Picture taken from Be My Anti-Valentine at meish.org/vd/

 
The Peacock muses on alternative ways of spending Valentine's Day.

So, the burning question for this time of year is what are you doing for Valentine's Day? Yep, that well-known Hallmark Holiday is just about to roll around again. It only seems a minute since I was last sitting awkwardly in an overpriced restaurant, elbow to elbow with hundreds of other couples, eating substandard food and wishing that we'd had the courage to stay at home and ignore the whole debacle.

This year it's going to be different chez Peacock. For a start, I'm single on Valentine's Day. I don't think this has been the case since I was a student and, looking back with the benefit of misty-eyed reminiscence, VD (ha - that acronym never fails to bring a wry smile to my beak) was so much more eventful in those days.

The most notable occasion was when my housemates and I went to G.A.Y. the night before VD and discovered that one of our number (male, and at the time in a serious relationship with a girl) was, in fact, gay. Unfortunately, the girlfriend discovered this by coming round a corner in the club and finding him snogging a guy. VD morning was therefore spent eating a LOT of ice-cream and chocolate while watching Hollyoaks and crying. Okay, not all that different to the average student Sunday morning, but it was imbued with extra pathos that day.

Another year, another housemate. She'd been seeing a rather dishy young man for a few weeks, who decided to dump her the day before VD. The same day, our house cat was run over and killed. Once again, VD was spent in a sea of tissues and ice-cream, before going out in the evening and drinking quite obscene amounts of cheap beer in her student union, falling over drunk and (in my case) throwing a pint over a particularly persistent guy who I'd had a brief dalliance with a few weeks before. Ah, heady days.

A few years later and I’ve disappeared to Switzerland for a skiing holiday with friends, leaving my boyfriend of the time at home while I drink far too much gluhwein, eat far too much fondue, get a tan and nearly break my neck while attempting to do a particularly showy jump on one of the blackest of the black bump runs. Needless to say, I hadn’t had such a good time in ages.

Now, I realise that none of these examples are classically perfect ways to spend the (allegedly) most romantic day of the year, but at least they were memorable. I'm a Peacock, not a Lovebird - it's all about the drama. This year, therefore, you will find me out with friends, handing out red roses and kisses to passers-by, dancing like I've never danced before and laughing like there's no tomorrow. This year it's all about loving the life I'm living and creating a day to remember - go on, give it a go, I dare you.