Scruffy-Looking Nerf-Herder

frip·pery noun

 : something foolish or affectedly elegant; non-essential.

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I don't like Valentine's Day.  Truth be told, I'm a bit too cynical to appreciate the sheer pink-and-redness of it all.  Frippery.

It never fails to remind me of that one dreadful year I was employed as a florist on February the 14^th.  To all florists: my deepest condolences. 

Can’t picture it?  I’ll give you a little taste.  There I was, surrounded by buckets upon five-gallon buckets of fresh roses in sore need of de-thorning, frantically rushing to and fro whilst carrying ribbons and balloons and frosty cellophane wrap.  The long line of absent-minded men that wound through the store and into the parking lot did not end from sun-up till well after sun-down.  I had bloody fingers, messy hair, and two or three phone numbers from men who thought it’d be a good idea to buy a rose for their sweetheart and pick up their florist. 

What’s more, these men were not afraid to request a favor:

Keep this a secret, hon, but I’m sending bouquets to three girls this year.  Which color rose implies a fling, but nothing serious?  What do you mean, you can’t pull nonexistent flowers out of thin air?  Be a darling and write my valentine note for me, love.  Her name is Susie Q.

It was a treat, let me tell you.

I had frequent visions of bolting from the store, trailing a long line of beheaded roses in my wake.  Morticia-esque.

That being said, I rather like the concept behind a celebration of love.  Valentine’s Day entirely aside.

So, just for today, I’m going to post a few quotes on that thing called love.  And just so you know, I’m using love in the loosest sense of the word.  You'll see.

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Leia: Why, you stuck up, half-witted, scruffy-looking nerf-herder.
Han Solo: Who's scruffy-looking?

-STAR WARS-

(What?  They fall in love.  Thus the quote is fitting.)

But she, Hope, had fallen in love with Gervain Woodhouse, and was therefore miserable.  I sorted out this curious statement eventually. 

- ROBIN MCKINLEY -
Beauty

I know our marriage has just as good a chance of being wonderful as it does of missing the mark.  There is a strong possibility that it will be both.  And, contrary to what current belief is, it has always been so.

- WHITNEY OTTO -
How to Make an American Quilt

P.S. I ran into Adelaide Addison in St. Peter Port today.  By way of congratulation [for our engagement], she said “I hear you and that pig-farmer are going to regularize your connection.  Praise the Lord!”

-SHAFFER AND BARROWS -
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

Calvin: Who's the bimbo with you in this old prom picture?
Dad: THAT "BIMBO" IS YOUR MOTHER!

- BILL WATTERSON -
Calvin and Hobbes

(I just like this one.)

Joe Fox: Yeah. I would have asked for your number, and I wouldn't have been able to wait twenty-four hours before calling you and saying, "Hey, how about... oh, how about some coffee or, you know, drinks or dinner or a movie... for as long as we both shall live?"
Kathleen Kelly: Joe...
Joe Fox: And you and I would have never been at war. And the only thing we'd fight about would be which video to rent on a Sat. night.
Kathleen Kelly: Well, who fights about that?
Joe Fox: Well, some people. Not us.
Kathleen Kelly: We would never.

- YOU'VE GOT MAIL -

Verona: Burt, are we [screw]-ups?
Burt: No! What do you mean?
Verona: I mean, we're 34...
Burt: I'm 33.
Verona: ...and we don't even have this basic stuff figured out.
Burt: Basic, like how?
Verona: Basic, like how to live.
Burt: We're not [screw]-ups.
Verona: We have a cardboard window.
Burt: [Looks at window] We're not [screw]-ups.
Verona: [Whispers] I think we might be [screw]-ups.
Burt: [Whispers back] We're not [screw]-ups.

 

- AWAY WE GO -

(Love: figuring life out together.)