identify 100 things that make me happy (besides money)

(3) Free art. Today, I went to a free noon concert put on by CAL. I got to listen to Brahm’s Sonata Number 1 in E minor, op 38 performed by Kevin Lu (cello) and Chen Chen (piano) and hear Tony H. Lin perform Schubert’s Sonata in A major. Both were amazing. This got me thinking how much I love free concerts, free entry to museums, free art shows, little festivals that don’t charge entry that you can just walk around at, looking at friend’s artwork and watching them perform (or even practice). Looking at hand mate artisan work… it’s just so amazing.

*as a subset of Number Three (I don’t want it to count as one of my 100 though, I think I’ll use it as one of the things that made me happy today specifically) I like the nuances of how people applaud when they like things. Some people stand up to applaud, others sit back sort of hunched and raise their arms up above their face and head to clap, while others sit as straight as a tower and clap with an animation that seems child like in its enthusiasm. Some people don’t hardly move and just raise one hand to clap the other. I thought it was unique and it made me smile inwardly at the end of the concert.

(2) The remarkable transition between late summer and fall. That moment when all of a sudden the air feels more crisp, maybe there’s that faint smell of fireplace (but also a light touch of charcoal from barbecues). The clouds… and when I notice that the days are getting shorter. When Halloween decorations start making appearances in stores and school supplies are everywhere.

(1) Situations that make me smile at humanity: (1A)The seeing eye dog who guides the middle aged blind man who talks excitedly to his adolescent male friend about how far he’s gotten in Harry Potter and the irreperably damaged prophecies (on BART). (1B)The elderly man in the bright orange sweat absorbant t-shirt and glasses that tote a rearview mirror, who holds onto his black racing bike which has, in place of a bell, a green dinosaur with yellow ‘polkadot’ spikes running down it’s spine and tail (also on BART). (1C) The growing number of people, children and adults alike, who fight relentlessly, while laughing uncontrollably, with the long bent gray foam pirate swords that the craft shop I work at on weekends sells.