flowers, the cards, the chocolate, and the heart-shaped everything has been in the tradition from the start. So when people comercialize the holiday, it's still in the spirit of Valentine's Day...just bigger. However, it's rumored that the holiday was put where it was to distract pagans away from their holiday (Lupercalia, google it) and focus more on the ideas of Christianity.

>>Sneaky, strategic buttholes.

>>Why Eros in naked over there, I don't know. Why he's a baby, I equally don't know. But if you think about it, Eros would only be a proper image of love if he were mature enough to experience it. In the stories he's older. So I don't like this baby-Eros common symbol of this holiday. Especially since this is a CHRISTIAN holiday, if the Christians were going to borrow symbols they could have at least borrowed the RIGHT one.

>>Anyhow, that's enough background on the holiday itself. My Valentine's Day was great! Will set up some surprises for me, and despite that some weren't really romantic in the first place it was more the fact that we were doing things together than focusing on trying to do romantic activities. Besides, people can't do mushy-gushy junk all the time. It'd drive you mad!

>>So the first surprise: Eating at a japanese steakhouse where they cook the food in front of you. Ah, precious. This could count as romantic. All sorts of foods are aphrodisiacs, after all. The food was delicious, the other party at our table weren't rude or drunk, so that was a positive experience.

>>Second surprise: Seeing a movie. It's the Percy Jackson, blah blah blah, My Title's So Ridiculously Long That No One Remembers It, and despite that overall it was funny and cute and mostly mythologically correct, I had some issues with it...the part with the lotus flowers is on an island near Greece, not in a casino in L.A. Plus, Percy Jackson ≠ Hercules!! The Hydra and Medusa were long defeated by HERCULES before Percy was ever a thought between Poseidon and what's-her-face-mortal-lady. Not really romantic but still fun, and we got to spend time and laugh together.

>>Third surprise: Going to a park. We just chilled and walked and laughed and spent time together. Despite that we did absolutely nothing, it's still a point for the romantic side.

>>Miscellaneous presents which I've forgotten to mention til this point: roses, a chocolate rose, chocolate in that heart-shaped box, Popey Gelasius up there (there's so many "there"s that that could be! Guess which in comments) would be oh-so proud, a sketchpad with a gushy cutesy lovely note, a thing of red ink for my calligraphy, and lots and lots of smiles.

>>Mom got me chocolate too. A shit ton of it, since it went on sale on Valentine's Day. But that's after the fact of all this. Basically, yesterday was amazing, asombroso, and it doesn't look like it's changing. So huzzah! Victory!