Everyone's a winner

Not only did I get me a brand-new President this week and survive an OTTB's racing-days flashback ("AAAAAGH, Lear, you know I'm too heavy to be an exercise rider even if I am trying to post your canter, so just slow the hell down AAAAGH!"), Spotted Sparrow informs me that I won her January giveaway, a set of 80s-inspired Valentine's Day cards. Hurrah!

I am not a Valentiney person in general—not that I'm given to spending the day moping around in black, I just don't much care for dealing with the logistical hassles of sharing a day of affection with so many other people—but sometimes I make exceptions. The year there were Lord of the Rings valentines I went to three WalMarts in search of them, because nothing was going to keep me from giving out scruffy Aragorn "be my honey" cards. Another year I ended up dancing at a Last Train Home show at the Barns of Wolf Trap, spinning across that gorgeous wood floor under the mirror-ball lights, at a show that only happened to be on Valentine's Day (and for which frontman Eric Brace very kindly got comp tickets for Sunflake, who was suffering the effects of a wretched breakup and in no mood to stay home alone on a Saturday V-Day, sold-out show be damned). Other years, I've found the least romantic and therefore least crowded bar in town and solved the world's problems over drinks with friends.

This year the trouble will be deciding whether to give these cards away or to frame them for keepsies. If you're lookin' for romancin', give some thought to picking up a few of Sparrow's cards or naughty tickets for your sweetie.