Thursday, February 23, 2006

VD and drinking

I thought the title would catch some attention, especially since a fellow blogger friend of mine was recently chastizing me for having "innapropriately titled" entries:

First rant (truncated): Valentine's Day is an overblown Hallmark holiday that I hate with much of the core of my being. One of the major legends surrounding the history of Saint Valentine is as follows:

"Valentine was a priest who served during the third century in Rome. When Emperor Claudius II decided that single men made better soldiers than those with wives and families, he outlawed marriage for young men -- his crop of potential soldiers. 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."

Yet another legend surrounding the enigmatic Valentine simply states the following:

"Other stories suggest that Valentine may have been killed for attempting to help Christians escape harsh Roman prisons where they were often beaten and tortured."

Hmm. These two legends are quite harsh. Hmph. The current day "celebration" does not seem to do much credit to the legendary martyr, but that's just my opinion. Anyone with other contrary information about Saint Valentine, please refute my assertations. Otherwise, I'm a-hating on this bullsh*t Hallmark holiday for the time being.

Drinking? Read this : http://www.moderndrunkardmagazine.com/issues/08_05/0805_six_circles.htm