Being single around Valentine's Day can be kind of a bummer. Luckily, there are plenty of other things you can do to keep your mind off love. Here are five options that won't have you thinking "Why won't someone love me?" every moment you're there. And maybe you'll run into another single person. Late February dates are way better, anyway.
1. See a movie. Couples will be going to "Just Go With It" and "Gnomeo & Juliet," which open this week, but luckily there's counter programming in the form of "The Eagle," opening Friday. It's about a Roman soldier investigating the disappearance of his father's legion. To the single guys: There hardly seems to be a woman in the cast, which means no romance. Single ladies: It's got a bunch of buff roman soldiers. Channing Tatum has to be good for something, right?
2. Dance it out. It doesn't matter if you don't have a date, you can catch someone's eye as long as you've got the moves at Salsa with the Stars, 9 p.m. Saturday at the Des Moines Embassy Club, 520 Market St., West Des Moines ($15). If your moves are a little rusty, show up early for free lessons. Go to salsadesmoines.org.
3. Go to a concert. How about Cranial Decay, Primal Breath, Splatterhead and Mothra at 5:45 p.m. Saturday at the Vaudeville Mews ($5)? If that sounds too romantic, there's the "Valentine's Day Massacre" 5 p.m. Sunday at House of Bricks with Kornfield Karnies and Zombie Marmalade ($5). If you do find a date, that show has a discount for couples (two for $8).
4. Barhop with singles. You can be on a busload of single people during the Gettin' Stupid With Cupid Pub Crawl starting at 5:30 p.m. Saturday at Miss Kitty's, 8800 Swanson Blvd., Clive. Stops include Mickey's Irish Pub, Cabaret West Glen, Wellman's Rooftop Pub and Uncle Buck's. The crawl benefits Variety of Iowa, Mentor Iowa and Toys for Tots, giving you a good "I'm just doing this for the kids" line to impress potential make-out partners. $20 in advance, $25 day of. Go to desmoinespubcrawl.com.
5. Look at cattle. When you think romance, you don't think about thousands of cattle being paraded around in cold weather. The Iowa Winter Beef Expo runs daily Sunday through Feb. 20 at the Iowa State Fairgrounds and features the finest herefords, salers, angus and gelbvieh the state has to offer. Why would you go? Because discussion of bovine insemination will prevent any thoughts of romance from entering your head. Go to iowabeefexpo.com.
