Umm Kalthoum, Life Magazine, 1962. (Wikimedia, public domain) This is part two of a two-part Valentine’s Day Special. Part one is here. I usually ignore Valentine’s Day and I rarely talk or write about love. But much like with religion, if you don’t claim your right to shape, critique and make demands of love–if you don’t stake a claim, even if you don’t practice–you cede the ground to the absurd, the foolish, and the nonsensical.