International Quirkyalone Day
This Saturday, millions of people will be celebrating one of the most special days of the year where feeling amazing, beautiful, and loved is on the agenda. That's right, International Quirkyalone Day. Not anti-Valentine Day, IQD is a DIY day for people to celebrate friendship, love and independent spirit. You can either be a quirkyalone (i.e. single) or a quirkytogether (i.e. couple) but either way, it is less about the flowers and chocolates and over-marketed paper cut-outs of anatomically incorrect hearts and fat baby angels with bows and arrows (isn't that kinda scary?). IQD is about celebrating you, your own constant companion, without needing the validation of someone else because you are in a romantic relationship with them. How many of those have you suffered through with the expectation of violins and roses and being put on a pedastal only to get a mediocre dinner with mediocre conversation and maybe ending with a fight over something stupid like why your cat had to sit on your date's jacket and leave a deposit of enough hair to make a wig for Cher? Good note: Expectations are what kill any good evening. You're better off expecting the Apocalypse and then being happily surprised it did not arrive.
To die-hard Valentine celebrants, this probably sounds like a euphemistic way of saying "I don't have anyone to be with other than myself for Valentine's Day" and you'll go about smugly happy with whomever it is you are currently with under the guise that yes, this is what true love and romance are all about. Cheers to you! Enjoy Valentine's Day--my friend Liane is skiing in the French Alps and will be walking the streets of Paris with Sean Penn's doppelganger, sipping champagne and having wonderful little desserts from one of the many pâtisserie's lining the quaint rue de romance. My friend Susan will be with her love in Napa Valley drinking wonderful wine and enjoying the green hills and vineyards. I think it is absolutely wonderful, but my best Valentine's Day was when I spent it as a quirkyalone in 2002 ice skating at Rockefeller Center and meandering over to a Cake Party with a dozen quirkyalone friends dancing, sipping cocktails, seeing Famke Janssen, and spotting two random topless girls make-out as their boyfriends stood on the side without a clue of what to do.
What do we do for IQD? Throw an IQD party or go to one of the many that are being thrown across the country--someone has to capitalize on the number of wealthy single people with nothing to do on Valentine's Day, so why not IQD? Why not a party with a bunch of successful singletons who may celebrate quirkytogetherness next year with someone they met at a quirkyalone party? It would be the biggest quirkytogetherness and you'll feel so special to belong to such a large group of independent and amazing people who don't need cherry cordials or Hallmark to feel special. Go out with your quirkyalone girlfriends for brunch, a manicure/pedicure, and cocktails. Play at a Scrabble Tournament. Start a pick-up game of ultimate frisbee in the park. Volunteer at a pet shelter or soup kitchen. This day is about celebrating you, and all the wonderful things you as a gifted and talented person have to offer the world. Outside validation is fleeting, but self-acceptance and inner joy can last a lifetime.
For those who want to wallow and yearn to be with someone to fight with about your shedding cat, try this game. It may make you feel better. CAUTION: If you enjoy it too much and are a white male between the ages of 20 and 40, you may be a serial killer. Check with your doctor before continuing to play.
To die-hard Valentine celebrants, this probably sounds like a euphemistic way of saying "I don't have anyone to be with other than myself for Valentine's Day" and you'll go about smugly happy with whomever it is you are currently with under the guise that yes, this is what true love and romance are all about. Cheers to you! Enjoy Valentine's Day--my friend Liane is skiing in the French Alps and will be walking the streets of Paris with Sean Penn's doppelganger, sipping champagne and having wonderful little desserts from one of the many pâtisserie's lining the quaint rue de romance. My friend Susan will be with her love in Napa Valley drinking wonderful wine and enjoying the green hills and vineyards. I think it is absolutely wonderful, but my best Valentine's Day was when I spent it as a quirkyalone in 2002 ice skating at Rockefeller Center and meandering over to a Cake Party with a dozen quirkyalone friends dancing, sipping cocktails, seeing Famke Janssen, and spotting two random topless girls make-out as their boyfriends stood on the side without a clue of what to do.
What do we do for IQD? Throw an IQD party or go to one of the many that are being thrown across the country--someone has to capitalize on the number of wealthy single people with nothing to do on Valentine's Day, so why not IQD? Why not a party with a bunch of successful singletons who may celebrate quirkytogetherness next year with someone they met at a quirkyalone party? It would be the biggest quirkytogetherness and you'll feel so special to belong to such a large group of independent and amazing people who don't need cherry cordials or Hallmark to feel special. Go out with your quirkyalone girlfriends for brunch, a manicure/pedicure, and cocktails. Play at a Scrabble Tournament. Start a pick-up game of ultimate frisbee in the park. Volunteer at a pet shelter or soup kitchen. This day is about celebrating you, and all the wonderful things you as a gifted and talented person have to offer the world. Outside validation is fleeting, but self-acceptance and inner joy can last a lifetime.
For those who want to wallow and yearn to be with someone to fight with about your shedding cat, try this game. It may make you feel better. CAUTION: If you enjoy it too much and are a white male between the ages of 20 and 40, you may be a serial killer. Check with your doctor before continuing to play.
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