Simple Joys in Life

I remember a few years back there was a published book called 14,000 Things to Be Happy About:http://www.amazon.com/14-000-Things-Happy-About/dp/0894803700/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2/104-4427841-0086322?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1185844946&sr=8-2
My friend's mom owned it and we used to make fun of the book. They had things such as (from Amazon excerpt): "pajamas at breakfast," "the feel of rug under bare feet," and "the position of your head as you bite into a taco." We thought it was hilarious that Lisa's mom had this book. She would even highlight all of the "happy things" she had experienced. It seemed kind of wishy-washy and hippieish...a "mom" kind of book.

Years later, I found the book at a garage sale or used book sale and picked up a copy. Am not sure where it is not though.

Driving to Montclair today, I had a happy moment... and there were a few more by the end of the evening. This kind of experience is a rarity when you're driving on a highway that, no matter what time it is, still seems to be congested and at full capacity.

So this is my mini-list from today---things to be happy about:

1) Driving and sticking your left hand out the driver-side window----palm facing out, feeling the strong wind as it tries to bypass you... getting a steady breeze mixed in with the vents of your car's fan function.

2) Going 70mph on route 46....somehow it happened tonight, I don't know how.

3) Driving along a highway or road and smelling fresh, bakery smells. Tonight there was the scent of baked cinnamon-raisin bread as I drove down the highway. The smell quickly disappeared and was replaced by a combination of fatty butter and old gymsock smells. Oh well, can't win 'em all.

4) Hearing a song on the radio that you do not know the name or artist of, but simply love....

5) Making friendly, warm eye contact with another driver on the road...maybe even both simultaneously smiling at one another....

Only 13,996 more ideas and I can publish 14,001 Things to Be Happy About...

Feelings on my 27th year

"It's my birthday!!!" (said in an annoying, loud, shrill like that of a 15-year-old wearing an I heart me shirt)

Today did officially suck. No birthday tragedies or anything...just a boring day. Worked at the library from 9-3, scurried to put finishing touches on a presentation/assignment for class, then went to class. Ended up that I didn't have to present tonight afterall because we ran out of time. That was kind of annoying but it's better I got the whole assignment out of the way before the weekend anyway. Will present next week. Tonight we're going to see the midnight showing of The Simpsons movie... since I've watched the show since 4th grade, I feel I owe it to myself to see the movie. I can't believe that show has been on for SO long. I literally grew up with it.

Back to birthday talk...I guess as you get older, birthdays aren't that big of a deal. I know women freak out about getting older; I don't really understand why. No one says just because you're 40, you have to get a "mom haircut" and "let yourself go."

My birthday years have kind of gone backwards actually, in terms of how I regard myself. Ages 14-19 sucked royally. I was fat, had acne, had no sense of style whatsoever, was shy and weak-ish, and had horrible hair. You can tell these years were miserable because my photo album isn't as full as it could be for those given years.

Late 19 and on have been pretty good... I lost weight by basically eating TONS of salad and fruit... and all you can eat sort of regimen... and just feel better about myself. I think I'm less reserved now and even a little bit feisty, at appropriate times. 1st year of teaching was horrible, but other than that, things are fine.

Now at 27, I can look at myself and see an attractive YOUNG woman... both physically and mentally... there's tons of things I want to improve about myself, but not too much I would change if I could.

To repeat that cliche, I've heard countless times (which someone has inevitably written to me via email or bday card): "Hope this year's the best one yet!"

Rainy day dumb DJs

Ok, so today's torrential rainfall warranted some "thematic" music on the radio...something in connection to the weather...maybe the Carpenters' "Rainy Days and Mondays;" perhaps a little bit of "It's Raining Men;" or maybe the most logical Billboard-friendly choice, Rihanna's "Umbrella." Djs are idiots. Instead, I would turn from station to station and hear the same crap...the Chris Daughtry "I'm Coming Home" song; that Pink "U and UR Hand" song [good in step aerobics class, but that's about it]; or Fergie's "Big Girls Don't Cry."

I kind of secretly love rainy days. If I have to work at school, rainy days suck. I get up, make myself look presentable, wear "nice work clothes," and even style my hair--- only to get to work with frizzy hair and raindrops scattered on my clothing. Working at the library during the summer is much better for rainy days... it's a good place to be. Or staying in bed and watching documentaries...or reading...good rainy day activities.

I find "umbrella trends" fascinating. 99% of the males that I saw today were either 1] being macho and walking through the rain torrents as if they didn't notice them or 2] using black, navy blue, or dark grey umbrellas. I saw one guy with an earth-toned plaid umbrella. Based on his umbrella use alone, if I was single, I'd date him.

Ladies run the gammut with the motifs and designs on their umbrellas. Most that I saw today were solid colors. I have a feeling this is an East coast phenomenon. I bet people in Florida use vividly colored umbrellas, or umbrellas with cheesy beach themes. I saw someone today who had a Winnie the Pooh umbrella. I'd bet money that she was an elementary school teacher. You just know. Someone else had this reddish/ivory umbrella that looked like a watercolor painting of a radish.

Me, I used to use a black umbrella. Last week, I turned a new leaf. My new umbrella is black [conservative] with brightly colored polka dots [wild]---a perfect twist for an NJ girl.

(Umbrellas #4, Pastel, by Robert Weinstein )
http://www.robertweinsteinart.com/

Thursday night frenzy

I'm in a frenzy tonight... last class of the week... more homework ADDED to the original syllabus... but it's the END of the week.... I've been drinking a Red Bull before class each night--just because otherwise I feel "out of it." During class, I am usually calm, but focused. When I come home from class, however, I am a spaz. Tonight I feel like going out somewhere (um, karaoke); it's like all my friends have ESP and can sense I am calling them for karaoke-endeavor-requests. I called four people and no one answered their phones :-(

So, instead it's just another evening inside...watching The Office and Scrubs. NBC's Thursday lineup is truly fantastic. Scrubs is amazing because the theme song is a mere 11 or 12 words...

We're watching Smokin' Aces tonight..."movie night." John promised that he will WATCH the movie and not play WOW. He said he might have to occasionally get up from the couch and press the space (aka "jump") key. I'm fine with that. I don't really want to see this movie all that much but Jeremy Piven and Ryan Reynolds are in it...I think I'll survive just fine.

Trembling Blue Stars...and exercise

Felt like listening to a CD...an actual, REAL CD...and not just some digital mix of songs. Actually, despite Itunes and all of the music available online, I still prefer buying CDs; there's something exciting about holding a CD in your hand and discovering the liner notes and inside cover art. Anyway, I went through my CD collection and came upon Trembling Blue Stars' album, Broken by Whispers. Don't know if I have ever listened to the CD straight through, but, damn, what a good name for a band!

Went to the gym tonight. Argh, this blog is becoming "The Exercise Files." Told myself I'd run a mile. It's not like I haven't completed that feat before but during vacation, I was LAZY as could be. I also consumed many soft "Philly-style" pretzels, funnelcakes, pizza, etc. So lately I've been getting back into the gym routine. I go after my night class--get to the gym around 9PM. I find that I exercise REALLY well at that time of day.

Anyway, I huffed, puffed, and probably mouthed a few curse words, but made it through my mile. My legs now have that jellyish feeling running through them. I think that might be a good thing.

Interesting thing about the 9PM timeslot at the gym. There's this other guy who comes in nightly, at the same time as me...or around the same time. He's in his 30s, I guess---I've never been good at the age guessing game. He intrigues me because he looks like a gentle soul: dark hair, dark eyes, calm face. He wears a tshirt tucked into his jogging shorts or sweatpants. I find that odd. I don't know... it just seems to be such a put-together ensemble for the gym. He also wears black sneakers. I've always seen black sneakers as "dorky." Anyway, the fact that we seem to follow the same time routine and even exercise routine (treadmill/elliptical) just intrigues me. I wonder if he eats dinner at 5:00 and before going to the gym pops in a few TV shows on DVD. Just wondering. He looks like he would be named something like Mel. I don't know why. Or maybe James. But a lot of people probably look like they could be named James.

Stop shaking your leg...NOW!

Flash's tail is resting on the keyboard as I type this. Lately, he's been sitting near me whenever I am at the computer. He's been affectionate ever since we got back from vacation. Lola's the direct opposite...she's been distant and kind of bitchy. We think she is going through her "teenage" cat years...Flash went through a similar, unaffectionate phase after he was a kitten.

I've taken a few grad school classes now and some people seem to never change, in regard to habits. In no ranking order, these are the 4 MOST annoying types of classmates to have in a room with you.

1] The Obsessive Highlighter ("highlighter" being used as a noun referring to "one who highlights")
The obsessive highlighters aren't super-abundant in grad school but I know they're out there. These are the people that may be reading in the assigned text before class or following along on a certain page with the professor--- they have the inclination to highlight practically the whole page... so instead of mostly white pages with some "important" pieces of the text highlighted, you instead have a whole page of pink, yellow, green, or orange. And the highlighter (marker this time) makes that irritating squeaky noise, line by line.

2] The Shaker
This is the person who, OF COURSE, is sitting next to YOU and keeps shaking their leg for the whole duration of class. I just want to throw a heavy steel plate on their leg and make them stop.

3] The Quoter
So pretentious...some ignorant ass who really knows or understands nothing, but feels inclined to quote tons of other "thinkers" and "intellectuals." Quotes are fine, substantiating ideas is fine....THE Quoter goes above and beyond...

4] The Insecure Participant
I find it so annoying when someone persistently prefaces a statement, opinion, or viewpoint with something like "I know this is a stupid question, but..." or "I'm probably wrong, but..." I don't know what's up with those people. If you truly think you're most likely wrong or that what you're about to say can be categorized as "stupid," why participate in the first place? Wait for a better moment in the discussion and participate in a non-stupid, correct way. Females tend to fill the insecure participant category more than males. What happened to girl power? Thank god The Spice Girls are reuniting for a tour...

Pedometer nerd

To show my nerd status, let me first say that I enjoy how prefixes and roots create words. For example, the "ped" means "foot" and "meter" refers to "measurement," thus leading to a device that measures footsteps. I guess it was some time last year that there was this real push to get us sedentary Americans to walk more---at least 10,000 steps a day. Pedometers were sold everywhere, real cheap too. For awhile McDonald's even sold a "fitness meal" (kind of like a Happy Meal, but for obese adults instead of the kiddies). I don't know if they still sell it. With the exception of my consumption of McDonald's surged by intoxication a few months ago, I haven't had McDonald's since I saw Super Size Me. Anyway, the fitness meals came with a free pedometer, an incentive to start making the oath to walk 10,000 steps a day and get on track to better fitness.

On a sidenote, I've heard (I think from that Super Size Me doc.) that McDonald's puts sugar in their foods, even their "healthy" foods. Don't know how healthy the fitness meals really are.

Anyway, back to the topic. Ok, on our recent vacation, I drove everyone crazy. I had my pedometer on all the time, seeing if I made the 10,000 step mark. For the most part, I did do the 10,000 steps (5 miles!) daily, just from walking on the boardwalk and walking into town to shop.

I wore my pedometer today to see how much I walk during a typical day. Had a workshop at school and was walking around the building at various times. Had a class at Montclair and was walking around campus, to the bookstore, library, and then to class. At the foodstore, I purposely parked far away so as to walk a little more. It i now 9:15, the end of my walking for the day, and I've only gone 8,717 steps (about 4 miles). I know it's not a big deal and I am obviously getting a bit obsessive, but the whole thing just makes me realize---- if during the "typical" day, I moderately walk around and do not make this 10,000 step minimum, what about people who are truly sedentary? Or what about those days when I stay inside and watched 3 movies in a row, doing nothing else all day? God, no wonder why so many Americans are overweight.

Ok, so I don't have time tonight to fix the under 10,000 step debacle but...I think from now on I am going to make a promise to myself to get in the 10,000 steps daily...the 10,000 steps will NOT include working out at the gym-- that's extra.

What a blah post--although there was some foreshadowing, being that the title of the post was "Pedometer nerd."

'Til another time...

Summer is simply coasting by,...

I can't believe that we're already 3 weeks into summer. I totally cannot complain--I went on vacation to Ocean City, spent my friend's birthday with her in A.C., and went to the beach the other day too. A lot of people don't even get to do that list of things within the whole summer. I just feel the ultimate need to make the most of my free time in the summer.

My summer class starts tonight... was hoping that the professor would have an abbreviated class schedule. We are supposed to meet Monday through Thursday from 5-7pm... according to the course syllabus we will be meeting each one of those nights until the end of the course. I HATE driving on route 46 and driving on route 46 during rush hour (um....a duration of time which begins around 3pm and ends way past 7) is miserable.

John and I have been doing South Beach Diet for almost a week. Even though we've been staying within the "phase 1 menu," I have the feeling that we will somehow defy the diet and either end up gaining weight or just staying what we are. Yesterday I had a binge---ate about 9 sugar-free fudgesicles. I guess that's not much of a binge but I don't think fudgesicle gorge sessions are part of the diet.

You know how you can buy virtually anything online? Case in point: People that play World of Warcraft can actually buy "game money" via ebay... virtual money...it's crazy. Anyway, I wish I could buy self-control online. I could be so much more productive in all facets of my life....