Lettin' the Sunshine In.

(Borrowing a borrowed page from Ms. Trim's book...before slamming the cover shut!)

Things that make me happy:

• Really well-written prose. I mean, sentences and phrases that just sing, you know? Stuff that I want to read aloud to myself just to savor the sounds of the words like little bite-sized bricks of Hershey chocolate.
• Singing along to the car radio on a sunny afternoon. Something loud and easy-going, like Creedence or the Beatles.
• Hugs. And i'm talking real good hugs--hugs from people who i know really care about me.
• Girls wearing their hair in pigtails.
• Watching "live" baseball of any kind. Sitting in the ballpark with the crowd. Eating a hotdog, preferably.
• Reaching the end of my Sunday School hour feeling like I'm about to drop from exhaustion. That's when I know I'm done and I've done allright.
• Going to the movies.
• Solo road trips, with nothing but the radio and the horizon for company.
• Walking into a hotel room just after checking in--everything perfectly placed, neat and clean, and interesting because it's unfamiliar.
• Starting a new Superman graphic novel.
• Holding hands.
• Chocolate milk.
• Being in love.
• Babies.
• The smell of ink in new books.
• The smell of dust in old books.
• Polaroid cameras.
• Mint-flavored anything.
• Empty work email inboxes.
• Locking my office door on the last day before vacation.
• Overcast winter afternoons that make you bundle up.
• Music montages in offbeat/indie movies.
• "Cubs win! Cubs win! Holy cow!"
• Spending time with my family. (My dad, especially.)
• Overtime shoot-outs at Aeros games.
• Being forgiven.
• Being accepted.
• Being loved.