Monotony

I've been lacking creative thought the past few days/week. The whole moving/not moving, packing/unpacking thing is enough to warrant a vacation from my everyday life, however I am pretty much stuck in one place for the remainder of the summer. I've been in a state - not depression, exactly, but sadness and uncertainty nonetheless and it is difficult not to bring it to the blog.

I don't like feeling that way and it isn't who I am, so I have been trying to think of the things that make me happiest in life. Some of them are silly and sappy, others are - well, just plain strange. But every one of these things are guaranteed to put me in a better mood:

- Having my cat curled up in my lap, purring. There is something exceptionally soothing about the rhythmic noises a cat makes when they are happy, that somehow lulls me into a similar sense of contentment.

- Traveling. I don't care where I am going, and I don't care how I get there. Bus, car, plane. Ok, maybe not bus - but I would take it over staying at home anyday. If I can't be traveling, I want to be planning my next trip.

- A mug of SmartAss draught and a plate of chicken wings. The pub by my house has the best draught beer, and they offer a platter full of appetizers that kicks ass on most other places. Chicken wings, mini-meatballs, deep fried cheese, onion rings, breaded jalepenos, etc, etc. Soooo goood. Now I am hungry. Since I spend a lot of time alone, it is probably the social aspect of being out at the pub that increases my mood, but either way this is one of my favorite

- Italian meat. Minds out of the gutter, please. When I worked as a catering coordinator for a large hotel, we served an antipasto platter that included the most delicious meat known to man. I still haunt my local deli every week for prosciutto, capicollo, Genoa salami and any other meat that ends in a vowel. I don't really know why this makes me happy, it just does.

- Palm trees. It took 29 years for me to see my first one in person, and I have since started growing potted versions in my house. It is difficult to pass up buying more everytime I go to the store. Something about them just make me happy.

- Music. I love music of all kinds. The style of music I am listening to is a direct reflection of the type of mood I am in. We pay monthly for satellite television, and pretty much the only channels I ever tune into are the music stations. The few times that I can't decide on a particular station - I will just turn on jazz and let it play in the backgroud.

- Coconut and pineapple. The smell of these two things instantly make me happier. I wash my hair with coconut shampoo, and slather on the pineapple cream all day long. Every time I go to the store I buy more products. In fact, this is about the only thing I actually like shopping for. If you ever want to sell me anything, just slap a picture of a coconut on it and I will buy it, regardless of the price. The picture to the left is just a small sample of my ever-increasing collection. Yes, I may smell like a pina colada, but I am sure there are worse things.

- Friends. Can't really have a list of things that make me happy without including my friends. Some of them I see on a regular basis, and others I see only a few times a year which is never enough. I have learned the importance of the phrase "they are only a phone call away" over the years though, and try to stay in contact with as many as possible, even if for only a few minutes at a time. I often find it funny that the people I do talk on a daily basis are the friends of the new millennium, the internet friends. I know more about what is going on in some of the lives of people I have never met than the friends I have had for decades, but that is just the way it is now.

- Reading. Whenever I need to escape what is happening (or not happening) in my life, I turn to books, weblogs, anything that is in print. Sounds so cliche, but there is nothing like slipping into someone else's world for some true escapism.

Well, that is all I can think of off the top of my head. Just thinking of these things makes me a whole lot happier, which in turn make me a better person. I am curious what others do / think of to put themselves in a better state of mind.