.

Parlement of Foules; A Valentines Tale Part IV

And for no reason other than to keep this going (I've had a Valentines Blog Entry for the last few years apparently lol) I am dutifully making another Blog entry for this year. Time really really fly's when you're not paying attention. Particularly if you are not really dating anyone, and oh I am getting dangerously close to my self-promise of staying single for Five years after my Ex and I broke up hah!. Of course that is discounting all of the times I could not find myself to commit to the wonderful women I have come to know well between now and then (Because they are not real relationships are they?). It is funny how these things work out, isn't it? Or they certainly don't make it easy for anyone...

For instance; A year after having gotten through a somewhat ugly and laborious divorce more than a decade ago (wow!), the next girl I had the privilege of venturing into a relationship with practically demanded that we got married. We blamed it largely on her biological clock. It begs the question though if these things are really arbitrary and not destined because some of them just don't seem to make any sense, do they? Because the last thing on my mind at that point of my life was another marriage. What gives?

I have had many an opportunity with these seemingly inexplicable mis-matches, as i'm sure many of us have. I don't claim to be an expert by any means but I never seem to run out of curiously interesting women in my life (and perhaps some, disinteresting). And it seems like i've never had a "normal" relationship in my life too and often i've wondered if I am the "abnormal" one. And sometimes i find it hard to believe that's not the case haha. I do tend to be quite complex at times. But lets get back to the curiously interesting women in my life ha!....

As I was recently discussing with a very good friend of mine, the best thing about me is also the worse thing - I think too much -. Sure it prevents a lot of bad things but it doesn't seem to work in the Romance Department. And a good bi-product of this has always been the fact that I have never been able to just "live in the moment". I just think too damn much and somehow screw it up! This happens LARGELY when I really really like a girl. And it seems like I do just fine when i'm just playing games. Go figure right? It's sort of like the Alex Rodriguez syndrome -Ya know, hits 50+ homeruns and averages far beyond .300 in the regular season and then completely tank it in the playoffs when it really counts?-. Sadly that's me lol.

If you are anything like me then there has always been that certain someone in your life whom you've been curious about. Not that you've spent all of your life wondering about that person but it's that someone that has sort of lingered in your mind (or your heart perhaps) throughout your adult relationships and or marriages etc etc etc. For most that curiosity will remain so and perhaps somewhat diminish as we grow old with our spouses and kids. And that's okay because life teaches us not so much to settle for someone else, but that life must go on with or without that person... In my case I actually had the rare chance to possibly fulfill that lifelong curiosity. The problem of course was me... Because instead of welcoming the opportunity with open arms, I dissected it (long story...). There are just some things in life you JUST DO without thinking and I can't think of a better example than that. Basically the consequences in which she wound up spending time with me and my friends in California weighed heavily on my mind for no reason at all because it had nothing to do with me whatsoever. And as a result I had failed to realize what was developing right before my eyes. And before i knew it, it had completely passed me by... A day after she had flown home in the East Coast I received a somewhat disheartening email asking "Why didn't you kiss me that night?". Dohhh!!!

Okay okay sorry to be so dramatic. So on this years Valentines Day perhaps I can share some Quick Valentine wisdom to my friends?

[as written on my Blog 3 years ago] "Valentine" was a Roman Christian who according to tradition was martyred during the persecution of Christians... And this day, Saint Valentines Day was primarily celebrated in his honor but is also linked with the custom of choosing sweethearts. The day became associated with romantic love in the circle of Geoffrey Chaucer (Sometimes called the father of English literature) in the High Middle Ages, when the tradition of courtly love flourished.

The popular customs associated with Saint Valentine’s Day undoubtedly had their origin in a conventional belief generally received in England and France during the Middle Ages, that on 14 February, i.e., half way through the second month of the year, the birds began to pair. Thus in Chaucer’s Parliament of Foules we read: "For this was sent on Seynt Valentyne’s day
Whan every foul cometh ther to choose his mate."

Happy Valentines Day...

Posted by: Marc Gabay
Thursday, February 12, 2009