I was in 8th grade when my first boyfriend, Jeremy, made me a mix tape featuring my favorite song, “Jeremy” by Pearl Jam. Coincidence? Not. I have been known to fall for a guy for the most ludicrous reasons, like, say, being the namesake of my favorite song, having an organized wallet, or rocking some snazzy sneakers. Sure, Jeremy had the right name to grab my interest, but he really sealed the deal with the mix tape and affixed love note—“My favorite songs and yours. Love, Jer.”

A lot has happened since then. My cassette tapes have all been donated to Goodwill (except Jer’s … I still have it) and my heart has grown more sophisticated (I think), but the fact remains the same. For me, falling for a guy is all in the details. I don’t care about how much hair you have, how swanky your apartment is, or how much money you’ve got in the bank. It’s the little things you do to show that you care that make me swoon like a lunatic.

This is one of those moments that makes me believe true love does exist. Steve Smith and Carmen Ruiz-Perez, both 42, finally walked down the aisle after 16 years of separation. The couple fell in love and became engaged when they were in their 20s, but drifted apart when Ruiz-Perez had to move back to France from England. After a few years, Smith sent her a love letter in the hopes of rekindling the romance.

The drastic front page financial news is certainly a downer. As layoffs sweep the nation and more homes are foreclosed, tensions are running higher than CEO bonuses. But it’s not all gloom and doom out there — lots of Americans are saying that the recent economic downturn is affecting their romantic relationships in a positive way.

Take it from them—after the jump are 10 reasons why the recession is actually good for your love life…

The New York Times article, “The Recession. Isn’t It Romantic?” reveals that online dating and matchmaking are up despite nearly 600,000 people having lost their jobs last month. And even back in October, people were buying more lingerie and sex toys while they skimped on other essentials. This got me thinking about the stuff you can buy and the stuff you can’t, even if you’d like to. I’d be willing to shell out for romance—too bad it’s not for sale.

You know what has always struck me as unfair? That Valentine’s Day is largely considered to be a holiday for women. In all the ads for the holiday, jewelry, chocolates, flowers, etc. are all gifts given to women, from their devoted, tie-clad husbands and boyfriends. Bu what about dudes? Don’t they want cheesy tokens of love and affection too? Wouldn’t they like to be taken out for a romantic dinner or given a nice piece of man jewelry? (By which I mean a watch. Men should not wear any jewelry outside of a watch and a wedding band. That is a rule.) The first Valentine’s Day I spent with my ex, five years ago, we went out to dinner, but his parents had called up the restaurant and pre-paid for our meal, as a surprise. (I guess they had a sense that I was “The One,” which used to make me go, “Aww,” but now makes me go, “Oops!”) I, however, felt like getting him something too, and ended up giving him four new wine glasses—partially as a joke because I had broken one of his the week before. The point is, don’t men deserve and want a little wooing? And if so, how do they want to be wooed? I asked the fellas.

A survey by the U.K.‘s National Trust found that 70 percent of women and 53 percent of men would rather get a love letter or poem than a text or email. Yet, of the 2,558 people surveyed, 62 percent had never sent a love letter, while 69 percent had sent an “I love you” text. Is technology killing romance? As much as I despise text message abbreviations and sloppy typers, I don’t think so.

Hate to say it, but some romantic gestures are gross and cheesy and not at all what we want when a guy is trying to make a statement. That said, there are some really, really sweet, kind, funny things a man can do to melt our cold hearts. Here are the ten things we’d seriously rather you not do to woo us, plus ten gestures that really will turn us to mush.

Things That Are Intended To Be Romantic But Provoke Gag Reflex
1. Having your date get down on his knees at a movie theater and serenade you to New Edition’s “Mr. Telephone Man”.
2. Having your date order for you (um maybe I wanted the chicken?)
3. Rolling in money “Indecent Proposal” style.  Money is one of the dirtiest and most germ-infested things on the planet.

Not long ago, I met a guy that reminded me of that sexy NPR storyteller Ira Glass. Instantly, I fell in nerd-love with this doppelganger. After dating for a while, though, we realized we had only one thing in common: sex. So we decided to be friends with benefits. According to a Michigan State University study, sixty-percent of college co-eds have been involved in an FWB relationship, and plenty of my thirty-something girlfriends were doing it to stay satisfied, so I figured I’d give the laid back, no-romantic-attachments approach to getting laid a whirl. A year later, faux-Ira and I still hang out and hump. After our most recent rendezvous last weekend, I began to wonder what I’m doing. What are the real benefits to friends with benefits? Sure, now I have an in-case-of-sexual-emergency-hit-Glass-lookalike. At the same time, I’ve started to realize my situation is causing me to question the meaning of friendship, challenging my chances at romances, and wobbling my emotional stability.

Hey, see that ad to the left? Kind of sad huh? I woke up on my 29th birthday (last Sunday), checked my Facebook profile for birthday well-wishers and saw that ad glaring back at me! It’s been there, non-stop practically, all week, a not-so-subtle reminder that two months prior to my 29th birthday, my fiance broke up with me and I became, yes, ALONE AGAIN. If the accuracy of this particular targeted ad wasn’t so freakishly detailed (how on earth did the tech bots know “a man suddenly pulled away”???) to the point of hilarity, it might actually make me depressed. After the jump, more targeted ad bull crap, on Facebook and Google.

Get your Kleenex ready girls, we’ve got a heartbreaker here. Oscar, a dog, and Arthur, a cat, were totally BFF’s—they were inseparable, even cuddling together every night as they slept. Then Arthur died at the ripe old age of 17. His best friend buried in the backyard, Oscar was inconsolable. So heartbroken was he, that one night he went into the backyard, pulled up Arthur’s remains from his little grave and carried the kitty to his bed and cleaned him up, laying down next to him as he had so many times before. Now that Arthur has been reburied, Oscar’s owners have taken steps to mend his wounded heart—getting him another kitten playmate named Limpet to keep him company. Sniff. Even though there was no way that Oscar and Arthur could ever reproduce, we’re pretty sure that this is the most romantic story we have ever heard. These two beasts were in love in that special way that only interspecies gay lovers can be and that we celebrate. [Metro.co.uk]