The Word

Well, Valentine's Day was as predictable as ever. Flowers (sold by YWLO) were delivered to my second hour (AP bio) without causing much of a ripple in our taking notes on bacteriophages. April and Ellen both gave me valentines (April's was homemade and very pretty; Ellen's was one of those storebought kind we passed around in grade school, this one Shrek-themed and addressed to "C-Machine"). There were a lot of balloons, flowers, teddy bears, and so on floating around the hallways. Mrs. Longhenry read us a New York Times article about the origins of Valentine's Day and how love and marriage have evolved over time, which was interesting, though I knew about most of it.

I was prepared to wallow in self-pity, but a few incidents at Key Club, as well as some links on James' AIM profile, cheered me up. At Key Club, we passed around the Happy Barrel, when we all toss loose change into a mug and say why we're happy (assuming we are). So the barrel got to the Longhenrys. Mrs. L. said, "I'm happy because I got a flower from my soulmate," and then beamed up at Mr. L. They're so cute! It was very sweet, despite the immediate collective "Awww," which usually ruins moods.

James has apparently become acquainted with Maddox, a website full of misogynistic, cynical rantings that, while often obscene, can be very funny and sometimes truthful. I'd heard about it before, from Will and some of the QB guys, and visited it. James has started putting links on his AIM profile, and today had a few Valentine's Day-themed ones. I had to laugh out loud at the following: "I don't hate Valentine's day just because I don't have a date (but it doesn't help). Possibly the worst thing about Valentine's day are those damned cupids. I see them everywhere. Little bastards. They annoy the hell out of me. Sometimes I can't sleep at night because stay up thinking about how much I hate Cupids. Then I realize that it's not cupids that I hate so much, but really mimes. This leads me to the question: if a mime fell in a forest, would it make a sound? If I ever see a mime in a forest, I'm going to trip it to find out." How can you not laugh at that?

I had hoped to have a pity party with Emily on the night of the winter dance, but now it looks as if she'll be doing something with Tyler (who, by the way, wore a shirt today that read, "Everybody loves an Asian boy," randomly). Maybe I'll have to get off the couch, turn off Harold and Maude, and actually go to this dance.