I’m thinking of things that make life bearable. Not the obvious stuff but the seemingly inconsequential items we take for granted. For instance:
The round french fry container from Rally’s that fits in a cup holder.
An ice cold beer on a hot summer night
Fireworks
A good massage
A Tigers’ victory
Shoes that fit
Clean underwear
A good nights’ sleep
Lysol spray
Bologna
24-oz coffee cups
I’ll second on the ice cold beer.
Dark Chocolate Ganache.
Unbreakable liquid containers (milk jugs, ketchup bottles)
Nice, thick, white cotton socks
Birkenstocks (but not with the socks :D)
A & W Root Beer
A sunny, 72° day, with a small sea-breeze blowing in.
Third Street Prominade in Santa Monica.
Colorado Boulevard in Pasadena
Chlorine Bleach
Taking a hot, steamy bubble bath in a clean tub, with a jazz station playing on the radio
Denny’s at 3 am
Q-tips
Air
Clocks
Elevators & escalators
Electric razors
Listening to a brand new CD that rocks
Feeling as though the $7.75 you just paid for a movie was worth it
Swimming in the ocean all day and collapsing on the beach
Swimming in Oregon Ridge’s 80-ft deep lake all day, far
away from screaming children and overprotective parents
Clean, dryer-fresh pajamas
The smell of a Yankee Candle Co. Summer Holiday candle
Brand spankin new cotton underoos
Hearing a song you loved as a child
Waking up to sunlight on your face
Spending a day in bed reading
A good book
Laughing at stupid inside jokes
Laughing
Seinfeld reruns
Getting a creative rush and fulfilling it
Sleeping
An Orioles game at the Park on a hot summer evening with good friends
Standing on the east end of Navy Pier with the love of your life and looking west at the skyline of Chicago as the sun sets on a warm summer night.
Guinness in a can
The Far Side
Boondocks
Liberty Meadows
Calvin and Hobbes
Strangers in Paradise
Transmetropolitan
Sandman
iMacs
The Chicago White Sox
sippy cups
hot sauce
sweatpants
cinnamon toast
the library
birds singing in the morning
popcorn
holding hands
A rodeo on a hot July night.
A big warm bed on a cold night.
Vanilla ice cream.
A cold can of Coke.
Hot showers and conditioner
Hugs
Car Radios
Balloons on your birthday
Nail Polish in 4,000 silly and useless colors
The minute and a half a week your tomcat melts in your lab
Remembering how to spell a difficult word or make a computer do something unusual when someone asks
Saying something deep and odd and knowing that the person you said it to understands.
Jeans that fit perfectly
Coming home after being away for a long time
Walking in the rain until you are soaked and then falling asleep
Waking up and knowing that you aren’t going to have a bad day.
A walk on the beach early in the morning before anyone else is there.
A cup of coffee and a beignet at Du Mond on a steamy New Orleans morning.
Crawling into bed after a long day and having the pooch snuggle up next to you on a cool night.
Throwing an empty soda can at the wastebasket from across the room and making a “swish.”
Puppies
Flaming red sunsets
A smile from a stranger
Especially when…
…I’ve had a really bad day and I come through the door and there’s my dog, spinning like a Tasmanian Devil just with the joy of seeing me.
…a friend turns up distressed and in difficulty and you can reassure them, if only for a moment.
…a cold and snowy night, fire in the woodstove, us and our dog cuddled up on the couch together.
…the squeal of glee that only escapes from small children.
…when things aren’t going your way, and when you least expect it, someone slips their hand into yours.
A good shoulder rub after a long day
The Beatles
Snuggling at night with someone you love
Peanut butter M&Ms
Reeses Pieces
Spontaneously popping a boner and the privacy to service said boner
Downloading Mp3’s from porn sites… none of this Napster crap!
Buying a new computer game
Rubbing someone’s nose
Black socks
I sent a little poem to a friend of mine on this very subject, and I shall share it with you now. ahem
Happiness is simple:
hot sauce and beer.
You will know you are alive and so what
if you don’t know God
and everyone on Earth is a shit-throwing monkey.
Surely this is what the preachers
are really talking about.
What makes life wonderful?
Spring training baseball games.
Rainstorms.
A really funny book.
Seemingly innocent flirtation.
A cool, windy night after a hot day.
The chilly, grey overcast days of November.
First kisses
Holding hands
new kittens
my favourite song on the radio
smiles
pasta
the unique shade of blue in an October sky
my cat’s belly–burying my face in it
the last day of school with the endless summer stretching out before you
completing a home improvement project and having that little thrill of surprise the first few times you see it
the first sip of a cold beer on a hot day
tailgating–the football game kind, not the road rage kind
Hugs
Kisses you’re not expecting
holding hands
an unexpected call late at night, just to say “I love you and was thinking about you”
the smell of your daughter’s hair, when she gives you a sneak hug for no reason
my cat, lying on top of me, purring, early in the morning
the smell of meat on the grill wafting in the air on a summer day
finding just the perfect shell on the beach, to remember the day by
getting to the top of the ferris wheel, it stops for a minute, and you can see for miles
I’ve got lots more, but that’s enough for now.
a nice cool evening motercycle ride, with my wife riding her bike beside me.
when any of my kids say ‘I love you Daddy’
double ditto on the ice cold beer.
later, Tom.