These Are A Few Of My Favorite Things

After many posts of whining, complaining, and general bitching, I decided to make a happy post.

Things have been going so well. I have a new (freshman) roommate who is quiet but friendly and hardly ever here. All my handiwork is on my walls: the paintings I've done, my photos I've taken, my mixed media I cobbled together, and my posters. My books are on my shelves and in stacks under my bed, within easy reach.

I like the smell of the sky above and the sand below when I work Topper in the arena. The way he shies over a bit when he looks at the jumps and I can feel his ribcage moving under me is perfect, and I can predict everything he thinks about doing. He lets me put my forehead to his and rub the soft spot behind his ears, and he still talks to me every time he thinks I have treats. He's got the best neigh, a round, perfect sound that is him, and he always looks so damn excited too. Even though I bake under the sun in my black breeches and chaps when I ride in the middle of the afternoon, the stinging of sweat in your eyes reminds you you're alive. Pain doesn't hurt. (Wasn't that the motto of the U.S. men's gymnastics team last Olympics? It's one of my favorite sayings.)

The rock wall at the gym will smell the same and feel the same no matter where they move my favorite holds. I will always forget to wash the chalk off and my hands get tight and snapped feeling, and I will usually do something my doctor would definitely warn against, but I like walking away and feeling a foot shorter, compressed, and heavy when I walk away. I don't like the way the sun comes in through the glass in the afternoon, cos then it really is like being an ant stuck under a magnifying glass, but I'll be there anyhow. I like sitting around with my shoes unlaced and harness off afterwards, chatting with the people who work there. I can trust them with my life at the end of a rope, and I can trust them for entertainment or for a confiding ear.

Noel and Liam rock on. I mean, Oasis is great, and that N&L are awesome, but my fish is still the most entertaining beta ever and my car is just dead sexy (and back from the shop!). Noel will sit at the bottom of his bowl and stare at me until I make him mad by waving a ballpoint in front of his face, and Liam accelerates just fast enough to break away from stop lights first and get around traffic on the highway.

And speaking of fish bowls, I work in one. That one entire wall of the newsroom is glass and the hallway is just outside cracks me up. People walk by and look in at us all day, and thankfully my back is to the glass and I don't get distracted. I can sit at my desk and survey everyone, but I can also get up quickly to go to the design room and advertising office. It's nice to know that one thing is certain: something will get published the next day. It may not be perfectly written and designed and award-winning material, but it will get out and be in the stands, and it is our paper.

I especially love my friends and my family. I don't really have a lot to say about this, because it just is what it is. I hope they all know this, and if not, then the fault lies on me.

I like writing long babbling blog entires and plotting my advances for my next great American novel. I have everything right now. What more could I possibly want for?

Nothing.