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Valentine’s Day 2022: Most years it’s optional. Not this year. - It's a manufactured holiday, designed to benefit restaurants, florists, and Hallmark cards. If you haven't been clear about your affections for 364 days, this one day won't make a difference.
Valentine’s Day, 2008 - I loathe this day. It's always seemed to me a holiday ginned up by merchants to get Americans to spend any discretionary dollars they haven't blown at Christmas. And as
Valentine’s Day, 2011 - I had a mild bout of pneumonia a few weeks ago. It wouldn’t be worth mentioning --- steroids and a ventilizer can cure most any lung problem --- but it
Valentine’s Day, 2014 - For a decade now on this site, I’ve put “Valentine’s Day” and “loathing” in the same sentence. This year? I must be getting soft. My excuse: Many of us spend
Valentine’s Day, 2015 - When I was young, I burned through people. There were so many of them, all replaceable. As I was. Try it, buy it, if you don’t like it, bring it
Valentine’s Day, 2016: Once Again, With Feeling - When I thought I lived in an orderly world, Valentine’s Day meant nothing to me. I wasn’t completely wrong: The not-so-secret secret of romance isn't about bearing flowers and bonbons
Valentine’s Day, 2017 - In my novel, Married Sex: A Love Story, there’s a separation. As it’s getting resolved, the wife sends her husband an email with a Joni Mitchell lyric from Blue.
Valentine’s Day, 2018 - When I was young, I burned through people. And they burned through me. There were so many of us then, all young, all replaceable. Now everyone I care about feels
Valentine’s Day: ‘This is a song about Wavelength’ - The Grammys: Several of you have written to note that Bon Iver --- I raved about his first CD in 2008 --- won Best New Artist of 2011. How can
Vapur Anti-Bottles - Crazy weather out there. Unsettling, if you’ve been paying attention. And if you’re Bill McKibben, you might connect some dots. But it’s almost too hot to think about that where I
Vitamin D3 - Does this ever happen to you? You hear about something from a friend. Then you see a commercial for it. Then someone sends you an article about it. So
Walter’s Wish - Gracias a Dios por Kelli Porthan. If you’ve been reading about the immigration bill, you know that the price of getting this legislation through the Senate was the commitment to spend
Want to keep your bones strong? Consider Collagen Peptides & Vitamin D - Because I’m of “a certain age,” I know women of a certain age. Some are fit and active. Some have had some nasty breaks in the health department but are
Water Bottles - “What is Evian spelled backwards?” asked George Carlin. That used to be a joke. Now, with a drought in the West and our water infrastructure crumbling, it’s an accusation. How do you
Wedding, Graduation, Father’s Day - Wedding, Graduation, Father's Day,
Weekend Butler: John le Carré, Jimmy Buffett, Claire Keegan, Bob Dylan, Patti Smith, Amor Towles, Seamus Heaney. Enough? - SUPPORTING BUTLER: You can become a patron of this site, and automatically donate any amount you please — starting with $1 — each month. The service that enables this is
Weekend Butler for Memorial Day 2022: How bright a light there must be to cast so dark a shadow. - If you are so fortunate as to have no reason to visit a soldier’s grave on Memorial Day, you’re among the millions of Americans who can enjoy a long weekend
Weekend Butler, Tidings of Joy Issue: “The Hannukah Weed’ (a short story). A Pediatrician saves a life (a true story). Nina Simone sings “Suzanne.” Life-affirming commercials (yes, commercials). A political movie (the good guys win). The end of cigarettes (in New Zealand). And much more. - TWO COMMERCIALS THAT MAKE ME GLAD TO BE ALIVE (AND MAY HAVE THE SAME EFFECT ON YOU) Suggestion: Have Kleenex handy. A car commercial. (Really) An insurance commercial. (Really) THE BEST BOOK
Weekend Butler: 420Lovers.com (“where smokers meet smokers”), Moroccan Chicken (yum), Basquiat (must see), a song 4 of you may like - THIS WEEK IN BUTLER Kevin Costner L.A. Burning Local Hero 420LOVERS.COM (“WHERE SMOKERS MEET SMOKERS”) “420” started as a secret code among high school kids in the early 1970s. A group of friends at San
