List

Not sure what moved me to do this. Maybe it's the tri-faith holiday season creeping in, and that in our ugly, intolerant world, the commonalities and differences on the lists would be comforting. Maybe it's the end of the year, and that thinking about these things can only be good whether you've had a great year or an awful one. Maybe I'm just bored of writing my paper. In any case.

Things that make me happy (in no particular order):

1. Skirts
2. Open bars
3. Switching from shoes to flip-flops in the spring
4. Long distance phone calls from long-held friends
5. Baking
6. Sublime, especially when i haven't heard or thought about them in a long time
7. My boyfriend
8. The fact that he's soon to be my fiance
9. Traveling
10. Hearing my little sister master a piece of music that she's been struggling with for weeks.
11. Dark chocolate
12. My friends
13. Midgets
14. Waking up without a hangover when i thoroughly deserve to have one
15. The middle bits of really, really good books
16. Half-price movie showings
17. Illustrations of the fact that, while awkward and embarrassing in all the ways in which only your family can be, my family is rather cool
18. Good notebooks
19. Feeling like I've finally gotten something, anything, right
20. Realizing that nightmares were nightmares and so no, I did not really sell national secrets.
    

Every once in a while

Once a week, in the hours leading up to and until the completion of Friday prayers, the City breathes. Sidewalks are walkable, roads are drivable, and one's ears are not under assault. The idea of taking a walk does not seem so solidly insane and self-sacrificing. One can think about things they wish to get done, be it work or a change of life-strategy and it seems actually feasible. Possibility. Seems in such short supply these days.