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I'd like to thank my Sony Vaio for the current smile on my face.

I have an Fn key (seriously, "Fn" it's right below my enter key) that keeps falling off.  I have to put it back on and push it several times to stick.  Today I received an error message that had me laughing so hard I had to copy the screen and share it with everyone. 

To sum it up, my morning hasn't gone so smoothly.  I really need to get a cup of coffee before I freak out. 

I'm trying to cancel a trial advertising service that totally sucked, and return a product that was mailed to me used.  Neither company's customer rep would work with me so I'm waiting for supervisor's supervisors to call me back.

If all else fails I live with an attorney and I'm sure she wouldn't mind writing a few letters on my behalf.

Now ... the kicker of it all ... I figure, okay, I'll go to PostSecret.com, read some secrets, somehow they make me feel better.

Guess what?  My office has blocked it.

Are you freakin kidding me?!

Tonight The Garden Spot Restaurant, 3320 Truxtun Ave., is offering a free dinner of chicken, salad, pasta, muffins, bread and dessert bars to singles Thursday night. Beer and wine will be sold. It's from 6 to 9 p.m. and you need reservations. Call 323-3236.

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I could be jaded, I could be cynical, I could be down right pouty - but guess what?  I like Valentine's Day.  Regardless of my mood or my dating situation I have never once viewed this holiday as it "sucking". 

Personally I think that people should show love to others each and every day of the year.  They should surprise each other randomly with little gifts of appreciation, love, and gratitude year round!  Unfortunately in this day and age we become busy, or comfortable (that folks is a four letter word in many relationships) and work into a mold where we forget to do these things, thinking to ourselves that the people we love in our lives already know, and we take this for granted.

So maybe they do know, but sometimes it's just nice to hear - I love you, I appreciate you, I'm grateful to have you in my life.  Valentine's Day, corporate holiday or not, is just one of those stupid little gentle reminders for us to say those things when we've forgotten to say them the rest of the year.

Kudos to those who do say these things on a regular basis!  I know I sure try to let my friends and family know regularly that I love and appreciate them.  I do have to admit that I feel a twinge of jealousy and if another bouquet of roses shows up for the same person in my office again I think I'm going to throw up.

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One of life's little quirks is not being able to choose who you fall in love with.  Sadly, sometimes we fall in love with someone who loves us, but not enough ... you know, those, "But you're like a sibling to me" speeches.  Or you love each other but life just gets in the way - or an ocean.  Then we have to sit back and watch them love someone else.  Speaking from experience I know that is one of the most painful feelings in the world.

Twinkie's passion for a site called PostSecret has spread my direction, and I dutifully check it each week.  This week the secrets were all related to love and relationships.  There was a video made of many secrets that flashed before my eyes.  One postcard in particular stuck out, maybe because I've seen a similar illustration before by Jason Sho Green that for the life of me I can't find on his site (It was a gun with small hearts blasting from it), and also maybe because I've been there done that.

Love can be a gentle tormentor, she can make you her bitch, but just like how the cliche goes, "I'd rather have loved and lost than to have never loved at all."