Happiness is...

Every now and then I like to do a post where I list some things currently making me happy that I'd like to pass on to other people. Right now I need to keep my eye on these small pleasures so I don't become preoccupied with other things. Some people have Zoloft, I have music and TV and cooking and friends. I know some people need the stronger stuff and there's nothing wrong with it. I am just fortunate and somehow have the ability to cope without them. Here are my happy pills:

1. The song "Viva la Vida" by Coldplay. The strings of this song lift my spirits. They are easily my favorite musical sound. It is amazing how the same instrument family that can be used so effectively in a depressing song like "Me and My Charms" (Kristen Hersh) can also be used to convey a feeling of joy. Pretty powerful.

2. The show Bones. I just got into this show and it is awesome. If you aren't into procedural shows, don't worry because there's so much character interaction and development that the cases aren't the main focus. But if you like procedurals, there is that aspect as well and I think they do a great job in the way they portray the investigations and forensics. Also, it's a lot funnier and lighter than most dramas. I could watch the witty banter between Booth and Brennan all day.

3. The music from Bones. So, the official soundtrack doesn't come out until August, but I've loved so much of the music in the eps that I started searching for them on my own. I've been listening to that playlist almost non-stop. Favorites you should check out are: "Sea Lion" by Sage Francis, "Fountain" by Sara Lov, "Teardrop" by Massive Attack (may also sound familiar if you watch House), "Pride" by Syntax, "Bring on the Wonder" by Susan Enan and "The Other Way Round" by Gabin.

4. Trying new foods and recipes. I think I've gone entirely vegan at this point (as far as food goes, I'll worry about the rest later), so I've been buying new foods and experimenting with recipes. I'm usually not that excited to cook, but I've actually been enjoying it. There's just so much out there that I never knew about before. And it has been easier than I expected to go vegan. I think having both the preoccupation of a lifestyle change as well as the switch to healthier eating has been good for me right now.

5. Sephora! It just opened up in my mall and visiting there makes me happy. I don't even have to buy anything. Actually that whole section of the mall is just awesome now. There's a Borders, Sephora, Apple Store, Starbucks and Target all within eyeshot of each other. It is like the crossroads of consumer heaven and I'm not even going to appologize for absolutely loving it.

6. Watching the lightning bugs in my backyard at night. It doesn't get much better or simpler than the wonders of nature.

7. The video for "Lollipop" by Mika. The song is catchy and the little cartoon girl is adorable and the colors are like a really awesome trip from the 60s. Watch for the kissing dear who toot "Love" and the humping bunnies.



Actually Mika's whole CD makes me happy.

Lastly, none of these things would come close to making me happy if I didn't also have amazing people in my life that make me happier than anything else.

So if you're not happy, check out some of these things or try to look in your own life to find your own simple pleasures. Everyone has the ability to find happiness at their fingertips all the time. Just look.

Ruined for Life

TV has ruined my life. Ok, that's an overstatement. Let me rephrase. TV has ruined my relationship expectations in the real world. It wasn't Disney and their happily-ever-after princesses or movies like Dirty Dancing and Titanic (bad example maybe) that created an idealized picture of a relationship in my head that will be hard to replicate. No, it was TV and its character relationships that have more than two hours to build and resolve. They grow and change over time like real couples would, except with perfect dialog and hair. We as the viewers become invested in these will they/won't they, McDreamy/McSteamy, Ross/Rachel relationships and find ourselves longing for something similar. However, in TV "will they?" always leads to "they will, and it's great", McDreamy vs. McSteamy is a non issue since they're both hot, and Ross and Rachel will always end up together. How can the real world compete?

I, myself was first ruined at a young and tender age - 13 to be exact. It was 1994, the year I began to watch The X-Files. Thus, it was also the year I added the word "platonic" to my vocabulary and began cutting pictures of David Duchovny out of magazines (no boy bands on this girl's wall). In The X-Files, Agent Mulder was often times moody, obsessed, self-centered and certifiably insane, but when it came to Scully he was usually at his best. Whether it was the tender touches of support he gave her that never begged to be anything else, the verbal sparring/innuendo between them that was usually more heated than most people's foreplay, or his travels to the literal end of the earth to save her, Mulder was someone to be admired.

And more than Mulder on his own, it was the two of them together that made the relationship admirable and desirable. It started as equals, partners, friends, and it just kept building. Yes, it's unrealistic in the way it portrayed two attractive people who obviously have feelings for each other waiting 7 years to act on them. However, it is playing out a deep emotional bond that we all would like to have with someone. It's what we try to find by going on awkward dates, hanging out in crowded bars, and signing up for Match.com. We are looking for the person that is our better half, respects us and loves us beyond anything else. Is it too much to ask for that person just be assigned to spy on us and debunk our work, showing up one day in our office and changing our lives forever? Yea, that's what I thought.

And don't even get me started on Bones and the Booth/Brennan relationship. They're like a less dysfunctional Mulder and Scully, if Mulder and Scully had fun and didn't avoid talking about emotionally charged subjects. I guess I must have a thing for tall, dark FBI agents too, because David Boreanaz makes my mouth water as Special Agent Booth. Especially when his character has no shirt on or says things like this (explaining why meaningless sex is crappy sex):

"Here we are. All of us are basically alone, separate creatures just circling each other. All searching for that slightest hint of a real connection. Some look in the wrong places. Some, they just give up hope because in their mind they're thinking 'Oh, there's nobody out there for me.' But all of us, we keep trying over, and over again. Why? Because every once in a while, two people meet. And there's that spark. And yes Bones, he's handsome. And she's beautiful. And maybe that's all they see at first...But making love? Making. Love. That's when two people become one."

Seriously, who is this guy and where can I find one?

So, like I said, I'm ruined for life. It's hard for anyone to compare to the relationships I've grown up watching, and, honestly, it's not exactly fair for me to have such expectations. I guess I'll just have to wait to find my own unique life-defining relationship and maybe, just maybe, we can give those TV couples a run for their money.

Interested parties may apply below.