Cupid's Helper HNT

I think I might be the only male on the planet who actually likes Valentine's Day. Of course, being a life-long, card-carrying member of the Bachelor's Club might have a lot to do with that. I don't have to send cards, flowers or chocolate to anyone if I don't want to. Nor have to worry about the consequences by not doing so. Yet, I've been known to do such things, because deep down, I'm sort of a romantic.

Strangely, I've had so few special VDays, but there's only one that sticks out in my mind. I answered a 'help wanted' ad in the local paper to deliver flowers on Valentine's Day. I put on my reddest shirt (avoiding the urge to go the full Cupid route) and headed to the florist early that morning. For over 8 hours that day, my fellow delivery guys and I ran all over town, delivering roses to nervous, expectant ladies. Fill up my van, head to the downtown office buildings, deliver maybe a dozen orders, and go back to do the whole thing all over again.

Never in my life had I felt such love and contempt at the same time. The anticipation as I walked into an office area. The hopeful look in their eyes. The daggers in my back as I passed desk after desk, to deliver them to the back of the office. The leers and pure hate I felt walking back out of the office. Sometimes I'd have to go back to the same office with a different order. And the forgiving eyes, then the anticipation, daggers, and leers. Repeat. Rinse. Repeat.

It was a great day. My van smelled like roses for days. I'm curious what sort of reaction I would have gotten if I went the Cupid route. Fortunately, not that curious... Happy Valentine's Day to all!

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Please Hear What I Am Not Saying

"Don't be fooled by me.
Don't be fooled by the face I wear
for I wear a mask, a thousand masks,
masks that I'm afraid to take off,
and none of them is me.

Pretending is an art that's second nature with me,
but don't be fooled,
for God's sake don't be fooled.
I give you the impression that I'm secure,
that all is sunny and unruffled with me, within as well
as without,
that confidence is my name and coolness my game,
that the water's calm and I'm in command
and that I need no one,
but don't believe me.

Who am I, you may wonder?
I am someone you know very well.
For I am every man you meet
and I am every woman you meet."

Charles C. Finn
September 1966

The mystery will be revealed late Thursday afternoon. Be sure to come back--it'll be a surprise!
I'll assume that you noticed that there might be double Mystery Guests this week (hint: mouse rollover). Our Guests are Barefoot Dreamer and Morning Glory, who's also doing a guest stint at her site! Be sure to stop by and say hi!

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My mini-rant from last week regarding the lack of comments for "...the Other HNT" seemed to work some. Now keep it up! Your fellow HNTers appreciate it! Oh, yeah...NSFW!

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THEME ALERT! - Don't forget that next week will be the Winter Olympic HNT theme! For those of you who worried about not having snow for pictures, I think that's been taken care of... If you still don't have snow, you could always opt for indoor skating, or medal ceremonies, or something along those lines. Looking forward to seeing what you all come up with! Canadians--I'm looking forward to some real national pride!!!

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Ending with bullets...

• I have no sympathy for those of you who are enduring the snow back east. In the similar fashion that no one had great sympathy for us here when we were deep in the frigid sub-zero temps. But after seeing the news tonight, I CAN say that I'm glad it's not happening here. In fact, I saw a robin the other day. Don't hate...
• Congrats to the New Orleans Saints! Mardi Gras should be a good time this year!
• Getting used to the new changes that Facebook made this week. Not a big fan, but it's not too bad. Still seems to be working a bit on the wonky side.
• REALLY not a fan yet of Gmail's Buzz. Do we really need Twitter-like behavior there?? Or worse--connecting Twitter to Buzz??? Please, no. I'm going to give it a couple of days, but there's a nice link at the bottom of your Gmail page that says "turn off buzz". Probably going to do just that!
• Had the most bizarre dream last night. Can't quite describe it, other than I was a game piece on a board that was a hybrid of Tetris and Words with Friends. Yes, the dementia rolls on unabated...