A fool in love makes no sense to me. I only think you are a fool if you do not love.” — Anonymous

Ah, yes. Stupidity and romance. Two of my very favorite things to discuss. And this weekend, what an ample opportunity for us to observe both!

You see, this weekend is Valentine’s Day. Don’t know if you knew that.

The history of Valentine’s Day is difficult to pin down, if not impossible. One myth attests that St. Valentine was a Christian who was killed for helping others escape Roman prisons. Another story says that Valentine was a priest who performed secret marriages for lovers when Emperor Claudius II outlawed the practice.

My favorite belief, however, is that the holiday was invented by Hallmark to capitalize on human emotion. The explanation of this theory is usually accompanied by words like “commercialistic,” “corporational,” many expletives and a minimum of three minutes allotted to stupidly whine about how lonely this person with terrible grammar and a warped sense of history is.

You see, Valentine’s Day isn’t really Valentine’s Day at all to these people. It is instead something called Singles Awareness Day. Or SAD for short.

Sad? Sad!? On Valentine’s Day? Puh-lease. I don’t have any interest in hearing about your life and how you just never found that special one who understood you in all of your splendorous complexity. I don’t care if your search for a lifelong soulmate has been somewhat tumultuous in all of your — statistically speaking — most likely, 18 to 25 years.

As you can see, I get pretty steamed at such deep levels of self-pity.

In fact, this isn’t the first time I’ve written on the subject. A year ago, when I was merely the college-age equivalent of the surly old grandpa who sends in letters to the editor on a regular basis, I wrote in a response to the former opinion editor’s column about those inedible disasters made from Satan’s bosom milk that we call candy hearts.

Ryan wrote his thoughts on the messages we find scrawled onto these chalky hellcandies, chronicling his journey deep into the heart of despair and solitude. I couldn’t stand it. I told him he needed to cheer up. Nay, I demanded he do so! Come on, it was Valentine’s Day! Then was not the time to be sad, people.

I said this even though I didn’t have a boyfriend or girlfriend at the time of that letter, and I don’t have one now as I write this column. I also have a horrible track record when it comes to relationships, as I went 0-18 for dates in my high school career. My first real relationship came when I was 20 years old. Oh, and let’s not forget I’m transgender. Not too many plausible partners are cool with that.

But am I complaining? No!

Sure, I’ve got a crummy past when it comes to romance. I’ve got a crummy present. More than likely, I’ll have a crummy future, too. But I deal with it, and I try my best not to whine. I definitely don’t sit and sulk, making up absurd excuses for myself such as the Hallmark Hijacking Theory.

I much prefer the antithesis of ignorant whining about loneliness: PDA. Yup. Public Displays of Affection. There’s something I can get behind. There’s something I can . Seriously!

Our world is, quite frankly, full of suck. Do we really need to spend another day showing our animosity toward one another and the pity we feel for ourselves? Why not take this opportunity to show the world something good and happy for a change?

Even if it’s focused on a single individual, bringing some love into the world is an admirable thing. We shouldn’t be ashamed of that.

Enjoy yourself this Valentine’s Day, won’t you? Lighten up, have some fun, and for the love of all things, be happy! Do it! Do it now!

— Sophie Prell is a junior in pre-journalism and mass communication from Alta.