The Daily Valet. - 2/14/23, Tuesday
✔️ A Strange Origin Story
Tuesday, February 14th Edition
By Cory Ohlendorf, Valet. Editor
Will you be mine?
Today’s Big Story
A Valentine’s Day Origin Story
What do a saint, some hearts and a flying baby have to do with This holiday?
Happy Valentine's Day ... what a funny holiday, huh? Of course, it's big business. Americans spent nearly $24 billion on Valentine's Day last year, up from $21.8 billion in 2021—and are expected to spend even more this year.While it's easy to write off the day as a “Hallmark holiday” and roll your eyes at the over-priced meals, requisite roses and cutesy cards, the traditions associated with the occasion have long (and, at times, strange) histories. So let's talk about them ...According to NPR, the origins of the festival of candy and cupids are actually dark, bloody and a bit muddled. First, there was a match-making celebration during the feast of Lupercalia. And then Emperor Claudius II executed two men (both named Valentine) on Feb. 14 of different years in the third century. Their martyrdom was honored by the Catholic Church with the celebration of St. Valentine's Day.But what about Cupid? A weapon-wielding naked baby shouldn't typically inspire warm and fuzzy feelings, right? But his connection to love and romance dates back centuries. Before he was a chubby, winged cherub, Cupid was a fearsome deity. The original Greek god Eros was depicted as a handsome young man. Like his mother Aphrodite, he was associated with love and lust, but he also took after Ares, the god of war sometimes attributed as his father.He used his famous bow and arrows for more than harmless matchmaking: One strike could consume his victims with uncontrollable—and sometimes unwanted—desire. This power was often used as a punishment rather than a gift. When the Romans reinterpreted the Greek myth, they renamed Eros Cupid (which stems from the word for “desire”) and adopted a less threatening, chubby-cheeked child version of the god.Similarly, the heart shape, like Cupid, has ancient origins. But it only started symbolizing love in the 13th and 14th centuries, when Chaucer and Shakespeare romanticized it in their work, according to TIME. The shape was originally used for purely decorative purposes, and was meant to resemble an actual heart—although it actually looks more like a bird or reptile heart than a person's. And that's all way before Hallmark even got involved.
FYI:
In 1913, Hallmark Cards of Kansas City, Mo., began mass-producing Valentines cards.
We’re Abandoning Our PTO
he mystery of the disappearing vacation day
Did you know that Americans are about half as likely to be taking vacation in any given week as they were 40 years ago? Me neither. In fact, unused paid time off has doubled since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Sorbet, a PTO solutions platform. And these days, a good 55% of paid time off goes unused.According to the Washington Post, shorter absences have risen slightly, as more folks take a day here and there for quick trips, midweek errands or mental health. But that bump is too small to offset the sharp drop in luxurious, week-long vacations.It doesn't seem to be a matter of vacation-day supply. While it's true that the U.S. is the only advanced economy without guaranteed paid vacation, data on employee benefits suggests that more than 90% of full-time workers have access to paid vacation time. And it's been that way for decades. Plus, the number of paid vacation days offered by the typical employer has actually ticked up in recent years. So why aren't more people getting out from behind the desk?
Dig Deeper:
The Ascent has several reasons why you don't want to leave vacation days on the table.
Like Bouncers, for the Internet
Several States Want You to Upload Your Driver's License to Watch Adult content
Last month, Louisiana became the first state to require sites featuring material deemed “harmful to minors” to verify the age of users by checking official state-issued IDs. Now, there are several additional states following close on Louisiana's heels.Copy cat bills from at least seven different states are currently in various stages of possibly becoming laws. After Louisiana's bill became law on January 1, 2023, the third most-viewed website in the U.S. put special measures in place to prevent users from Louisiana from accessing materials without first uploading their IDs.Protecting kids from mature material is a laudable goal, but some lawmakers are using it to push intrusive policies which would dramatically compromise the right to privacy on the Internet—and experts don't believe that it will really work at keeping the material out of the hands of kids. After all, aren't kids the ones helping older generations with VPNs and other cybersecurity measures?
FYI:
Researchers have made a strong case against shaming people for what they look at when they're, um, tending to themselves.
It’s King Cake Season
Don’t Worry, Some Still Have the Baby Inside
Carnival season has been going since early January, but I feel like I've been hearing more and more about king cakes just recently. Officially, we have until Fat Tuesday on February 21 to enjoy this festive treat that, over the past few years, has expanded far from its home in New Orleans.If you've never had one, a king cake is a sweet danish dough filled with cinnamon sugar, cream cheese or fruit filling that is covered with vanilla icing and decorated with the Mardi Gras colors of purple, green and gold. Traditionally, there's a small plastic baby baked into the cake (representing the baby Jesus). Whoever gets the slice of cake with the plastic baby inside becomes “king” for the day.Of course—since we can't have nice things in such a litigious country—a lot of cakes today are sold with the baby on the side. But according to The Takeout, some bakeries do, indeed, sell their cakes with the baby inside. Gambino’s in New Orleans, for example, sells its king cake with “one plastic baby baked inside.” Their famed cakes can be shipped nationwide via Goldbelly.
In Other News
It’s a scene that could have come from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
Have you heard about ...
Your February Reading List
This month's new releases range from historical fiction to the origin story of Silicon Valley
Are you reading more in 2023? We hope so. If you're looking for something good to page through, we've got a handful of solid options for you. February's recommended books offer some unique escapes to take you out of your ordinary day-to-day vibe and into impressive worlds and mildly dangerous adventures.
By: Salman RushdieOut: Feb. 7
His first novel since being attacked on stage at the Chautauqua Festival last August, Salman Rushdie's Victory City is being hailed as a masterpiece by critics. The fantastical story recounts the tale of a sorceress and poet named Pampa Kampana, who dreams a whole civilization into existence from magic seeds. Through divine intervention, Pampa lives for more than two centuries, witnessing the city's many victories and defeats. It's a grand story, but one that Rushdie tells well.
By: Thomas MallonOut: Feb. 7
One part murder mystery, one part showbiz history, Thomas Mallon's fictionalized account of the life and untimely death of Broadway actor Dick Kallman is an engaging portrayal of a closeted celebrity hungry for success. The name-dropping novel has a Hitchcockian vibe, where our anti-hero reinvents himself as an antiques dealer, until he meets a violent end in his artifact-stuffed Upper East Side townhouse.
By: Malcolm HarrisOut: Feb. 14
Malcom Harris's Palo Alto is touted as the first comprehensive history of Silicon Valley. He examines how and why Northern California evolved in the particular, consequential way it did—and how it ended up reshaping the world. Harris tries to understand the outsized impact this seemingly small suburb has on technology and society as a whole. My interest is certainly piqued.
By: Christopher J. PrestonOut: Feb. 21
If you haven't already heard, more than 900 species have been wiped off the planet since industrialization. That's not great news. But there's a lot of effort going into protecting endangered species and their natural habitats. Some, of course, are more successful than others. Christopher J. Preston's new book takes a look at a host of memorable efforts in this department across a host of landscapes and ecosystems. It's both engaging and encouraging.
Shopping
What We’re Buying
A Wool-blend Overshirt
This ombré checkered wool overshirt will upgrade any outfit. It’s made with corozo buttons for durability and finished with pockets at the chest and waist to keep your daily essentials secure.
Get It:
Wool-blend checkered overskirt,$445 / $267 by NN07
Morning Motto
Change isn’t a bad thing.
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