Pick-Me-Up

60 Things that Make me Appreciate Life

1. NaNoWriMo

2. Hot chocolate on a cold day

3. puppies/kitties/anything small, soft, and cudly

4. stuffed animals

5. knitting

6. friends

7. group activities that involve public humiliation but are so funny that no one who's supposed to be humiliated actually cares

8. Humanities and the ability to for once be placed in a class where the focus is on thinking

9. writing stories

10. writing good stories

11. traveling through Europe

12. my laptop with all its techie gadgets (though most people still have more)

13. the right to vote once I turn 18

14. the right to speak my mind about whatever I want, provided that I use discretion where necessary

15. playing the piano and getting the piece I've been working on for forever to finally sound right

16. singing in the shower and feeling like I've hit all the right notes, even if I haven't

17. understanding things

18. understanding math

19. camaraderie in unlikely places, from unknown faces

20. love

21. Christmas

22. the ocean

23. the sky filled with the moon and thousands upon thousands upon thousands of stars

24. the smell of the pavement after a rain

25. the sound of thunder

26. caramel

27. warm blankets

28. accomplishing a long-held goal, like when I wrote my novel last November

29. musical theater

30. San Francisco

31. Stanford

32. road trips to unknown places

33. field trips to see the Lion King and Wicked, and Berkeley and UCLA

34. the way that dew covers grass in the morning and makes it look silver

35. really thick fog

36. honesty when it's not required

37. laughter

38. when kids say things that are really profound

39. optimism

40. the right to public protest

41. lying out in the sun with my eyes closed and feeling the warmth on my skin, without having to worry about getting a sunburn

42. the insane number of languages there are out there that I want to learn

43. quantum physics and string theory and all of those other things I don't understand but am still intrigued by

44. X-Files

45. The Nanny (the TV show), especially when Fran starts to act like my aunt (or occasionally vice-versa)

46. tales of unexpected consequences

47. when true love conquers all -- especially when "all" is quite a lot -- even if it's only in the books or the movies

48. when a large group of people gather together and sing the same song, whether or not it's being sung well

49. the concept of "the Force"

50. people I respect and admire

51. Julie E. Czerneda and her writing

52. planning surprises for other people

53. writers' workshops where the participants are competent

54. reading aloud or being read aloud to

55. participating in a play or other dramatic performance

56. cafes and coffee shops

57. bookstores

58. old leather-bound tomes written on parchment

59. encouragement and complements from an unlikely source

60. respect