Happy Talk

[kelly_chambliss]

Ten Things That Make Me Happy. . . .

(Meme stolen from Rocky and countless others.  As Rocky says, it's important to remember these things [although angst-maven that I am, I may also have to do a "Ten Things That Make Me Anxious" meme, perhaps followed by "Ten Things That Piss Me Off."])

1.  Visiting My Family -- Of course, my family will also feature in the "Ten Things That Piss Me Off" meme, since they're very good at it.  But we're dysfunctional only in the best of senses. We're like symbiants.

2.  Spending Time With My Partner -- The good thing about a long-distance relationship is that, when you finally DO get together, you don't take the time or each other for granted.

3.  Nutella, which at this moment I am eating out of the jar with a spoon.  (I considered just using my finger, but I do have some standards.  Plus, then the keys would get sticky.)

4.  Used Bookstores -- without question my favorite thing in life.  Okay, my favorite thing done in public fully clothed.  There is truly nothing I love more than visiting a used bookstore I've never been in before, when I have no idea what treasures may lurk inside, when the world is once again full of possibility, when my collector's heart's desire may be literally only a few feet away.  If I ever win the lottery, I will spend months doing nothing but traveling to used book stores.

5.  Looking at Family Photos, mine and other people's.  Not even Mr. Peabody invented a Wayback Machine as effective as old pictures.  I love learning who all those people are.

6.  Having Written -- Like (I think) Dorothy Parker, I hate writing, but I love having written.

7.  Weekly Lunch With Colleagues -- We're all busy rushing about most of the time, but several of us make a point of meeting for lunch once a week, where we talk politics (national, global, and [the most bitchy fun] school-related), practice our rapier wit (well, most of the time it's our "blunt instrument" wit, but we try), and argue arcane points of grammar and usage.

8.  Having a Gin and Tonic in a Hotel Lobby Bar -- This tradition began when I attended my first-ever academic conference, about 22 years ago, now.  My dissertation director invited me for a drink in the lobby bar, and I felt like a genuine grown-up for probably the first time ever.  It was an illusion, of course, but one I like to try to recapture.

9.  Really, Really Strong Hot, Black Tea -- I don't absolutely require that the spoon be able to stand upright in my tea, but I wouldn't mind if it did.  Sadly, American tea never even comes close to my standard; whenever I go to the UK, I have to buy about 1,000 bags of Marks & Spencer Extra Strong.  And even that could be a bit more potent, if you ask me.

10.  Being on Stage -- I'm more than a ham; I'm an entire smoked shoulder.  I love performing in public, even though I am not very good at it.  I've done amateur plays and radio drama and even a commercial for a local hospital chemotherapy unit (for which I got paid!  And all I did was sit in a chair with a piece of tubing taped to my hand).  The thrill of that on-stage high never fades.

 

Comments

[rocky-t.livejournal.com]

You have an interesting list! I could *so* get behind a "Ten things that make me seriously annoyed" list. In fact, it was to prevent myself from dwelling on just that sort of thing that I decided to do the "happy" list instead.