practice 'Happiness Manifesto' periodically

1) Being able to go deep into the count without panicking.
2) Supremely confident toddlers who have the run of the street or neighborhood and are on a first name basis with all the adults. I wish I had poise like that.
3) Discussions about reality TV shows. Nice catalyst for conversations that end up interesting than the shows.
4) Normal sleep once again.
5) No current hassles with people.

1) Lowering my guard selectively. Dismantling facade, schtick, and persona.
2) Hot dogs and baked beans.
3) My beat-up car passed the emissions test for yet another two years! This is why I love Japan.
4) I think I waste a horrendous amount of time on line, but there are benefits. I’ve been exposed to simpatico people I would not easily encounter. Blogs have given me an insider’s perspective that I would not be privy to. My 4000+ links on del.icio.us are the breadcrumb trail of my curiosity and anxieties.
5) Patronizing smaller businesses instead of corporate sprawl.

1) Take-out food that is still piping hot when you get home.
2) The sheer ludicrousness of my on-line distractions. Why do I, in middle age, peruse things like lists of Boy Scout merit badge requirements?
3) Less people on the road because of high gas prices makes the neighborhood feel like it did ten years ago.
4) Thinking of that Dennis Hopper scene in Blue Velvet whenever I drink Pabst Blue Ribbon.
5) This anecdote about Willie Nelson from an conference on the WELL with his biographer, Joe Nick Patoski:

Willie was being interviewed by a journalist who asked (and I’m paraphrasing), “Are you the leader of the Outlaw Country movement?”, and he replied, “I don’t know if I’m the leader; I just saw a bunch of folks going in one direction so I jumped in front of ‘em.”

1) Ran into someone I haven’t seen awhile who was glad to see me. We had a few laughs.
2) No brooding or mental static.
3) Got my REM sleep back. Without it, two days in a row is a double shift.
4) Conversational shorthand and in-jokes.
5) Nice weather. A day like this erases the slate.

1) Constraints, deadlines, structure, security, habit, routine, and predictability-to at least some degree. This is the first and only time I will admit this.
2) Real momentum, as opposed to the jangly “too much coffee” feeling.
3) Getting sucked into reading online commentary. There were 40+ pages on an episode of House at televisonwithoutpity.com .
4) One upside of the downturn in the economy is that the status symbols of assholes now draw more contempt than envy.
5) Leaving the dirty dishes for tomorrow.

1) Got a phone call from a female friend who obviously rang me while she was on the toilet. The phrase “dumping and dialing” came to mind. I went to Google and found only two entries using that phrase. Damn, so close.

2) Boorishly wolfing down a ton of food at Taco Bell after consuming nothing but black coffee all day.

3) Larry the Cable Guy.

4) Eyelids turned inside out, ear-wiggling, weird demonstrations of double-jointedness, alternating tit flexes, and other stupid body tricks.

5) Multi-level marketing brochures left in toilet stalls. Thought getting in on the ground floor was bad enough.

1) I feel the mental flywheel spinning again after a blah few days leading up to the long weekend.
2) Stopping awhile on the wooden bridge on the nature trail and looking out at the creek. This time I was alone, and wasn’t prodded to keep walking before I lost aerobic points.
3) Bizarre Japanese game shows on cable.
4) Three hidden beers in the fridge.
5) The noise and commotion of kids playing in the street, which I welcome as a sign of life, but my neighbors think is a nuisance.

1) Friends who don’t let me hide, who will look under my rock from time to time to see how I’m doing.
2) Staying head above. Not everybody can these days.
3) Wiseasses.
4) A burst of focus and energy. I’ll take it when I can get it.
5) Not getting stabbed after leaving my Leatherman Micra in my front pocket with the blade out for a few hours.

1) I’m on a cooking jag these days.
2) The bicycle race scene in the Iranian film, The Day I Became a Woman.
3) An local upscale supermarket chain sells fresh herbs by weight, in any quantity. I got all the herbs that I needed for 38 cents, versus having to buy same herbs in bubble packs at $2+ a pop.
4) I’ve been mall-walking during the recent cold spell and have to credit the tenacity of the guy in the cell phone kiosk who tries to sell me a new phone every lap.
5) Being able still to write entries for goals marked off as completed.

1) Economic cushions and safety nets.
2) Laissez-faire neighbors. (They should be. I’m quiet and low-profile.)
3) Online access to simpatico people without having to traverse geographic/social/class barriers.
4) The goofy charm of Amanda Bynes in Hairspray.
5) Cool watches worn by leads in espionage films. I’m not * Matt Damon, but I like the Tag Heuer he wore in The Bourne Ultimatum.