Yes, Valentine's Day is in the top three Hallmark holidays of the year. No, it is not a holiday actually created by Hallmark, despite what half a dozen people have independently asserted to me in the last 48 hours. I am appalled that the commercialization of this holiday has people keeping score on who loves the most (and who is most loved) on the basis of overpriced flowers, jewelry, and chocolate.*
The rampant commercialism of the day notwithstanding, this seems like as good a time as any to share some love:
Love of science: Although Zuska's Joy of Science course has already kicked off, I think there's still time to catch up. The course explores "the existence of pleasure, intellectual excitement, and desire as an important component of theorizing and doing science and engineering." That sounds like love to me!
A mother's love: Head on over to give some love to Sciencewoman and new daughter Minnow. Love is sometimes what propels us to take on challenges which our heads tell us are impossible, whether they be combining parenthood with being a working scientist or simply getting through the night on an hour of sleep.
Scientists in love: See also, on the subject of love making crazy-hard things do-able, Jennifer Ouellette's Nature article on scientists and the two-body problem.
An idea I love: Skookumchick proposes launching a "women in science/technology/engineering" carnival. She suggests it might explore:
posts on the topic of gender in science and engineering, perhaps with an academic focus, perhaps not, perhaps including topics on men in STEM (as they have gender too), including the stories of how gender intersects with other categories like race and sexuality and age and so forth, including blog posts about news stories, including discussions of feminist science.
Given the impressive number of blogging women scientists who touch on this territory, I think this is a blog carnival whose time has come. Skookumchick wants your ideas, so tell her what you think.
Robot Love: Specifically, the love of a robot for mankind. Just click the link. (Thanks to Julie for sharing!)
Something I'd love to put on my bumper: Mostly just to mess with people. Love is like that sometimes.
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Slow Loris image from http://www.bbc.co.uk/cornwall/content/articles/2006/09/28/indonesian_monkeys_feature.shtml
*I'll admit to using chocolate to demonstrate love, but my students seemed OK with it.
Geoffrey Chaucer invented it, in Parliament of Foules (that's Fowls in modern English). That's a good enough reason to observe it, if you ask me.
My wife and I spent our Valentines day seeing a great film "The Holiday" (I needed one), and in the process learned a Valentine lesson from a friend.
"Across the vastness of what we call the internet today, we seem to be bringing people closer together more than ever, when in fact our hearts a bit colder. It's up to each of us to change that in some small way, and it does takes courage."
With that, I'll leave you with a tradition my wife and I have enjoyed. We go into our favorite card store, each shopping for something we need on another isle while the other sneaks off to get a card (taking turns). We then meet and exchange cards and read them and laugh or cry. We then make our purchases and go onto another favorite shopping place to do it again. Works for us - still together after a rollercoaster ride of 14 years ...no kidding.
There is something different about chocolate...I'd never need the flowers and the jewelry's not my style, but the fact that I gave up the chocolates to you shows that care is coming from a very deep place.
Dr. Janet, did you see Rebecca's Valentine + Darwin pick-up line contest at Skepchick? Funny funny stuff there.
Sort of falls in the category of Love and Science, right?
(Full Disclosure: One of my entries did get an honorable mention, so I may be a bit biased.)