I hope that as many people as possible give and are given some sort of love today.. life’s to short without some emotional warmth. Actually, I hope that about every day, but since Feb 14 is earmarked as the holiday it comes to mind all the more. I hope I continue to get lots of opportunities to tell my loved ones how I feel, no matter what part of the year it is.

This is the day for lovers and birds. Nowadays we choose our valentines and send them unsigned cards. In the older days men and women used to put their names on slips of paper and draw lots as to who should be their love for the day.

It was believed that this was the day that birds chose their mates. What bird you saw on this day was meant to foretell the type of person you would marry. Another way was to put some bay leaves under your pillow and you would dream of your future husband or wife.

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I won the 300 point game (first one) and Dave won the 200 point game (I played 2 big baddies, and he had a balanced army.) I swear, necromancers drag out the length of a game… raising things from the dead can take a toll.

Mental note – best way to win against Dave is –

• Destroy any healers as fast as possible (they’re usually weak, and drop quickly)
• Dogpile on the toughest piece, and knock it out.
• keep his ranged pieces distracted by annoying close combat.

We had burritos made with veggie burger crumbles, and low fat cheese… it was good stuff, a little spicy. It didn’t mix well with my belly, though, and my body evacuated it rapidly later after a lot of very noticeable tummy rumbles. Some minor aftershocks still this morning. Rough night sleeping… another evening of “too hot / too cold” and potty trips.

Hayley is a lovely baby (2 mos), Mayah(2yr 2 mos) is so big! I got piccies taken with them both, hopefully they’ll email them to me soon. Hayley is still very attached to being carried by Mommy or Daddy… isn’t happy if put in the swing or down anywhere yet. Mayah is a lot of fun, plays hide and seek, and is able to carry an entertaining conversation for person her age. We had an in depth discussion about gorillas, other apes as well as the Spanish words for numbers, animals and other items. (Dog, water, twelve, etc.)

Zen Kitty is looking good… though Kringle has seen better days. Kringie still has his nose-rash trouble, it keeps coming and going despite medication. Luna-dog is getting quite heavy-set, too, and she’s very sweet-tempered these days.. little sign the total spaz when I first met her, what was it… seven years ago?

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“Nefertiti Resurrected, brought to you by the Discovery Channel, was seen by millions around the world. But how much of it was documentary – and how much was drama?” (for one thing, DNA shows the mummy to be a male.)

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You may not know much about art, but you no doubt know what you like to eat. Santa Fe’s Lapides Gallery apparently allows doodles. Two great tastes that display right together. (via sjgames)

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Amazon accidentally revealed the real names of many anonymous reviewers this week, through a bug in the amazon.ca back-end. It turns out that many of the reviewers are writers saying nice things about their own books or trashing their colleagues.

“That anybody is allowed to come in and anonymously trash a book to me is absurd,” said Mr. Rechy, who, having been caught, freely admitted to praising his new book, “The Life and Adventures of Lyle Clemens,” on Amazon under the signature “a reader from Chicago.” “How to strike back? Just go in and rebut every single one of them….”

One well-known writer admitted privately — and gleefully — to anonymously criticizing a more prominent novelist who he felt had unfairly reaped critical praise for years. She regularly posts responses, or at least he thinks it is her, but the elegant rebuttals of his reviews are also written from behind a pseudonym.

via boingboing_net