Sick of Chocolate, Flowers, and Jewelry?

Stuffed animals, candlelit dinners, and balloons make you want to puke?

Don't worry, I've got some unconventional Valentine's Day gift ideas for you.

You might consider giving the object of your affection the complete first season of my friend Gail Konop-Baker’s mother-daughter podcast about gender roles and relationships, The G-Spot. Or, buy it for yourself! You know you’re curious. And if you live in the Madison area, it’s basically free if you use the $14 coupon toward a bra and fitting at La Lingerie. 

(This is the second time a friend’s project has made me blush on my own blog. Prude, much?)

OR: you can pre-order Sam Pink’s new e-novel Rontel and get a personal sext from him. Seriously. 

From amazon: The narrator of Rontel admits “if people had access to my thoughts and feelings, I’d be asked to live on a rock in outer space—one with a long tether to a building in Chicago if any of my friends (just kidding) wanted to come visit.” This man, however, is not a psychotic. He goes shopping with his girlfriend, he has a pet cat, he recognizes a loose hot dog on the floor of the supermarket as the “saddest thing ever.” He is just like you.

Already I feel a scary affinity for this guy, because I too have felt pity for lonely inanimate objects from time to time. 

Is this hilarious or gross? I think it's hilarious, even though he looks an awful lot like J's boss. And that mustache HAS GOT TO GO. But he's drinking a soda and posing in a hotel bathtub. He's going to sell a buttload of books with this PR stunt, too.