Your Situation: Married

Perhaps the most romantic legal framework for a relationship (just beating out the bilateral free-trade agreement), marriage is a union binding two people into an arrangement where they'll always have at least one other person around to talk to. And now your spouse, who hasn't even been much fun to talk to lately, ruined your Valentine's Day, either by forgetting it entirely, or perhaps by spending it having sex with your neighbor Gary, because he was there.

I swear to Christ, Alice if you don't stop telling me how tired you are from all that sex with Gary, I will turn this light right off."

For other couples this could be bad news, but there's a certain momentum that marriages have which prevents little things like this from throwing them off track, like an avalanche obliterating a mountain village. The fact that your husband is scrambling around the kitchen right now, trying to make a heart shaped quesadilla at 8:30am on February 15th, is actually kind of sweet and hilarious. What You Should Do: Just file this incident away as another case of life, drunken and angry, firing bullets at your feet to make you dance. You could also maybe talk about it with your spouse. We'd probably lose our advice column license if we don't recommend communication at least once. So yeah. Let your mouths do the talking. That's basically all we got, as far as communication skills goes.

Your Situation: Stalking Someone Casually

You've been orchestrating 'accidental' encounters with that special someone for the better part of a month now, on the bus, in the coffee shop, and a dozen other places besides that.

"Come on. Come on! Uncross them just once. Just one time you god damned tease."

And yet here we are, the day after Valentine's, and you still haven't received so much as a peck on the cheek from your soulmate, much less the edible underpants which you specifically asked for during your last conversation. What You Should Do: First, remain calm. Following through on your gut instincts right now is a sure way to end up in front of a judge. Besides which, it's possible your love has ordered you an incredibly romantic gift, which simply hasn't arrived yet. Something with a long lead time. Maybe an out of stock item from Amazon, or a set of custom kitchen cabinets or an aircraft carrier or something. So sit quietly at home and wait. If an aircraft carrier operated entirely by adorable teddy bear sailors doesn't arrive at your front door within the next 16-24 months, you can safely assume that this relationship is just not to be. Go back to your previous hobby - arguing about edged weapons on the internet - and maybe next time around, consider falling insanely in love with someone who likes you back?

Your Situation: Stalking Someone Seriously

Right from the start you knew the casual encounters would never have worked - you're far too hideous. Knowing this, you stayed well back, and over the past eight months have observed your love from the safety of the large, leafy tree across the street from their house. Yesterday, they arrived home late in the evening, in the arms of a new lover, while you, shaking, shat your tree in rage.

It didn't look much different from shitting a tree in relaxation, but it sure felt different.

Now that you've switched trees, and can observe the excited dogs examining the mess you made under your last one, you should be having what alcoholics call a moment of clarity. This person you're so obsessed with either doesn't know you exist, or wants nothing to do with you if they do. If you had friends, right now they'd be telling you that there's more to life than cataloging Tony Danza's every movement. What You Should Do: No! There is nothing more important than Tony Danza's movements! WHY DO YOU TELL ME THESE LIES CRACKED!? Ok then. In that case, double down on your efforts, and use this opportunity to recreate one of those romantic comedies that Tony Danza probably loves so much. This can be that moment, at the start of the movie, where Tony Danza takes a lover who doesn't truly deserve him, while the hero/heroine, waits idly by, with the funny sidekick, the big leafy tree. Over the next 96 minutes, Tony Danza will learn that his new girlfriend is actually just interested in him for his money, thanks to a series of wacky events you orchestrate, and that you, the unconventionally attractive hero/heroine, with your eyes just a bit too close together, are the true love of his life, thanks to a series of wacky barbiturate dosings you orchestrate. The climax of the film, where a comatose Danza is sexually assaulted in the upper limbs of a tree while cop cars circle below, will have to be trimmed back heavily to mollify the censors, but when he wakens, Tony is sure to make some pithy joke like "That's show business for you!" You'll both share a laugh as the credits roll. _______________

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