The Deuce Club, 2.11
By Jackie Roe, TW Social Director
Evening, TWibe! Today's Deuce Club will be hosted by the lovely and talented jewell; she decided to put together a special post to commemorate Monday's holiday. (It also aligns nicely with Mme Highpockets' contribution last week—we value continuity here in the DC!) Take it away, jewell!
So Valentine’s Day is nearly upon us, burying us under mountains of cards, chocolates, flowers and hopefully love. I am not sure that the obligatory feel of much of the Valentine’s industry is really conducive to true love, but as a day to spoil and be spoilt, it’s rather a nice one. Although I think I’d like it better if we could keep that going every day of the year.
“There’s St. Valentine,” suggested Cecy.
“Sure enough. What a bright thought!” cried Katy, clapping her hands. “Oh, Cecy, let’s do something funny on Valentine’s Day! Such a good idea has just popped into my mind.”
These lines are from What Katy Did by Susan Coolidge; and the scene is possibly my favorite literary Valentine’s scene ever. It is pure charm and comfort (and maybe a bit sentimental, but what’s so wrong with that?). For anyone who’d like to read the whole scene, click here.
Start at the top (you have to go through an equally sentimental Christmas first) and read down and you’ll find it. Basically, what happens is that Katy and her best friend Cecy organize a Valentine’s tea party for Katy’s younger brothers and sisters. Each one is given an envelope containing a present and some verses celebrating their idiosyncrasies and general adorableness, and a general fun time is had by all.
I thought it might be fun to play around for Valentine’s Day, and do something similarly affectionate for the tennis players in our lives. Take Gilles Simon for example.** [JR: Whatever made you think of him, jewell? ;)] **I would present him with a big-eyed owl carved out of wood, of course! (I wonder if he knows about our “Baby Owl” nickname. . .) [JR: Tried to find something similar to an owl for the photo. . .not quite sure I succeeded.]
And his lines might be something like:
“I know a player named Gilly,
Whose hair is rather silly,
Whose legs are very skinny,
But whose owlish eyes are pretty.
Some say his game is boresome,
That it makes them snore some,
My own praise for him is fulsome,
I think he’s uber-awesome.
He gets down two sets to love,
Then, when push comes right to shove,
He finds inspiration from above,
Of course it’s all been just a bluff.
His returns land on the baseline,
His net-rushing takes away time,
His serving’s suddenly fine,
And his opponent ends up crying.
So that’s my favourite Frenchman, Gilles,
He hurt his knee but now it’s healed,
He’s set to dominate the field,
Allez, allez, allez Gilles!”
Not up to Coolidge’s standard, but that’s the general idea.
So what would your Valentine’s gifts be to your favourite tennis players? And how would you celebrate them in verse? Feel free to keep it short and sweet. And the sillier the better! (Although I’m rather hoping someone will manage a Ben Jonson-ish “celebration” of Rafa, as opposed to Charis, or perhaps some Shakespearian sonnets to Ana as a mysterious Dark Lady. Then again, I don’t remember the Dark Lady giggling very much.)
Thank you for putting this together, jewell! I love that it’s such an inclusive celebration of Valentine’s Day; even if you’re one of those “Single Person’s Awareness Day” folks, you probably still have a tennis fave-cum-sweetheart you’d be happy to honor and lavish with gifts. Here’s your chance!
Have a great weekend, everyone!