Romantic Gesture, or Criminal Activity?

Before you go and make some grand "romantic" gesture for Valentine's Day on Monday, keep the following in mind.  Next time your girl is watching some classic romantic movie moments that make her cry because "they're so in love," and then she's pissed at you because "why don't you ever do stuff like that for me?"  Well, because some of those things will net you some serious jail time.

These chicks watched
Addicted to Love
too many times.

Yes, that's right.  We're talking about stalking, breaking and entering, rape, unlawful imprisonment, suspected terrorist action, rape, poisoning, assault, attempted murder, and... oh yeah... rape.  In real life that's a shitload of jail time.  In the movies, it's just a quirky way to say, "I love you," and live happily ever after.

Check out the full list over at Cracked.com.

Valentine's Day (Mostly) Roundup

Valentine's Day

Tip Junkie shows how to make a Valentine's Love Letter Garland plus How to Sew Softies Valentine's Roundup

How-To: Valentine's Matchbook Card @ Craft

Also at Craft: Kawaii Mini Valentine Cards

{Secret} Valentine message in a bottle @ mini-eco

Downloadable valentines and more @ Superpunch

Great Ideas -Sweet {Valentine} Treats! @ Tatertots and Jello

The Lovelight Vintage Postcard Series at Postcard Roundup Here and Here and at Postcardy

Valentine Postcard: Cupid with US Flag @ Moody Mommy's Marvelous Postcards Blog

The Postcard that Kisses in 3-D @ 9TEEN87'S Postcards

Pretty LADIES with CUPID on Antique VALENTINE Postcards @ postcardiva postcard blog

Postcards, etc. has a Vintage Cupid Postcard

Vintage Valentine's Day Clip Art - Adorable Clown Children @ The Graphics Fairy

Butterfly - Valentine Model to Download and Make @ robives.com

Valentine's Day App Watch: Five Apps for Under $2 @ Walletpop

Christmas & New Years

The Music of Madonna and Child @ Postcard Images

NEW YEAR Elves & Gnomes on Antique Postcards @ postcardiva postcard blog

The Ice Mountain Vintage Postcard @ Viridian's Postcard

Song of the Day: Valentine - Kina Grannis

Valentine by xinelzd

Song of the Day: Valentine - Kina Grannis

Holiday Roundup (Valentine's Day, Easter, Christmas)

by Whipped Bakeshop

Valentine's Day

History Of Valentine’s Day @ Today I Found Out

Terrific Valentine Ephemera Clip Art @ Pugly Pixel

8 million hearts and "It's Magic!" valentines @ A Vintage Cottage Home

Tatertots and Jello has instructions for making a Bow and Arrow Valentine Wreath plus Valentine's Pillows!

{Valentine Inspiration} Cookie Cartons @ Whipperberry

Learn how to make Heart Cake Balls/Pops @ Tip Junkie

Umm, Organized Christmas has Cupid Poop: Valentines Day Gag Gift

Mutant Cupid's papercraft @ castleforte

Victorian Beehive Cobweb Card tutorial @ Marissa Louise via Craft

Vintage Romance Commic blog Sequential Crush shares an "Are You Ready for Marriage?" Quiz from 1970 and the story "Made for Each Other!" from Heart Throbs February/March 1971

Easter

Sweet Bunny Softies To Make Pattern Roundup and 300+ Easter Crafts, Printables & Sweet Treats @ Tipnut's new Easter Goodies site

Christmas

bongobells re-shares a rare/out of print Christmas album from Hawaii - 2001's A Father-Daughter Christmas by Stardancer

Holiday Roundup (Chinese New Year, Valentine's Day, Easter, Christmas)

Chinese New Year / Year 4708 / Year of the Rabbit

Chinese New Year info from Wikipedia

Chinese New Years @ Kaboose

Celebrate Chinese New Year with Family Events in New York City @ Mommy Poppins

San Francisco's Chine New Year's Festival & Parade

Valentine's Day

Vintage Valentine's Day Clip Art - Stunning Woman @ The Graphics Fairy

From Grathio Labs (via Craft) comes a rather unique free printable: Patent Illustration Valentines

Download you free PaperToy Monsters Cupid Papercraft

Pugly Pixel has news of a soon to be available free Valentine's Day blogger background from Powered By Pastries

Easter

Our first Easter Bunny link - Easter Bunny Art by Peter Gray

Giggle at The Daily What's Easter Prank of the Day

Mental Floss lists their 16 Favorite Rabbits with our friend the Easter Bunnny coming in a disappointing 12th

Christmas

and everthing else too has a neat vintage kid's cookbooklet from Betty Crocker that features a number of delightfully illustrated recipes with holiday themes including Sugar Plum Dreams, Silver Bells, Flaming Monce Pies, Tiny Tims and Mr. Pickwicks.

Here's a roundup of all of The Second Disc's terrific Christmas music related posts from 2010

Holiday Update (Martin Luther King, Winter, Valentine's)

Martin Luther King Jr's Birthday

Learn more about Martin Luther King, Jr. @ Wikipedia

The Meaning of The Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday @ The King Center

Life has a large selection of photo collections featuring Martin Luther King Jr, and Coretta Scott King

Martin Luther King and the Montgomery Story Comic (1957) @ Ethan Persoff

"What The World Needs Now/Abraham, Martin And John" : Tom Clay @ Stubby's House of Christmas

Things to Do on Martin Luther King Jr Day 2011 with Kids in New York City @ Mommy Poppins

Winter

The First Snow @ Cartoons of 1935

Handmade Kid Monster Snowshoes @ Craft

"Winters Eve" and "Snow" @ Vintage Kid's Books My Kid Loves

Valentine's Day

How-to get organized for February @ Tip Junkie

Valentine's Day Sweets @ delish

The Graphics Fairy has a vintage Cherub Riding Giant Heart clip art and a vintage image of an Anatomy Heart

A Vintage Cottage Home has a pair of vintage Valentines Day cards

Our First Valentine's Day Post!

By  Riptheskull

Valentine's Day Links

History

The Lives of the Saints : St. Valentine @ Catholic-Saints

Valentine's Day @ History.com

Find Valentine's Day related articles and podcasts @ NPR

Naturally, Wikipedia has an extensive entry on Valentine's Day

Food, Cards and Crafts

Martha Stewart has 53 Valentine's Day recipes plus her usual assortment of crafts and other "good things"

Craft the perfect romantic Valentine's repast with the help of Food Network

Valentine's Day Food @ Bon Appetite

Check out the food, craft and decorating tips @ Better Homes and Gardens Valentine's Day section

Valentine's Day crafts, recipes, e-cards and more @ Kaboose

Disney's Family Fun Magazine offers a wide selection of Valentines Day cards and crafts

Valentine's Day @ About.com

Lots of Valentine's Day menus and recipes @ Epicurious

Crayola offers a selection of printable Valentine's Day coloring pages

Hershey's have got Valentine's Day recipes, crafts, and fun facts

Vintage Valentine's goodies from The Graphics Fairy...

• Ornate Graphic Frame
• Valentine with Cherubs and Hearts
• Romantic Violets Perfume Ad
• Gorgeous Swallow
• Crafty Project - Old Fashioned Valentine Garland Printable

White Chocolate Candy Cane Heart Pops @ Craft

Craftside has a free gun-toting cupid clip art image

Valentine's Day is Even More Fun in Costume!

Valentine's Day is even more fun in costume!

Costumes are not just for Halloween. Have fun this Valentine's day in a cupid costume, the kissing booth costume, a Valentine bear costume or any of the wide array of sexy costumes that we have available on AnniesCostumes.com

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Please support our sponsor.

Win a Free Cupid Cutie Costume!

Many thanks to our friends over at The MomStart Blog. They are featuring our Cupid Cutie costume in a giveaway promotion for the next two weeks to celebrate Valentine's Day. Check out the MomStart Blog for details and your chances(s) to win!

Its 14 Days 'Til Valentine's Day! Do You Know Where or What Your Present Is?

Here's a great idea for a Valentine's Day present:

Something that both of you can enjoy. . .

A Cupid Cutie Costume!



We have a number of different costumes available that fit the Valentine's Day theme! Check out al the Valentine's Day costumes available at AnniesCostumes.com!

Check out Cheryl & Co for some fresh baked Valentine gifts!

Chapter 72.9: Jump In, The Movie's Fine!

Valentine's Day is a lot more enjoyable when you're past your twenties and happily married. A long day at work turned into a wonderful evening when I got home, because unbeknownst to me my wife had decided that if I ran late, we'd see a movie. Funny how fate works and time changes everything.

With that seemingly inoccuous item, I jump to my point: Jumper. The story of a young man who discovers that he has the ability to circumvent the laws of space (but not time, thankfully) and zip from here to there faster than I can type. A lot faster.

I suppose this type of thing has been done before, but I don't care. I also don't care that it's received mixed reviews. I enjoyed this film.

It has flaws, however. Hubris, for one. It's rather ballsy to assume you'll have an audience for a trilogy, which is what this film is proposing to do. But with its comic book feel (though it's based on a novel by Stephen Gould) perhaps developing an audience isn't so tough, I don't know. More importantly, the film feels incomplete. A good first episode of a trilogy -- see Star Wars or The Lord of the Rings -- needs to feel like a story was told. Jumper felt like a TV pilot.

Another flaw is that the main characters are left woefully undeveloped. You come out of Star Wars and the Fellowship of the Ring feeling like you know something about Darth Vader or Strider/Aragorn. But Jumper leaves you with two scenes of the lovely Diane Lane, who plays David's estranged mother. And you know virtually nothing. I'm sorry, that's lazy writing and directing. You needed a scene to establish some connection, some love, some something. Screw mystery, an audience needs to connect with the characters. All this did was set up film No. 2. Insert $10, press play. Go screw yourself. (Like I said, there are flaws.)

But there's enough potential in the first movie for me to see the second film. The cinematography is excellent, for one thing. The effects feel as natural as possible, and the exciting thrill ride aspect of the chase scenes is wonderful. You don't have to be twelve to think this film is cool.

And Jamie Bell, who plays Griffin -- David's mentor/friend -- is excellent (despite being occasionally incomprehensible, what with that thick accent of his). Film fans may know Bell best as Billy Elliot (Dance, Billy, dance!), but he's become quite a strong actor since then. Rachel Bilson's cute, of course, though I hope she's given more of a role to play in the future.

But the real thrill in this film comes from the always amazing Samuel L. Jackson. I truly believe this man could play just about anything, but he's best with an edgy character. And as Roland he plays a (potentially) complex role of the nemesis to Hayden Christensen's David; Roland claims to be moral, but the audience can't help but feel he's basically a cop, and who knows what morality means in a world where people flit from place to place without law.

I'll leave it at that, since that's the type of ending this film engenders. Suffice it to say, I enjoyed Jumper. I'll watch the second installment, but there needs to be some pay-off for this investment. I like the characters. Now show me something other than pleasant gimmicks.

Valentine's Day Dress-Up

What better way to make this Valentine’s Day special than to play a little dress-up?

You’ll really get his motor running with a sexy costume from anniescostumes.com.

And whether you’re feeling a little devilish or a little angelic, we’ve got fun, sexy costumes for you, as well.

Want to take matters into your own hands and play cupid yourself? This Cupid Cutie Costume should fit the bill. (Watch where you aim those arrows!)

Chapter 56.6: Cold Hearts

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone. And watch out for the ice. The first "major" winter storm to hit these parts has befallen the city, lashing out with such force that the train was about ten minutes late. I'll admit the area was slick and icy, and that's nothing to dismiss, but I worry about weathercasters and their ilk who try to say with a straight face that this is a big deal. Not at all. Now, showing the one I love that she's still the girl for me, that's a big deal.