Happy VD

Send an E-card (or a you're 'destined to die alone in a room heavy with the tang of cat weE-card) today.

OR...

Happy 'More Conceptual Humanitarian Effort' Day (registration required).....but because I love you here's an extract....

Be my anti-Valentine: Rallying against Cupid's corruption
Rebecca Lazarenko
2/13/2007

"Customarily reserved for bitter singles and broken hearts, anti-Valentine's Day sentiments are slowly being echoed by everyone from the voluntarily unattached to the happily married.

Anti-Valentine's Day and the newly created Singles Awareness Day are following in the footsteps of anti-commercialism giants like Buy Nothing Day and D-I-Y Christmas. The out-of-nowhere attack of these un-holidays is hitting corporations where it hurts the most - espousing the existence of inherent narcissism in such red-letter days and attempting to reverse their ever-broadening commercial appeal.

The movement has divided itself into two consequential occasions: Singles Awareness Day and Anti-Valentines Day - both conveniently falling on Feb. 14.

"The exact founding of Singles Awareness Day is unknown," said Matt Brick, creator of singleawareness.com, a relatively new information portal.

"Our culture is definitely weighted towards couples, but in the [last] few decades the rise in divorce rates and other changes in society have fueled more single people than ever before."

Quite simply, Singles Awareness Day acknowledges an overriding pressure for companionship and acts as a cautionary tale to think of those who are truly alone. At once a celebration of independence and widening resource guide for the bored bachelors and bachelorettes, this movement also asserts the goal of a more conceptual humanitarian effort, suggesting a detachment from purely romantic love and the need to metaphorically embrace those excluded from mainstream holidays.

"One way to keep your sanity at Valentine's Day is to think of it as a day of love and not specifically couples," said Brick. "Concentrate on sharing your love with family members, friends or strangers because Valentine's Day should not be just about couples."

Brick also suggests volunteering your time - or at least a moment of your thoughts - to those who are actually alone, romantic affairs aside.

"Volunteer at a hospital or nursing home and visit someone who does not have any family," said Brick.

Brick's organization also addresses holiday suicide, suggesting that these specific occasions remind individuals that they have no one to share them with. In addition, Singles Awareness Day maintains an at once essential and lighthearted message of everyone's individual worth.

"Most importantly, don't forget that you are defined by who you are and not who you are dating - or not dating," said Brick.

Anti-Valentine's Day, on the other hand, was born from anti-capitalist efforts rather than humanitarian aid, though both offer a bigger picture hanging over the half-hearted guise of a tongue-in-cheek rebellion of love.

Anti-Valentine e-card creator and English photographer, Meg Pickard began her personal revolution with cheeky sayings such as, 'Bollocks to Valentine's Day' and 'At least my cat loves me'.

The original e-cards were created by Pickard and David Pannett when they were both, "single and grumpy while sharing a flat in London and working in new media".
"We created a bunch of cynical cards poking fun at the cutesy commercialism of the day, to send to our friends, with slogans like, 'Destined to die alone and unloved in a room heavy with the tang of cat wee' and 'Oh my god. Thirty and still single'," said Pickard. "The next year, we did it again, only this time we added an automatic send function - a free thing, supported by ads. Not great, but about the limits of our technical knowledge at the time. We were surprised how popular they were."
Half a decade later, Pickard has un-marketed herself into relative stardom - at least to those fighting against industrialism.

"When I created the first cards, I was single. Now, six years later, I'm happily married," said Pickard. "But my opinions about [Valentine's Day] remain the same."
"I'm still just as cynical about any holiday which involves people with a vested commercial interest telling others how and when to celebrate. I'm still amazed that people blindly accept copywriters' anonymous words and gift-manufacturers' assembly-line interpretations of love and are willing to pay and pass them on, as if they truly represent their own feelings."

Both movements try to inspire consumers not to fall back on pre-packaged sentiments and gifts, which in turn encourages people to be more creative and ultimately more compassionate.

"I think people still feel guilted by society's expectation and media hype into conforming and performing on one day in particular," said Pickard.
"That's unfortunate, but you have to be sanguine about these things: Ultimately, I'd rather people celebrated their relationship - or revells in singleness - all year round."

Both Pickard and Brock suggest these subcultural movements as platforms of awareness, rather than replacement fixtures for statutory celebrations.
"The important thing is not to let a day in mid February be the focus for all your romance," said Pickard. "That's kind of like having a bath once a year."
For more information and e-cards visit meish.org/vd....."

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