Today I am grateful for…

Wikipedia
I go to wikipedia at least five times a day to look up random facts. I sat in Taco Diner with Kim and learned why cold drinks give you a headache. I wandered through a bar and found out that Dire Straits is NOT a country band, regardless of what a cute brunette claims. I looked up the Radiohead discography, and an article on quasars during the same lunch break. Wikipedia has got to be one of the coolest uses of the internet invented yet: come on folks, a collaborative encyclopedia that is as accurate as Brittanica, with ten times the articles?

my lecture on mental illness and art
Sarah Harder is back in town, and she and I struck up a conversation about mania and art. I got to tell yet another person about Kay Redfield Jamison’s awesome books, and the brilliance of Peter Kramer. I used the word “hypomania” at least five times last night. I’m grateful to have friends who appreciate my intellectual bent.

air conditioning
I keep whining about my folks turning the air down. It struck me today that I ought to be grateful for our central AC. Growing up, we didn’t have central AC, so Texas summers where not fun. Plus, we’re finally getting our remodel at work and they are putting in a giant air conditioner. It makes life in Texas comfortable. AC shouldn’t be taken for granted.