list three things every day that made me happy

Friday, May 18

1) I found my old boss from ten years ago on LinkedIn…

2) I went birding at the Sepulveda Basin Wildlife Reserve after work. There was not much interesting except some very protective killdeer and black-necked stilts actively guarding their nests on the islands in the river…

3) Getting packed for my trip this weekend to San Francisco… It’s easy to pack when it’s only for a couple of days…

Thursday, May 17

1) My coworker’s presentation, the one he had rehearsed with me yesterday, went well…

2) A Korean dinner at Mapo Restaurant in Koreatown (see the photo I took)...

3) Watching the season finale of “Grey’s Anatomy”... I was sad to see Lexie get killed off, but I liked all of the other characters on the plane more and was glad it wasn’t any of them…

Wednesday, May 16

1) Another morning riding the train and bus to work. I wasn’t happy about that but this time, however, I had a seat the entire way…

2) Taking a coworker who is transferring to another department next week out to lunch at Lala’s Argentine Grill on Melrose. He had to drive us there though…

3) Helping that same coworker rehearse the presentation he was going to give before the whole department tomorrow…

Tuesday, May 15

1) I took the train and bus to work this morning out of fear that my car was close to breaking down altogether… Public transportation in LA is not fun. I had to stand the entire hour and a half to work occasionally having to hold the rail after who knows how many people had put their disgusting hands on it after touching who knows what, but I have to admit that it did beat the possibly of getting stranded somewhere…

2) I had recently been asked to cover some duties of a couple of coworkers who due to family emergencies had to suddenly be out of the office. I was so exhausted at the end of the day that I was almost glad that I was using public transportation and not driving myself through traffic…

3) Spending some time online researching new cars…

Monday, May 14

1) Starting the new work week more energetically than how I ended the last one…

2) Birding at the Sepulveda Basin after work. There was not much interesting to see, but it was better to stop there than just to go home…

3) My car was getting noticeably worse, but it still made it home…

Sunday, May 13

1) Lunch with Andrew at the California Canteen near Universal City…

2) More car shopping this afternoon, but I was still no more closer to a decision…

3) Watching the finale of “Desperate Housewives”. The episode was not so bad despite this last season having been sloppily thrown together with lots of loose ends in several storylines…

Saturday, May 12

1) Hiking and birding at Placerita Canyon State Park for the seventh week in a row. It wasn’t initially my intention to come here again this week as I had hoped to go further into the mountains, but that was not possible given the deteriorating condition of my car. In fact, my car barely even made it here and back. Anyway, I did have a nice time and met one of the leaders of the Pasadena Audubon Society (see the collage of photos I took during today’s hike; the bird in the lower left is a Cassin’s vireo)...

2) Andrew took me to go look at and test drive a variety of different cars. I narrowed my options down to two possibilities, but I was still at the end of the day undecided…

3) From the morning hike and thinking about cars, I was left really exhausted and fell asleep before 9 PM…

Friday, May 11

1) A nice conversation with the security guard at my office…

2) I felt kind of exhausted for some reason so I was glad that work wasn’t too onerous today…

3) Birding at the Sepulveda Basin after work. Hammond’s flycatcher and yellow-breasted chat were new for me at this location, but I was only able to hear them and not actually see them…

Thursday, May 10

1) After leaving the office, I saw a report on the local listserv of a white-eyed vireo that was found just today at El Segundo Library Park. I quickly made my way there where a few other birders were already trying to relocate it. After half an hour of waiting I spotted it in one of the trees where it had previously been seen. I got some decent photos of it. White-eyed vireo, a common bird in the East but rare in the West, was a new addition to my life list as well as species #277 on the list of birds I have seen in Los Angeles County in 2012…

2) Dinner at the Korean mall…

3) Watching a rerun of “The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show” before going to bed…

Wednesday, May 9

1) Running this morning… I could feel myself less stressed after the run despite still having to deal with issues at work and car problems…

2) A quiet day…

3) Going to bed early… I think running in the morning helped me not to be too anxious…

Tuesday, May 8

1) I took my car in for an oil change and to check out the problems I’d recently been having with it, and I was told that I would need to spend $5500 to replace the transmission, an amount that was more than the Blue Book value of my car. That was not the news that I wanted to hear, but at least the car was still running so I would have time to look for another one albeit not much time before it might die…

2) Dinner at the Falafel Palace in Northridge where I hadn’t been in a while… I had the grape leaves plate…

3) Andrew said he would help me look for a new car this weekend… I don’t enjoy talking to car salesmen, especially not by myself…

Monday, May 7

1) It was very hot today, so it wasn’t so bad having to stay inside most of the day…

2) Seeing a green heron during a brief stop at the Sepulveda Basin (see the photo I took)...

3) Getting a lot done and feeling productive…

Sunday, May 6

1) Going to the Lancaster Sewage Ponds early this morning to see some spring migrants that were reported there yesterday. I added black tern (species #275) and red-necked phalarope (species #276) to my 2012 county year list… I was a little bit worried that my car would have difficulty getting to Lancaster given the problems I was recently having with it, but it made it there and back okay…

2) Listening to news on the radio I heard that former New Mexico governor Gary Johnson had won the Libertarian Party nomination for President. I was pleased with that result, and Gary Johnson will likely get my vote this November. Why? Because Democrats are wrong on economic issues, and Republicans are wrong on cultural issues, and I don’t feel like trying to choose between them this time…

3) Lunch with Andrew at Follow Your Heart, the vegetarian restaurant and market in Canoga Park… I also picked up some groceries while at the store…

Saturday, May 5

1) Birding at Placerita Canyon State Park this morning and adding Cassin’s vireo (species #273) and Swainson’s thrush (species #274) to my 2012 Los Angeles County year list. I was particularly happy about these birds since I had missed getting them on my 2011 list last year… I ended up hiking all the way up the Los Pinetos Trail, gaining over a thousand feet in elevation, to the summit of the hill where you could see the San Fernando Valley on one side and the Santa Clarita Valley on the other side (see the collage of photos I took during my hike; the bird in the lower left is a pacific-slope flycatcher)...

2) For some unknown reason my car was acting up a little during the drive back, having a hard time accelerating after coming to a stop. Fortunately, my car made it home without incident…

3) Dinner at Amer’s Falafel in Encino (I guess that it’s officially called California Mediterranean Grill now) while reading an article about Dita Von Teese in the LA Weekly...

Friday, May 4

1) Running this morning…

2) Birding at O’Melveny Park looking for spring migrants. Of moderate interest was a MacGillivray’s warbler near the creek that was soaking wet, a Townsend’s warbler in the pines and a Lawrence’s goldfinch on the grass…

3) The moon was full or practically full and so bright tonight. I had vaguely heard that it was at its closest point or almost closest point that it would be to earth in quite some time. Fortunately, it wasn’t cloudy…

Thursday, May 3

1) Running this morning…

2) Being able to focus and concentrate more being away from office distractions working some at home today…

3) Birding at Lake Balboa this afternoon though I couldn’t see the northern cardinal that I heard calling…

Wednesday, May 2

1) Being able to delegate some work to someone else…

2) Feeling better about work than I had over the previous few days…

3) A stop at the Sepulveda Basin after work today didn’t yield any interesting birds, but it was nice to check anyway… It’s obvious that the peak of spring migration has passed…

Tuesday, May 1

1) When I woke up this morning the clock said 8:34, a time at which I should already have been at work. I was in a panic and just rolled out of bed, threw on some clothes and made it to the office in an hour and ten minutes after battling horrendous traffic…

2) There were some “May Day” protesters on the street on Wilshire Blvd near the intersection with La Brea… I don’t think I agreed with what they were protesting, but they were mildly entertaining to watch nonetheless (see the photo I took of one of their buses)...

3) A meeting that I thought would be contentious went surprisingly better than expected… I got everything I wanted…

Happy May, by the way…

Monday, April 30

1) Being assertive and standing up for my needs rather than just rolling over and accommodating someone who only cared about their own needs…

2) Seeing a snowy plover on the river bank at the Sepulveda Basin Wildlife Reserve during a stop after work… Snowy plovers are very rare away from the coast and from desert migration spots so it was a real treat to see one there. As far as I can tell, one has never previously been reported at that location…

3) Having a glass of wine after dinner…

Sunday, April 29

1) Birding early in the morning at Placerita Canyon State Park… Although there was nothing new for my year list, a nice variety of warblers was present…

2) Vietnamese food for lunch…

3) Spending most of the afternoon inside reading…

Saturday, April 28

1) Leaving early this morning to go birding at various spots in the Antelope Valley in search of spring migrants. I was not disappointed as I added three new species to my Los Angeles County year list including Forster’s tern (species #270) which I saw in a flooded area beside Highway 14, white-faced ibis (species #271) seventy of which I saw flying over an agricultural area and greater roadrunner (species #272) which I saw beside a ranch house…

2) As I was leaving the parking lot of a strip mall in Lancaster where I stopped to have lunch, I noticed one of my tires was going flat. A guy in the parking lot pointed it out to me and told me how to get to the nearest tire store which was fortunately close by. They were able to patch my tire so I didn’t have to buy a new one…

3) Pakistani food for dinner…

Friday, April 27

1) Conducting two job interviews this afternoon. Actually, the happy part was getting them over with. They are a lot of work for the interviewer as well, not just for the interviewee…

2) Giving a temporary employee news that not just one but two different departments in the company were interested in offering him a full-time permanent position…

3) Birding and hiking at Placerita Canyon after work (see the photo I took of a spotted towhee I saw there)...

Thursday, April 26

1) A coworker pointed out to me a bird on top of a building asking me what it was. It turned out to be an owl statue used to scare away pigeons. My coworker was a little bit embarrassed that the bird was fake…

2) Free pizza during a lunch time meeting. It’s nice to have food provided if you have to sit through a meeting during lunch…

3) I sat through a poorly planned teleconference this afternoon that turned out to be a complete waste of time. Fortunately, because the meeting was a teleconference I could do other stuff while the people on the line were jabbering away nonsense…

Wednesday, April 25

1) Seeing baby ducks following their mother this morning at the Sepulveda Basin Wildlife Reserve…

2) Acting as a mentor and giving advice to a temporary entry-level worker regarding an interview within the company for a permanent position…

3) Receiving a phone call from my brother and talking about politics… He decided to stay in school an extra semester to finish a double major in theater and economics rather than just minoring in economics…

Tuesday, April 24

1) I sneaked back to Kenneth Hahn Park during my lunch break today in hopes of finding the field sparrow that I couldn’t find yesterday evening. This time the bird was extremely easy to find, and I was able to point it out to some other birders who had arrived at the scene during my brief stay. Field sparrow was a new addition to my life list as well as species #267 on my 2012 county year list…

2) I stopped at the jetties at Playa del Rey after work and found among the rocks a wandering tattler, species #268 on my county year list…

3) Thai food for dinner. I made it home this time before the restaurant closed…

Monday, April 23

1) When I arrived at the office, I held a door open for a coworker when I didn’t want to. It wasn’t so much the door I minded but rather I just didn’t want to run into her because I hadn’t yet finished some work that she needed from me. She did thank me for holding the door open for her but then of course asked me when she was going to get that file I owed her…

2) A field sparrow, which is a common bird in the Southeast but extremely rare here in the West, was seen at Kenneth Hahn Park not too far from my office. I headed there straight after work and staked out the spots where the bird had been seen. I was even joined by the couple who had initially found the bird. They had seen the bird earlier in the day, but as the evening came the field sparrow did not show up during my visit. I did, however, get to add Brewer’s sparrow (species #266) to my 2012 Los Angeles County year list…

3) By the time I got home, the Thai restaurant near my apartment was already closed. I decided to try the nearby Mexican restaurant I had never been to before because I thought it looked too dumpy. Actually, the food turned out to be decent. I’ll probably be back…

Sunday, April 22

1) Birding at Hansen Dam this morning and adding yellow-breasted chat (species #265) to my 2012 county year list… Also, I got a cool shot of an osprey with a fish (see the photo I took)...

2) The afternoon turned out to be really hot, so it was nice to have a quiet afternoon in…

3) I was tired and achy and so went to bed a couple of hours earlier than normal, falling asleep watching “Three’s Company” reruns…

Saturday, April 21

1) Birding at Sand Dune Park in Manhattan Beach this morning… It would have been fun to run up the dune, but my body was just too worn down from the hill running and hiking of the past couple of days that I wasn’t up to doing something as strenuous. Anyway, when I arrived there was already a small group of birders, some of whom I had encountered at various other places before, looking at warblers in the tallest silk oak tree. I was able to add hermit warbler (species #263#264) and hooded oriole (species #264#265) to my 2012 county year list…

2) I overheard two old ladies talking about being old. One of them said that age is a “state of mind”. The other said no that it isn’t, but that it is “the state of your body”... I think that they both have valid points; you can have the best attitude but you still can’t deny the limitations of your body…

3) Dinner this evening at Amer’s Falafel in Encino, where I had a bottle of Nesher Malt, an Israeli non-alcoholic beer. I love that stuff, but I can’t seem to find it in any supermarket. I guess I’ll have to check a specifically Israeli market…

Friday, April 20

1) The security guard at work was taking pictures of me with her camera. She kept trying to get me to smile, but my best smiles were always between takes… She said she’ll keep trying…

2) As I was walking down the stairs leaving the office, a guy with whom I have hardly ever interacted smiled and warmly wished me to have a good weekend as if we were close…

3) Hiking after work at the Walker Ranch area of Placerita Canyon State Park (see the photo I took there of a red-shouldered hawk in flight). I added lazuli bunting (species #262#263) to my 2012 county year list, despite the commotion of a group of boy scouts setting up camp in the area… It was nice to escape the noise and heat and hike up the trail alongside the creek in the shaded canyon to the waterfall…

Thursday, April 19

1) Getting laundry done very early in the morning…

2) A quick stop at Lake Balboa before work yielded my first blue grosbeak of the year, species #261#262 on my 2012 year list of the birds I’ve observed in Los Angeles County…

3) Trail running at Griffith Park after work and enjoying the amazing views of the city below… I didn’t run any other weekday this week, but I was glad this was the one run I did. I feel the hill training is making me stronger… I was worried it would be too hot, and while in the office this afternoon I tried to hydrate really well. It turned out not to be so bad, but I probably should have carried some water with me during the run…

Wednesday, April 18

1) One of the baristas at Starbucks asked me my name, and when I told him he said he knew it subconsciously but that sometimes his subconsciousness takes time to catch up to his consciousness…

2) There were lots of Lawrence’s goldfinches at the Hansen Dam today where I went after work. I was able to photograph a male and a female together feeding on the flowering fiddlenecks (see the attached photo, male on the right and female on the left). I wonder if they are a breeding pair…

3) There was a moth in my apartment. I opened the door and it quickly flew out. That was a much better alternative than swatting it…

Tuesday, April 17

1) During lunch I asked one coworker if she had ever worked in academia, and another coworker listening to the conversation thought that “Academia” was another company…

2) Today was kind of rough and exhausting and the heavy post-spring break traffic didn’t help much, so it was nice to have some time at the Sepulveda Basin Wildlife Reserve on the way home. I didn’t see anything special in terms of birds, but it was a beautiful spring day and it was peaceful…

3) Falling asleep about an hour earlier than normal…

Monday, April 16

1) Making it back to my car which was parked in front of an expired meter before getting a ticket…

2) I felt like I was in meetings most of the day and thus didn’t accomplish much… At least I could say that another Monday back at work was over…

3) Visiting Malibu Lagoon after work. Fortunately there weren’t many people though unfortunately there were also not many birds around. Nevertheless, I still added another bird to my 2012 Los Angeles County year list: species #260#261, the semipalmated plover…

Sunday, April 15

1) Running a 10K this morning and achieving a new personal record… I will post the entry I wrote about this race under my goal to “run a 10K” during the second week of May when the photos from this event are to be available; beats me why it takes so long…

2) An afternoon nap…

3) Watching “GCB” late tonight while eating a pomegranate for dessert…

Saturday, April 14

1) I went birding early this morning at Apollo Park near Lancaster, sort of a “desert oasis” in search of spring migrants. It was so cold and very windy. My hands still froze beneath my gloves. There was not an impressive variety of birds, but I did add bank swallow (species #256) to my 2012 Los Angeles County year list. Bank swallow was also a new bird on my life list. Actually, the variety of swallows was impressive as six species were present (see the photo I took). I additionally added western wood-pewee (species #257) and yellow-headed blackbird (species #257#258) to my year list, four of which I saw while I was driving out of the parking lot…

2) I stopped at Vasquez Rocks Park near Agua Dulce in between birding stops. The rock formations there are very cool, almost making me feel like I don’t need to go to the Grand Canyon (although that might be a bit of an overstatement)...

3) Birding in the early afternoon at in the Walker Ranch area of Placerita Canyon State Park. There was an amazing number of warblers in the oak trees. I counted seven species of warbler of which there were dozens of some of the species. I added MacGillivray’s warbler (species #258#259) and warbling vireo (species #259#260) to my 2012 county year list…

Friday, April 13

1) Eating fresh blackberries for breakfast with my oatmeal…

2) It was raining so hard early this afternoon, even with thunder and lightning… Since it wasn’t practical to go for a walk, I just sat in my car during my lunch break reading. I saw a flock of cedar waxwings flying around in the nearby neighborhood…

3) The rain was subsiding by late afternoon so that fortunately I was able to stop at the Sepulveda Basin Wildlife Reserve after work on my way home. Added western wood-peweeolive-sided flycatcher (#254) and Vaux’s swift (#255) to my 2012 Los Angeles County year list…

EDIT: After more carefully reviewing my photos from this day, I realized that I had misidentified the olive-sided flycatcher I had seen as a western wood-pewee. I ended up seeing my first western wood-pewee of the year the next day.

Thursday, April 12

1) Though I had to stay late for a meeting, I still made it out with enough daylight and before the rain started to do some hill running at Griffith Park…

2) Dinner in Koreatown at the Mapo Restaurant, where I hadn’t been to in a few months…

3) Watching the latest episode of “Grey’s Anatomy” while eating a pomegranate for dessert…

Wednesday, April 11

1) The rain hadn’t started yet when I drove to work this morning…

2) Sitting in my car during lunch watching the rain…

3) The rain had mostly moved out by the time I left work, so I could go hiking and birding at O’Melveny Park in Granada Hills early this evening. It was still cloudy and windy so the birding wasn’t that great, but I still caught a glimpse of a peregrine falcon perched high on a cliff…