Valentine's Thaw

You may not have noticed, but there's a wicked snowstorm eating most of the eastern half of the United States alive these past couple days. It's mostly passed here in Pittsburgh, even though the forecast includes snow every day this week. But the sun's out, which makes it much easier to celebrate Valentine's Day after chipping your car out of ice for over an hour. (Special thanks to our neighbors for getting us out of our predicament this afternoon.)

On a day of love, joy and candy, it's worth mentioning the obvious flaw in this season of STBD: there's very little love, joy or candy. As many folks both within the cast and beyond have mentioned, far too many of the existing characters are filled with sarcasm and sharp edges. Tim stands out primarily because he's the exact opposite -- innocent and supportive, almost to a fault.

So, on this Valentine's Day during our hiatus, we'll be giving special thought to this puzzling predicament: how do we chip away at the ice around the hearts of the STBD characters?