So I found this list somewhere on the internet the other day.

* February has been known as the month to celebrate love since the Middle Ages.

I didn't realize Hallmark and Hershey's have been around that long.

* About 1 billion Valentine's Day cards are exchanged each year, this is the largest seasonal card-sending occasion of the year, next to Christmas. Yet every year, my mailbox looks more and more like Charlie Brown's.

* Women send 85% of all Valentine's Day cards. Not to me, they don't.

* Men purchase 73% of all flowers given on Valentine's Day. Of course. We're lazy and uncreative.

* The red rose, representing love, is the most popular flower purchased by men in the U.S. Ibid.

* Verona, where Shakespeare's fictional lovers Romeo and Juliet lived, receives about 1,000 letters addressed to Juliet every Valentine's Day. This is what happens when people don't grow out of their writing letters to Santa phase.

* According to U.S. candy manufacturers, Americans spend more than $1 million on candy every Valentine's Day. Of course: February 14 is six weeks into the

year, right about the time everyone gives up on their diet resolutions.

* About 3% of pet owners will give Valentine's Day gifts to their pets. About 90% of those gifts will be red dog sweaters with hearts on them.

* Centuries ago people used to believe that if a woman saw a robin flying

overhead on Valentine's Day, it meant that she would marry a sailor. If she saw a sparrow, she would marry a poor man and be very happy. If she saw a goldfinch, she would marry a millionaire. (Who ever sees goldfinches?) What does this

say about people up north who see no birds on Valentine's Day because there are two feet of snow on the ground? Also, I see goldfinches. They're the New Jersey state bird. I'd post a picture, but it's at home.

* In the middle ages, young men and women drew names from a bowl to see who

their valentines would be. They would wear these names on their sleeves for one week. This is said to be the origin of the expression, "wearing your heart on your sleeve." Why would this tradition be the origin of the expression? If it were, wouldn't they say "wearing your name on your sleeve" or something else. There's no mention of hearts there. Had this practice been in use when I was in

high school, I would've had a lot more dates. Maybe.