2002-02-15 | 5:45 p.m.

corduroy licorice liked to cast aspersions. he'd found them to be the most effective fishing fly of all�even more alluring to trout than midges and nymphs.

***

"we like someone because. we love someone although."
- henri de montherlant

valentine's day is a controversial event, it seems. whether dismissed as being a commercialized "hallmark holiday" whined about by burdened boyfriends and husbands or burned in greeting card-effigy in india as a heinous promotion of fornication.

i think it's awful sweet to have a designated day to show the one(s) you love a gesture of affection...whether they be family, friends or most favored forni-nations.

on the holiday in question, i walked past the greeting card aisle in a drug store and had to grin at the last-minute shopping crowd gathered around the red and pink section. and i had to grin again at the sight of a burly, strawberry blonde bloke toting a cellophane-wrapped bouquet of grocery store flowers home to his love muffin.

true, there is a lot of overblown pressure to partake in astronomically priced flowers and fancy pantsy dinners. i remember the valentine's day that my then-beau luke skywalker insisted on taking me out to eat for the occasion, despite the fact that he couldn't get a table for us until 10:30 p.m. (gack!)

for the last couple of years, i've celebrated v-day with two of my single girlfriends. even though p-girl has a man this year, she set aside time for us gal pals. we enjoyed our sushi feast and girl time. even though there were no boys around, there was a lot of love in the room.

i also bought myself a valentine's present of elliot smith's "xo" album. i didn't realize how apropos it was for the day until i was leaving the store. i also picked up john mayer's new album, "room for squares." i bought it on impulse because it was marked at the low, impulse price of $8.99, the cover was cool and it wore a sticker that touted a four-star review from rolling stone. my spontaneity paid off. sometimes he veers into hermetically sealed dave matthews territory, which ain't my bag, but some of the songs are really fresh and terrific. great lyrics, too. here's a sampling from "my stupid mouth":

"we bit our lips. she looked out the window
rolling tiny balls of napkin paper
i played a quick game of chess
with the salt and pepper shaker
and i could see clearly
an indelible line was drawn
between what was good, what just
slipped out and what went wrong
oh, the way she feels about me has changed
thanks for playing, try again."

***

i think my journal boycott on boys has lasted long enough! i managed one entry without focusing on the second fairest sex. pretty impressive, if you ask me.

i just have to share my lastest dream. i was dating tom cruise. i'm not even attracted to said celebrity, but i remember enjoying his company in my REM state. the funny thing is, i suddenly realized that although tommy boy and i were content...we'd never had sex. when it occured to me, i mentioned it to my new top gun. he tried to play it off. it was obvious he'd been hoping i wouldn't notice. then i woke up, so there was no resolution or knocking of boots. fine by me. i don't want to partake of penelope's sloppy seconds, mkay?

<----������� ---->