Full of Plans...

Yeah, that's me in the spotlight. Or, at least, in the camera lens. I went to have some professional photos taken last week with my Rotary friend Brandi Easter. She did a spectacular job, as you can see, especially considering what she had to work with. She also took some more somber shots for my yellow pages ad, which I am using on my MySpace as the default picture. For a while. Really, I think the dark suit makes me look menacing, which is okay for a lawyer but somewhat scary for MySpace.

"I hate Valentine's Day," my son said to me as I picked him up from school yesterday. "It's all about how much you can buy your girlfriend."

"Why does that concern you?" I asked. "You don't have a girlfriend. Unless you've been holding out on me."

"That's the other thing I hate about Valentine's Day," he grumbled. "It reminds you that you don't have a girlfriend. They get you either way."

Like father, like son. I, too, am spending Val's Day alone, or rather, with my son. We're going to see the Munich Symphony Orchestra tonight, performing lots of real live classical music. Should be fun.

And, in truth, to think of the Val's Days I've had in the past, most of which have been disasters, well, perhaps it's best that I stay on the sidelines for this particular holiday. One year I tried to cook for a girlfriend and nearly gave her food poisoning when I undercooked the cornish game hens. One year another girlfriend and I went to a mystery dinner--and were struck on the way by a guy who was stealing a sportscar. One year I was on my way to see my girl and she called and said, "you know, you've been really good to me over these last few months, and you've made me realize that I want to get married again; just not to you." Then she went off with some insurance salesman and I stayed at home and listened to sad songs.

And let's not forget the year I was in law school, my divorce final, and I went through the day full of plans to see this ex-girlfriend down south who had called to ask when I was going back down there. I called her Val's Day to chat her up, as they say and she told me the reason she wanted me down in SoCal...was to go to her wedding. I walked the streets of Berekely that night in the rain, watching couples walk along the avenue, old couples, ugly couples, fat couples, and realized that I am really a pathetic little soul.

Sigh.

But I guess I've learned the last few years I've just kept my head covered on Val's Day and left it for the lovers and the fools.

As for now, I have plans. My practice seems to be picking up--yes!--and I'm trying to figure out how to get out there and start playing my music again. Hence, the photos.

Hey, it's more fun than undercooking a cornish game hen. And more productive.