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Celebrating the single life this Valentine’s Day

Tuesday, 14 February 2006

by ALLISON CASEY
Lifestyles Reporter

If you are single this Valentine’s Day, you are expected to wallow in your loneliness watching the entire collection of “Friends” and gorging yourself on a full gallon of Ben and Jerry’s.

Avoid the rocky road, “Smelly Cat” and especially the self-pity.

Stop moping and celebrate your single self.

Self-help author SARK wrote in her best seller, “Succulent Wild Woman,” “My mother taught me to not wait for a man to buy me flowers. She always said, ‘Buy your own flowers, too!’”

Just because you are single on Valentine’s Day does not mean you have to cloister yourself in your bedroom like Quasimodo.

Grab a gaggle of girls, get dressed up, buy yourself some flowers and head out for a night on the town.

Do not make a mockery of couples enjoying a night out, but do not hide away, either.

Author and publisher Alexandra Cagen founded International Quirkyalone Day as an alternative to Valentine’s Day.

“International Quirkyalone Day is a do-it yourself celebration of romance, friendship and independent spirit,” Cagen said on her Web site quirkyalone.net.

“It’s a celebration of all kinds of love: romantic, platonic, familial and yes, self-love.”
Cagen defines a “quirkyalone” as, “a person who enjoys being single (or spending time alone) and so prefers to wait for the right person to come along rather than dating indiscriminately; relishing equal doses of friendship and solitude; attracted to freedom and possibility.”

International Quirkyalone Day events are being held today from San Francisco to Sydney.

“International Quirkyalone Day is not anti-Valentine’s Day,” Cagen said.
“It’s not a pity party for single people.”

Of course, the old single standby still applies; get some of your single friends together and throw a Valentine’s Day bash.

Bake a cake, make handmade valentines to give to each other, watch some movies or whatever else makes you happy.

Avoid the cliché romantic comedies.

Everyone knows Matthew McConaughey is cute, but please do not watch “How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days” for the 100th time.

If you really feel the need to watch a few romance flicks, head to Blockbuster and rent a few of the classics. “Casablanca,” “It Happened One Night,” “Breakfast at Tiffany’s,” “The African Queen” and “The Ghost and Mrs. Muir” are all great films to leave you swooning.

There is always “Gone with the Wind,” but only as a last resort.

For something completely different, scare yourselves silly with lots of horror films or laugh until you cry at intentionally unromantic comedies.

So break out the Monty Python movies and laugh without shame.

Whatever you choose to do tonight, the important thing to remember is that there is no sense in feeling sorry for yourself on a day designed for love.

Who needs another stuffed bear, anyway?