14 February 2014 - Valentine’s Day
Activer le mode zen
Valentine's Day disasters: 'I bought her a pager. It was the creepiest Valentine's present in history'
Tim Jonze, Peter Bradshaw, Zoe Williams, Stuart Heritage, Marina O'Loughlin (The Guardian)
I like to think it's a unique and extraordinary kind of lover who can take their Valentine to watch them play five-aside football in the rain and for that still not to be the worst Valentine's date they have ever been on. That honour belongs to 2010, in which my paramour and I took the day off but then realised we had a) nothing planned and b) quite needed a new desk. And so we did what any hot-headed lovers in the throes of passion do: headed to Ikea in Edmonton. This being Valentine's Day, of course, I thought we should add a degree of romance to proceedings by taking the "scenic route", one that involved traversing various non-pedestrianised stretches of an A-road in the Tottenham area and – during one map-reading error – a children's adventure playground. I won't elaborate on the date itself other than to say that shortly after arriving we realised that, having come without a car, our shopping would have to be limited to anything that could also be carried back across various non-pedestrianised stretches of an A-road in the Tottenham area and a children's adventure playground. We called off the whole sorry endeavour and I realised that it was time to splash some serious cash in the Ikea canteen. Sparks must have flown over those £3.89 meatballs, though, as three months later we were married – I hope you're taking notes lads.
Read on...
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On the lighter side
Emily Thomas (The Huffington Post)
If your Valentine’s Day plans included sending flowers to a loved one via drone, you might want to workshop some last-minute ideas.
The Federal Aviation Administration has halted Michigan florist Flower Delivery Express’ beta testing program, in which flowers are delivered by flying, unmanned robotic technology. First announced in a promotional video, the service is actually illegal, according to the FAA.
Read on...
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On the pragmatic side
Paul Oyer (The New York Times)
Paul Oyer is a professor of economics as Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business and the author of “Everything I Ever Needed to Know About Economics I Learned From Online Dating.” He answered questions about the book in a recent post on Economix.
When most people think of the economics of Valentine’s Day, they think of the large amounts of money people spend ($130 per person, on average).
But economics can also tell us how to make Valentine’s Day special for our significant others. We economists may have taken all the fun out of Christmas, but I think we can make Valentine’s Day more successful. Here’s how. First, figure out how to signal to your mate that you really care about him or her. Second, if you want to give your mate a great Valentine’s present, spend money on yourself. Finally, one great gift is to stop hoping for perfection in your mate and, in the words of Stephen Stills, “love the one you’re with.”
Read on...
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Doubtful optimism
Jennifer Agiesta (Dallas News)
WASHINGTON — The state of the union is blissful.
A new Associated Press-WE tv survey finds 66 percent of paired-off adults say their relationships are perfect or nearly so. Most are excited for Valentine’s Day and have a gift on their wish list for the holiday.
Flowers and candy top the list of preferred gifts. But there are those who want something pricey like a car, jewelry or a vacation, and others who’d be fine with a teddy bear.
About a third say they’d most like to have intangibles such as time together, health or happiness, while 17 percent said they aren’t celebrating or don’t want a gift.
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"14 February 2014 - Valentine’s Day", La Clé des Langues [en ligne], Lyon, ENS de LYON/DGESCO (ISSN 2107-7029), février 2014. Consulté le 20/04/2024. URL: https://cle.ens-lyon.fr/anglais/key-story/archives-revue-de-presse-2014/14-february-2014-valentine-s-day