As we all know, Valentine’s Day is a concocted holiday, with no real purpose other than to drive retail sales.  There are some good aspects, however, in that you get free reign to be close to your loved one, snuggle and cuddle and be all couply and disgusting in public, and if you’re doing it right, you’ll probably pick up a little action later on.  It’s a great day.

It’s a great day for couples, that is. 

If you think this post is a bitter rant about being single, then you’re DAMN SKIPPY.  It’s most definitely a rant, because some of us don’t have a loved one.  Some of us get to sit home today, by ourselves, and contemplate whatever might be wrong with us to deserve this lonely existence.  The only probable action we’ll get involves a bottle of Jergens and a Kleenex.

I think Valentine’s Day needs to be a two-pronged holiday.  There should be two aspects:  One for happy couples, and one for us unfortunates who are apparently leprous troglodytes who should be guarding a bridge somewhere against billy-goat intrusions.  We need a little chunk of this holiday where we can enjoy our bitterness and people should have to respect and acknowledge it.  I think that’s only fair.

We could go out, of course, but then we’d have to endure the stomach-wrenching visual of you pretty and fortunate people being all happy and content.  That’s not so much fun either, but I understand you’re too distracted to care.  That’s ok.  We’ll just go home and sulk and curse you and your happiness, and maybe that will make us feel a little better.  Maybe we’ll order a pizza and watch a guy movie with lots of gore and explosions, and try to convince ourselves that we’re having a perfectly good time without you and your company.  Who needs a girlfriend anyway?  Look at all that money we saved on flowers and a stupid teddy bear, or some crappy jewelry that you’ll smile at and pretend you like, then stuff away in a drawer somewhere and never wear.  Then we’ll surf the Internet for a while randomly, but there won’t be anything worthy of seeing because all the pages and portals will be covered with sickening “happy” couples enjoying themselves.  No mood for porn either, because it reminds of what we could have, if only we weren’t such undesirables.  We’ll probably just go to bed early, alone and angry.

Enjoy your stupid holiday, happy people.  Enjoy having someone to share your joy with, and enjoy not having a care in the world except for your one special, greed-and-merchandise-driven day.  It’s ok… we’ll be fine.

I went to see Taken at the theater today.  Good movie, although very predictable and formulaic.  Still, it’s cool to see Liam Neeson kick ass.  Very enjoyable.  As I got up to leave, I noticed a family behind me a few rows up.  A guy, maybe in his 50s somewhere, and several (I didn’t stare long enough to get a count) women, all dressed in Little House-esque prairie garb.  Must have been date night day.  Now, just so you know, I have nothing at all against people for being who they are, (it’s actually religion itself I have a problem with) but Taken was a shoot-em-up thriller movie with guns and violence and maybe a swear word or two.  PG-13, but still on the violent side.  It just gave me cause for a double take to see a PolyMo and his wives loving the hell out of it.  Please don’t think I’m being judgmental or anything, I was just surprised a little bit, and delighted to see such things.

Anyway, that’s not what I want to talk about.  What I want to talk about is this stupid DTV transition thing, and the fact of our idiot government pissing us all off by delaying it AGAIN.  People, it’s time to rip off the band-aid.  I know it’s going to be a tough few weeks once this thing happens, but delaying it is not going to make it any easier.  If you aren’t ready for it now, you won’t be ready for it in June.

We’ve been talking about this for YEARS.  It’s been delayed at least once before.  I’m sorry that congress is a bunch of morons with VCR’s that still blink 12:00, but that doesn’t mean the rest of us are idiots.

If you are an aging Baby Boomer and for whatever reason you can’t figure out the very simple procedure of hooking up a new tuner box, then call your grand kids.  I’m sure 11 year-old Timmy can hook grandma up.  Besides, most people these days already have a new HDTV or the like, or have cable or satellite TV, and don’t even need to worry about this to begin with.

This is just another example of the idiocy of our government.  What I’m thinking is that someone, somewhere is making money in some way by continually pushing this thing back.  That has to be the answer.  I’m pretty disappointed in Obama for this.  I thought he’d know better.

As for me, well I stopped watching TV years ago.  My television is sitting tucked away in my closet somewhere, probably covered with old clothes and dust.  Good riddance to it.  The only TV shows I ever see are courtesy of Hulu.com and the almighty Internet.  This transition thing doesn’t affect me in the slightest.

Just do it America, and quit screwing around.  It’s time to join the 21st century already.  Pull the plug on analog.