Love — or, at least, lust — was in the air on Ho Plaza yesterday at 12:15 p.m. A group of roughly 20 students lined up to hold a colorful banner that read “QUEER KISSIN’ … in progress” and then proceeded have a queer kiss-in, which lasted about five minutes.

Direct Action to Stop Heterosexism sponsored the event, according to kiss-in participant Ashley McGovern ’09. She explained that heterosexism is “kind of like homophobia except heterosexism has to do with all facets of society … so the normalization of heterosexuality in society.”

A mouthful: A group of students staged a kiss-in on Ho Plaza organized by Direct Action to Stop Heterosexism yesterday.

Dear Z,

“Be Mine?”

Dear “Be Mine?,”

I don’t think that you should expect anything; that way, you will be pleasantly surprised if you get something, but if you don’t there are no hard feelings. From your end of things, it really depends on how you feel about this person.

Only two days until Valentine’s Day! It would be a good assumption to say most of you already have your Valentine’s plans set in stone (maybe you even took the advice of Cheap Dates in last week’s Red Letter Daze), but what if you meet the one tonight?

Does it ever really happen — locking eyes across Johnny O’s and actually getting legit butterflies in your stomach (not just the nausea from one drink too many)? I’ve never experienced it, but I can help with what to do next.

No one wants to be a “clinger,” no one. So you can’t really text your one true love two days after you met and say, “Dinner tonight at John Thomas?” But there is a way to casually initiate the Valentine’s Day date — mixing “spontaneity” and romance.

Valentine’s Day is just around the corner. For those of you with an adventurous side, I’ve compiled a short field guide to dating in the outdoor scene.

The Cold-Smoke Snob

Where to find him: Knee-deep in powder somewhere out West, or in Ithaca, locked in his room pining over pictures of the Rockies and ski movies.

The date: Somewhere cheap with good dark beer (hint: sketchiest looking bar in town).

Pros: Probably has a season pass and can get you a discount on a lift ticket.

Cons: No (girl)friends on a powder day.

The Sport Climber

Where to find her: Rockin’ all the 5.13 routes at the Gunks.

The date: Lindseth/Noyes climbing walls, if you don’t mind being shown up by a girl.

Pros: The body.

Cons: The attitude.

Given the current state of the economy, why not trade overly expensive dessert at a restaurant for a romantic post-meal snack at home? Over the summer, my boyfriend and I discovered the New York Times’ No-Bake Cheesecake recipe, which I’ve tweaked a bit. To give you a sense of how user-friendly this recipe is, let me just say that even boiling ready-made soup is an accomplishment for me.

The cheesecake takes about 20 minutes to assemble, and an additional hour to cool, so it's perfect for you and your date to start making after dinner when you're still full.

To start off with, take eight full graham crackers and crush them in a bowl. I prefer chocolate graham crackers because they taste better. To crush the crackers, pretend you’re angry at someone and mush them with your hands.