This week: How to erase your relationship doubts by conforming to stilted gender roles; Buster Darkhole is MIA; college students are getting relationship inspiration from The First Wives Club soundtrack. This time with feeling:

UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND: Girls must be girls.

Sex Tips: In a post-Valentines entry, UMD Diamondback advice columnist Esti Frischling administers a remedy to a female student who is concerned that her new beau is getting a bit too sweet on her (his super-serious Valentine's Day plans "freaked [her] out." Frischling's advice: In order to foster romance, ignore your obvious incompatibility, shelve your feelings, and stick to reinforcing traditional gender roles. "To be honest, I very rarely hear of girls complaining about getting too much attention," Frischling writes. "What is appealing about all these niceties and cutenesses, though, is it means someone cares about you. . . .  Perhaps it’s best not to say anything about how you don’t approve of his Valentine’s Day efforts. Instead, slow things down in other ways that won’t reveal to him how picky and alternative you are. If Hallmark has taught us anything, it’s that no one wants those things in a girl."

Life Lesson: A man doesn't like a complicated woman. Who cares if you don't even like him, either? "However you choose to handle it, don’t make him feel bad or insecure about trying to do nice things for you," Frischling writes. "It’s completely understandable that at this time it was too much for you, but unless you want to scare him away, just let it go."

Progressive Meter: And there's nothing worse than scaring away a guy who freaks you out, amirite ladies? :(

AMERICAN UNIVERSITY: Sex columnists are MIA.

Sex Tips: None. The AU Eagle's trio of pseudonymned sex writers—Buster Darkhole, Maxwell Hillcrest, and Amber Sparkles haven't churned out a column since "Stereotypes a Problem for Lesbian Community," a piece which caused some problems for the lesbian community on campus, actually. (A sampling: “Many try and divulge the deep mystery that is lesbian sex. However, this is often met with much difficulty. Lesbians, being quite secretive, rarely give out the methods they use for sex, but we have done the research for you and found out some interesting facts.”)

Life Lesson: Sometimes better to burn out than to fade away. The "AU Threesome" started off their sex-writing careers with a vaguely non-consensual bang back in September, and they've kept up the controversy since—until they fell off the Eagle's map three-and-a-half months ago.

Progressive Meter: This one gets a big frowny face, because I miss these kids. :(

GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY: Bette Midler is on the soundtrack to our lives.

Sex Tips: In Hoya "Rounding the Bases" columnist Colleen Leahey's latest, undergrads are advised to avoid festering in "pseudo-relationships" that lie in the gray area between hooking up and exchanging Varsity letterman jackets. Leahey sketches the scene: "After many weeks (sometimes even months) of being together, you and your partner have yet to go on a real date. Many nights, your special friend has a bit too much Burnett’s and passes out, leaving your texts annoyingly unanswered. But when you’re together, everything is perfect. Suddenly, the good outweighs the bad. This, my friends, is another—and the most common for college students—example of when you should leave. Your optimism, hoping to make something good out of a total train wreck, is causing you to trap yourself in an unhealthy relationship. Stay too long and you will end up feeling insecure and unhappy."

Life Lesson: If you suspect that Leahey is writing from a bit of an old-school perspective—beware the Dangers Of Hook-Up culture!— here's some more evidence: "Eventually, you will realize how much happier you are. As great as consistency is, enjoying you’re freedom is so much more fulfilling. And if you’re ever feeling really down, take a tip from my friends and I: Blast The First Wives Club version of 'You Don’t Own Me.' Trust me, you’ll be basking in the golden rays of your newfound singledom before you know it."

Progressive Meter: The First Wives Club is a film about three sassy, middle-aged divorcees who exact revenge on their ex-husbands after they are all discarded for younger women. Is it just me, or is it kind of freaky that a sex column for young people is gleaning relationship inspiration from a movie about cliched, messy divorces caused by hopelessly cliched young women? :-|

The battle for ideological dominance in our nation’s capital’s collegiate sex columns continues. Are our local campus columnists on the forefront of radical sex writing, or are they bringing back the good old days of romantically forward women being dismissed as aggressive bitches?

This week, our college sex columnists get romantic: Why you should go down on your significant other this Sunday; who's allowed to date 18-year-olds; girls asking boys out is scary!

GWU: Say it with a blow job.

Sex Tip: In a Very Special Valentine's Day edition of her GW Hatchet sex column, Layla offers up some specialized advice: If you don't know how to say it, just say it in your GW Hatchet sex column. "With the guy I've been seeing recently, Red, we tend to skip foreplay and move straight to having sex. Which is totally fine, because as soon as I get him naked, that's all I want. But at the same time, there is something to be said for prolonging that anticipation just a bit longer. I'm still working on a way to say, 'Babe, let's slow down a bit and just touch each other.'"

Life Lesson: That, or say it with a blow job. "I think there's something incredibly hot about going down on a guy and hearing him moan with pleasure just from the way you're moving your mouth. Giving head can often be a lot more intimate than having sex—you can really focus on your partner and what gets him off. And that's what I think Valentine's Day is all about."

Progressive Meter: If preferring oral sex has any political implications, I'm not aware of them. EVEN.

—

UMD: Dating out of your age range.

Sex Tips: UMD Diamondback advice columnist Esti Frischling informs co-eds that Aaliyah was wrong.To a 23-year-old super senior dude looking to hook up with an 18-year-old freshman girl, Frishcling writes: "Let’s not fool ourselves with the ol’ 'age-is-just-a-number' bullshit. People who say that are 15-year-olds with daddy issues who like to date their professors or are statutory rapists with conscience issues."

Life Lesson: 23-year-olds can date 18-year-olds. But they don't have to. "As long as you don’t lie about your age, you are transgressing no moral issues that I’m aware of, which are most of them. If you’re still feeling concerned and you think these chicks are too young, try hitting up the downtown bars. Then you can be sure all the girls are at least 21."

Progressive Meter: I appreciate the super senior considering issues of maturity and experience when choosing his sex partners. EIGHT.

—

GWU Extra: When girls ask the boys.

Sex Tips: For the Hatchet's special Valentine's Day Issue, Lauren Hoenemeyer brings the New York Times "shortage of men" treatment to Foggy Bottom. GW's gender breakdown is 43 percent male, 57 percent female, leading some women on campus to commit what some students consider a "crime against nature." (The crime is asking a boy out, on a date). Hot tip: Some boys like it! "It's really romantic when a girl asks a guy out," freshman Jacob Zachs told Hoenemeyer. "Guys like it but girls don't like it. It takes the pressure off of us."

Life Lesson: But beware, ladies: Some college-aged men still hate women. "Sophomore Blake Eisenberg said that girls who ask guys out are 'too aggressive and too demanding.' He said, 'They should just let things happen, because they will happen if it's meant to be. They shouldn't force it. For it to work out in the end, for it to be a positive relationship, you need the guy to also like the girl.' Aaaand end trend piece!

Progressive Meter: Hoenemeyer balances her piece with two students in favor of the Sadie Hawkins tactic, and two against. But is that really a fair representation of attitudes on this subject? The two guys quoted in the article who oppose the practice actually think that a girl asking a boy if he would like to do something with her constitutes a "demand" that does not take into consideration that boy's feelings. If half of the GW campus really thinks this way, we're fucked. THREE.

Photo via George Eastman House

This week, Amazon.com declared Alexandria, Va. the most romantic city in the United States. What is romance? According to Amazon, it's derived from Amazon sales figures for Barry White CDs, romance novels, romantic comedy DVDs, and "sexual wellness" products. Sex ramps qualify. When Alexandria is ranked number one in something, and Miami is ranked number two, you know a freaky confluence of buying habits is at work here.

Andrew Beaujon, Washington City Paper Managing Editor and Alexandria resident, agreed to explain some of the stranger elements of Alexandria's romantic subculture.

Why do Alexandria residents love Barry White so much?

Andrew Beaujon: Alexandrians don't have a lot of big men to claim as their own. The confluence of walkable communities and extreme type-A personalities mean that most men here are slight, thin, and think it's acceptable to walk around in polar fleece year-round. Barry White's voice exudes a girth and confidence that's simply not available to most people here—you just know he never had a cell phone clipped to his belt or talked about the Democrats' midterm chances in bars.

How many Barry White CDs do you own?

AB: I just have the greatest hits.

Since the romance calculation includes the number of "sexual wellness products" Alexandria residents have bought through Amazon, "romance" in this context actually means that a higher proportion of your neighbors shop for their sexual fetish accessories online. What's with that?

I think it's a simple matter of Amazon Prime being the kind of deal that appeals to overscheduled and over-REI'd residents of this small city. I am a member of Amazon Prime but have never bought anything that interesting from it. Last purchase was a charger for my wife's Nikon D-60 battery.

Alexandria came in first in Amazon's romantic calculations. Arlington came in seventh. Alexandria: more or less romantic than Arlington?

You need only look at the difference between our nights out. The classic Arlington date night is beers at the Quarterdeck, followed by a slice at Marinos and a three-way at the Highlander. No one from Alexandria has ever had a three-way.

Humans have been celebrating variations on a "Valentine's Day" since the fourth century, when ancient Romans celebrated their mid-February pagan fertility rite. Nowadays, the Valentine's Day tradition persists in order to market shitty ensemble romantic comedies, prod our significant others into buying shitty chocolate, and make single folks feel shitty about themselves. Valentine's Day has not been particularly good to us.

Thankfully, some enterprising groups have figured out how to capitalize on the obligatory Valentine's Day celebration in ways that don't involve a 5-buck Hallmark card (or Patrick Dempsey). Below, three Valentine's-themed events that support women around the world:

Crafting Hope Trailer from Erin Yokel on Vimeo.

Event: A fund-raiser Crafting Hope, a documentary film by Greenbelt, Md. native Erin Yokel. According to Yokel, "The film Crafting Hope explores how income generating livelihood projects started by three resourceful women are breaking the cycle of poverty for communities in the Philippines, Uganda and Haiti."

Valentine's Twist: Instead of hitting up a corporate Valentinemonger like Hallmark, those wishing to celebrate the holiday can "shop for fair trade, handcrafted Valentine’s gifts" at Bethesday's Ten Thousand Villages store. Romantic extra: the filmmakers will be on-hand to discuss the problem of women's poverty worldwide.

Host: Crafting Hope and Bethesda's Ten Thousand Villages store.

Details: The fund-raiser will be held on Fri., Feb. 12 from 6-10 p.m. at the Ten Thousand Villages store, 4959 Elm Street, Bethesda (Check the film's Web site for weather updates).

—

Event: The Valentine's Benefit Concert, a showcase including local bands The Sweater Set, FREE, and Nila, plus a silent auction.

Valentine's Twist: Valentine-themed entertainment that won't make you spew. Plus, proceeds from the event will go to Courtney’s House , "the first shelter in DC for sex-trafficked children and young women."

Host: V-Day D.C., a local volunteer group devoted to ending violence against women.

Details: The show will be held on Friday, Feb. 12 at 8 p.m. at Bloombars, 3222 11th St. NW. Suggested donation is $10.

—

Event: "Reclaim Valentine's Day," an effort to remind "the women in our lives how they empower and inspire us."

Valentine Twist: Instead of sending a Valentine to a significant other in a begrudging nod to societal expectation, send a platonic "V-Tine" to a female friend you really love.

Host: The Younger Women's Task Force, a national organization of young female political activists.

Details: Sign up to send a "V-tine or $5. Proceeds benefit the Younger Women's Task Force.

Photo via George Eastman House

Return to Sender: A press release entitled "Valentine’s/Chinese New Year: more special than ususual!," which proposes a feature story on how you can apply ancient Chinese secrets to your Valentine's Day celebration. Featuring the romantic insights of "expert source on color" Jami Lin, who has "studied the meaning of colors and their influence on the human body and emotions for more than 20 years."

The Pitch: Perfect for the lover eager to base their life decisions upon the alleged spiritual synergy of two arbitrary holidays falling on the same date. "For the third time since 1900, Valentine’s Day will fall on the same day as the Chinese New Year," the press release reads. "Even if people aren’t Chinese, they can still use its traditions to attract new people, express their love to family and friends or even deepen their love with spouses or partners."

Exhibit A: Finally, the actual cultural celebration of Chinese New Year gains modern relevance—by falling on the same day as a holiday invented by the American greeting card industry. “It gives people an opportunity to magnify new beginnings with love relationships,” Lin is quoted as saying. “They can search for new love or re-ignite an existing romance with Chinese New Year secrets.”

Exhibit B: About those ancient Chinese secrets: "For example, are you planning a romantic evening on Valentine’s Day? Wear red evening clothes (even PJs count) to help set the mood. Consider sprinkling red rose petals on your pillows."

Exhibit C: If all else fails, try burning. "Maybe you’re searching for new love. Make a list of all the physical and personality traits you want in a partner. Then on Chinese New Year, burn the list in your fireplace or a ceremonial bowl, so that heaven can hear them and respond, according to Chinese culture.

I Rest My Case: "The holidays won’t coincide again until after 2030, which is too long to wait for true love."

Photo via George Eastman House, Flickr Commons

Yesterday, Politico's Becca Milfeld posted a Valentimey collection of the first-date stories of Washington "power couples." Al Hunt and Judy Woodruff were escorted on their first date by friends, Joseph Lieberman's wife asked him to move her furniture, and John Dingell brought Deborah to see "Giselle." What, no ill-advised drunken hook-ups that led, unexpectedly, to high-profile romance? I call bullshit. Let's read between the lines, shall we?

POWER COUPLE: Al Hunt (Washington editor, Bloomberg News) and Judy Woodruff (senior correspondent, PBS)

ON THE RECORD HOOKUP: "Hunt had long suffered from migraine headaches and had one when they went out on their first date, a meal with friends at an Italian restaurant in Washington, on March 19, 1977. But he hasn’t had a migraine since."

REALITY: What, no wine with dinner? Woodruff must have served up some kind of medicine!

—

POWER COUPLE: Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (D-Conn.) and Hadassah Lieberman

ON-THE-RECORD HOOKUP: "Lieberman called her up and said that they could either go out that day or would have to wait until after the election. . . . Hadassah said that day would be perfect, since she needed her new dining room table and chairs moved in. Lieberman got in the car and drove down to Riverdale, N.Y., and at the door knew that it was love at first sight or, as he put it, an 'oh-bah-bah-boom moment. . . . And that dining room furniture? She had her superintendent move them in before he arrived."

REALITY: Ugh, because you know that the Liebermans' first-date story is really boring enough that having "her superintendent move them in before he arrived" has to count for steamy foreplay.

—

POWER COUPLE: Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich.) and Deborah Dingell (vice-chair of the General Motors Foundation, senior executive at GM)

ON-THE-RECORD HOOKUP: "He asked her out 15 times, she turned him down 14. They finally went to see Giselle at the Carter Barron Amphitheater on 'one of those soft June evenings' in Washington in 1980."

REALITY: And then, the "soft June evening" turned into a "soft June morning after."

—

POWER COUPLE: Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) and John Marshall Collins (attorney)

ON-THE-RECORD HOOKUP: “'We met at an election party of a candidate who lost,' Lofgren recalled."

REALITY: . . . Then they got drunk and hooked up.

—

POWER COUPLE: Rep. Eric Cantor and Diana F. Cantor

ON-THE-RECORD HOOKUP: "Cantor met his future wife on a blind date while he was a student at Columbia. The mutual friends who hooked the couple up went with them to a restaurant in Soho called 'New Deal,' hardly a serendipitous name for a Republican love match. 'I remember it vividly. This was 20 years ago,' he said. 'I fell in love very quickly.' He added, 'Falling in love in New York is a great thing.'"

REALITY: I think we all know what "I fell in love very quickly" means.

—

POWER COUPLE: Attorney General Eric Holder and Dr. Sharon Malone

ON-THE-RECORD HOOKUP: "A mutual friend told a reluctant Holder about a woman he should meet, on the condition that if they got on, the friend could spend a week at Holder’s parents’ house in Barbados. When the two finally met, it turned out they had already hit it off at a fundraiser. Needless to say, the friend went to Barbados."

REALITY: Hold on. All I need to do is introduce my friend to someone he's already met, and I get a free trip to Barbados? Something—and I'm not sure what—is foul here.

—

POWER COUPLE: Chef Geoff Tracy (owner, Chef Geoff’s) and Norah O’Donnell (chief Washington correspondent, MSNBC)

ON THE RECORD HOOKUP: "'Norah and I had our first night that involved a smooch or something like that' during their freshman year at Georgetown University in 1991, Tracy recalled. They were out with a group of friends at The Dubliner when an 'old guy with no teeth' began to hit on O’Donnell, and Tracy offered to make him go away if O’Donnell would go along with what he said. She agreed, and he declared he was going to ask O’Donnell to marry him. The bar made an announcement with the happy news, the toothless guy took a hike, and ten years later he asked again, for real this time."

REALITY: Probably pretty much just like this. Drunken college hookup: Huzzah!

Photo by Thirteen of Clubs

I've written pretty extensively on how pharmacists can exert power over their customer's contraceptive use. I've reported on pharmacists who restrict birth control by hewing to Catholic tradition; by refusing to talk; by extolling the virtues of "natural family planning"; and by writing absurd run-arounds into their policies.

Now, Shark-Fu of Angry Black Bitch and Shakesville details a more nontraditional method employed by some pharamcists in her hometown of St. Louis, Missouri: the "stank eye."

"A bitch is concerned about the impact of stank eye," writes Shark-Fu. "Specifically, I’m concerned by the stank eye many people are subjected to when they buy condoms at their local pharmacy."

Shark-Fu was in line at Walgreens on Valentine's Day when she noticed a young man preparing to purchase "two packs of condoms." When he placed the condoms on the counter, "the woman behind the counter leveled the most intense stank eye on him that I’ve seen in a long time. . . . I’m talking the same level of stank coming from the eyes that this bitch gets from those wooden cross dragging protesters outside of Pridefest each year…mmmhmm, STANK!"

The man completed his purchase, but who can say whether the stank eye will discourage him and countless other victims from buying condoms in the future? And how might a concerned citizen combat the pharmacist's stank eye?

Shark-Fu says: Fight stank eye with stank eye. "[W]hen I came up to purchase my juice I gave Ms. Thang some stank eye right back. . . I stared hard…hard as hell…so hard and so filled with angry disgust that when she lifted her eyes to me she physically jerked. And then she flushed and looked away."

Balloons in train

Letters, numbers in row

Porn in street

Woman on wall

Drink by drink

The display is called "My Funny Valentine. It's inspiration? Not so funny:

A Macy's rep told Gothamist that "The spray painted bicycle your reader is referring to is one of many elements that make up our current visual display in store and in the windows that have been painted white," adding, "Unfortunately, your reader is drawing an unintended association from a visual display in our store."

And Valentine's Day marketing jumps from obnoxious to offensive.

Macy's display via Brand Flakes for Breakfast; ghost bike photo by Darrow Montgomery.

Your Valentine's Day plans are like that totally crazy dream you had last night where your boss was in front of you on a water slide, but then your boss turned into Dick Cheney and when you reached the bottom he captured you and tried to waterboard you, but then a dragon came down and brought you out for Mexican and that kid you had a crush on from high school physics was there: I'm sure it was great for you, but fuck, man, I don't really care.

Now, the U.S. Census Bureau has chimed in to make Valentine's Day even more boring with a special press release full of boring numbers. Did you know that in 2006, 1,170 locations produced chocolate and cocoa products in 2006? Or that in the same year, 473 locations produced "nonchocolate confectionary products"? And that there were 3,563 "confectionery and nut stores" in the United States Alone? How about the "total value of shipments in 2006 for firms producing chocolate and cocoa products"—$13.9 billion! Fuck, I can't take this anymore. Below, the full census presser.

Valentine's Day 2009: Feb. 14

Opinions abound as to who was the original Valentine, with the most popular theory that he was a clergyman who was executed for secretly marrying couples in ancient Rome in spite of Emperor Claudius II, who felt that marriage weakened his soldiers. In any event, in A.D. 496, Pope Gelasius I declared Feb. 14 as Valentine Day. Through the centuries, the Christian holiday became a time to exchange love messages, and St. Valentine became the patron saint of lovers. Esther Howland, a native of Massachusetts, is given credit for selling the first mass-produced valentine cards in the 1840s. The spirit of love continues today as valentines are sent with sentimental verses, from and to young and old romantics.

Candy is Dandy

1,170
Number of locations producing chocolate and cocoa products in 2006. These
establishments employed 39,457 people. California led the nation in the
number of such establishments with 128, followed by Pennsylvania with 116.
Source: County Business Patterns <

http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/county_business_patterns/012181.html

>

473
Number of locations that produced nonchocolate confectionary products in
2006. These establishments employed 18,733 people.
Source: County Business Patterns <

http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/county_business_patterns/012181.html

>

$13.9 billion
Total value of shipments in 2006 for firms producing chocolate and cocoa
products. Nonchocolate confectionery product manufacturing, meanwhile, was
a $7.2 billion industry. Source: Annual Survey of Manufactures <

http://factfinder.census.gov/>

3,563
Number of confectionery and nut stores in the United States in 2006.
Source: County Business Patterns <

http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/county_business_patterns/012181.html

>

24.5 pounds
Per capita consumption of candy by Americans in 2007.
Source: Current Industrial Reports <

http://www.census.gov/cir/www/311/ma311d.html>

Flowers

$416 million
The combined wholesale value of domestically produced cut flowers in 2007
for all flower-producing operations with $100,000 or more in sales. Among
states, California was the leading producer, alone accounting for about
three-quarters of this amount ($320 million). Source: USDA National
Agricultural Statistics Service

$29 million
The combined wholesale value of domestically produced cut roses in 2007 for
all operations with $100,000 or more in sales.
Source: USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service <

http://www.nass.usda.gov>

20,227
The number of florists nationwide in 2006. These businesses employed 98,373
people.
Source: County Business Patterns <

http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/county_business_patterns/012181.html

>

Jewelry

28,300
Number of jewelry stores in the United States in 2006. Jewelry stores offer
engagement, wedding and other rings to lovers of all ages. In February
2008, these stores sold $2.6 billion in merchandise.
Source: County Business Patterns <

http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/county_business_patterns/012181.html

> and Monthly Retail Trade and Food Services <

http://www.census.gov/mrts/www/mrts.html>

The merchandise at these locations could well have been produced at one of
the nation's 1,777 jewelry manufacturing establishments.
Source: County Business Patterns <

http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/county_business_patterns/012181.html

>

Be Mine

2.2 million
The number of marriages that took place in the United States in 2007. That
breaks down to a little more than 6,000 a day.
Source: National Center for Health Statistics <

http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/pubs/pubd/nvsr/nvsr.htm>

126,354
The number of marriages performed in Nevada during 2007. So many couples
tie the knot in the Silver State that it ranked fifth nationally in
marriages, even though its total population that year among states was
35th. (California ranked first in marriages.)
Source: National Center for Health Statistics <
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/pubs/pubd/nvsr/nvsr.htm> and population
estimates,
<

http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/population/007910.html

>

57% and 60%
The percentages of American women and men, respectively, who are 18 or
older and married (includes those who are separated).
Source: Families and Living Arrangements: 2007 <

http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/marital_status_living_arrangements/012437.html

>

72%
Percentage of people 30 to 34 in 2007 who had been married at some point in
their lives — either currently or formerly.
Source: Families and Living Arrangements: 2007 <

http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/marital_status_living_arrangements/012437.html

>

73%
Among women who married for the first time between 1985 and 1989, the
percentage who marked their 10th anniversary. This compares with 87 percent
of women who married for the first time between 1955 and 1959.
Source: Marriage and Divorce: 2004
www/releases/archives/marital_status_living_arrangements/010624.html>

6%
The percentage of currently married women who have been married for at
least 50 years. A little more than half of currently married women have
been married for at least 15 years.
Source: Marriage and Divorce: 2004
www/releases/archives/marital_status_living_arrangements/010624.html>

*The Census Bureau data in this section do not include same-sex marriages;
the National Center for Health Statistics data do.

Looking for Love

904
The number of dating service establishments nationwide as of 2002. These
establishments, which include Internet dating services, employed nearly
4,300 people and pulled in $489 million in revenue.
Source: 2002 Economic Census <

http://www.census.gov/econ/census02/guide/SUBSUMM.HTM>

Try Looking Here . . .

Romantic-sounding places to spend Valentine's Day:

Roseville, Calif.
Rose City, Mich.
South Heart, N.D.
Loveland, Colo.
Darling township, Minn.
Loveland, Ohio
Romeo, Colo.
Sacred Heart, Minn.
Loveland Park, Ohio
Lovejoy, Ga.
Heart Butte, Mont.
Love County, Okla.
Loves Park, Ill.
Valentine, Neb.
Loveland, Okla.
Lovington, Ill.
Lovelock, Nev.
Lovelady, Texas
Romeoville, Ill.
Loving, N.M.
Loving County, Texas
Rosemont, Ill.
Lovington, N.M.
Valentine, Texas
Romeo, Mich.
Love Valley, N.C.
Rose Hill Acres, Texas
Rose Hill, N.C.
Rose Hill, Va.

Giving Love a Second Chance

8
Average length, in years, of first marriages ending in divorce.

3 1/2
The median time in years between divorce and a second marriage.

12% and 13%
Percentage of men and women, respectively, 15 and older who have married
twice. Three percent each have married three or more times. By comparison,
54 percent of men and 58 percent of women have made only one trip down the
aisle.

52% and 44%
Among adults 25 and older who have ever divorced, the percentage of men and
women, respectively, who were currently married.

Source for the data in this section: Marriage and Divorce: 2004 <

http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/marital_status_living_arrangements/010624.html

>

Photo by Sister72.