What Makes Me Happy Now

The DivaCup has a Happiness Blog Project and they wanted to know how my view of happiness has evolved over time.

What makes me happy now that I am older?

It is sort of a loaded question isn't it? It reminds me that I am, in fact, older.

I'm not old. I'm only 37. But I'm not 16 anymore. I'm not 21 anymore. I'll never be 30 again. Sometimes I get random back pains and my eyesight is going to hell in a handbasket. I don't heal as quickly as I used to. I cannot subsist on 5 hours of sleep a night and gravity has started doing what it does to my body.

That being said, there are some really wonderful things that go along with being a grown up.

I don't have a curfew anymore.

I can afford good beer, the mid-priced olive oil and the soft toiler paper.

I never have to go to middle school again.

What makes me happy now that I am older? Some of the things are the same. Chocolate ice cream still makes me happy. I continue to love football games. Even though I am a parent, I will inevitably be deeply amused by a little kid saying a curse word. I have never stopped loving to sing - opera, folk, choral music, karaoke, whatever. It all brings me joy. I have always loved reading a good book on the beach. My friends and family still make me happy. I have never stopped liking commission checks. I savor the moment when the airplane wheels first leave the ground. I love finding the perfect pair of jeans - the ones that fit just right.

The most shocking thing of all is that I still enjoy going to loud ass heavy metal concerts all these years later. I thought I would grow out of that, but no, they still make me happy.

There are new things too. I love going out to dinner at a nice restaurant and eating whatever is on the chef's menu. Years ago this would have freaked me out. I used to be such a picky eater. Now I will try anything once.

Except snake.

I love the feeling I get when I just took a really great picture.



Since my twins were born I have learned to love silence. I don't get to experience it very often, but I can now get great pleasure out of my moments of peace.

The last thing, the thing that snuck up on me is writing. Writing used to be something I did to pass classes. I wrote because I had to. I have always loved words, and I was giddy the first time I opened up a thesaurus. Now I write for pleasure, as an exercise, for release and because I think that with my words I can make other people happy.

I guess I am a pretty easy target. Many things make me happy.

You want to know what makes me happy now? All of these things and the word "Zamboni".

Part of bringing happiness to your life is simplifying things so you can enjoy it to

the fullest. What makes you happy? How has your view of happiness evolved

over time? The DivaCup offers a simple, worry free, eco-solution to women

worldwide every month. Not a tampon, not a pad, finally a better way!

www.divacup.com. The DivaCup is donating $100 to Choralis

in the honor of "Sarah and the Goon Squad".

Nintendo Enthused

When I signed up to be a Nintendo Enthusiast I had no idea it would be so cool.

Last week I got a package from Fed Ex. I had no idea what it was.

It was this.

I had no idea what it was.

A huge copy of "Pride and Prejudice"?

Oh, it was huge. See it here next to a regulation length pencil.

I love the novel, but... weird. But wait! This was no book. It was a clever packaging. This was awesome in a box.

With slightly larger than average cat.

With two slightly larger than average cats.

My cats love this for some reason.

Anyway. The DS was awesome, but it was so much more than that. Here is what I was expecting:

I was so happy about this. I've been reading e-books for years. I probably started reading books on my Palm Pilot in 2000, maybe even 1999. From there I eventually moved on to e-reader on my iPhone, to kindle on my iPhone, to an actual Kindle.

When I found out Nintendo was releasing the "game" "100 Classic Books" I thought it would be a fantastic way to finally get around to reading all of those classics that I haven't read yet.

This is no joke. I've been on a quest to read classic literature. Since The Goon Squad was born I've read "Moby Dick", "Pride and Prejudice", "Anna Karenina", "Wuthering Heights", "A Tale of Two Cities", "Emma", "Crime and Punishment", "The Metamorphosis", "Dune", "Lolita", "A Light in August", "Ulysses" and "Heart of Darkness". This allows me to do that and make it fun.

The thing is that I thought they were going to send me the game and I would have to fight my children to use their DSs.

But Nintendo and Brand About Town had my back.

I had no need to worry. They send me a special DS. This is no DS Lite - oh no. This is a DSiXL.

Plus this one is red. Or purple. Whatever. I love it.

But that isn't the coolest part. Check this out:

Cool huh?

I am going to start with "War and Peace".

Now you see why I am enthused.