And a Cynical Valentine's Day to YOU!

Walking the dog before the sun comes up gives me a chance to put some audio books on my iPod. 

I am just as much a creature of habit as anyone else is in a modern society, so when I finished the last series of books that left me feeling unfulfilled, I dropped some comedy bits on the player and considered it a done deal. 

The books were a series of three, Red Mars, Green Mars, and Blue Mars starting with the colonization of that planet and ending with the Third Martian Revolution some two hundred years in the future.  It suffered from the Sequel Syndrome which in other words meant the first was the best, the second was OK, the third was forgettable. 

Read the first, forget the rest.

After pushing myself through that last audio book, I went out for a walk with my iPod loaded with British comedies and followed after Mrs Dog for a short lap around the Central Neighborhood in Wilton Manors.  Lately she's decided to follow a drunken wobble through the parking lots near the bars and cut the walk very short in the middle, then turn home. 

Today she was not asking for much, but didn't want a full walk, so we went out and wobbled around slowly.  She did however insist on taking me down Wilton Drive.  Before sunrise, the city had an interesting view, deserted and feeling like the description of the place before the bars arrived.  Nobody was awake, few cars were on the road, and you felt like there was someone watching over you.

Good, I would have entertained them giggling as "One Song to the Tune of Another" was being hashed out with "Nothing Compares to You by Prince was sung to the Tulips of Amsterdam" by a singer who would have been quite at home at the same bars.  In other words, if he hit a note, it was by coincidence. 

On the other hand, I don't have many of those sketches, so when it stopped after 30 minutes, I switched over to the local "Personality Radio Program" on FM.  Perhaps I should have put local in its own quotes because it seems like Miami is simulcasting from New York.  Too bad, the local talent here has always been worth listening to and it always seems like you're "Kissing your Sister" when you are listening to a simulcast on the radio.

Sorry Pat, maybe we'll find something better to listen to since Radio in general is not worth bothering with for short listening spells.

But what struck me was that here I was just finishing listening to a rather bizarre and drunken sounding program and I ended up listening to another.  This being Valentine's Day, the bit was some person singing a telegram to somebody and the chucklehead on the radio bemoaning how bad it was.  Cynicism as morning entertainment. 

I'm glad I was only 1/2 awake.

The one cynical remark that will stick with me for a while is what he called today:

Candy Discount Day Eve.

Funny, that is what I call Halloween!

So telling my loved ones about that comment we're going to "hit the shops" tomorrow looking for Whitman Samplers.  At least that way I'll be able to get that one candy I actually LIKE out of that box without it being picked over!

One more thing... to quote a drunk who was standing on the on the steps of the Gifford House in Provincetown back in 1992:

I love you all... Differently!

Have a happy Valentine's Day and tell someone you care about that you love them.  I did.