This Conversation Seems Like A Dream

100 things.

I've been working on this thing for weeks now. This is one of the assignments I was given by my sponsors for the Blogathon.

First up, the list that Klae requested: 100 things that make me smile.

And believe me, this was way freaking harder than I thought it was going to be. :) (Classified as an essay because it's not exactly babble, really.)

1. The wallet-sized picture of my grandparents, which is in a frame, on my desk at work.
2. The set of mood icons that Leon switched to on Livejournal.
3. Any Sinfest comic which includes Percival and Pooch.
4. Tomato Nation, because Sars has an advice column that is flat out awesome (examples: 'I mean, will you wake up and smell the Jerry Springer?' (last letter), and 'What kind of SORRY-ASS FUCKSTICK greets the news that he's having a daughter by STORMING OUT AND LEAVING HIS PREGNANT WIFE TO GET A CAB?' (last letter)), and she writes some incredibly funny, very insightful, and generally kick-ass stuff.
5. When I get to tell development that something really IS their problem after all, not mine, thank you very much.
6. Any song by the Moody Blues, when it comes on the radio (which is rare, for some reason).
7. My car. Yeah yeah, I know it probably sounds silly, but I love that car. I love the way it drives, I love how quiet it is, the color...most especially the color. I just really love my car. :)
8. Our menagerie of critters.
9. And the stores where we've bought said menagerie of critters.
10. Opening the door to my apartment when I've come home from work, or after a long trip. Just that feeling of home.
11. The thought of how far I've come since I was in high school.
12. Hockey!
13. Basketball.
14. Almost every time I remember I retired from my admin spot on PernMUSH.
15. My mom. Specifically, talking to my mom every Sunday. It's become a ritual, and every few calls, my mom always mentions how great it is that we're such good friends. (Mind you, that makes me smile, *and* it makes me all teary-eyed, but it's all good.)
16. Rain storms. The bigger the better.
17. Seeing the names of my friends come up on the WHO list on Pern.
18. TiVo. I don't really need to explain that one, do I?
19. Our wedding rings, and the thought that, soon, I'll be able to wear mine every day.
20. My friend Matt, who knows me almost as well as I know myself. He just...shines, I guess, I can't really explain it better than that. I'm so blessed that he chooses to share a little of that with me.
21. My digital camera, which I don't use enough.
22. Writing. This might sound strange, but even when I write the really raw, emotional stuff, I still get a lift from it.
23. Reading back over my Blogathon posts. It's so interesting to read back over the things I was thinking throughout the course of the day.
24. College! I register for classes on the day we leave for Boston.
25. Mountains. Or, to be specific, *my* mountains, the ones I grew up surrounded by in Salt Lake City.
26. The beach.
27. This comic from Something Positive, pointed out to me by Yashira on PernMUSH. I snickered a lot. :)
28. The pictures I took of our mini family reunion to Toronto in 2001.
29. A memory, from the trip mentioned above. My cousin Emily, who is very much the snotty and angsty pre-teen (gee, like I was), looking at the Martyr card from the Guillotine deck and professing, "I don't like her!" My mother, laughing as she's walking away, and me, left to shrug and say, "Grown ups."
30. User Friendly.
31. Luann, which I've been reading since I was probably 13 or 14 years old. My nana, Mom's mom, used to clip ones she thought were particularly funny, and send them to me.
32. Every time I say something stupid that makes someone laugh.
33. Live CDs where the crowd is singing so loudly that you can hear them through the microphones.
34. My LiveJournal friends list. Even when it pisses me off, it makes me smile. :)
35. The daily chatter in the Farviewer Chamber.
36. Listening to Hemal and Jole (co-workers) give each other shit.
37. Giving Hemal and Jole shit.
38. Occasionally, I'll get a friendly client rather than a pissy client, and that typically makes me smile.
39. Clients who have a sense of humor. ("Okay! I'll try to go break something else now!")
40. The abject look of horror on the development manager's face when he looks at how big the bug list is. Why does this make me smile? It's kind of a 'HA, take that' kind of thing, y'know? :)
41. Go Fish. Found this blog when I was doing the Blogathon thing. She's since changed her layout a little bit, but she still makes me laugh--especially the tag lines. Mine says, right now, 'I like 'em big, round, and juicy.'
42. Mmm. Togo's #24.
43. Mmmmmmm. Coldstone.
44. Mmmmmmmmmmm. Henry Weinhard's Black Cherry Cream.
45. 7th Sea, which I'm really jonesing to play, after watching Pirates of the Caribbean.
46. Shadowrun, which I haven't played for years, but really love.
47. Journey on my radio, woohoo.
48. A song by Greg Kihn called 'Remember.' I'm not really sure why, either, I just love the guitar work.
49. Good, fun RP.
50. bash.org. Most of the time. :)
51. The Chronicles of George.
52. Krispy Kreme. Dammit.
53. My lucky bamboo plant, on my desk at work. It's growing rather well.
54. The good luck red dragon from Basic Brown Bear Factory. They're usually green, the dragons, but this one was made the last time the Year of the Dragon rolled around--he's all red and orange and stuff.
55. My bug! Brett won a stuffed animal that looks like some sort of stuffed centipede for me, while we were at the Boardwalk in Santa Cruz. He hates it. I love it. :)
56. Yay, Two Towers soundtrack!
57. Fry's, but more for the software and music/DVD section rather than for the TOYS section. :) Of course, the smile is fleeting, because most of the people they staff there seem to be rather, um, hm. Intelligence challenged?
58. The picture I have on my desk, my mom and her sisters, taken back in 1996. Everyone who sees that wonders if those are *my* sisters. All four of them love hearing that.
59. The piece of artwork that's in the guest bathroom--Klae, you know the one I'm talking about.
60. Every time I look at a piece of jewelry that I've made. I love that feeling of accomplishment.
61. Shopping for more beads! :)
62. The TLC show While You Were Out.
63. My friends. I'm sure this goes without saying. :)
64. One of the comics that I have printed out hanging in my cube. PC & Pixel, shows a guy with his elbow propped up on the arm of his chair, staring at his monitor. The monitor says: 'System resources are low. Please close all programs you are not using...Come to think of it--just close all the *@$% programs, turn off all the lights and close the door behind you on the way out.' The caption: 'When computers are having a bad day...'
65. Another comic I printed out years ago, back in 1997. Mother Goose and Grimm. Grimm (I think) is flying along, his tail working furiously, and the first two frames show him with this big shit-eating grin: 'Just keep thinking happy thoughts!' The third frame pans out a little: 'Just keep thinking happy...' Fourth frame: 'THUD!' Grimm is spread-eagled against the nose of the airplane. Doh! :)
66. Hearing Brian talk about his baby.
67. Hearing Vicki talk about her kids.
68. The thought that I don't have to have children if I don't want to, even though I like hearing about other people's kids. ;)
69. You know, I was going to put something at this number here, but I decided not to. Yeah yeah. Be quiet, you pigs. :)
70. Another picture: wallet sized, of my mom, my brother, and I, at Christmas in 2001.
71. Watercourse Way. I am so looking forward to my hour in the hot tub followed by a facial.
72. TC, Brett's old roommate--and mine, however briefly. If you've ever met TC, you won't have to ask why. :)
73. (Wow. This was hard early on, but now, much more so! I'm starting to repeat myself.) This'll sound strange, but...my hair. Though, I am oh so tempted to cut it all off. :)
74. Payday, especially since they only come once a month.
75. Flying in to Seattle--sooo green. Beautiful.
76. That first step outside at Mom's house, up in Washington, when you can really smell all that green, and the faintest hint of salt water.
77. The park where we're getting married. I think I'll be a fairly frequent visitor up there, it's lovely.
78. My flat panel monitor at home.
79. Dean Koontz books.
80. Coming up with new and inventive swear words (or adopting them into the lexicon). Asshat and fuckberry come to mind. :)
81. Every time Patrick Marleau's or Marco Sturm's pictures come up, when I go check the Sharks website. Yeah, blah blah. :)
82. Jimmy Buffett in concert. Okay. Jimmy Buffett in general, but wow, the man is amazing in concert, and if you like his stuff even a little bit, you'll LOVE seeing him live.
83. National Museum of the Civil War Soldier. I've never been there, but I really want to go, and DANG, that looks freaking cool.
84. The pathos plant that I have in the bathroom window, which has really thrived since being put in there. It's huge now.
85. Fark. Even when they say that Duke sucks. :)
86. Robin Williams. Course, it's not so much that he makes me *smile* but that he makes me weep with laughter, but.
87. Identifying a client's problem and providing a fix within half an hour. Go me!
88. The thought that, someday, we'll all get those 'I am hot shit' t-shirts.
89. Dry roasted peanuts. My grandpa used to eat dry roasted peanuts when he drank beer (from the can, with a pile of salt at the top of the can, that he'd lick before taking a sip).
90. Chapstick. My grandma had a picture of me, at four years old, standing up on something and leaning toward the mirror, looking very serious as I put chapstick on my lips. One of these days, I'll get a copy of that picture. This is also why I tend to buy the Chapstick brand more often than anything else. (And, you know, that tub o'Carmex is just not the same.)
91. The sparkly Swarovski Eeyore that I bought myself not long ago. A luxury, when we're budgeting and planning for a wedding, but... :)
92. Which, really, leads to the fact that spending money makes me smile. Bad, maybe, but true.
93. The thought of going to Boston again, and hopefully, getting to play tourist some more.
94. White roses, star lilies, and getting flowers.
95. The way my porch looked when I'd just planted a whole bunch of annuals in pots.
96. The look of absolute pleasure on someone's face they open a gift I've given them, and I find out that it was the perfect thing.
97. The breadmaker we got for our first wedding gift, even if I haven't been able to use it.
98. A glass vase my mom gave me--a red/orange/yellow piece that used to belong to my grandma.
99. My blog template.
100. Brett. I'm sure this needs no explanation.