Eyes are the windows to the soul. Therefore, eyeglasses are the outside pane of double-paned windows to the soul. I could expound further on this analogy, but tears really aren't the inner-pane condensation of the soul. What I am trying to say is that for 34 years, my glasses have sent a message to the world about who I am.

I was fitted with my first pair of glasses at the age of three. They adorned my tiny, moonlike face like a cigar and a propeller beanie on a chimp -- they looked out of place, but they were so cute! My early childhood marked the only time in my life that glasses actually improved my looks. I did little comedy and dance routines in grocery stores and doctor's offices, to the great pleasure of the women present, who would clap their hands together and coo, "Oh, he's just darling -- like a miniature Woody Allen!" Even at that age, I knew that this comparison did not reflect well on my dancing ability.

Wedlock mania

Romila Koel wanted to put her best foot forward on her wedding day. Feet actually. So what did she do? Started going for regular pedicures and manicures a couple of months before her wedding.

All normal so far. Then 20 days before the wedding, the young bride-to-be took this... well... a step further. She stopped performing household chores for fear of chipping her nails. Even lifting a bucket was banned. Some women who want to lose weight before their wedding day go to the extent of living on laxatives for days before their wedding - Dr Shikha Sharma, dietician.

Wedding stress
This is just one wedding, example of what brides do to shine on their wedding day. Simple things like weight loss are passe for these young brides, who have discovered new ways to look their best, no matter how obsessive or unhealthy they seem.

Clarence Brown: The Forgotten Director

Last month, the posh, 200-year-old castle-like estate known as Kilruddery House, near Dublin, Ireland, offered a special Valentine's Day showing of a film called The Eagle, a 1925 silent starring Rudolph Valentino as a stylishly vengeful cossack. Part swashbuckler, part romantic melodrama, part sly screwball comedy, it was one of Valentino's last films, and has a reputation among some critics as his best. The audience of about 60, mostly affluent but diverse in age, laughed at the funny parts and applauded the good guy. The same movie was honored recently in Chicago, at Roger Ebert's Overlooked Film Festival.