All you need is LOVE

Another holiday has finally come and let me just get this out right now......I actually like Valentine's Day! I know that you're not supposed to say things like that, especially when you're single and "don't have anyone to spend the day with" but what can I say, I'm unconventional I guess. There are so many great things about Valentine's Day! First and foremost, what would any holiday be without presents? I know that our commercialized society has turned even the most minor holidays into a gift giving extravaganza but I'm personally not opposed to this because of my deep love of gift receiving....I mean giving. Secondly, the heart shaped sugar cookies are enough to make me want every other day be Valentine's Day (alternating with Christmas of course). Nothing says "I Love You" quite like a mouth full of sugary goodness. I've saved the best, and probably most contraversial, aspect of Valentine's Day for last. How great is it that we have a day set aside to tell the most important people in our lives how much we love and care for them? Ya, ya, ya, I've heard the whole argument before about "not needing a special day to express your love to those close to you" because "you should be doing that anyway." Oh, don't forget the whole "it's a 'couples' holiday that excludes singles" and it's "just another reminder that I don't have anyone." I'm not buying it. Yes, we should be showing our loved ones everyday that we love them, but do we? Do we actually take the time out of our busy schedule to show our loved ones that we love them? It's like those people who say we should celebrate Christmas all year round, not just in December. It's a nice thought, but I think our human nature is to be more self-centered and self-serving and it usually takes a holiday or special event to wakes us out of our self absorbed slomber. And I'm sorry, everyone has someone in their life to love, or someone who loves them. It would be cold, dark world otherwise. Maybe my feelings are a wee bit strong but Valentine's Day (and holidays in general) are exciting in that we get to celebrate life, love, and the little pleasures that brake up the monotonies of life.

Wait....maybe my life just sucks and I need holidays in order to escape the boredom! I actually think that my love of holidays, and Valentine's Day, stems from my mother and the fond memories she made for me while growing up. My mom took every opportunity to celebrate every holiday (I would get little presents on Memorial Day even) and special event in our lives. Thus I have come to really love holidays, even the one that I'm supposed to hate.

I hope you all have a Happy Valentine's Day!

Lord of the Flies

I guess I'm going to write a mini review on the "Lord of the Flies" since I wrote one on "Eat, Pray, Love." I am happy to report that I actually enjoyed this book once I got into it......about 3/4 of the way in! Okay, so it was a little slow going but it ended up being really weird and I guess that's what I liked about it. I just really felt for Ralph once he was all alone and fending for his life. I know there was a ton of symbolism that I missed out on so I'll be checking out the cliff's notes to get a deeper analysis than that my own little mind can conjur up. Another thing that I liked about this book is that it totally parallels LOST on so many levels! So there is a plane crash of young boys and there are two main characters who are basically leading the group, Jack and Ralph. They are stranded on a desserted island and Ralph's main goals are survival and rescue. Jack is obsessed with hunting and will forego all responsibilities to pursue this obsession. The only problem is, it's not hunting for hunger's sake but to make him feel more powerful and more like a man. Oh yeah, and he also tries to take over as the leader of the pack and basically leads everyone away from any sort of civilized lifestyle. Okay, is anyone seeing the similarity? Jack's main goal on LOST is to get off the island and survive all of the attacks from the Others. Locke gets really obsessed with the "magical" powers of the island and that he gets to live out his dreams of being a manly hunter. Then, Locke goes and tries to take over as the leader of the group, thus splitting everyone up. I think everyone can see where I'm heading with this.....Locke is a crazy man and will lead the group to their ruin! Okay, so maybe I'm making too much out of LOST but I was a little shocked (to say the least) of how many Locke supporters there are in my family! It's okay, I'll understand when you change you're mind and realize that Jack's the way to go.

Anyway, I highly recommend Lord of the Flies if you are in the mood for a book that is dark and twisty and feel like reading something outside of your normal genre. Also, just a side note, sometimes the author will write from the perspective of the boys. There are two twins named Sam and Eric but sometimes he will refer to them as Samneric. For a while I thought this was the weird name of one of the boys until I figured out that Samneric is simply "Sam-n-Eric." It was like a lightbulb went off in my brain! If anyone has read this and has any further insight to offer I am all ears!