6 Things That Make Me Happy Meme

Lisa tagged me for this meme and, boy, do I ever need to focus on the positive, today. I'm having a bear of a week. Note the kitty who is thinking positive, at left. I found this image online and it's not credited to anyone, so if anyone knows the source I'll be glad to provide the correct info.

6 Things That Make Me Happy

1. Space and Light -- I know, that's two. They go together. I need lots of both or I start to lose it. This is one of those weeks that I could definitely stand to have a big, empty room in which to paint, meditate, read, write or dance. Or, all of the above.

2. Books -- Yes, I suppose you knew that.

3. Critters -- All kinds. I love my cat. I'm quite fond of my kids (big critters, these days). I adore the little anole lizards that are absolutely everywhere around our house. I'm ridiculously infatuated with the hawks hanging out in our neighborhood and . . . shoot, I even like snakes. I just love critters. Except, I could really do without the loose dogs in the neighborhood and the insects that try to invade my house when the humidity hits. Books and critters together are also great, provided we're not talking critters who eat books. This critter is generally safe with books, apart from occasional knocking-over and pulling-off-the-shelf fits:

4. People who send or bring books to my house -- The mailman, the UPS guy, the FedEx dude, the guy in the yellow van. I'm very friendly to these people 'cause they make me happy. People who send books to me are way up there on my adoration list, too, as you might imagine.

5. Travel. Except to places where the natives eat, burn or are puzzled by books. My favorite places to travel have either phenomenal scenery, fascinating history or both. Good book shops are a bonus.

6. Long, hot, great-smelling baths. Fizzies. Bubble bath. Heaven.

7. Pickles. Because it would be boring just to follow the rules and write about 6 things, wouldn't it?

In other news . . .

Still battling sore eyeballs, but I'm reading plenty. Staying off the computer does seem to help a bit. You can see from my sidebar that I can't seem to settle on much of anything. But, I'm having fun with the books I'm reading. The Book of Unholy Mischief is heavy on the senses -- lots of food descriptions. Sometimes it makes me hungry. My friend Paula sent Shadow of Colossus to me (so, obviously, she's on my favorite people list -- actually, she's always way up there on my favorites list) and it grabbed me, immediately. Don't be fooled by the fact that two of those books, The Coasts of Canada and Fear in North Carolina, have been in my sidebar forever. I'm enjoying them; I just haven't been in a non-fiction mood.

I'm still working on the balance concept and if a book doesn't grab me I've got automatic permission to withdraw, so to speak. Fortunately, that's really not happening much at all -- I do have one DNF book to post about . . . just one. I've become a bit more selective when it comes to requesting advance readers and I'm mixing in plenty of other books from the library and my own shelves. 2009 has been a delightful reading year, thus far.

Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day by Winifred Watson arrived from Amazon on Wednesday and it's a quick, light read, so I whipped through it in an evening and plan to watch the movie (I ordered both book and movie, just for fun). Last night, I finished reading For Women Only by Shaunti Feldhahn. I'll try to get those reviewed as soon as humanly possible -- don't forget I'm having a drawing for 4 books about keeping the love alive in marriage. Almost nobody has signed up, so your chances are excellent.

For Women Only is really quite fascinating. My husband and I talked about some of what the author had to say about how men think and I admitted that much of what she discovered in her research was mind-boggling from a female point of view. Huzzybuns had trouble maintaining eye contact while discussing how he thinks, but in a cute way. He did a lot of nodding and grinning, indicating that the author did a good job of nailing what's most important to men. I'm going to read the companion book For Men Only and then attempt to coerce my husband into reading it, but he's kind of stubborn and everyone at work seems to be handing him books to read, lately.

Speaking of which, I'm also reading a math book my husband brought home, called Euclid's Window. I haven't added it to my sidebar because he keeps snatching it back, but it's tremendously engrossing for a book about math. The author has a great sense of humor.

I still haven't gotten far into A Lever Long Enough, but that's merely because I distracted myself by starting three other books. Silly me. I'm going to read a bit of Lever, after I get off the computer. Conan Doyle's Wallet is, thus far, making me wrinkle my nose.

On this day in Bookfool's Reading history:

In 1998, I'd just finished reading Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury and was in the midst of The Autobiography of Benvenuto Cellini.

Completely forgot to tag anyone -- tag! If you haven't done the "6 Things" meme, I just hit you on the shoulder. You're it. Have fun!