A face only a mother could love: a Madagascar hissing cockroach (Gromphadorhina portentosa) VW Pics/Universal Images Group/Getty Images hide caption
Valentine's Day Valentine's Day elicits a variety of responses: joy, glee, bliss, and even annoyance. The feel-good day for lovers is also a mainstay for florists and chocolatiers. But every rose has a thorn: For some — the single, and the cynical — it's just another day.
Special Series
Valentine's Day
Stories about the feel-good holiday and the complications of love in this modern world.
Tacocat Courtesy of the artist hide caption
A photo of the Ribaudo family tomb in the Staglieno Cimitero Monumentale in Genoa, Italy was used as the cover art for Joy Division's "Love Will Tear Us Apart." Courtesy of the artist hide caption
Troye Sivan's "My My My!" is a LGBTQ anthem about throwing caution into the wind. Bryan Bedder/Getty Images hide caption
Chilean rapper Ana Tijoux. Courtesy of the artist hide caption
If you can't find pennette, use the small bulging crescents that are chifferi, or regular elbow macaroni, instead. Courtesy Random House hide caption
Gerald Levert performs at the 98.7 Kiss FM's R&B Jam 2001 at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Scott Gries/Getty Images hide caption
In She's Gotta Have It, Tracy Camilla Johns plays Nola Darling, a Brooklyn woman tied to her independence — and three suitors. Spike Lee's directorial debut is one of five movies guest blogger Jimi Izrael recommends this Valentine's Day. Island Pictures/Photofest hide caption
The 2011 Ken dressed in a tuxedo with a bouquet of roses. Courtesy of Mattel hide caption
Lesbian and gay lovers have new options for Valentine's Day cards, thanks to the California company A Little To The Left. A Little To The Left hide caption
A drawing depicts the death of St. Valentine — one of them, anyway. The Romans executed two men by that name on Feb. 14 of different years in the third century. Hulton Archive/Getty Images hide caption
Illustrator Sophie Blackall drew the picture of two strangers sharing a bear suit from a "Missed Connections" ad posted on Craigslist in New York. Sophie Blackall hide caption
