i'm not a big fan of valentines day (granted, i might possibly feel differently if i had someone to spend the day with and actually get excited about). i hate the fact that so many people use it as one of the few days a year when they do something special for their "special someone." it's a commercial driven holiday, about buying the perfect gift...blah blah blah...last year i had to go to the store on valentine's day. i don't remember why i was there or what i was going to get, but i was so annoyed at all the guys picking up their last minute gifts for their sweethearts. i think if they wanted to make it a special day and show how much they care, they would have done something more than run out to kroger on their way home from work and pick up a box of chocolate and a pre-cut rose. i'm not saying that those are bad gifts, but what good do those gifts do if you're not showing them you care the rest of the year?
i think my lack of interest in valentine's day comes from my bad experiences. in grade school, every kid had to bring in valentines and share them with the rest of the class. yes, those prewritten snoopy and care bears and michael jordan valentine's cards said a lot more than happy v-day. you and your best friend knew how to decifer which cards were sincere and which ones were forced. no one wanted to give the "glue eater" one of their best cards, you'd give him the one you liked the least. the one that said "you're my friend, valentine!" the great cards, the ones that said "be mine, valentine!" were always reserved for those cute boys. the ones you secretly had a crush on.
when i was in 8th grade, we had a 15 minute "activity period" before lunch. this was a time when clubs could meet once a week, or we could use it as a study time. mostly, we'd sit around and talk or play games. i was sitting in a desk when this 7th grade girl comes in and says "who has locker 109?"
i walked to the door and looked out in the hallway, everyone else hot on my heels. taped to my locker was a huge red heart shaped box of chocolates. i ran over and grabbed the note off of it, pulled the box off and stuck it into the bottom unused locker under mine and went back to class. then i unfoled the note. it was from a 7th grader. not just any 7th grader, but a dorky 7th grader. i was so embarrassed! some of the guys in my class got the chocolates out of the empty locker and ate them, all of them. later that day i remember being lectured by my homeroom teacher, who had found out about the incident. she told me that "a proper lady gives back gifts when they're not interested in the boy." she was a little upset when i told her that her son had eaten most of them, therefore i couldn't return them.
my freshman year i got to school on valentine's day to find i had a secret admirer. it was waiting in a note given to me by a friend. i had no clue who this boy was, and even after friends pointed him out to me, i still had no idea. throughout the day i was given a red (half wilted) rose, a white stuffed monkey wearing a tuxedo holding a rose, and more notes (the handwritting looked like a 6 year old). phone calls and notes in my locker went on for weeks until he finally got the hint that i didn't want to go out with him.
[i know that i sound cruel, but i really wasn't! i was nice to these boys, just very uninterested. they were persistent, but that didn't change my mind. i didn't like either of them and i wasn't interested in getting to know them. plus i majorly freaked out and didn't know what to do...i was like 13 or 14.]
my junior year, i actually had a boyfriend, but valentine's day fell on the weekend. we had a guard competition, so that threw off any valentine's day plans.
there's more, but those are the stories that remind me of my valentine's day curse. the one's that remind me of why it's never been a day of special memories. hopefully, one day my good memories will outweigh the bad. but for now, i'll just take it for what it is, an over commercialized, made-up day to celebrate love.
so as promised, i give you my picks for best romantic movies. i'm going to add my favorite quotes too (thanks crystal for the great idea).
1. say anything
"what i really want to do with my life, what i want to do for a living, is i want to be with your daughter. i'm good at it."
2. dirty dancing
"i'm scared of everything. i'm scared of what i saw, i'm scared of what i did, of who i am, and most of all i'm scared of walking out of this room and never feeling the rest of my whole life the way i feel when i'm with you."
3. pretty woman
"so what happens after he climbs up and rescues her?"
"she rescues him right back."
4. meet joe black
"love is passion, obsession, someone you can't live without. if you don't start with that, what are you going to end up with? fall head over heels. i say find someone you can love like crazy and who'll love you the same way back. and how do you find him? forget your head and listen to your heart. i'm not hearing any heart. run the risk, if you get hurt, you'll come back. because, the truth is there is no sense living your life without this. to make the journey and not fall deeply in love - well, you haven't lived a life at all. you have to try. because if you haven't tried, you haven't lived."
5. when harry met sally
"i love that you get cold when it's 71 degrees out. i love that it takes you an hour and a half to order a sandwich. i love that you get a little crinkle above your nose when you're looking at me like i'm nuts. i love that after i spend the day with you, i can still smell your perfume on my clothes. and i love that you are the last person i want to talk to before i go to sleep at night. and it's not because i'm lonely, and it's not because it's new year's eve. i came here tonight because when you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible."
6. untamed heart
"i wonder if you think about me."
"of course i think about you."
"i wasn't finished!"
"finish."
"i wonder if you think about me half as much as i think about you."
7. when a man loves a woman
"i think i could love you again if you could, for once, say 'i don't know.'"
8. beauty and the beast
"i let her go."
"ha ha ha, yes. splend-- you what? how could you do that?"
"i had to."
"yes, but WHY?"
"because, i love her."
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