Valentine’s Day has changed a lot through the centuries. For one thing, it isn’t just sweethearts who exchange cards and gifts anymore. Since the first Valentine cards were produced commercially in the US in the 1800’s the industry has expanded to the point where there’s a Valentine for nearly everyone in your life, from your Grandma to your paper boy.

And for those who are fed up with the commercialism or just simply cannot stand another dose of hearts and flowers, there’s the anti-valentine.

The free anti-valentine messages are a sure antidote to the forced emotional nature of the holiday.

My favorite card says: Happy unimaginative, consumerist-oriented and entirely arbitrary, manipulative and shallow interpretation of romance day.

Soon it will be Christmas season again - at least at the stores and the malls. It used to be that Christmas shopping season traditionally began the day after Thanksgiving but in recent years, desperate retailers have been hauling out the lights and the plastic santas earlier and earlier, encroaching even upon Halloween.

To get you started on choosing gifts for those hard-to-please people on your list, Neiman Marcus has issued its holiday catalog featuring gifts from $25 to $1.7 million. This catalog may finally answer the question “What do you get the man who has everything?”.

How about a trip into space? Or a BMW?

Neiman Marcus gift book offers space flight, BMW