i can't honestly say that i'm embittered by valentine's day (i don't think flowers are all that great and if i were to receive chocolate i'd scarf it all down) but i can say that i honestly miss the valentine's day we celebrated in elementary school. back then -- oh so long ago, in the third grade -- it wasn't so much about getting snuggly with a boyfriend or aw'ing over balloons sent to you by a secret admirer.

learning halted for an hour, maybe two, and the whole class passed out little paper cards purchased at walgreens or wal-mart or target or wherever (you know the ones, you had to write EVERYONE a card and that meant sometimes buying an extra box when there was an odd number of kids in your class). after that -- or, hell, DURING -- there were cookies to eat and candy and juice and everything else. everyone signed up to bring something and it was a big ass bash.

i think, back then, valentine's day was a lot more exciting.