Right to be wrong?

I'm not a cynic. No, really! I'm not. But there's something about February 14th that just does not sit right with me. I can barely stand to look at it, let alone allow it to sit in my lap. Some see candy and flowers and birds. I tend to see so much sugar I wanna be sick, profits that, er... roll like puddings and roadkill (RIP Pidgey).

The idea of romance is vastly overrated, particularly in this day and age. Romance is just not the same, and pledging my allegiance to Valentine's day would be like sleeping with Tiger Woods: just doing something because apparantly everyone else is. Let's take a look at modern love shall we? In the past week we have had the breakdown of John Terry's marriage due to his indiscretions with a teammate's ex-girlfriend; a 19-year-old girl in New Zealand who has sold her virginity for £20,000 to pay for university tuition fees; and the Pope denouncing equal rights for gay members of the public. Not that I'm condoning the Black-Eyed Peas, but come on: where is the love?

And it's reasons like this that make real love today so important. We don't need it to be sold to us. I'm a single man, but if I was lucky enough to find someone that little bit more sparklier than the average chap, I wouldn't want it shoved down my throat in the shape of some over-priced, over-iced cookie. Love is not a business, and thus businesses need to mind their own business.

The solution? Aside from embracing spinster-hood in all its vodka-fuelled glory, I would suggest a trip to Liverpool's A Foundation on the night of the 13th or 14th. Presenting an alternative view of love, it promises to get your heart racing in other ways, through a mixture of live art performances and installation pieces. Titled 'Wrong Love', DazedDigital have interviewed Travis Street, the Texan artist who's put together this true labour of love http://www.dazeddigital.com/ArtsAndCulture/article/6449/1/Wrong_Love