Valentine’s Day is just around the corner. For those of you who are single and embittered on this otherwise fine day, there are a couple of options:

On the upbeat side of things, you can celebrate International Quirky Alone Day:

On February 14, instead of cursing Hallmark, or sequestering ourselves with lovers at Italian restaurants, we get together with our partners (if we have one) and our friends, and recognize great quirkyalones in history, people who pushed at the boundaries of culture and society to create a more free society. Iconoclasts who paved the way for us today, such as Katharine Hepburn, James Baldwin, Rainer Maria Rilke, Nina Simone, Margaret Fuller, and Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas […]

Apparently they hold parties and socials at bars and clubs, so who knows…maybe you’ll get lucky!

If you would rather stay indoors with curtains drawn and lights dimmed, treat yourself (or a hated one) a box of Bittersweets from the wonderful folks at Despair.Com:

Introducing “BitterSweets(tm)”. The Valentine’s Candy for the Rest of Us. Like the ubiquitous candy “conversation” hearts, “BitterSweets(tm)” are made of flavored, chalky-tasting sugar and sport a message on their face. But unlike other candy hearts, ours are stamped with bitter musings and mockeries perfectly suited to the dejected spirits of those who will spend the holiday alone, or wishing they were.

Available in different flavors such as Grape Dust and Banana Chalk, these apparently sold out quite quickly in years past, so get your order in early.

My good friend Jeff Borkowski is one of those rare blends of artist and entrepreneur, and is perhaps the most meticulous person I know. When he’s not running the business side of the rapidly-growing motorsports livery design firm esbg design, he’s launching his own fine arts editions business, which has finally officially launched and is open for business.

I didn’t understand what a “fine art edition” was until quite recently. The idea is that there are a number of photographers, painters, and printmakers out there who are producing amazing work, but their original works are very expensive or unavailable to regular working shmoes like me. An edition is a reproduction produced under exacting conditions on archival materials…it’s a lot fancier than just a CafePress poster, suitable for hanging in an upscale corporate lobby or the well-appointed home. This way, the artists are able to gain more exposure for their work and derive some additional income, and the masses are able to purchase the artwork through a web-based gallery. Everyone wins. What’s especially cool is that Jeff gets to interact with the artists themselves…I imagine they’re some of the coolest people one could hope to meet.

It’s been interesting and informative to watch Jeff launch. From the years of research he spent perfecting his reproduction process with dozens of vendors across the country to the days he spends proofing in Photoshop, I’ve been impressed by the level of quality and detail that Jeff strives to put into a product that he really believes in. Jeff’s a good guy and takes pride in his work, so I expect nothing but success for him. Good luck, Jeff!