Fifty things I like

The other night, I was awakened at 3:00 a.m. by a spam text message. Somehow they had my name, and they said I had a video request from a person who is apparently a real person in Bountiful. It kind of creeped me out. But even worse, it woke me up, and it took me a long time to fall asleep again. I hope that spammer from Georgia is happy with themselves.

But while I was lying in bed awake, I began thinking about things that make me happy. And I thought I would blog a list of them, since there's nothing worthwhile that happens in January anyway. These are in no particular order.

(I also thought of making a list of things that make me unhappy, but thinking about those things would work me up and make me unhappy. I could do frivolous things I hate, like feta cheese (yuck!), but that's a slippery slope.)

1. Holidays. Once someone asked me what's something I geek out about, and I didn't even think to say holidays, because they are such an integral part of my life. I could never be a JW.
2. Trail running. It brings stunning views, good health, a sense of accomplishment, wildflowers, and exhilaration. Street running will never be as good.
3. Wildflowers.
4. Autumn. The cooling temperatures, the changing leaves, it's all just lovely.
5. Fresh pineapple.
6. String cheese. 
7. Seasonal candies and desserts. I love carrot cake, but only at Easter.
8. Target. In large part because they have the best selection of seasonal items.
9. Terrible 1960s sitcoms. The campier the better. Gilligan's Island is my favorite.
10. Identifying rocks.
11. Prehistoric animals.
12. Etymologies and semantic shifts.
13. Old English and Middle English. Early Modern English is interesting too.
14. Small towns.
15. Brigham Young. Sure, he wasn't perfect, but you try setting up an entire state without making any mistakes.
16. The Word of Wisdom. I once heard of a guy who's never had soda in his entire life, and I was kind of jealous. But, while I missed out on a soda-free life, I have never had a drop of coffee or alcohol (not counting mouthwash or foods that other people have given me that had alcohol cooked in it), nor have I smoked or consumed illegal drugs. I've never had to deal with hangovers, DUIs, or doing embarrassing things while drunk. (I embarrass myself enough while sober, thank you.) I'm proud of this.
17. Macabre things like vampires and cemeteries, but usually in a silly context.
18. Polar regions.
19. Looking at pictures of eight-legged animals. Insects are cool too.
20. Reminiscing.
21. Cooked vegetables. Especially when they are presented in an unusual way, such as veggie burgers.
22. 1960s music. The 1950s were one of the worst music decades, IMO, but mid-to-late 1960s were great.
23. Lady Gaga's clean songs.
24. Cats. It's kind of pathetic.
25. Early 1970s Peanuts TV specials. The 60s were great too. The 80s were awful.
26. My current job.
27. Terrible music videos. Jan Terri. But I don't have time to watch much YouTube anymore. (And I feel more fulfilled.)
28. Making desserts out of fruit from our own trees. 
29. Blossoming trees.
30. Pretending I can play the piano.
31. Bizarre dreams. Last week I dreamed I was kicking tiny walruses at Dolly Parton.
32. Walruses.
33. Playing music on shuffle.
34. Life Cereal.
35. Puffins. (The bird. The cereal is gross.)
36. The Nightmare before Christmas.
37. Board games that require creativity but not brain power, like Balderdash or Loaded Questions.
38. Colorful shoes.
39. Silly t-shirts.
40. Wool sweaters.
41. Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of English Usage. (Take that, prescriptivists!)
42. My niece and nephews.
43. Hearing or seeing vintage ads, from any decade of the twentieth century.
44. Two-year-olds and three-year-olds.
45. Collecting music for every holiday.
46. Recycling.
47. Fun socks, but only if they're durable.
48. Stop-motion animation.
49. Sugar-free breath mints.
50. Blogging.