What makes you happy?

Good coffee

Olives

Fresh basil

Sambas

Oldies

Friends who allow me to be while getting each other's sense of humor

If all else fails, try sex.

xposts

ok, but really happy: feeling loved. singing. dreaming about all the cool stuff i want to do after college (getting a job not being one of them). dinner with family or friends.

my baby daughter

And strangely - Aberfeldy?

They're really good!

Also - Green Gartside!

And beer.

Food, music, friends, mind-bending books about physics.

holy shit. all those things depress the hell out of me.

They're really good!

Aberfeldy are great!

my usb lava lamp; walking the dogs at night; walking past waller creek as I go into my office and seeing fishies, snakes, and squirrels; new yarn.

oh yeah, and

Christmas and Beer.

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e33/rolocoaster/woolywilly.jpg

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e33/rolocoaster/woolywilly2.jpg

i am at a loss

some things are vaguely satisfying, like scratching an itch
some things pass the time
some things that used to make me happy either no longer do or have things that do not make me happy as a prerequisite
some things might theoretically make me happy, but actually are or at least seem wildly unfeasible
that is most things

^
http://www.theonion.com/articles/grown-adult-actually-expects-to-be-happy,19442/

that said, since i got a new stylus for my record player i've been hitting up the shops daily just totally buzzed by flipping thru racks. i don't even purchase anything, i just really dig the "whooph" of air that hits you in the face when you flip through each record.

o yeah, and i like to kiss the girl

That Onion article is a punch to the gut, also hilarious.

i don't even expect to *be* happy, i just want some things that make me occasionally happy pls

It's good to have a few really, really simple things that make you happy on tap for moments like this. Like growing some chives on your windowsill and then putting them on your food and feeling accomplished.

Even if you just put them into a HotPocket(tm) that you microwaved.

New discovery: Basketball makes me happy! I just rediscovered how much I like watching it. (a good distraction from buh snooze NFL lockout talk) also reading about Magic and Bird help me feel love lol

I don't want to sound like a big suckup but the people on ILX make me happy. I like the funky not-exactly- community, the lols, the hugs for people who r sad, and I like not lurking anymore. I don't like the clusterfucks so much and I know that ILX can make ppl sad but overall, I think y'all are bitchin.

feels like everything else in the world is fucked up all to hell so I am taking comfort in tiny small happinesses, or trying very hard to

Mookie, I'm going to hug you now, okay? Don't flinch. <3 u dude

I had a HotPocket(tm) with chives for lunch, in case you were wondering.

i agree still with some of my old posts itt

creative pursuits while occasionally satisfying definitely do not make me happy anymore tho

not really the point of them i guess

Creative pursuits are a lot of genuine pain to make but some v pure pleasure when done.

otm :)

the weather makes me happy lots
im p happy when i think abt things, my life, what ive achieved, the ppl who love me
also just being alive, in the city, surrounded by ppl, at this moment in history
im happiest when i think theres something possible

laurel and mookie make me happy in their very existence. and vegemitegrrl's words here re ilx etc make me happy. and coming to this understanding that life just sometimes hurts so much and yet somehow gets better in the long run if you lean into it, really feel it and be in it. seems the hurt works itself out that way. that actually brings a (non-sadistic) smile to my face. that's not even my optimism talking, just what I've noticed abt struggle and happiness being hand in hand.

Boogie wonderland by earth, wind and fire
Casinos
The opening credits to 'the room'
Grapefruit
Gloves
Makeup
Pinball
People watching
Erotic thrillers

rrrobyn that is really inspiring!

I love the musty smell of a hotel room too

<3 homoII's list II

Pinball OH HELL YES

yeah i think i had this understanding rollin around my head for a while but have finally found ways to articulate it and see that i'd rather ride the struggle, which obv comes in many degrees, than let the struggle ride me. there's a strange comfort in saying 'well here we are aren't we, so check it out' and then a weird happiness eventually extruded.
xps

Lamp otm, the train I take to work now goes outside across a bridge and there are some just outstanding city-scapes in that view, weird angles of tenement buildings full of people having lives, unknown to you, and yet basically just like yours. I treasure that few minutes.

what train laurel? f?

-'70s l.a. movies starring donald sutherland, elliott gould, and/or kris kristofferson
-aged english cheddar
-birds being cute and chirpy
-doing a "body scan" and remembering i'm still all there
-juicy books about music-industry history, including this one: http://www.amazon.com/FM-Rise-Fall-Rock-Radio/dp/0812992652

iatee: the Q.

ah

elevated trainrides definitely make me happy, I feel like people take them for granted!

Aw, Mookie, sending you good vibes right now. If your ears were burning Friday night, it's because a table full of people were saying nice things about you.

Maybe your goal right now should be more of a partial alleviation of sadness rather than some overarching experience of happiness? And if beers would help to that end, I'm available.

I would never take an elevated train for granted! Though they can be quite noisy to walk under. Commuting over the Manhattan Bridge is a special thing indeed.

Lamp otm, the train I take to work now goes outside across a bridge and there are some just outstanding city-scapes in that view, weird angles of tenement buildings full of people having lives, unknown to you, and yet basically just like yours. I treasure that few minutes.

― go peddle your bullshit somewhere else sister (Laurel), Wednesday, March 23, 2011 11:21 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark

YES.

My train does not go over a bridge (sadly) but I love moments like this. Actually, commuting makes me really happy because I'm out and about people watching and doing things in the city with thousands of other people and it makes me feel . . . alive.

just found a can of coke that i thought was empty, but wasn't

that's pretty good

As long as it still contains coke, and not a quarter inch of coke and some cigarette butts.

rock and roll, the moon, my stereo, beer, old instruments, science and stuff, knowing that the world is like so big and we are all so little and like whoa man

no, a full can amid half a dozen empties in my fridge

<3

also, a barometric high hangs over the north sea and it's a fine and clear day of approx 17c in london

Pinball OH HELL YES

― VegemiteGrrl, Thursday, 24 March 2011 03:16 (11 hours ago) Bookmark

moar pinball machines -i havent seen one in years

My new Sox hat.
http://mlb.imageg.net/graphics/product_images/pMLB2-476359dt.jpg

a full can amid half a dozen empties in my fridge

Why do you keep empty coke cans in your fridge?

just found a can of coke that i thought was empty, but wasn't

― kid 606: the nultness (nakhchivan), Thursday, March 24, 2011 10:56 PM (34 minutes ago) Bookmark

flat coke is really good, it's like caramel syrup

sometimes I wonder if the pursuit of happiness is a strictly american concept

the american twist is that it's "the pursuit of owning stuff"

When I read about the "pursuit of happiness" now, I think of 9/11 and bright, talented worthwhile people losing their own life, or losing their loved ones' lives, and how maybe some people ought to stop going on and on as if life is one smooth trajectory, where you ought to live out the plans you made when you graduated from college. I still have people around me who do this, they go on and on about Islamic terrorists but do very little to defend America and I'm not even sure they like their country that much apart from what material benefits come from keeping your job.

So maybe it's an American thing, I don't see British people doing it as much, they seem to love their country more, America has a lot of flag-waving but often articulates no real sense of purpose.

brits are the great patriots of the world imo, nobody loves being british more than the scotchish

flat coke is really good, it's like caramel syrup

― dayo, Thursday, 24 March 2011 15:31 (4 hours ago)

dayommmmm son

the people in my everyday life make me happy. having weekends off makes me happy. early signs of summer, long drives into mountains, table quizzes, long evenings of whiskey and reading, and the way sally o'brien might look at ye, all good lately.

My friends made me hysterically happy on facebook last night -- ask an honest question, get entertained for like 3 hours by the responses.

Being finished with homework
Listening to DEVO
hanging out with great old friends
spring crushes
Fridays

sometimes I wonder if the pursuit of happiness is a strictly american concept

― dayo, Thursday, March 24, 2011 10:32 AM (4 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

Seeing as it is a a key phrase in one of our major founding documents, I would say that yes, it is absolutlely an American concept.

Doesn't mean other folks can't do it too though...

yeah, but ye dont like it when they do, right?

Dukes of Hazzard re-runs on CMT

I would find it a lot easier to pursue my happiness if we had universal health care and 51 weeks of paid vacation like western europe

I'm also onboard for pinball as a source of happiness.

My son and I visited the Pacific Pinball Museum in Alameda, California back in November and it was awesome!

would prefer if all you other types got just happy enough to realize how much your happiness pales in comparison to ours tbh xposts

the one in vegas is pretty amazing

I've been wanting to go there for several years, it looks great.

lol iatee you so bitter, i'm going for a swim and rubdown in my eu-funded private spa

damn you ireland!! we're all jealous of you these days!

oooh snap tbf

Made me happy today:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IavYp6mYLT4

Seeing as it is a a key phrase in one of our major founding documents, I would say that yes, it is absolutlely an American concept.

Doesn't mean other folks can't do it too though...

― Moodles, Friday, March 25, 2011 3:58 AM (3 hours ago) Bookmark

totally! but for a long time I took it for granted that *everybody* in the world was pursuing this

I would say a good % of the planet is 'pursuing happiness' if we use a loose definition of that phrase. but the real difference is in the cultural (/individual) ideas about what constitutes 'happiness'.

yeah I'm wondering what the america definition is

http://express.howstuffworks.com/gif/wq-money-woman.jpg

that is also the chinese definition

commuting makes me really happy because I'm out and about people watching and doing things in the city with thousands of other people and it makes me feel . . . alive.

Totally otm. I love it when little things come together unexpectedly and grab one by the scruff with joy; I was heading home yesterday, looking out of the bus to see a lad on a bicycle keeping effortless pace with cars, and spring sunshine bouncing from office windows like beaten brass. On cue my mp3 player shuffled onto "Bloodbuzz Ohio" and it was one of those moments where the world just lights up.

A beautiful summer morning in the high mountains of the American west, with everything I need sitting in my backpack, a trail to follow and all the time in the world to get where I want to go.

Being outside on a gorgeous day like today

afternoon wine drinking

Being outside on a gorgeous day like today

― check out my malady (San Te), Saturday, 26 March 2011 17:53 (4 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

afternoon wine drinking

― I expected big laughs from "Corky Romano" (brownie), Saturday, 26 March 2011 20:49 (1 hour ago) Bookmark

All this followed by an afternoon nap.

Latte, couch, rainy outside...yay

Right now, what is making me happy is exchanging music with a new friend, both of us suprising each other with things the other had not heard before, and both of us hitting the mark/loving what we hear. That and the anticipation of something new and good, which just won't leave my thoughts all day. :)

:D

w00t for Trayce!

:D :D

Also what makes me happy, similarly to Laurel, was me posting a silly FB post and waking up the next morning to find a multi-post hilarious back and forth from 3 of my friends debating wether or not I'd had illicit secksy man secks with man. Or the singer of Icehouse. It was utterly bizare and thats why I <3 them so.

Animal Kingdom. A perfect movie. It's like a poem. I know it's a very bleak movie. But that's I guess that's how I like it and that's what makes me happy.

Also, LIFE. It's awesome.

Walking in sunlight (reasonably easy to manage) while knowing that my household finances are sound (rather harder for me to manage right now).

Avoided this thread for a while because I had no answer. Mookieproof's revive post otm.

Gotta co-sign Laurel and Trayce...a Dolly Parton clip posted to a friend's wall on FB for her birthday has led to a virtual reunion of all my best friends from college and loads of Dolly Parton YouTube clips...couldn't be happier right now

You okay WmC?

If it helps, both mookies posts and yours make me happy quite often WmC! :)

No crisis, I just don't get much happiness out of my circumstances and don't anticipate them changing for a few years. Just been in 'garbage in, garbage out' stasis for so long that I would totally have to relearn how to have a conversation.

xpost -- thank you, Trayce!

Conversations! Conversations make me happy.

:)

Me too! Conversations are always invigorating and good for the mind.

Old friends make me happy. Never let them go! I got a call from my best friend of 12 years and I can't believe how edifying it is to have such a cool, solid, responsible, bright gal who cares about me in my life.

Thats awesome and I agree!

Whenever any of my oldest friends ping me out of the blue I feel so happy that I have ppl who care. One friend N, he'll just randomly message me on MSN to tell me I rock and he loves me, esp when I've written a blue post on livejournal or something. Even tho hes married now, he'll always make time to say good things. those kind of people in ones life are fucking precious!

today a stranger, this old man bought our table's lunch. me and two other guys from work. Someone who didn't stick another to announce himself. It felt nice and made me happy about people. After work I did a few things that made me happy.
-Making a George Strait playlist
-drove slow/not being in hurry
-Playing Tribe Called Quest at a loud volume
-wrote my daughter a letter that I will give her at a much later date

What makes me happy? that's easy! being healthy, having free time, freedom of choice, freedom of motion and small amount of discretionary income. when I have all of these I usually choose to go camping or hiking in a fairly wild places.

taking a drawing class right now. i spent two hours the other day quietly drawing several objects, trying to get it right, and it was really nice and meditative. felt happy and serene for the first time in a while.