Valentine's Day

Thursday was Valentine's Day. Of all our commodi- fied holidays, it is one of my favorites. Maybe it is because I like romance better than hobgoblins, but this holiday has always seemed like more fun than, say, Halloween.

One of our own Valentine's Day traditions is going out for dinner--along with chocolate, flowers and all the other fun. I usually think first of Italian food for Valentine's Day. It turns out many people do. (There was a long line outside Romeo's Italian restaurant that night.) So I asked several of the graduate students in my department, Radio-TV-Film, why they thought that was.

Opinion was almost unanimous: Lady and the Tramp. Here you can see a still from the memorable scene where the two dogs go out for a romantic Italian dinner. I fought the idea in my head for a bit. I hate giving Disney that much credit for setting our mental agenda and images. But I think the grad students were right. Disney got us again.

I still like Italian food anyway. But last Thursday Sandy and I went past Romeo's to have barbecue at the Green Mesquite. Strike a blow for barbecue and against Disney!

BTW, here is my valentine and her Valentine's Day flowers. A nice smile to brighten a gray Texas day.