Valentine's Day Evening OT

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY

Indiana Jones and a Hunk a Hunk of Burning Love

During the last years of the previous millenium, my wife and I spent Valentine's Day at a hostel - Avalon House in Dublin - across the street from the church which supposedly housed the remains of St. Valentine. I didn't go in. Which Valentine? Don't know; there are a couple other saints by that name. But this isn't  hagiography dot blogspot, and anyhow I'm not Catholic. The pontiff at the time was Pope John Paul II.

  From History dot com: 

... Claudius believed that Roman men were unwilling to join the army because of their strong attachment to their wives and families.

To get rid of the problem, Claudius banned all marriages and engagements in Rome. Valentine, realizing the injustice of the decree, defied Claudius and continued to perform marriages for young lovers in secret.

When Valentine’s actions were discovered, Claudius ordered that he be put to death. Valentine was arrested and dragged before the Prefect of Rome, who condemned him to be beaten to death with clubs and to have his head cut off. The sentence was carried out on February 14, on or about the year 270.

 

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According to one legend, an imprisoned Valentine actually sent the first “valentine” greeting himself after he fell in love with a young girl—possibly his jailor’s daughter—who visited him during his confinement. Before his death, it is alleged that he wrote her a letter signed “From your Valentine,” an expression that is still in use today. 

***

Here's a story about my first crush. The first girl for whom I recall feeling a gyring admixture of attraction, admiration, fear, and repulsion transferred into my school in 4th grade a few weeks after the term began and was seated next to me for the remainder of the year. First appearance* by Virginia Huxley** was in Mrs. B's class when she entered the room and was introduced by the principal. She wore her best blue dress, on which she had apparently just spilled an entire carton of chocolate milk. She was seated next to me (we used to be sorted alphabetically, presumably to facilitate attendance-taking in the overcrowded CPS classrooms) and proceeded to disrupt the lesson. Later she got sent to the office because she told Mrs. B she smelled of fish (she did. poor Mrs. B was less hygienic than one would hope), and I was reprimanded for laughing.

Later on, Virginia:

• cut her hair during some crafting
• beat up one of my friends during recess
• won the class spelling bee
• beat up some other kid I didn't know
• got the lead in a musical number our class was staging
• beat me in a foot race
• got sent to the principal's office for swearing in class

That was just the first two weeks. At least that's how I remember it. Just by proximity to her, I got into more trouble that year than I ever had before.***

If you have a tale of innocent infatuation you would like to share, please do so. If you just want to guess the one and only Virginia's real name, go for it. Or just tell us about your boring or sexy post-football, Valentine's Day plans.†

I burnt as in a fire in her presence... but what did I care to know what the fire was in which I burned and melted -- it was enough that it was sweet to burn and melt. ~ Ivan Turgenev, First Love

*Rom #1, Marvel Comics 1979, Mantlo & S. Buscema

**Not her real name. Her first name is a US state or territory, last name is a revered scientist/naturalist. That's all I'm giving you, except it wasn't American Samoa Feynman or Ohio Heisenberg. 

*** I'm not blaming her for my ignorance, but I still don't know my multiplication tables or what a preposition or gerund is. And it's probably too late to ask Mrs. B.

†Originally I was going to post a stupid dinosaur comic I made but couldn't find page 2. I'm indiscriminate about

tossing stuff out. Oh well. I hate drawing anyway. Then I was going to make a pop quiz about songs and movies and ❤️, but I'm not around tonight to respond. I've got a wife you know. That cross footnote symbol (†) is called an "obelus' btw, and it's really annoying to find on my computer. No, I can't "just stop footnoting" are you crazy?