some nice things

I frequently re-read my blog postings and all the comments that they generate. Mostly I just write about what is on my mind at the end of my day, but exhaustion, hunger, and stress turn my normal thoughts into paragraph after paragraph of complaints about "who done me wrong" and "how stupid is that?". So this evening, in lieu of my usual fussing, I'll mention a handful of things that bring joy.

Okay YES, this is in part because today consisted of nothing I deem interesting enough to share with my online community. And yes, I love making lists like these. Lists can bring joy if you let them...

Cheese brings joy. Jonathan and I spent part of yesterday afternoon strolling through Central Market in Fort Worth. It's this monstrous grocery store of super fresh foods and other specialty items I would have no clue what to do with. Their cheese department (yes, friends...department) fills me with a lust like no other. Brie, feta, gorgonzola, you name it, they've got it. A giant wheel of cheddar weighing several hundred pounds. Little white cubes of I don't know what floating peacefully in oil. Crap I've never even heard of. Truly, a wonderful place. Anyone familiar with the cheese sketch from Monty Python's Flying Circus? They probably have one of every cheese mentioned there. And without the annoying musicians.

The cat brings joy. The few, tiny flickerings of materal instinct in me are directed at the cat. Pets make us do stupid things. One I have discovered is the constant questioning.
"Who's a good kitty?"
"Who's a baby?"
"Who's Mama's good baby?"
Gag me, please. Not only do I (and many others I'm sure) put their pet through the Spanish Inquisition, I feel the need to repeat the question or comment an octave higher. I am consciously aware of how strange it is when I do it, but nevertheless I am compelled.
"Who's my kitty...WHO'S MY KITTY?"
"Oh, you're just a little bitty guy...JUST A LITTLE BITTY GUY!!!" Please, somebody make it stop. But he is the best kitty. Oh yes he is. Ok, enough of that humiliation.



Blogging brings joy. Makes me feel hip and cool. Yeah, that's pretty much it.

Other smaller, more random sources of joy include:

Mah Johngg. A kind of tile board game that little old Chinese ladies play. Over the years, the characters on the tiles have ceased to become what they are and look like letters or objects to me. One little green one I refer to as "fuzzy thing". Another looks like a basket. One has five circles and reminds me of the Purina logo. Right now, "fuzzy thing" is the favorite.

Watching TV with my hand in the waistband of my pants a la Al Bundy. This one is fairly universal, so it needs little explanation.

Earlobes are way fun. When Ronald Reagan died, I learned he had the same fetish. So I suppose I'm in good company.

"Pour Some Sugar on Me" by Def Leppard. Back in college, it always seemed to come on the radio when Jonathan and I were in the car together. We consider it "our song". Would've walked down the aisle to it, but I doubt our families would have thought much of that.

So that's a teensy selection of wonderful things. See, Amanda? Your crabby/just ate too much/i-can't-believe-its-already-10:30 disposition is now a bit more on the positive side. Perhaps I should write like this more often.