V day to me is like D day to the Germans... ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE!!!

Alright, here it is, ladies and gentlemen, my post valentines day blitz!!! Brought to you by all the miserable unloved people out there. (not really. It's just me.)

I have a very special love/hate relationship with valentines day. Actually, I have two very special love/hate relationships with valentines day. Two you ask? Let me explain.

I wear a lot of black, I'm slightly socially awkward, my friends call me eccentric. Various bits of metal are strewn across my skin and I cut and dye my own hair. I like the occasional sad song, like Madeline or Lonely Day, specifically because they're sad. I enjoy bitter, angry metal or rock songs like Love me Dead or The Unthinking Majority because I'm often bitter or angry.

However, there is a separate side to my personality. (no, I am not a schkitzo)

I am a hopeless romantic. I have dreamed up a thousand different ways to meet a hundred different men of my dreams. I have an innate joy that shows through regardless of how I'm really feeling. I am unique and excited to live, love and explore. I wear sweet victorian corsets and gauntlets, dreaming of a fantastical dark love that I'm destined for.

On occasion I wait at my register for some handsome artist to come by, purchase my favorite bouquet from the flower stand, and hand it straight back when I finish bagging his purchase.

Yup. Two sides of one funky mirror. Tell your attractive, artistic gentlemen friends.

The angry, gothy side of my personality hates valentines day, just like it's supposed to, just as you would expect. But that angry goth side also loves to HATE valentines day. I enjoy being miserable during such a holiday. It just feels so fulfilling, I suppose. I'm fulfilling my pleasure for angry songs and sad songs. I'm fulfilling my obsession with tears. And that feels good.

The romantic, however, is different. I hate valentines day because I never have a valentine. That romantic desperately wants to be loved by some special man. And she HATES to see all the lovey doveys that populate the holiday. Why should mediocre personalities like those have love when there is a deeply romantic character over here who's got nothing!? No fair. BUT valentines day is all about love. And what romantic can deny true love?

I love it like Christian did love Satine, and like Amelie does love Nino, and like Helena might one day love Valentine.

All you need is love.



link of the day: http://www.onesentence.org/
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The terror in the night

Fear.

That's got to be one of the most complex feelings that a human being can have. Do you doubt me? Perhaps you think fear is only fear and that's just that. Either you're afraid, or you're not.

Yeah? What of horror films? Scary books? Haunted houses? Halloween?

People love to be afraid. It's one of our favorite feelings. We watch terrifying movies about death, murder, and monsters (oh my!). What are the first five books that come to mind when I say the word "classics"?

Personally, I think of 'A Tale of Two Cities' by Charles Dickens, 'Frankenstine' by Mary Shelly, 'Pride and Prejudice' by Jane Austen, 'Grapes of Wrath' by John Steinbeck, and 'Dracula' by Bram Stoker.

Two of those "classics" are horror stories about monsters and evil and villagers with torches and pitchforks.

Maybe people enjoy fear because of the adrenaline rush. Or maybe it's just the nastier side of our curious nature. You don't get to see blood and gore every day. Why do you think people slow down when there's an accident on the side of the road? They want to see something horrifying. Why they want that may even be a mystery unto themselves.

But oh how they want to see it.

Back to the adrenaline theory. Fear feels good, after the fact. Some people simply delight in dread. They watch a scary movie or read a terrifying thriller to get their blood pumping, to excite them, to feel alive.

Fear is just fascinating. One of my favorite paintings is "Gothic Nightmares". I once read an article that mentioned that painting. It talked about how well the painting demonstrated night terrors, those dreams where you feel like you're awake and there's something horrible in the room with you, but you can't even move. You're petrified and immobilized.

But it's famous. We don't shun it because it scares us. In fact we embrace it. Perhaps it makes us feel brave. Really, there isn't any courage without fear. Who needs to be brave if they are not afraid to begin with? Bravery is all about confronting fear.

That's it. We terrify ourselves because it teaches us about ourselves. We frighten ourselves to prove our own courage. If I could never fear, I could never know if I am a hero, or nothing more than a coward.