Tuesday, February 14, 2006 Well, Valentine's Day So, the usual sort of routine. I'm wearing a red sweater. Chocolate is much more easy to attain than usual. I don't have a date, but I do have shinily polished toenails. And, happy birthday, Eric! Keep on rockin' out. There'll be a delightful phone call later. It wouldn't be Valentine's Day if I didn't link to ladysisyphus's pre-emptive strike against Happy Sappy Heart Day, in which we learn the origins of the holiday and previous rituals of celebration: During Lupercalia, priests called Luperci -- described by Cicero as 'a certain wild association of Lupercalian brothers, both plainly pastoral and savage, whose rustic alliance was formed before civilization and laws' -- would sacrifice goats and a dog, then smear the blood across the foreheads of two noble young men and wipe it off again. After that, the men were required to laugh. Then the Luperci would run around in loincloths, lashing everyone with the skins of the goats they'd sacrificed, in order to promote fertility and easy childbirth in those who were lashed. Cue heavy drinking. Tonight I'm reading at a spoken word thing at Karma Coffeehouse -- an anti-Valentine's Day celebration of delights. Come by, if you're not doing anything. Should be a goat-whacking good time. | permalink blog • archives • photos • about • contact This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License. All content © 2004.