By December 31, 2010: List 100 things that make me happy.

My husband and I have been fostering rabbits for half a year now. (And one kitten who only spent a few days with us.) I’ve always wanted to foster animals and I’m enjoying it tremendously. The way I look at it, I get to have a pet without having to pay for veterinary care (that’s paid for by the shelter/rescue). Plus, I get to “try out” different bunnies. Keeps it new and exciting ;o) And of course I get to actually save a life every now and then (some of those bunnies probably wouldn’t be alive any more if it weren’t for us).

I really enjoy getting to know all the different personalities (from feisty to lovebug and everything in between). And all the little quirks they develop. We are currently fostering our fourth rabbit and they’ve all been so different. One of them made a habit of jumping in and out of our pots and pans at night, making a ruckus and having tons of fun (the pots are stored on an open shelf so they’re easily accessible). These guys really come up with the weirdest ideas, and every day they come up with some funny thing to keep us laughing. It’s also pleasant to come home to a little bunny who wants to be pet and comes up to greet you. Very soothing, after a long difficult day.

The best reward, of course, is to send a bunny on to its new home once whatever “issue” it had has been cleared up. It’s a little sad to see them go, but there’s always another one waiting for a second chance.

My foster bunny needs surgery and expensive surgery at that. The vet has offered to do it for half the regular fee, which is still quite a bit of money. Since the shelter’s medical funds are limited I decided to make a donation, and ask the volunteers for a small donation as well. I figured if just a few people could give ten dollars each we’d be so much closer to our goal.

The response I got blows me away. Less than 24 hours after I sent out my email we have it all covered and we even have money left over. People have pledged ten times what I was hoping for. Along with the money I got good wishes and supportive messages that have brought tears to my eyes. Not only did the volunteers at “my shelter” donate, they also (successfully) asked their relatives and volunteers at other shelters to chip in. I am absolutely speechless.

I guess this is pretty self-explanatory. It’s an awesome feeling to have been working on something for a long time and to finally get it done. Or, to stay on top of something even if it’s hard and I’d rather take the easy way out.

I guess this is a fitting entry this time of year. I love to give to others, more than I like to receive really. The best thing about Christmas, for me, is to admire all the pretty gifts underneath the tree as they appear (we put them under the tree as they arrive so that the week before Christmas it gets a little prettier each day). I love to admire the wrapping papers and bows, and guess what might be hidden underneath, and imagine someone’s surprise when they unwrap them.

I also love to wrap gifts and make them look nice. And, I like to get little gifts to send to friends and family who live far away, and make the packages look nice with lots of different postage stamps and such (I used to love looking at stamps when I was a kid so I am hopeful that the recipients of my gifts might enjoy seeing the stamps, too; call me silly but I enjoy that part tremendously). But the best part about Christmas, for me, is to see others get their gifts (from me or from others) and see the excitement and joy on their faces.

I also like to give gifts during the rest of the year, of course. I’m not one to buy expensive stuff because oftentimes it’s little things that make the coolest gifts. I went on an outing with a friend a while back; we spent a day just walking through a park, chatting, and enjoying life. I took pictures of things she liked and then made her a calendar with the photos so she’ll have a reminder of that beautiful day. I enjoyed every bit of the process; the day spent together, taking the photos and editing them, putting the calendar together, and seeing my friend’s eyes light up when she saw it.

Well I guess this list wouldn’t be complete without the no. 1 thing I use to make myself happy: sugar. It is comforting, a mood elevator (in the short run anyway) and, well… just plain enjoyable.

I am trying very hard to get over my sugar addiction. I believe this may be the toughest addiction to overcome because we are surrounded by the stuff and it’s not really recognized as an addiction (but trust me, it is one). Sugar makes me happy while I consume it, but overall it doesn’t of course… I am overweight, not nearly as healthy as I’d like to be, and, well… dependent on carbs. There you have it. How’s this for an ambivalent entry?!

... But I had to get rid of that “besides money” thing. Money just doesn’t make me happy and I didn’t want my list of goals to include that phrase. So… I reworded it. Am now part of a group of 5 people instead of 900-something ;o)

There are actually few things that make me quite as happy as when they play a song I like on the radio. It’s funny… we have the option these days of buying any song and listening to it whenever we feel like, but it kind of takes the fun out of it :o) There’s something special about a song that comes as a surprise!

Ooops. I just realized I had already listed “movies” in entry 2. Silly me. So I just re-numbered my entries. Leaving both movie entries up because I like ‘em both.

I love to watch movies… mostly arthouse / international / independent ones but I’ll watch a Hollywood movie too if I have to. Unfortunately the movie theaters here aren’t all that great, not a whole lot of good stuff unless you count the odd quality megahit.

Fortunately there’s Netflix which kind of (but not really) replaces a good movie theater. Now when I was living in Europe that was a different thing… In France we were five minutes’ walk from two great movie theaters and they played all those “independent” movies. We went twice a week or more—fun!

I also liked the theaters where I lived in Germany, there were probably a dozen or so cinemas within reach and they all had a great repertoire. Now I will say that I don’t mind watching DVD’s / VHS but a real cinema, with comfy chairs and a big screen, is quite a different experience!

Note to self: need to (re)discover the “indie” theaters in the area. Like the Ken in Kensington, Hillcrest Cinemas in Hillcrest, and the La Paloma in Encinitas (which is a feast for the eyes, on screen as well as off).

A few movies that are worth watching (in no particular order):

• La Haine / Hate (Mathieu Kassovitz)
• Musime si pomahat / Divided We Fall (Jan Hrebejk)
• Around the Bend (Jordan Roberts)
• Jean de Florette & Manon des Sources / Manon of the Spring (Claude Berri)
• Bella Martha / Mostly Martha (Sandra Nettelbeck)
• Bring It On (Peyton Reed)
• Sånger Från Andra Våningen / Songs from the Second Floor (Roy Anderson)
• Lola rennt / Run Lola Run (Tom Tykwer)
• Cidade de Deus / City of God (Katia Lund, Fernando Meirelles)
• The Italian Job (F. Gary Ray)
• Hukkle (Gyorgy Palfi)
• Fucking Amal (Lukas Moodysson)
• A Patch of Blue (Guy Green)
• The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (Peter Jackson)—the other two were good too but I think the first one stands out
• Dead Poets Society (Peter Weir)

... and an honorary mention goes to As Time Goes By, which is not a movie but a TV series, but one of the best things I’ve ever seen on a screen—you can get it on DVD (Sidney Lotterby)

A few famous movies I think are overrated:

• Kolya (Jan Sverak)
• Jenseits der Stille / Beyond Silence (Caroline Link)
• Vertigo (Alfred Hitchcock)
• Merci pour le Chocolat (Claude Chabrol)
• Casablanca (Michael Curtiz)
• La Dolce Vita (Federico Fellini)

I love to read… When I was a kid I would read in bed every night. My bed was right next to the window and I’d pull the curtains away from the window with one hand, and hold the book (which was on the nightstand) with the other. If my mom came into the room I’d let go of the curtain and book and pretend to sleep. I’d read until it got so dark that I couldn’t see anything any more and then I’d go to sleep and continue reading in the morning. I even took small books with me to read on my way to and from school (I walked to school every day). Once a friend of my mom’s saw me reading as I was walking down the street—boy, did I ever catch hell from my mom. And, I read books during class that had nothing to do with school. I just couldn’t get enough of books.

These days I’m often too busy to read as much as I’d like to. Also, I really like to read in bed at night but my husband doesn’t like that at all so I don’t do it much any more… I just go straight to sleep instead. I do miss reading in bed and I think we’ll have to find a better compromise. I do still love to read and need to find more time for it again. Right now I am reading Harry Potter (Year 4, the Goblet of Fire). I blazed through Year 3 in two days and enjoyed it tremendously.

• The Time Traveler’s Wife (Audrey Niffenegger)
• Wit: The Best Things Ever Said (Mark Twain)
• Just Here Trying to Save a Few Lives (Pamela Grim, M.D.)
• Kitchen Table Wisdom: Stories That Heal (Rachel Naomi Remen)
• Harry Potter 1-4 (J.K. Rowling)
• The Dilbert Principle: A Cubicle’s-Eye View of Bosses, Meetings, Management Fads & Other Workplace Afflictions (Scott Adams)

• If Only You Knew How Much I Smell You: True Portraits of Dogs (Roy Blount, Valerie Shaff)
• Nathan the Wise (Gotthold Ephraim Lessing)
• The Secret History (Donna Tartt)
• The Pillars of the Earth (Ken Follett)
• Don’t Shoot the Dog (Karen Pryor)
• Timeline (Michael Crichton)
• Galileo (Bertolt Brecht)
• Meme Santerre (Meme Santerre)

That’s what I call it when I make a cat purr. Kinda like starting up an engine I guess. I love to figure out what it takes to make a cat all cuddly and happy. They get all ecstatic and it’s so nice to watch them enjoy themselves. I especially like it when they knead with their paws and roll around in ecstasy. Cats are cool critters!