Valentine's Day - Skip It

Valentine's Day is pretty sucky for everyone, when you think about it. For single folk, it's another screaming-in-your-face reminder that you are alone - sad, and alone, eating chips. For those who are coupled up, it's either a let-down (no proposal, we're eating where?, what no flowers?) or a complete drain on your bank account (the on-average spend is $119.67).

So, here are some tasty facts/ideas that might help you to overlook this waste-of-space holiday and be good to yourself:

1. The Food and Drug Administration allows up to 60 insect fragments per 100 grams of chocolate. But that's not so bad. Up to two rodent hairs are allowed for every 8 ounces. That translates to 16 insect parts and one hair per average chocolate bar. Yum!! Make mine a vanilla cream w/roach. On the serious side, once I did find an insect leg in a chocolate pudding cup. Yeah, no more store-bought puddin for me.

2. A rose by any other name is tetanus. According to the State of Maine's Rose Society, "There are various forms of bacteria in addition to C. tetani and several species of fungus that can invade the body and cause serious illness through thorn injury. Treatment for these diseases is usually unpleasant." Be careful of those pricks, gals!

3. Rent a movie. Lose your singles sorrow in one of the many Hollywood classics where the happy ending does not require the girl getting the guy or vice versa. Make some popcorn and cozy up with "The Bride of Frankenstein," "Fatal Attraction" or "The Silence of the Lambs." Make sure you have a nice chianti on hand....

4. Read a book. From the classics to pop culture, fiction offers many inspiring tales of unrequited love and thriving singledom. For example, "Cyrano de Bergerac" (he dies), "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court" (he dies) or Catherine in "Wuthering Heights" (she goes mad and then dies).

After all this, if you still want to celebrate the damn holiday, here's an idea. Take your date to your local no-kill animal shelter, APA or Humane Society, walk around and check out all of the homeless dogs and cats that will more than likely be euthanized by the 15th, and either give one a loving home OR donate money to the shelter.

Now that's having a heart. :-) The photo is of Alma, who is up for adoption at Stray Rescue.