http://www.thepunch.com.au/tags/valentines-day/ Politics, political opinion, world news, sports news and the latest news and views updated live, daily on The Punch - Australia's best conversation. en Copyright 2012 The Punch penberthyd@newsltd.com.au penberthyd@newsltd.com.au Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:40 +0000 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:40 +0000 Politics, opinion, world news, sports news, latest news, views, Barack Obama, Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard, Nathan Rees, Malcolm Turnbull, Peter Garrett, Barnaby Joyce, Australian, federal politics, opinion polls, election, The Punch, thepunch, punch ExpressionEngine 1.6.7 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss 15 http://www.thepunch.com.au/images/punch-logo-rss.png http://www.thepunch.com.au/ 144 70 Politics, political opinion, world news, sports news and the latest news and views updated live, daily on The Punch - Australia's best conversation. Search The Punch keywords http://www.thepunch.com.au/search/ http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/a-letter-for-the-lonely-this-valentines-day/ Tonight is the night when the lucky get to celebrate their fortune with the ones who make them fortunate. Valentine’s Day. Lover’s day. A day for the loved and a sad day for those who are not. Nobody ever mentions the unloved on this day, and they’re the very people who should be cared for the most. So I’m going to have a go. So much of life in the 21st century is built on being loved – finding a partner, settling down, having children, making a home. Doing that makes you “successful” as a human being. By extension, not doing that makes you a “failure”. You have failed as a person. You are not loved, you are not important. You have nobody who wishes to witness your life. The heartbroken - the lonely, the loveless - are seen by society as pitiful. They are immature, wounded, insane, not complete. We insult them by telling them they “need help”. It’s bullshit. penberthyd@newsltd.com.au (David Penberthy) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/a-letter-for-the-lonely-this-valentines-day/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/a-letter-for-the-lonely-this-valentines-day/#item7758 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:40 +0000 We saw this photo pinging around the web yesterday. It’s of a young Bill Clinton, future US president, meeting John F. Kennedy. So we were wondering - have you had any brushes with fame? Perhaps even before the famed were famous?  It’s Tuesday. REMINDER: It’s Valentine’s Day. What’s on your mind? http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/punch-on-open-thread-14-02-20121/ We saw this photo pinging around the web yesterday. It’s of a young Bill Clinton, future US president, meeting John F. Kennedy. So we were wondering - have you had any brushes with fame? Perhaps even before the famed were famous?  It’s Tuesday. REMINDER: It’s Valentine’s Day. What’s on your mind? penberthyd@newsltd.com.au (David Penberthy) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/punch-on-open-thread-14-02-20121/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/punch-on-open-thread-14-02-20121/#item7755 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:40 +0000 We saw this photo pinging around the web yesterday. It’s of a young Bill Clinton, future US president, meeting John F. Kennedy. So we were wondering - have you had any brushes with fame? Perhaps even before the famed were famous?  It’s Tuesday. REMINDER: It’s Valentine’s Day. What’s on your mind? http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/this-valentines-day-spare-a-thought-for-the-cynical/ Valentine’s Day is upon us again, which means it’s time for Cupid to whip off his romper suit and start flapping about, making life for the cynical a living hell. I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised that a flying baby can stir up such a mighty butterfly effect, but every time Feb 14 rolls around, I find I’m once again shocked to be enveloped by this pink and red parallel universe. As the ‘magical’ day approaches you can feel a change in the air.  Subtle but rampant. There’s an undercurrent of urgency, of desperation. A culture begins to develop where the normally self-possessed among us, lose their collective minds. penberthyd@newsltd.com.au (David Penberthy) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/this-valentines-day-spare-a-thought-for-the-cynical/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/this-valentines-day-spare-a-thought-for-the-cynical/#item5117 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:40 +0000 We saw this photo pinging around the web yesterday. It’s of a young Bill Clinton, future US president, meeting John F. Kennedy. So we were wondering - have you had any brushes with fame? Perhaps even before the famed were famous?  It’s Tuesday. REMINDER: It’s Valentine’s Day. What’s on your mind? http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/how-many-root-points-will-you-score-on-valentines-day/ As someone who has never been proposed to, but been married twice, I have never received or been given a St Valentine’s Day gift. Clearly blokes have found other ways of communicating with me. Does it bother me? No. I dispensed with the pretence of caring a long time ago. Valentine’s Day is for women who like pink, have a teddy collection on their bed, fluffy slippers, and speak, [read ‘whine’] with little girl voices well past puberty. penberthyd@newsltd.com.au (David Penberthy) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/how-many-root-points-will-you-score-on-valentines-day/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/how-many-root-points-will-you-score-on-valentines-day/#item2378 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:40 +0000 We saw this photo pinging around the web yesterday. It’s of a young Bill Clinton, future US president, meeting John F. Kennedy. So we were wondering - have you had any brushes with fame? Perhaps even before the famed were famous?  It’s Tuesday. REMINDER: It’s Valentine’s Day. What’s on your mind?