Romance Is Lost On Me

I appreciate it in other's lives, but in my own? Not so much. My dear friend Tiffany's sister's birthday is this evening and in addition to celebrating that, her boyfriend will be proposing, and she has no idea. He went to Build-A-Bear and built one or got one or whatever you do at Build-A-Bear, the bear you can record something and press the bear's paw and it will replay. He's recorded his marriage proposal and after handing her the bear and getting down on one knee, will tell her to squeeze the paw.

The "Awwwww" factor is overwhelming and so so sweet.

If Martin, however, had proposed to me in such a manner, I would have had to decline based solely on the fact that he went to Build-A-Bear and imagined in some way that I would appreciate that. It would be a blatant sign that he didn't know me at all.

Instead, Martin has ordered me a pink Ed Gein tee-shirt for Valentine's Day. I'm pretty happy about that; my husband knows me well.

I've never embraced romantic gestures. My last ex, when we were financially comfortable, used to buy me a gift every Friday. He worked hard on it, probably to make up for the normal everyday shit he put me through. Ninety per cent of time, I'd look at the gift, say, "Thank you," and set it aside. Buying me slutty underwear, ugly jewelry and clothes I would never wear doesn't do it for me. Chocolate, particularly Godiva, is always a win-win situation, though.

One time, he got me an outfit. It was a pair of navy blue long Bermuda like shorts; wool; a blazer to match, with those stupid brass buttons and a navy blue and beige blouse. I actually wore this atrocity, with off white hose and navy blue flats, a couple of times, before "I lost it at the dry cleaner." I don't think I have ever in my life pretended to be Muffy Worthington. Whole outfit and gesture was so not me.

We were planning on going to our favorite Mexican joint tomorrow so Martin can take his girls out for Valentine's Day but instead, I think we will be staying home and having lasagna hopefully with Tiffany and Timothy. I may not be a huggy kissy type, except with my kids, but cooking,to me,is love.

So Say We All *

I am not a big science fiction fan. Generally, whenever I realize that there is a spaceship involved, I instantly lose interest.

Martin, being the geek that he is, loves it. He started watching the revamped Battlestar Galactica when it first aired. Since it involved spaceships, I paid no attention. He recently decided to re watch the entire new series from beginning to end.

Some of it creeped in and I got interested. Not because it involves spaceships, but because it has an intricate, interesting story. It involves sociology, culture, politics, religion, courage, and tolerance.

The characters are well-developed and complex, with lots of back story. There's a bit of romance and lots of action and adventure thrown in. Good guys turn out to be villains and villains turn out to be good guys. When Martin started watching it, I declared it The Soap Opera On The Spaceship, but it's not at all. Any student of history will find it fascinating.

So yeah, that's where I've been.

* "So say we all" is the Battlestar Galactica catchphrase, much as Capatin Picard, aboard the Enterprise during the Next Generation, used "Make it so."