Tuesday, February 14, 2006
A brief history. Singles' Awareness Day (SAD) has nothing to do with cheese, but is of course, a derogatory term for Valentine's Day, that dreadful commercialized holiday forced upon us by the greeting card companies. Couples are pressured into giving gifts one to another, and have been subconsciously indoctrinated with the belief that if they don't receive a present/card/flower from their significant other, then obviously that person doesn't love them. And the greeting card companies make quite a bit of money in this process. And then the single people sit around and wonder if there's wrong with them as they're left out of this whole ordeal. Ah, the wonders of psychological manipulation. But somehow I don't believe that Valentine's Day was quite AS big of a deal before the greeting card companies set their marketing vultures on the task, (incidentally, what is this "Sweetest Day" thing in October that they're trying to push on us now?) but where did this holiday come from? Well, legend has it that some guy named Valentine (who could be any one of three St. Valentines that were martyred) fell in love with his jailer's daughter (he was arrested for performing illegal marriages for soldiers who by the law of Claudius II weren't allowed to marry) and wrote her a letter. Woopty-doo. So we're celebrating some guy's criminal activity. That's really nice. The Catholic Church decided to make a big deal about so as it would compete with the pagan holiday Lupercalia on February 15, which was held to keep wolves away from the townsfolk and their crops. The bad part of Lupercalia involved the sacrifice of a goat and a dog to some pagan god. The fun part about Lupercalia involved (1) all the girls putting their names in a pot, and the guys drawing out a name to be special friends with for the next year, and (2) all the guys getting to run around the town with strips of goat skin with which they slapped the women and crops to ensure fertility. Nowadays, we're left to our own devices to find special friends AND we don't get to play any running/slapping games. Plus we have to buy stuff. What a rip-off. Bah humbug. :)
In other news, I just put some LaBella flatwound strings on my bass, and they're oh-so-nice.
:)
Labels: society
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In order to buck the system, we make our own cards...and by "make" I mean we find some stationery laying around the house and write stuff in it. I hated Valentine's Day until William came along. As a girl, I had to wait around to see if some mysterious guy that I had somehow overlooked would "ask me out" or send me a card. In middle school I actually had quite a few "secret admirers" give me cards and flowers. I was awesome in middle school. But, then....nothing.....until William. We celebrate because we like to celebrate, but we usually don't support the gargantuan card companies this time of year. Did you know that in China, Valentines Day is all about women buying chocolate for the men? And then, about 3 weeks later, all the men buy "Thank you" gifts for the women. That's what Valentines Day should be about--chocolate. And thank you gifts. :o)
You should try some rotosound strings. They are made in England so that makes them rock harder!
And the Greeting Card Companys are just sick!
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And the Greeting Card Companys are just sick!