Decagon of Happiness

The Redhead tagged me in the "10 Things that Make Me Happy" meme that's been going around lately, and since it's been a while since I followed the crowd, I thought I would give this one a chance. Here, then, in no particular order, are ten things which give me warm fuzzies.

• My cats. My faithful feline companions, Darwin and Bouhaki. They give me unconditional love no matter what. If it wasn't for them I would be very lonely.
  

• Girl Scout Cookies. It's that time of year again, when I can indulge my annual craving for Tagalongs (Peanut Butter Patties) and Samoas (Caramel DeLites). It should shock no one that I can eat an entire box of Tagalongs at once if I feel like it.
  

• The owner of this foot.

• Running. I am more enthralled with running that I ever have been, and good thing, too, because I will be running the Boston Marathon in 12 weeks. After a 15-year hiatus I began running again in 2006 and never looked back. I have now run 3 marathons and hope to run many more. I finally think of myself as "a runner" more than anything else. If someone asks me what I do, I say, "I run."
  

• Beer. Sometimes I can't believe I only drank beer a handful of times in college. My, how things have changed! I feel so fortunate to live in a state which has a vibrant craft brewing industry. Within 90 minutes of my house I can visit Michigan Brewing, Original Gravity, Dark Horse, Bell's, Arcadia, Jolly Pumpkin, Copper Canyon, Atwater Block, Motor City, Kuhnhenn, Bastone, Rochester Mills, Arbor Brewing, Grizzly Peak, Dragonmead, CJ's, Fort Street, Royal Oak, Woodward Avenue, and Sherwood.
  

• My family.

• My farm share. I joined my CSA farm in 2008 and quickly drowned in a sea of vegatables. I learned how delicious braised collard greens are, what kohlrabi is, how to roast Brussels sprouts, and that beets make an amazing addition to chocolate cake. I love my farm share!

• Singing. I love to sing. If I could be or do anything, I would be a professional singer. Taking voice lessons and learning how to sing classical repertoire has been one of the great achievements of my adult life. When I began taking lessons in 2003 I had no idea what was going to happen. I just knew that if I never took lessons, I would never know if I had a voice buried somewhere inside me. To my surprise and great pleasure, I discovered I did have a voice.

• Rocks. My educational background is in geology and I still get excited about a really good outcrop. Michigan has a dearth of outcrops, so I take what I can get. Those who know me well know how I get when I see a really good boulder. (Picture taken at Guadelupe National Park, Texas.)

• Live music. I am obsessed with music, and I go to concerts whenever possible. Last year I saw Andrew Bird (twice), Neko Case (twice), Animal Collective, Grizzly Bear, Sufjan Stevens, Great Lake Swimmers, Over the Rhine, Blind Pilot, and Fleet Foxes. In the next couple of months I will be going to two live opera performances, Kings of Convenience, Horse Feathers, Spoon, Deerhunter, Bear in Heaven, and the XX. That takes me up to early April. Who knows what the rest of 2010 will bring? Of course, no mention of live music in 2009 can omit "The One That Got Away," the Depeche Mode concert I was supposed to attend during my vacation in August. That was the concert which got canceled the night before the performance, the concert I bought my ticket for in March, the concert I went all the way to California to see. I consoled myself by roasting in the sun and drinking beer.