Are two Snohomish Co. libraries giving kids a head start on cynicism, or is it just me?

The Herald ^ | 2-14-14 | Julie Muhlstein

[crazycatlady]

On this day for Sweethearts, not everybody has one. Not everybody even wants one. Taking note of that, two local libraries will host Anti-Valentines' Day parties for teens today.

[crazycatlady]

Read the comments. I will weight in with my own comments later.

[Publius]

Link doesn’t work.

[a fool in paradise]

Article not found

[a fool in paradise]

The left has a goal of smashing monogamy. Why should kids “pair off” when the Dems love that children are very likely to be raised in single parent households these days?

[crazycatlady]

Holy cow. High fives all around. I finally succeeded in posting something here, after many times trying and practically being reduced to tears.
This probably isn’t a big deal, but I have several problems with it. First, with 364 other days to choose from, why does quirkyalone, have to hijack Valentines’? Kind of like the atheists in Seattle—I understand that they have their first amendment rights like everybody else, but why do they choose the Christmas season for their big billboard campaigns?
Teaching young people how to be enjoy being alone and having inner resources and self-reliance is great, but why do I sense an underlying note of bitterness? Who are these librarians anyway? Are they men? Are they happily married women? Just wondering.
Looking at the big picture, this may not be a good time to steer young people away from healthy relationships. The single, childless movement has not exactly done a lot for society so far, nor has it contributed a lot to peoples’ personal happiness in the long run.

[crazycatlady]

Well, I guess high fives all around was premature. I will try to fix the link.

[crazycatlady]

heraldnet.com/article/20140214/NEWS01/140219505/Teens-invited-to-Anti-Valentines-Day-parties

[crazycatlady]

www.heraldnet.com/article/20140214/NEWS01/140219505/Teens-invited-to-Anti-Valentiens-Day-parties

[crazycatlady]

Well, this is even more humiliating than an anti-Valentines’ party. I’ve done everything I can think of and this link still won’t work. I think I’ll just have to stop trying to post things here.

[a fool in paradise]

“the parties celebrate ‘being alone and loving life, friends and books.’”

Why don’t they celebrate pets as well then?

Spinsterhood at 13. This is to be found in our brave new schools.

[a fool in paradise]

Keep trying.

Here’s the active URL.

http://heraldnet.com/article/20140214/NEWS01/140219505/Teens-invited-to-Anti-Valentines-Day-parties

[Publius]

Thank you.

Was the Junior Anti-Sex League from Orwell's 1984?

[a fool in paradise]

Cagen, 40, said Wednesday that if she had the chance she would tell teens: "You have so much time. There's no reason to feel any pressure. Don't be afraid, and don't feel like a weirdo. Have courage to do the things you love to do."

If she had been openly advocating abstinence from sexual experimentation, the medical and academic establishment would be hounding her out of the school.

[crazycatlady]

Actually it works if you click on “local news” after Heraldnet comes up. Then it’s about the 8th thing down, under other sensational local news items.

But it’s probably still best if I stop trying to post things here.

I’ve posted it on Twitter.

[arderkrag]

I fully support Anti-valentine’s parties. I have a friend who manages a library close to ATL doing the same thing tonight.

[crazycatlady]

Thanks.

You freepers are my valentines. I love you.

Now I think I’ll explore the quirkyalone website some more. Maybe I have misunderstood them

[a fool in paradise]

"It's been pretty amazing. It changed some people's whole experience of being single," she said. "It's a message for all ages. I've heard from 19-year-olds ashamed they have never been in a relationship. They already feel tremendous pressure. And there are people 65 now enjoying the experience of being alone."

Cagen, who is single, grew up in Rhode Island. She worked for a Silicon Valley technology company. Her "Quirkyalone" concept began with an essay she wrote for her own magazine, "To-Do List," which also became a book. She is now writing a memoir about her solo travels in South America, and her discovery of pleasures that include dancing the tango.

I guess she never heard that it takes TWO to tango.

[a fool in paradise]

Will the libraries be inviting her back to talk to kids about her next book?

http://quirkyalone.net/index.php/about-2/sasha-cagen/

“My next book — WET — yes, you heard the title right, is the story of how my journey of sensuality through South America and North America changed my life. It’s about how connecting to ourselves through our sensuality can give us all sorts of power and intimacy, in and outside the bedroom. WET is percolating in my computer and I can’t wait to share it with you.”

---

http://quirkyalone.net/index.php/about-2/faq/

Q. I know someone who is constantly hooking up but doesn’t get into relationships. Is she quirkyalone?

A. Good question. If your friend’s standards for companionship are very high, but for a Saturday night fling, very low, she goes by another name. This person is a quirkyslut, and she should wear this title proudly.

http://quirkyalone.net/index.php/book/sample-chapters/le-quirkyslut/

[Boogieman]

You don’t need to be in a relationship to have a dance partner. My dad took up dancing, but my mom can’t be bothered with it. So he just goes down to the senior center and has his pick of the ladies :)

[crazycatlady]

After taking a peek at quirkyalone, I have to say that this one probably should be filed under “first world problems.” It’s amazing, and kind of cool, I guess, what enterprising people, in this case a self-help expert, can put together and market, and get on TV with Anderson Cooper, and so forth.

Evidently when she was a kid, she never had the experience of telling her mother she was bored and didn’t have anything to do and the mother saying,”Well, I can find some work for you to do”, and then going to the creek to look for pretty rocks or something. Oh, yeah, I was an only child.