Going home and playing/rough-housing with my three year old son never fails to put me in a better mood, no matter how bad a day I've had.

Art_XIV's advice for the love-lorn Perl programmer:

As far as potential valentines go, you have to remember that love is like playing cards - you keep losing until you win. The catch is that you have to keep trying. If you are rejected, just consider it THEIR loss. It worked for me. :)

Few potential valentines are going to be impressed by the number and/or quality of your CPAN modules, and that's that. Most developer-geeks come in the too scrawny or too fat variety. They tend to be socially awkward, out of contact with their own emotions, and spend wayyy too much time in odd activities like programming (even when they don't have to!!!)/gaming/etc. Most are sarcastic smart-asses. Worst of all, they tend to be mostly/completely oblivious to the romantic 'signals' that others put out.

But never fear, Geeks Need Love Too, and you just have to trust that there are enough potential partners out there that appreciate intelligence, honesty, and loyalty. Even the most wretchedly introverted programmer-geeks manage to find mates on a regular basis, and even manage to breed.

Once you have one that's interested, do actually listen to your valentine when they want to talk, and try hard to understand what is being said. Respond appropriately and sincerely, even though this is a lot of work (lots harder than even XS or JAPHs) and can be irritatingly confusing at times. This is a must.

Take the passion that you put into your code and apply it to your valentine on a regular basis. They'll love you for it.