For all the people who say that hearts, roses, candy and romance are the staples of any competent Valentine’s Day, we say … shut it.

If Valentine’s Day is about anything, it’s about love. All kinds of love. And while the most popular notion is that of straight-up romantic love, what about other kinds of love that regularly get shunned? Heartwarming, nonromantic loves like between parent and child, brother and sister, or a boy and his bike. Where are their Hallmark cards on Valentine’s Day?

For those who don’t have a romantic love in their lives, we’ve complied a list of movies that you can check out. Each of these is about true love, for sure, just not the cliché kind.

“Beaches”
When it comes to the love shared between girlfriends, “Beaches” can’t be beat. Bette Midler and Barbara Hershey play the adult versions of CC and Hillary, two women who develop a deep friendship as kids after meeting under the boardwalk in Atlantic City. As life goes on, dreams, men and jealousy all come between the women, but their friendship remains strong. Depressingly sad but ultimately uplifting, the love shared between CC and Hillary is as strong as humanly possible.

“Citizen Kane”
Charles Foster Kane had it all: women, money and power. The one thing he didn’t have, the one thing those virtues robbed of him, was his childhood. In his dying moments he utters the word “Rosebud,” and Orson Welles’ classic film fills its running time with the mystery of what “Rosebud” is. When, in the closing scene, it’s finally revealed, the viewer realizes that Kane’s love of this “Rosebud” is a symbol for his yearning to be innocent once again.

“Driving Miss Daisy”
This 1989 Best Picture Oscar winner tells the simple story of two of the most unlikely friends possible: a black chauffeur and his rich, elderly, white, female boss in the pre-civil rights South. Morgan Freeman is Hoke, the man hired to drive Miss Daisy (Jessica Tandy) around after she crashes her car. Driving around affords the duo time to share many conversations, and eventually they become best friends. “Driving Miss Daisy” is proof that respectful friendship is possible in even the most socially unacceptable of situations.

“Field of Dreams”
“If you build it, they will come.” But if you build it, you’d better really, really love “it.” That “it” is baseball, and Ray Kinsella (Kevin Costner) certainly loves America’s game. He loves it so much, in fact, that he dumps his entire life savings into building a regulation baseball field on his Iowa farm. What initially might seem like a dumb idea eventually gives Ray something that he wasn’t able to have as a child, a relationship with his father.

“Harold and Maude”
Wealth doesn’t mean anything to Harold (Bud Cort), especially when his mother hardly notices his elaborate suicide attempts. It seems he’s living a life without substance. That is, of course, until he meets Maude, an eccentric old lady who shares Harold’s hobby of attending the funerals of strangers. As Harold and Maude hang out more and more it becomes obvious that, while Harold thinks he loves Maude, he really loves the way she lives life, doing whatever she wants whenever she wants.

“Lost in Translation”
The language barrier begets loneliness and isolation for an older movie star (Bill Murray) as he films a commercial in Japan. A recent college grad (Scarlett Johansson), whose husband is busy working and is thereby neglecting her, feels the same way. Romance isn’t the point as the older man and younger woman simply enjoy each other’s company and develop a respect and friendship that goes against every movie-clichéd notion of man-meets-woman. Companionship is what’s important when you are feeling alone.

“Mary Poppins”
A magically inclined singing nanny is the cure for a family that doesn’t really appreciate what it means to love one another. That’s the premise for this Oscar-winning Disney musical featuring the classic songs “A Spoonful of Sugar,” “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious,” and “Chim Chim Cher-ee.” Julie Andrews plays the nanny who realizes that Jane and Michael Banks crave the love of their father. She helps him change his tune. The film ends as Mr. Banks finally becomes the loving, caring father the kids need.

“Pay It Forward”
While it wasn’t as critically well-received as some of the other films on this list, “Pay It Forward” preaches such a strong message of selflessness that it’s perfect for a nonromantic valentine. Haley Joel Osment is Trevor, a young boy who takes a social studies project to the next level by helping three people, and then asking them to help three people in return. He calls it “paying it forward,” and before he knows it, Trevor’s message of love has spread to his teacher, his mother, and across the nation.

“Pee wee’s Big Adventure”
How far will you go for love? Will you travel to the ends of the Earth? How about to the Alamo? That’s one of the stops that Pee Wee Herman makes after his most prized possession in the world, his bike, is stolen. Pee Wee’s “big adventure” to get his bike back mirrors the type of journey that might happen in a typical romantic comedy. But through the twisted minds of star Paul Reubens, co-writer Phil Hartman and director Tim Burton, it’s revealed that love, even for a bike, is a very powerful emotion.

“Rain Man”
Understanding the importance of family is easy when you have one. But when Charlie Babbitt (Tom Cruise) realizes he has an autistic brother named Raymond (Dustin Hoffman) whom he’s never met, and who is set to inherit $3 million, it takes Charlie some time to understand that importance. Charlie kidnaps his brother and takes him on a cross-country trip to get custody of Ray (and his fortune). As the two spend time together, Charlie’s anger slowly evolves into love. Finally, what was once about money becomes about loving and spending time with the brother he never knew.

Many men still say it with cut flowers or plants

If you’re a woman who likes flowers, start wishing for sunshine next week. According to an Ipsos-Reid Valentine’s survey, most men will give a bouquet to their loved one on Feb. 14. But how big appears to be weather-dependent.

Still, even Canadians without a significant other buy into the romantic holiday, with more than 80 per cent of Canadians going for it, reports the Retail Council of Canada.

Their survey shows 38 per cent of single Canadians plan on showering those they love with tokens of affection.

Those who are in long-term relationships (five to 10 years) expect to spend $149 on average this Valentine’s Day, according to the RCC survey. Those in new relationships (three to six months), say they intend to spend about $100.

But let’s get back to flowers. The Ipsos-Reid’s survey, conducted for gardening product manufacturer Scotts Canada, indicates that 4 in 10 women would choose a plant they can put in their garden this spring over cut flowers in a vase.

What Canadians are buying >
* 64 per cent of Canadians will purchase a Valentine’s Day card(s), spending an average of $8;

* 54 per cent of Canadians plan to give candy/chocolates, spending an average of $32;

* 34 per cent of Canadians will buy flowers, spending an average of $29;

* 27 per cent of Canadians plan to go out for a meal;

* 5 per cent of Canadians intend to purchase an electronic gift card this Valentine’s Day, up from the 3 per cent cited in the 2006 survey.

Many of you have probably heard the history of Valentine’s Day repeatedly. But to continue the tradition, let’s go through it once again so that later you can have the chance to forget it again, right after you consume five beers at your Valentine’s Day party.

The tradition of celebrating Valentine’s Day started back in Rome in 491 AD, when Mad Emperor Claudius II, the son of Mad Emperor Claudius I, banned his soldiers from getting married because he believed that, as married men, his soldiers would rather stay at home with their wives rather than fight a war.

“Make war not love,” was basically his favorite motto. He also believed that, due to the lack of deodorant those days, a wedding ceremony that gathered more than 20 guests would produce body odor horrible enough to wipe out the entire ozone layer.

However, there was one priest who did not agree with the rule made by the mad emperor. This priest’s name was Valentine, who believed that lovers should not be separated and who was brave enough to defy the emperor’s orders, and who was also beaten up so many times in his youth by high-school bullies because of his girlie name.

Valentine believed that men and women should not be forbidden to share their love, even by the emperor’s order. To stand up for his beliefs, he secretly married many young couples in his house. However, the mad emperor eventually found out Valentine’s secret and he arrested Valentine. Later he ordered that Valentine be sentenced to death by electrocution. Angered by his decision, many priests and Romans protested to the emperor. “You can not electrocute him!” they shouted with compassion, “We do not have electricity yet. This is the third century!” But the emperor still wanted Valentine’s dead, by any means.

Meanwhile, Valentine fell in love with the mad emperor’s daughter, the mad princess Claudius III: The Return of the Jedi. Before he was beheaded, he left a final note for her, and signed it “Your Valentine”, the phrase that has lasted through the centuries, even for those whose name is not Valentine. Valentine was beheaded on Feb. 14.

Many people admired Valentine’s sacrifice for true love and were so impressed by his courage to stand up to his ruler that they named him a saint. And since then, Feb. 14 has been celebrated as Valentine’s Day, the day when people are reminded about the great power of love, and about one man’s execution.

Today, there are many traditions that people observe on Valentine’s Day. In the third century, the most significant tradition was for single girls to place their names in a bottle, and they would then date any guy who randomly picked up the bottle with their name in it. It was like a lottery for love. However, today’s people are not so blatant or primitive in their traditions anymore, because, compared to ancestors from that historic age, today’s people are idiots.

Instead, today’s people observe many other traditions that require more money and more effort. The most popular tradition is for a guy to send flowers or a gift to someone they secretly love, and write on the card: “Will you be my Valentine?” to which the girl replies with either, “Ha, ha, hehehe,” or “You’re already married, you jerk!”

Having learned from his mistake, the regular guy then comes up with another tradition, which is to anonymously send a flower to someone he adores, then sign the card with, “From your secret Valentine”. By doing that, the guy can build tension in the girl’s mind, so that later, when they tell the girl that they are the one who sent the flower, the girl will feel so surprised and, with the greatest gratitude, replies with either, “Ha, ha, hehehe,” or “You’re already married, you jerk!”

Many people also celebrate the day of love by holding Valentine’s Day events. There are Valentine’s Day parties, Valentine’s Day dinners, Valentine’s Day tour packages and the one activity that many people think is the heart of the whole celebration, the Valentine’s Day’s Sale. Just remember that no matter what kind of event you choose, that day always has the same core ingredients: love, gifts, pink, hearts, gifts, couples, gifts, love songs and gifts.

In the end, Valentine’s Day is the day when couples celebrate their love for one another and the single guy tries his best to impress his dream girl. Just try your best to impress your love. And if you fail, don’t worry, because, unlike parties in the third century, today’s Valentine’s Day parties always have beer.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Just as true love is rich in mystery, so is the story behind St. Valentine and the romantic flare that marks his day.

The patron saint of Valentine’s Day, however, could be one of a few saints, because Catholicism recognizes at least three saints with the name Valentine or Valentinus.

One Valentine was a priest in Rome during the third century at a time when Emperor Claudius II banned weddings so as to keep his soldiers single. This Valentine, the story goes, made his mark performing weddings for secret lovers until he was found out and sentenced to death on Feb. 14. Meantime, it is said that another Valentine, during the same time period, was the bishop of modern-day Terni. A third was in Africa, though details (including a time frame) of his demise are unclear.

What is certain, however, is that all three were viewed as martyrs. And somehow, through the years, at least one of their deaths spawned flowers, boxes of chocolate and mushy greeting cards.

A legend says that Valentine wrote the first valentine. While in prison, said Valentine apparently fell for the jailer’s daughter and before dying wrote her a love note which he signed, “From your Valentine.”

There are some who argue the day has less to do with Valentine’s martyrdom and more to do with Christian efforts to co-opt the pagan festival of Lupercalia, a fertility celebration that began on Feb. 15. A part of this festival called for young women to toss their names into an urn, from which bachelors would select names to determine pairings. When Pope Gelasisus, in about 498 A.D., established Feb. 14 as St. Valentine’s Day, he quickly put the kibosh on that practice.

Yet another popular story behind Valentine’s Day focuses specifically on birds, not bees. During the Middle Ages in England and France, Feb. 14 was accepted as the start of the mating season for birds. And so it was, many believe, that people began to celebrate the time with their own romantic gestures.

Let blossoms do the talking on Valentine’s Day

Got a sweetie but the cat’s got your tongue? Let a flower say what’s on your mind. Flowers have a language of their own, one closely linked to affairs of the heart.

For this, we can thank the Victorians, who perfected a covert language of flowers. It amounted to a chaste code, making even the color of a flower and its arrangement significant. A pink carnation said, “I’ll never forget you,” while a red carnation cried,”My heart aches for you.” Several books on the language of flowers were printed in the 19th century, and some flower meanings varied and changed over the years.

Today, the rose remains the symbol of love. It’s the top seller at Valentine’s. Americans buy about 180 million roses (mostly red) to celebrate, according to Amy Stewart in Flower Confidential: The Good, the Bad, and the Beautiful in the Business of Flowers (Algonquin Books, $23.95).

Roses are also Houstonians’ favorite valentine flowers, according to our informal survey of local florists. You can whisper “I love you” for $4.50-$6 a stem or shout it with a dozen long-stemmed beauties. That’ll run you $50 and up.

Central Market will stock 52 varieties of roses for the holiday, floral department manager Alison West says. To send a more complex message, she suggests pairing them with rosemary, the herb of remembrance.

At Greenworks, floral designers will mix a dozen roses with six green hydrangeas, which convey “heartfelt.”

Sweethearts can also declare their love with tulips, second on the favorite valentine flower list. The graceful, elegant lines are perfect in traditional or contemporary arrangements, West says. A 10-stem bunch is about $30.

Lilies, which mean “it’s heavenly to be with you” in Victorian terms, are third among valentine choices here. The highly fragrant, mauve and white ‘Star Gazer’ is the national best-seller. According to Stewart’s book, 13.8 million stems were sold last year.

If the fragrance is too heady or simply irritating, pink, red and orange Asiatic lilies are scent-free. And symbolically pure ‘Casa Blanca’ white lilies mix well with other cut flowers.

Jaylyn Snider of Jana’s Flowers says orchids and mixed bouquets are valentine runners-up at her shop. Orchids, which can last for weeks, convey messages of love, beauty and thoughtfulness.

Seasonal selections are a close fourth at Central Market. Lily of the valley, which begs for a “return of happiness” in the language of flowers, is $40 a 10-stem bunch. A luxury for some, but worth it for the woman who has everything.

For those Northern transplants yearning for irresistibly sweet lilacs, it’s $4 a stem to convey “first emotions of love.”

Three of every four flower customers are men, according to the Society of American Florists. But women will be buying flowers for their guys, too. One choice, West says: ‘Red Inspiration,’ a big, variegated rose from Ecuador. Those who see it may ask, “Is it painted?” But it’s for real and bold enough to say it all.

Want to be just friends? Reach for that cheerful gerbera daisy when you’re sending flowers not with a kiss but with a smile.

A few more >
— Anemone: Truth; sincerity
— Gardenia: You’re lovely; secret love; purity
— Purple hyacinth: Please forgive me
— Ranunculus: I am dazzled by your charms