Social - Café Con Monica

With Valentine’s day coming there are so many women out there with expectations that are beyond belief and men who have no clue what they are getting into. Some people really love Valentine’s day and go all out and some just think it is another day. I fall somewhere in the middle. I think the idea is cute, the decorations are adorable and in concept showing someone you love them on a day is sweet. But I also find that I think making a big fuss or dismissing altogether one particular day is unfair. Here are some reasons why we shouldn’t make a big deal of Valentine’s day:

1. He/She should be bringing you home flowers and chocolates and romancing you the other 11 months of the year.
2. Everything is over-priced…flowers, candy, flights, food.
3. Reservations are almost impossible
4. He/She might be living under a rock and forget completely
5. High expecatations lead to great disappointment.
6. Gifts shouldnt matter anyway…especially not the price of the gifts

I have had my share of great and bad Valentine’s days and still I continue to like the day. If you know anything about history then you know that the day is set aside to honor the martyr St. Valentine. Really thats not all that romantic. Remember, when we were younger and we would give or get those adorable cards with some candy. Or those times when we would get a love note from a secret admirer. Imagine if at that age you had told your secret admirer his/her note needed to include an expensive dinner and equally expensive gift to follow. Ha!!

Somewhere along the way the lines blur and we develop this warped sense of what it really means. If you take offense to anything I said you might have crossed that line and this is your alert to come back, if you are like me and already just like to sit back and enjoy the sites on that day then great! I also like to point out that if you want to share Valentine’s day and don’t have a boyfriend/girlfriend then grab your closest friend and tell them you love them and maybe buy them a box of chocolate, catch a movie or just have a movie night together. It is as much a day for lovers as it is for friends.

I think pretty much everyone listens to music nowadays. Well, unless its expressly forbidden in your religion…are there any religions that do that? If there are, I am sorry. I love music as much as I love food, and I looovvve food. There is something about a great song that can bring me to tears or make me smile. Some songs even make me want to throw something or dance around like I am experiencing a seizure. This is a good thing, I saw a Dane Cook skit once about just needing to dance. I think it is definitely a woman thing. Sometimes I feel like desire to put on some music and just dance and dance until my head is completely clear. Other times when I am already down and depressed I put on some music that will make it worse and begin crying my eyes out. I love all kinds of music, can appreciate at least one song in any genre…no seriously name a genre and I can tell you at least one song. (note I may not know the name or artist, only the chorus) I get jokes all the time because I am often caught listening to country music. I didn’t grow up on a farm or in any southern state but I just love it! I love walking into a bar/club and feeling the beat in every bone. This could, of course, could be just because its so loud that I have no choice. Or it could be my love for the sounds. Either way music falls under the good because it is a beautiful thing that I could not live without.

Do you know what can fall under a bad category for me that is associated with music? The infamous music snob. You know who you are. You think that the music you listen to is so much better than anything else out there for a laundry list of reasons that we are all subject to hear when we tell you how much we love the new Britney Spears single. Please just can it! I don’t judge, there is something to be said for anyone who can get a record deal in a world where everyone wants to be an artist. If someone can make a song about chicken noodle soup, there is still hope for the undiscovered artist in a small town in Oregon. Just because you don’t like rock, rap, hip hop, country, salsa, jazz does not mean that it is not good music. Someone out there loves the music you are talking trash about. The next time you want to get on your soap box, remember someone out there thinks the band/artist you love is trash too.
The same can be said about movie snobs but that is a whole different day.

I could probably give you an impossibly long list of the bads today but I am in a generally good mood and it’s Friday. I can say that for every bad there is a positive. Living in Chicago definitely teaches you this. In a city where we got almost 2 ft of snow this week and couldn’t leave our homes it was hard not to look outside and see how beautiful everything looked covered in white. The horrible winters make you appreciate the agonizingly hot summers.
But just to be sure I actually cover a few bad things, here are my favorites:
rude people
spitting & all bodily functions in public
occasionally the CTA
lack of table manners
Catcalls and whistling to get my attention
misuse of “there” and “their”
Just to name a few. I guess it could be worse.

Ahhhh the maybe someday’s…Maybe someday I will love to workout. Maybe someday I will appreciate math class. Maybe someday I will like the taste of brussels sprouts. Maybe someday the texture of cottage cheese won’t make me gag. Maybe someday I will not be furious when I can’t understand the guy at the drive through. Maybe someday I will learn how to spell conscious without the use of spell check. This list could also go on and on as well.

And that my friends is my Friday rambling… I think I really just wanted to write about music today.

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