Love is in the air ♥ :)

'do you ask what the birds say? the Sparrow, the Dove,
the Linnet and Thrush say, "I love and I love!"
~ samuel taylor coleridge

Yes, friends. Love is in the air, and you can probably smell it.

To celebrate all the love that's floating around in the atmosphere, Lyceum and the League have teamed up to bring you Love is in the Air! A Valentine's Day Poetry and Story Slam. It's a chance for you to let out all of your pent up thoughts and feelings about love - the good, the bad, and the ugly; the romantic, the brotherly, and the motherly. All kinds of love. If you want to be a poet slammer, email us to reserve a spot! If you'd like to be a story slammer, email Lyceum! Looking forward to seeing you all there! And while you're in the UC, be sure to stop by the UC stage and buy some flowers to support the UM Dearborn students going all over the country during their Alternative Spring Break!

The last time I celebrated Valentine's Day was in . . . elementary school?

Those were the days when all of my classmates decorated "mailboxes" that would go out on the desks during the class Valentine's day party. On that day, the teacher would likely start off with a lot of fun Valentine's day activities. Then we'd probably have a party at the end of the day, when all the kids would go around stuffing the mailboxes with cards and treats. Usually, we'd get some little thing from the teacher, like pencils or an eraser or something that everyone would get really excited about, being a kid and all. Of course, your best friends got the biggest valentines, and the teacher most likely did, too. We'd have cookies and candy and cupcakes and drinks while maybe watching a movie or just spending the rest of the day just playing and eating and talking. Pure youthful bliss.

When I was in second grade, my dad took my sisters and I to see Anastasia in  theaters. It was my first movie theater movie, so I was pretty excited. I remember really liking the movie, but the two things that I remember most vividly are, first, that my dad bought us one lone bag of M&Ms as our movie snack food (some of which spilled onto the floor), snd second, that my dad bought my older sister and I each a box of Anastasia Valentine cards the next February. Best. Valentine cards. Ever.

(I actually don't remember the other kinds I'd ever gotten for my class, which must say something about them.)

If you're interested in buying them for someone (*coughmecough*), the only place I found them was on eBay.

Earlier last semester, I watched Anastasia for only the second time in my life. Why I never watched it since that first time will remain an unsolved mystery, but the second time around, I loved it even more. Soon I'll be watching it with my two youngest sisters, and if they don't like it, they'll probably be disowned.

- Amal