being caught in the grip of minutes-long paroxysmal laughter, laughing so uncontrollably hard you can’t breathe and your head hurts.
No matter how shitty the world actually gets, humans will always retain their ability to slip into delusions about the world not sucking.
18 year old girls Argent? Ok. We will speak later. This thread is about nice stuff.
I love my Wife. I do. And she loves me. That is all I need to know.
But let me share…
How dogs sleep -
And what they dream of… Yesterdays hike up to the mine
It was supposed to be sarcastic, originally, but the truth is, if what gives you pleasure is 18-year-old girls, then go for it. They’re old enough to join the Army, and they’re old enough to be in an adult relationship.
My cup of coffee this morning was…exquisite. You know how sometimes the brew is just the right strength and flavor, the temperature is just right, the mix of cream and sugar is in the perfect ratio? That was it.
I drank this perfect cup o’ Joe while reading the Sunday paper and listening to Nora Jones as my cats played a silent game of chase around the ottoman.
Kittens are fluffy.
My sainted aunt was always a bit of an odd duck, and always had any number of penpals around the world. She’s sweet, in a goofily naïve way. I am not particularly sweet, nor goofily naïve. However, thanks to the internet, I find I have any number of penpals around the world, and we mail each other things like candy that you can only get where you are, and sonic screwdrivers, hand-made lampworked glass beads in sports team colours, fridge magnets with four-leafed-clovers in them, gen-u-wine dreamcatchers, and rare dvds. I don’t want to be my goofy aunt, but the presence of so many other odd ducks who want to mail each other strange local objects does make the world a bit nicer.
Mr. S once called me into the kitchen to see the bubbles on his freshly pulled shot of espresso. He was GIGGLING! Over some bubbles burbling in a cup of espresso.
I guess there’s no limit on how small something can be and still amuse.
That’s not true in 100% of cases! Some kittens are fuzzy! Get your facts straight before making such broad generalizations!
And furthermore, some kittens are pointy. (Which is actually a secondary condition which can co-exist with both fluffiness and fuzziness quite nicely.)
As for good things, I am lactose intolerant, and I haven’t had a taste of ice cream in about four years. (Sometimes I’d sneak a little, with predictable ugly results. It’s stupid, but it’s ice cream.) Yesterday I decided to give a try of Trader Joe’s vegan soy ice “cream” and got a quart of cherry chocolate chip. And I ate some today. And ate a little more. And ate a little more. Finally I had to take the container downstairs to the deep freeze so that I wouldn’t eat the whole quart. It’s delicious! It’s splendid! And I wasn’t rolling on the floor in pain an hour later, lamenting having eaten it! I can have ice cream again! 
If you can get it, the stuff made from coconut milk (there are a couple of brands) is even better than the soy stuff. And there are all manner of soy-based ice cream novelties that are just delicious. Tofutti Marry Me bars are to die for.
I quote Cicero (the singer),
Until tomorrow, live for today!
There’s more and more lactose-intollerant-appropiate and diabetic-appropiate and coeliac-appropiate stuff out in the market everyday (also stuff which always was appropiate for those people but whose owners have realized that labeling it so is a Good Idea). That’s a Good Thing both for those with dietary restrictions and for those who want to eat with them.
I’m going back to Scotland in 20 days. Scotland is pretty even when it’s Too Damn Bloody Cold. Spain is pretty, too. Actually, isn’t it amazing how much of the world is pretty?
YouTube! (or, as Lilbro pronounces it, U2B)
Speaking of which, you’re a hetero guy?
Everything will be better tomorrow, even if you don’t understand the lyrics.
Ok, I’m up for that. Thanks!
My sister and her friend who’s visiting from England came over Saturday and helped paint my bedroom (a gorgeous color right on the cusp between lavender and blue, BTW).
It was totally my sister’s idea.
I just ate chicken, veggies and pasta tossed in a heavenly garlic sauce. It was a most scrumpie lunch.
Crayons rule! Get some crayons and take a whiff, they smell so good. The world can’t be all bad if there are crayons.
There is nothing so horrible that cannot be made slightly better with a generous helping of Ice Cream. I’m mildly lactose intolerant and will often pay for my indulgence at a later time. Still, that first taste of ice cream is heaven. (Especially so if it is Ice Cream from Margie’s Candies).
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There are people who love you, whether you know it or not. There are people who would or could love you, whether you know it or not. There are people you haven’t even met yet who will love you. They love you, or will, just because you’re you. It’s reason enough.
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It’s true that life isn’t fair. But bear in mind how often that unfairness works for you. Did you have to walk a mile today to find a handful of food to eat? No? There are millions who have to do this every day. They don’t think it’s fair.
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Read this sentence and camel notice that even though cabbage it contains some irrelevant words you can still tennis read it and rather effortlessly sort out the tractor meaningful words from the junk words. Congratulations! Your brain has just done something the greatest computer in the world can’t do.
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Read a few biographies of famous, successful people (there are short bios all over the internet if you don’t have much time). You’ll see every single one of them suffered countless setbacks, disappointments and a lack of faith/trust from others. No exceptions. If you’re down at the moment, well, so were they once.
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“Don’t mistake the edge of your rut for the horizon.” - James Patterson
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Smile anyway. It makes you feel better. Really, it works.
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Glue a coin to the sidewalk, retire to a safe viewing spot, and watch people try to pick it up. Cheap laugh, but a good one.
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See if you can go somewhere and watch a spider spin a web. It’s fascinating and intriguing on so many levels. Even experts aren’t sure how baby spiders know how to spin webs. It will also make you feel that you’ve never worked so hard in your life as a spider does every time it embarks on this amazing feat of engineering.
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We live in the age of widespread, cheap internet access. We are the first generation to have this wonderful gift. Think of everything it makes possible, including the fact that you can read this.
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No matter who you are, I guarantee that ‘Jozin z bazin’ will cheer you up. Sing along! Do the dance!
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Try counting up all the things you know now that you didn’t know ten years ago. Seriously, you’ve come a long way and learned a lot. Enjoy the adventure, and look forward to all the new stuff you’ll learn in the next ten years!
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However you feel right now, you’re entitled to feel that way. Don’t let anyone tell you different - what the hell do they know anyway? Bask in how you feel and enjoy your entitlement to it.
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Amazon something to a friend for no reason. It doesn’t cost much, and you’ll feel great.
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Spend some time browsing the Lileks website. You’ll feel better. Heres the proof.
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“It will be okay in the end. If it isn’t okay, it isn’t the end.”
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There is lots of war and violence in the world. But the truth is, even now, most people all over the world just lead fairly normal, peaceful lives. Even though there are still serious problems, there has never been more peace in the world than there is now.
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Every day there is a sunrise and a sunset, and both are more beautiful, inspirational and stunning than anyone could imagine, or anyone could paint.
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In the private light of your mind and imagination, you can fly anywhere and do anything. No-one can ever take this away from you.
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There are people around who think up wonderfully funny things and make us laugh. Like the amazing Mitch Hedberg.“Who would make their plants hard to reach? That seems so very mean.”
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We belong to a very impressive species. For thousands of years, we wanted to know how to fly but we couldn’t figure it out. Then in 1903 two guys figured it out and showed how it was done. By 1969, we knew enough to fly to the moon and back. We learn fast! (And we did it without microchips or the internet.)
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We are also the species that figured out irrigation, perspective, wine-making, television, paper, relativity, the printing press, harmonic theory, vaccination, water purification, credit cards, the Hubble telescope, pocket calculators, geostationery satellites, origami, evolutionary theory, ice cream, Pythagoras, open heart surgery, the boomerang, rock music, the plough, written language and how to build cathedrals. Actually, we’re amazing.
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It doesn’t matter who you are, a kitten will always play with you.
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Dealing with complaints? Here’s what a great man once said. “If I were to try to read, much less answer, all the attacks made on me, this shop might as well be closed for any other business. I do the very best I know how - the very best I can, and I mean to keep on doing so until the end. If the end brings me out all right, what is said against me won’t amount to anything. If the end brings me out wrong, ten angels swearing I was right would make no difference.” - Abraham Lincoln
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You have drinkable water from a tap. Enjoy this miracle. 50% of the people in the world do not have this luxury. 98% of all the people who have ever lived did not have this luxury.
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Someone somewhere invented CDs and the internet. Any time you want, you can enjoy the music of Bach. Isn’t this incredible and wonderful?
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It’s always frustrating when we feel we don’t have enough money. It might help to remember there are at least one billion people in the world who have less money than you. It’s true that life can be hard. But it’s also true that it could be a lot harder, and for many people it is.
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We live in the age of cheap and easy air travel. It’s a miracle.
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“Aut Inveniam Viam Aut Faciam” (We shall either find a way or make one)
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Spend a few hours helping out at a hospice. They’ll welcome the help. And you’ll walk out feeling like you haven’t got a problem in the world.