Happy Valentines Day (NOT!)

Ok, am I the only one who finds it amusing that the acronym for Valentines Day is VD? (Okay, I guess I am, but I'm sorta twisted that way.)

Valentines day is not a big favorite of mine. I find the whole day annoying. The concepts of love and appreciation are good things I guess but you might wanna consider working them into your life on a daily basis, ya' know? The very idea of the day offends me somehow. It strikes me as a day for needy women to demand their "entitlements" of sap, gifts, and servitude from their duly grateful male companions.

I will say that I am a particularly lucky guy in that my wife is the only woman on the planet with less liking for Valentines Day than I have. Our grand romantic gesture was a handshake and a "Happy Valentines Day to you". (No, I am NOT kidding!) We're not very romantic people in general. We both tend to appreciate the everyday things much more than the sappy sentiment. Want an example? Okay . . . on any given day, I can turn suddenly to the wife as I'm watching TV and say (and sadly, this is a quote.) "Why yes, dear, thank you! I'd love for you to go out and pick me up some ice cream for a snack!" She will go out and get it. Oh, there will be some grumbling about my being a lazy PITA, and an extended round of wrestling that usually ends with her biting me in some tender area or another, but after we finish laughing she actually gets up, gets in the car, and goes. THAT is real romance. You can keep your stinkin' roses!

From my side? Uh . . . well, to be honest, I don't know what I do, but I must do SOMETHING, since she's still hanging around me after all this time. Trust me, there's damn few roses that come through her door, and NEVER on Valentines Day. (I refuse to be robbed like that.)

Anyway, on to writing. I did another 2500 words on "First" . . . finished the storm scene, which turned out to be a completely unexpected way of introducing the MC to his love interest. That wasn't supposed to happen for another three chapters but I guess my subconscious like this way better. After looking over the outline, I have to agree. The original idea was just too . . . forced. The storm gave me a better intro and the chance to leave off the chapter on a cliff hanger, which is always fun!

Been watching a lot of Olympics this week. I LOVE the Olympics! There is something remarkable about watching these folks, who are not getting paid 15 Bazillion dollars a year, go out there and push past pain, doubt, and tribulation. It's inspiring. I watched the men's X-country "pursuit" the other day and saw the favorite to win go down in an accident in the first 5 seconds of the race and break a ski. The pack took off, leaving him so far behind the announcers counted him completely out of the race. This guy thought differently. He raced for a few hundred yards on a broken ski until his coach brought a replacement, then he pushed like wild and overtook damn near everyone to take home a silver medal. Last night, I caught the last Chinese couple in the "pairs" figure skating. The woman fell (nastily!) on one of her first moves and completely hammered her knee. Did she quit? Hell no! She continued on and they also won silver medals, despite the injury. I even had a blast watching the snowboarding halfpipe (male & female) Those are kids who are just having the time of their lives and loving every minute of the experience. Very Cool!

Maybe I'm corny, but I find that a lot more fun to watch than guys like Kobi, T.O. and Barry Bonds who make more money than god and have to take two months off for rehab every time they get a hangnail.

The folks in the Olympics are real athletes.

Later!