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Your Valentine's Day Plans for 2003?
Nos. writes "Valentine's Day is rapidly approaching, and though some of you Slashdot readers will be spending the day alone, there must be some of you out there who won't. So, what are you doing for that someone special this Feb 14th? My fiance is not a geek, and so wouldn't appreciate a 'geeky Valentine's'. Instead, I'm thinking a nice quiet dinner in one of our favourite restaurants. However, I recently got the 'You don't do anything romantic anymore' speech, and quite honestly am out of ideas. Can slashdot help? Obviously slashdot isn't the best place to ask, but I'm sure others are in a similar situation."
As a discordian, I will be celebrating an important religious holiday instead of Valentine's day. Emperor Norton I (patron saint of Emperor Norton I, and all things related)'s birthday is also on Feb 14.
Trees can't go dancing
So do them a big favor
Pretend dancing stinks!
I did this for my wife a couple years ago. Ask her what the best present I ever gave her was, this is it. Ask her what present I got her when I did this, she has no idea.
I started about 2 weeks before Valentine's Day. I created a document and thought of one/two liners about my wife. Things I like, things I love, fond memories, etc. After 2 weeks, I ended up with like 35 things. I went to Hallmark and bought a couple packages of little kid valentine's cards.
I printed out the sheet, cut it up and put one in each card. Valentine's morning, I was out the door before she got up and she woke up to 35 cards throughout the house.
Just a warning, if you do this and figure out a way to top it, let me know.
The diamond industry is controlled by a global monopoly (DeBeers, who make Microsoft look like boy scouts); they have been known to use violence and intimidation against independent producers/sellers, with machete-wielding militias cutting off the hands of those who don't comply. In southern Africa, the diamond industry exploits miners in atrocious conditions. Those precious stones you may be thinking of buying for your girlfriend/wife/partner fund bloodshed.
The association of diamonds with romance is recent and wholly artificial. It was
engineered in the 20th century by DeBeers' marketing people. They did their job excpetionally well; in America (and to a lesser extent elsewhere in the West), many women are so conditioned to associate diamonds with romance that failing to pay the DeBeers Romance Tax can mean the end of a relationship.
If you're a Linux user, you have said no to the Microsoft monopoly. Why not extend this noble principle to an even more pernicious and murderous multinational corporation? Say no to diamonds, and tell your partner why.
For those of you who don't feel like dropping dead of a heart attack at the age of 27, you can also do fondue with water, and you can have a large variety of meats and vegetables (gasp) for it. I haven't done this myself, but I've eaten it, and it's damned good.
Mod down posts with a "Free Mac Mini/iPod" sig, they're spam!
Depending on the restaurant and where you live, it may already be booked up for Valentine's day. If you go restaurant, book now.
That said, cooking her a nice meal is a great idea. Generally, putting your time and effort into doing something scores more points than plunking down some cash.
Some tips if you don't do dinner parties:
- Set the table, and take some time to make it look nice. A tablecloth, napkins (cloth if you've got 'em), some candles a nice candle holder, some flowers (or scatter some flower petals over the table, it saves room and doesn't require a vase) -- it doens't have to be Martha Stewart, but make an effort. You can do this ahead of time. (If you're broke, the dollar store is your friend for this one.)
- Clean up as you go. Nothing is less romantic than a big pile of dirty dishes.
- Except maybe dirty socks and dust bunnies. Clean the house ahead of time too. Make the bed.
- Read recipe instructions carefully, and pre-plan your cooking so that everything is ready at the same time. Like, if the main meal needs to bake for an hour, and dinner is a 6, the whole thing needs to be put together by 5. And while it's in the oven, you have an hour to clean up and get on to the next thing. And remember that you only have 2 hands -- you can't stir 3 things contantly at once while chopping veggies. (Think scheduling algorithms. You are the CPU.)
- Better yet, find recipes that can be made (or mostly made) in advance. You don't want to be frantically racing around the kitchen while your girlfriend sits alone waiting for you. Less time in the kitchen for you means more time with her.
- Don't cook anything heavy. Sure, both of you may love a big meal, but feeling bloated and full is not conducive to romance.
- Consider her favourite foods when choosing a recipes. Sounds obvious, but keep that in mind.
- That said, plan a meal that makes some sense. A really spicy dish will overpower a delicate one. This isn't hard to do if stick to a theme (Italian, French, Mexican) and keep things simple.
- If you're trying a new recipe, and/or you're not an experienced cook, make it ahead of time. Make sure it tastes fine, cooks for the time you expect it to, that you have all the cooking utensils required, etc. Recipes usually need to be adjusted to your kitchen.
- For the adventerous: Pay attention to how you serve and plate the food. You don't need to go overboard, but a little parsley never hurts. Put dinner rolls in a basket or a bowl instead of tossing the plastic bag on the table. Don't spread pots all over the table if you can help it.
Hope that helps. It may seem silly, but taking some time to make things look nice (as well as taste good) is part of what restaurants do. Though it may sound like a lot, there really isn't much to it -- you don't need to go overboard, but just take a moment to think about how everything looks. If this isn't something you normally do, you'll really wow her by making the effort.I can spell. I just can't type.
Sorry I'm posting as an AC, but I'm having problems with my account.
What do girls want on Valentine's Day? Just something that a) shows that you care and b) shows that you know her.
My (also geek) boyfriend likes to get me stuffed animals (cute things like Chococat and Hello Kitty and Nyago) and flowers. I love that! He also made me a KDE desktop theme that was really cute.
But, seriously, geek girl or not, you can NEVER go wrong with flowers. Pink rosebuds are nice, and less expensive then long-stemmed roses.
Dinner and flowers, plus a little something (wrapped up?) is failsafe, and really easy to customize.
If your girl wants romantic, take her to a place where she can really dress up; girls like to dress up. Or order in gourmet (gourmet grocery stores will some times do that) or reserve a night at a nice hotel.
Hotels are good options (if you don't mind being late for work the next day) because, as long as it's a nice one, you get a beautiful ambiance, room service, fine dining, and a chance to surprise her with something new and romantic. Add fresh flowers and a (sexy?) gift, and you're set!
Now maybe you guys can help me- WHAT DO I GET MY GEEK BOYFRIEND???
She said 'you don't do anything romantic anymore'? Guess what, it's over. Pack your bags, next train leaves for splitsville. If she needs to be constantly entertained, she's already looking past you.
What you need is a woman like my wife. She hates valentine's day. With a passion. I never cared one way or another. If anything, on February 14th, we celebrate the one week anniversary of my birthday. She doesn't need a special day, as I prefer to surprise her with little things throughout the year. I'm grocery shopping, and I see a type of candy she might like, so I buy it. She's happy; I was thinking about her when I wasn't with her.
Sure, she liked the 'big gun' romantic things (like the eight hour drive I made after we had been broken up to beg her to come back. Before we were married, BTW) but she's mature enough to understand it's the little things that count.
Jesus was all right but his disciples were thick and ordinary. -John Lennon
Not all women judge men by how much they spend. Maybe it's the "You don't spend enough time with me anymore" speech, which resembles the "You spend too much time playing Everquest/UT2003/[fill in your favorite game]" and "You spend too much time watching football" speeches. It may also be the "lack of spontaneity" speech, or simply code for "foreplay has been reduced from an hour to five minutes, and you wonder why I only have one orgasm."