QUICK MA, THE FLIT!

Sunday, February 15. 2009

I write this from Domain on the day after Valentine’s Day. Fenton and I flew up here where we had our private Valentine’s celebration last night at his place. (No, we didn’t go too far! ...Not with Tree keeping tabs on us!)
The reason we came up for the weekend was to express relief that Kell is okay. That was a big risk for her to take on those mob hit men single-handedly. It worked, but she put herself in serious danger. (Unbeknownst to her, Dad followed her at a distance. Fortunately he wasn’t needed.) The hit men are now all in police custody, and have all confessed.
Once Kell lured the mob boss out into the open he turned out to be a mosquito. He had started as a legitimate businessman, supplying blood to the females of his species. However, that developed into a protection racket in which he extorted money from potential “donors” in exchange not infecting them with disease. That was bad enough, but he had apparently set his sights even higher; the last thing he said to Kell was an offer to enlist her help in taking over Herd Thinners, Inc.
That’s scary. While the mosquito was immediately eaten by a passing toad, the prospect of Herd Thinners, Inc. in the hands of organized crime is unsettling. R.L. is a voracious, remorseless predator, but he does operate by the rules of society. A Herd Thinners not bound by those rules, with all its power, would be frightening.
Today's question: Do humans have a Valentine's Day? Ours is scheduled in mid-February to kick off the spring mating season. (It's sort of like putting up Christmas decorations in October.)

Posted by Lindesfarne at 12:33 | Comments (23) | Trackbacks (0)

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Yes, we do have a Valentine's Day, but like Christmas, the original meaning of the holiday has been replaced by commercialism (it originally began as a solemn day to remember a man who was killed because he refused to change his beliefs in God, and the last letter he wrote before he was executed was a love letter to his girlfriend).
Mating season? Well, we humans have mating season all year long, practically (those who have mates, at least, I'm still sort of on the waiting list even though I've already told a lot of people that I don't watch sports, lol!).
Do the inhabitants there reserve their "intimate" moments for Spring only? And do they try to keep things "private"?

#1 The J.A.M. (Link) on 2009-02-15 13:06 (Reply)

You're on the "waiting list" for a girlfriend??? How does that work???

(Makes me glad to be on this side of the portal! I'll never understand humans if I live to be 30!)

#1.1 Ken D. Lion on 2009-02-15 16:00 (Reply)

Yes, we have a Valentine's Day, on the same day as yours. We exchange cards, flowers, or candy. The cards feature the symbol of love, a stylized heart (it looks like an apple or mammalian heart, but basically just two curves that meet at a concave point on top and a convex point on bottom) or a Cupid (a baby human with white wings as well as arms, and a bow and arrow...getting hit with an arrow makes you fall in love).
My questions are...do you have a heart symbol? With every kind of blood pump anatomy imaginable, what does it (they) look like? Do you have a Cupid? If so, what species?

#2 Thomas R. Mazanec (Link) on 2009-02-15 13:47 (Reply)

Besides Valentines Day, lately there's been a trend of singles expressing dark humor at the expense of the holiday, "Happy Stick-It-to-Singles-Day", or various names with the acronym S.A.D. One online friend told me about attending a party with everyone dressed in black. Decades ago, people got married at 18 or not long afterwards. Lately the average age people get married has been approaching the age in which most people in caveman days expected to pass away. And for those who have worse trouble than most finding someone, it can be downright heartbreaking.

#3 Bixyl Shuftan (Link) on 2009-02-15 14:53 (Reply)

Actually...
The popular image of the Valentine's Day cupid character? Fenton and I had something to do with that. blush

As for the timing of Valentines' Day, many mammalian species have females that are in estrus only at certain times...such as the Spring. Other species (and from what you say humans belong to this group) mate year 'round.

#4 Lindesfarne Dewclaw on 2009-02-15 15:01 (Reply)

Re. Cupid: Perhaps your referring to when Fenton met you by way of a quil to the backside?

#4.1 Mortar on 2009-02-15 16:02 (Reply)

In your world, you and Fenton had to do with creating Cupid. In mine, Cupid was the son of the Greek goddess, Aphrodite. He falls in love with a human girl, but when he marries her-she's the "virgin sacrifice"-he tells her he's a monster and that she can never look on him. When she falls to human weakness, he breaks up with her. His mother, who has a very fiery temper, tells the girl that she (Aphrodite) will intervene, but the girl has to do all sorts of impossible things. Eventually, Cupid realizes what his mother is doing, rescues his lady-love and re-marries her. At least, that's the way the story I have goes. I believe there are other stories. Anyway, in the myths, Cupid is always a very beautiful teenager, so I do not understand why he suddenly became a child. I personally don't mind being dateless on Valentine's Day. But then, having a date makes for a very unhappy evening for some couples anyway.

#5 Selina Grace on 2009-02-15 15:20 (Reply)

While others have already informed you that we do have a Valentine's Day, the extent to which it has become commercialized is astounding. In modern Japan, women give chocolate to males with whom they have no (and want no) physical relationship. On March 14, the males return the 'favor.' It's called 'obligation chocolate.' You don't want to know what happens there on Christmas Eve and how it (apparently) got started...

As for your 'not going too far' with Fenton, that's no surprise. The two of you respect each other, as well as love. You wouldn't have stepped over those limits even if Tree hadn't been acting as chaperone.

As for what the late mosquito wanted to do with Herd Thinners, it's commonly referred to as 'abuse of power.' One example we currently have over here is that an adviser to the prior President is refusing to respond to a subpoena demanding that he testify before Congress. He's claiming that he has, for lack of a better term, devolved executive privilege. He may have that, I don't know. He might be able to refuse to answer the questions put to him. He doesn't have the right to ignore the subpoena. The very derivation of the words, from Latin, mean 'under penalty.' He must appear; he might not have to answer questions. (You might want to cut this out if you feel that it politicizes your blog too much...)

We have an example over here of what Herd Thinners might be like if someone with less scruples than RL were running it. There is currently an investigation of a company which knowingly permitted salmonella-laced peanut products to be released into the public, apparently solely for profit. It is believed that 8 people died and hundred became ill because of this contamination. RL may not be a 'nice guy,' he may be trying to squeeze every penny he can out of the public but I doubt that he'd knowingly permit anything like this to occur at Herd Thinners.

Your remark about estrus surprises me somewhat. I never asked about it because I thought I knew the answer, which was that it didn't exist on your side. I felt that because, over here, estrus is an overwhelming desire to mate and produce children. It overrides everything in personal behavior. Creatures which are solitary over here (Tigers, for example) which will not tolerate another of their kind in their space normally, drop these barriers during estrus. It is a condition which is not compatible with a stable society or family life. Perhaps its impact is lessened when sapience enters the picture?

Human females are fertile on a monthly cycle. While there may be an increased desire to mate at those times (I'm male, I wouldn't know!), it is certainly not a need that cannot be resisted.

#6 CharlieG on 2009-02-15 15:50 (Reply)

Tigers on your side can't stand to be around each other?! Wow, that's news to me; it's not so bad here. Well...mostly not so bad. Seems like a number of tigers I know are in relationships with non-tigers (heck, I'm as good an example of this as any!).

#6.1 Terri the Tiger on 2009-02-16 19:06 (Reply)

The salmonella contamination in peanut products is occuring here, too.

I guess there are some differences in regard to our estrus. Here, it's simply the female's ability to conceive. Whether it's acted upon it or not is entirely up to the couple. It's not so overwhelming that it overrides reason. (In most cases!)

We do have Greek mythology, including stories about Cupid. However, on one occasion Fenton and I were flying...and...well, the combination of his appearance and my quills gave rise to the diminutive fellow with the arrows.

#7 Lindesfarne Dewclaw on 2009-02-15 16:07 (Reply)

Valentine's Day was orginally started as a day of a saint Valentine who was Maryted on this day a ton of years ago,and has now become an expensive undertaking that is grossly commercialized and all this about "meaningful-ness" but largely resulted in failure with the seven guys I dated.

But I'm not bitter.

Also, a note:I will not be posting musch as I will be busy readying myself for a trip to South Korea. I'm working at an adoption agency for a spell.Wish me luck!I'm leaving March 9th.
Here, the urge to mate-and even have children,period-has become veery complicated.New ways to become pregant are say IVF, or In vitro. In fact,in our world right now,there is a scandel concerning a woman who IVFed with 8 eggs,already had 6 kids,no job,and no husband.HUGE ethical mess.

#8 Laura on 2009-02-15 16:17 (Reply)

My issue with the woman to whom Laura is referring has little to do with her lack of husband. It has to do with her grand irresponsibility for having so many children with no source of income that does not drain the government's monies or take money away from college students who would use it for actual studies. I do not mind people having kids if they can pay for them, but for that woman, even insurance would cause a drain on every other person in her insurance group, and she doesn't get insurance, she is receiving government money and "donations" from people stupid enough to encourage her.

#9 Selina Grace on 2009-02-16 01:02 (Reply)

There are actually several part to this story:
1.The fact the children do not have any support
2.She will not tell who the donor was,and has no husband at the moment
3.When you are doing IVF,the number of eggs generally put in are Supposed to be 2, in case one dosen't make it.As it goes however, it transpired that she went againest that very good rule,and had the doctor stick 8 in.Of which 8 stuck
4.The size of the kids was between 1.5-3.4 pounds for each baby, approx. Babies in are are generally born in the 5or6- sometimes 12 pound range. Babies this small generally need mediacal assitance for them to live.
5.Lastly,people are questioning this woman's sanity.
So you see,there are many issues in this case.

#9.1 Laura on 2009-02-16 09:23 (Reply)

Yep, February 14th, every year. It was kind of funny to have Friday the 13th, then Valentine's was the next day.

It's a good excuse to eat chocolate, white and otherwise ^_^

#10 Siraj on 2009-02-16 01:45 (Reply)

Actually, yes we do. Though most of us refer to it as Single's Awareness Day, at least those of us with out significant others. Some of us are bitter at the day, but the rest take it in stride and use it as another opportunity to change that.

#11 Kylen on 2009-02-16 02:10 (Reply)

Ah yes, Valentine's Day. In fact, because of the
extreme commercialism, many of us who* are*
happily involved (30 years now, thank you) no longer celebrate it in any way. We have other, much more personal days to commemorate.
After all this time, you can imagine that there are quite a few. And some sad ones, too. Actually,when I was a child, it was much more important that it was my brother's birthday.
The next family birthday was in April, so it was a much-anticipated treat.

#12 Rami's Flockmate on 2009-02-16 03:45 (Reply)

A mosquito?!?!? A blood sucking pest was...the mob boss...

...actually, that makes sense. But, who know they had the brain power to pull it off???

(Goes and invests in a few bug zappers.)

#13 jup-reindeer on 2009-02-16 04:39 (Reply)

Yeah, I'm not gonna mention anything on Valentine's Day, as everyone ahead of me pretty much already ironed it out as clear as it can get.

...Also, I'm one of those who's a little bitter at it.

So, Lindesfarne, How did you go about with your Valentines? Not to be nosey, or anything, I assure you, just curious as to how you and Fenton spent your day (night? Evening? Morning?) together. ^_^

#14 Dr3w on 2009-02-17 11:02 (Reply)

Oh ho, what's this? A blog reader that works at Lindesfarne's school? Which one of you is it? C'mon now, fess up.

#15 Beast on 2009-02-20 02:15 (Reply)

Well, it's not me, I swear! LOL

#15.1 Terri the Tiger on 2009-02-20 10:16 (Reply)

Huh. Do we have any bears here?

#15.1.1 Beast on 2009-02-21 23:18 (Reply)

trans-dimensional packet exchange initiated
Don't worry, Lindesfarne, we humans do have Valentines Day. Though I personally prefer the unofficial, yet much more satisfying, holiday of Clearance-Chocolate Day.
trans-dimensional packet exchange terminated

#16 The Occupant on 2009-02-20 19:02 (Reply)

Amen to that!

#16.1 Maxi on 2009-02-21 18:33 (Reply)

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