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Valentine’s Day, 2008
By
Published: Feb 14, 2008
Category:
Beyond Classification
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 for the “romance” of the night — is there a human landscape more depressing than a restaurant filled with couples cementing their relationships with forced love chat, jacked-up champagne and heart-shaped desserts?
My mantra: Love is a 24/7, 365-day proposition. If you get it right as you go along, you don’t have to show up big on Valentine’s Day. Take it from me. I’m on wife #3. I know.
But, okay, I’m here to help — even if “help” and “enabling” look a lot alike to me. So in the spirit of personal gifts, personally selected, let me try and steer you away from chocolates, perfume, jewels and bubbly and toward Kulture — good stuff that doesn’t go stale, presents that impress and delight without breaking the bank.
BOOKS
Fiction
Endless Love – Teen love becomes obsession, with all that teen energy.
Bel-Ami – He’s so handsome he can sleep his way to the top.
Last Night – Elegant encounters, consenting adults.
Matrimony – When college lovers grow up….
Mildred Pierce – She loved her children, but on the side….
The Alchemist – He sought a treasure, found his love.
Sky Burial – Right after their marriage, her husband dies…but not her love.
The House of Mirth – What can a poor girl do?
The Quality of Life Report – New York career woman meets a man in the Midwest.
Memoir
Everybody Was So Young – F. Scott Fitzgerald’s glamorous friends.
The Wilder Shores of Love – Women who left Europe for the desert.
C’est La Vie – Her husband dies. She moves to Paris.
Dreaming in Libro: How A Good Dog Tamed A Bad Woman – Exactly as advertised.
Food
Bistro Cooking – French without fuss.
Trattoria – Italian without fuss.
In Defense of Food – Lovers don’t let lovers eat poison.
Real Food – The food that lovers let lovers eat.
Polemic
Endangered Pleasures: In Defense of Naps, Bacon, Martinis, Profanity, and Other Indulgences – Yeah! Yeah!
Deep Thoughts
Pema Chodron – She sees crisis as opportunity.
Plato and a Platypus Walk into a Bar – Dazzle any crowd.
Travel
Wallpaper City Guides – Best if accompanied by a ticket
Quiet Corners of Paris – Euro crazy? Make this your armchair travel.
Kids
Taro Gomi – Drawing = silence.
Advice
Improv Wisdom – He/she is good enough right now.
The Creative Habit – The secret is actually revealed here.
Poetry
Sharon Olds – Real love, sweat and all.
MUSIC
Down and Dirty
Etta James – The case for the one-track mind.
Les Negresses Vertes – Bring the club home.
Toots & the Maytals – That beat! That voice!
Dreamy
Jim White – Southern roads, late nights, foggy encounters
Nick Drake – Songs made of crystal, from the master of delicate,
Van Morrison – The song cycle only the cultists know.
Yusuf Islam (Cat Stevens) – Only the name’s been changed.
100% American
Levon Helm – He’ll do this until Ford stops making trucks.
Wild Card
Al Green – His first gospel CD is surprisingly…hot.
Catch a Fire – The Wailers, before it was all about Bob Marley.
Sandy Bull – Guitars of all nations, ahead of its time.
Saloon Standards
Chris Gillespie – It’s quarter to three….
MOVIES
Funny and Smart
It Should Happen to You – She’ll take Manhattan.
Local Hero – He’ll take Scotland.
Love Me Tonight – He’ll take love.
THINGS
Altec Lansing iM9 inMotion Portable Speaker System for iPods – Sleek, small, powerful.
Shure E3c Sound Isolating Earphone Stereo Headphones – Like being in a recording studio.
SIGG Water Bottles – A gift so hip the planet will also thank you.
ART
Discovery Editions – the closest you can come to giving great original art.
