Dear Valentine...

dear Valentine

you are my favriet boy in MISS Gambitsky’ s class ever. I love you so much I love when you are playing kickball and we were the winners and I love when you digged up the class pet lizard that died. It was fun to see what it looked like all dried up. You are a very cool boy and I love you. Do you love me to ? I hope so. Also even when your frend ate the paste you did not so that is good. Love love love love

your valentine

Dear Valentine!!

You make school FUN! Except when I got caught passing notes to you and Mrs Karr made me stay late and she talked to me about how I should not be passing notes in class. She is such a loser. Hope you have a GREAT day and I hope you like the gift I made you. I never have baked cupcakes by myself before but I did and they came out good! I made yours extra special because you are AWESOME!  LOVE LOVE LOVE,

Your valentine!

Deasr Vsalentine

Hope your day is full of fun

Hope that I’m the only one

who makes your heart feel happy and good

just like your only valentine should

love love love

your Valentine! (I wrote this myself )

Dear Valentine,

Wow! I can’t believe we have been together for so long already! Since Linda’s Halloween party!!! It is like we have been together for a million years and it just feels right, you know? And even though we are probably going to go to different colleges that is ok because we will be together 4 – EVER!! I think that is true, don’t you feel it? Like we are so good together and it all feels just so right. Even yesterday in the courtyard at lunch I was thinking about how we will be together even in college even if you do go to California and I stay here in New York and go to NY U! ! ! ( Best school ever, hahahaha!! You should still go there! There is still time to change your mind since you don’t even know anyone in California!) But I want to tell you how much I love you and I love hanging out with you and love going to the park and to the museum with you and also that I feel like we have so much fun and we can really be ourselves together and that is cool, because we just are so good together. Sometimes I think you are the only one who will ever get how I really really am. And I know that you feel the same way so I just want to tell you I am so incredibly glad you are my best ever boyfriend and I LOVE YOU!!!! Love love love love love, your Valentine!

Dear Valentine:

I want you to know how special you are to me. I thought I would never ever love anyone like I loved my high school boyfriend but after we parted ways and went to college, things just changed, and I thought I would never love anyone again. But how stupid, right? Because I found you. Or you found me, I guess, at Boss Tweed’s that night back in  November and even though I hate  ( HATE) beer I let you buy me one because a) you were so cute and b) your fake ID was way better than mine HA HA!! And we all know how things went after that!!!!!!!! Crazy times!

     So, anyway, I am glad we are together, and I hope we can last. I think we will, it just feels right to me! And we are older now, so we know how things feel, when they feel right. We are older and wiser but we are still YOUNG and IN LOVE! So I will be wearing your gift to me later tonight, you will have to see for yourself… Can’t wait for you to unwrap it! (and me, ha ha xoxoxo)

Love love love, your Valentine

Dear Valentine:

Just a quick email to let you know I am thinking of you, even during this dull day at the office. Thank you for the flowers! No card but of course, I knew it was you.  Cannot believe we have managed to keep our romance secret for this long, since it seems so obvious to me, but then, I guess we are just both really good at keeping secrets. Sometimes I wish we could just be more open about our love, office policy be damned. But that is ok. We will persevere. Do you want to have lunch together, or do you just want to wait til tonight and go to dinner? I think we should probably wait since Bill just came in waving some stupid report and I have a feeling I am going to have to work through lunch. Again. TTYL!

xoxo, your Valentine

Dear Valentine, or should I say, Dear Fiance!?

Can you believe it, this time next year, we will be husband and wife! I still can hardly believe it. Like, what? When did THAT happen? When did I grow up? Wow, I remember, four years ago I was still dating that jerk in my office. After that fiasco, I cannot believe I was fortunate enough to find someone as wonderful and thoughtful as you, my dearest. I am staring at the ring RIGHT NOW. I love it, did I mention that yet today? Oh, probably only about a million times. It is so fantastic to be engaged and in love and happy on Valentine’s day. I know there are lots of people who say that they would not even bother getting married since so many couples just get divorced, but that will never be the case with us. We are meant to be, I know it. I just know it. You are the only one for me, my love. I hope you like the gift. I never know exactly what to get you. After all, you already have my heart. Love love love, your Valentine ( and future wife!) 

Dear Valentine,

Want you to know, before I met you, I thought I would never find love again. Seriously, this is the first Valentine’s day since my divorce that I feel happy. And that is no mean trick, my dear. Cannot believe I found someone so great on a blind date! I hope, maybe, you are thinking the same thing. Who knows if we are meant to be, I mean, how can anyone know? Even when something feels right, it may not have staying power, but I think, maybe, if we are willing to work on it, we have a beautiful thing here. Here’s to possibilities!

With love, your valentine

Dear Valentine:

So. Another Valentine’s day is upon us. Time goes so quickly, you know? It feels like just a few years ago we were sitting in grade school depositing those stupid cards in the “class mailbox” and getting boxes of conversation hearts for our best friends. And now here we are, a million years later, all of us still wondering when we are really going to feel “grown up”, when the real adult thing kicks in. As for me, I’m still that kid delivering heart postcards to her classmates, despite all the personal emotional baggage.  I have said before, I am just so over it. I decided to just quit trying. It seems like every time I think I have found love, it slips away into the night and leaves me with  an empty, hollow feeling that takes years to fill again. But then I think better of it. I think, well, maybe this time, it will be different. Maybe this time it will be real, and forever. I think it is just human nature to want to love and be loved. It is the great, connecting force that has lifted us up through the ages and made us who and how we are.  Or maybe it is just our fear of being alone. We are social creatures, after all.  Whatever it is, I can’t just give up, it seems. So, wherever you are, whoever you turn out to be, Happy Valentine’s day!

Love, love, love,  your Valentine….

( please note, this is, for the most part, a fictional account of a life through letters. I have never been married or divorced. I have had workplace romances, and I have definitely met guys over a beer in a bar at college. Also, I love beer.  But I plead the fifth in regards to the matter of digging up the class lizard with my 2nd grade crush. That is all I'm gonna say.)

Video Spotlight: Mark Gormley, Rock Star

      Many people have never even heard of Mark Gormley. I don't remember exactly how I came across him, but I have a feeling it was a search for " weird music videos" on Youtube.  If I hadn't been diligent in my research, I would never have known he exists. But oh, he does. And he is going to ROCK. YOUR. WORLD.

      When you first see a Mark Gormley video, you may say to yourself, "Huh, I didn't know Ned Flanders was a real person". But then you'll have a closer look and think, "Oh, it couldn't be Ned Flanders, Ned has a better physique. And he's a cartoon..." And you'd be right, on both counts.  Mark Gormley may not have the fame of Ned Flanders, cartoon neighbor of Marge and Homer Simpson, but what he does have is THAT SPECIAL SOMETHING.  Yes. Behind those unfashionable glasses, behind that unassuming outfit, lurks the makings of a rock star. Come along, don't be shy. Press "play" and surrender to the inevitable...







      "Little Wings"  is my favorite Mark Gormley song. I will admit to humming it sometimes and not even realizing I am doing so. I can also do a pretty excellent  Gormley impression to this song, so, I like to work that.  In this video, you were introduced to the Mark Gormley stance. This is a very important part of what gives Mark THAT SPECIAL SOMETHING.  Note how he artfully shifts his weight constantly from one baggy-jeaned leg to the other.  His retro plaid shirt and sneakers are perhaps an homage to Kurt Cobain and the grunge movement. His voice is uniquely Gormley, but perhaps a touch of Neil Young's high plains whine sneaks in at times( yeah, I know, Neil was born in Toronto. Make it a high CANADIAN plains whine,ok?).  His whistle is masterful, comparable to the whistling in the Lovin' Spoonful's "What a Day for a Daydream". His double take at the end of this video is a classic Gormley moment that all his true fans can appreciate. In this song, the Maestro manages to span four decades of rock and distill it into his own song about redemption and reward at the end of a long day's work.  "Will you make the morning light, oh, little wings in flight?" We can only hope so.






    "Without You" was Mark's breakthrough video. It is a take no prisoners art rock festival, taking us along on Mr. Mark's Wild Ride through the stratosphere. He strides upon snowcapped mountains one moment and stands isolated in front of the Northern Lights the next. He shift his weight from side to side on Caribbean sands, gazes out over the Mojave desert, cavorts in haunted forests. One especially poignant split second scene shows the Laura Ingalls style log cabin love shack that was obviously the shared abode of Mark and his video love. Lusty Times on the  Prairie.  Note how he bravely marches on while ever looking to his right, hoping his lady love is there. But alas, she is not. She cavorts upon the beach, leaning on their favorite tree and walking up and down the same strip of sand while looking vaguely hung-over. Later we find that she is obviously working as an exotic dancer, flaunting herself in front of the beer-bellied patrons of a non-descript bar while wearing a shiny, Barbarella-esque bikini. Has she no shame?
    Poor Mark. They have shared so many memories all over the Earth, he cannot stand to tread upon its surface one minute longer. He intrepidly blasts into space on the next lunar launch outta here, and goes to live alone on our previously unknown secret lunar space station. Meanwhile, showing no remorse whatsoever, his lady love parades up and down the beach, hoping to attract the attentions of a local windsurfer.
      This is a powerful, emotionally wrenching song.  Mark's take-no-prisoners lyrics, "don't play around with my affection, woman", apparently delivered at the Medical Arts building after an intense session with his therapist, tell it like it is. Do not mess with the Gorminator. He WILL send you, or perhaps himself, to the moon!  Hasta la Vista, baby.
     In this song you can really hear how much Mark was influenced by his predecessors, like  Journey, Rush, and especially,  Yes. And is that a touch of Jethro Tull I hear when Mark takes it to the bridge? Oh, I think it is. Yet Mark takes the influences and turns out a song all his own, about his sadly shattered relationship with his video vixen, who is at last look seen smiling at the camera wearing her one-shouldered top.  Foul temptress! She cares not that Mark is suffering in space. She is only concerned with her tree and maybe that windsurfer we saw earlier. But Mark soldiers on, even though is spirit is now broken.
    





      This is a sadder, darker Mark, a Mark who has loved and lost, and loved again and lost again, and then maybe placed a personal ad and got not too many responses.   This is the Mark who does tequila shots with Jimmy Page and Robert Plant after a long, hard time on the road. I find this video is notable especially for the band-aid clearly visible on Mark's chest throughout. Why is it there? What has happened to him? Has he been bitten by an especially ornery mosquito, or snake, perhaps? Did he, in typical rock star mode, trash his hotel room and get hurt in the process? Was it a tuberculosis test gone horribly awry?   And will it hurt when he has to take it off, since it is obviously adhered to  his manly, hirsute chest? Hmm. Ponderous.

     Well, I hoped you enjoyed your introduction to the great Mark Gormley. You can view many more of his videos on Youtube. There is even one that apparently takes place after his blast-off into space towards the end of  "Without You". In it, you can see Mark cavorting on the moon, playing some sort of lunar hacky-golf or maybe moon hockey, I'm not sure. It also contains various scenes of his lady love eating Cheetos. I don't know whether this is product placement or whether that girl really likes her corn-based cheese flavored snack foods. If you are really hooked, you may be glad to hear that Mark has released a new CD. It includes all the original songs heard here, and plenty more.
     The thing is, I really have to give the guy props. I mean,  if he looked more like a male model and less like a cartoon character, some record producer may very well have snapped him up by now. His songs are not bad at all. His voice is not bad, either, if you like that whole power ballad shout out or acoustic semi-falsetto.  And he's a damn fine whistler.  Bob Dylan is no looker and his voice, to me, sounds a lot like fingernails on a black board. Tom Waits sounds like he's singing to you from the bottom of a bottle of whiskey. There's gotta be a niche somewhere for Mark Gormley. There are plenty of bands out there that out-right suck, yet people keep buying their music. There are hip hop artists who couldn't do a thing without Auto-Tune. And I am still perplexed as to the popularity of that little monkey-boy, Justin Bieber. That kid can't even shave yet and he has a movie out about his life? That's just stupid, America. ( HAH! Yes, I went for it!)
       I read on Wikipedia that Mr. Gormley was once a member of the United States Marine Corps. Who would have ever guessed?!  I cannot imagine Mark Gormley as a U.S. Marine, but  a Marine he most definitely was. So, you may not imagine Mark Gormley as a Rock Star, but a Rock Star he most definitely is.