Saturday, December 18, 2004

One Million and One Things That Make Me Smile

About a year and a half ago, after a bad day, I started a list called One Million Things that Bother Me. I banged out the first 100 entries right there and then, and it felt good. Over the next days and weeks, I kept adding to my list, and I was rounding up to about the 300 mark, I suddenly realized it was quite sad that there were so many negative things in my life. I do love to complain, but I also like to think that there is always more good than bad, so I started a second list, this one called One Million and One Things that Make Me Smile (this one has +1, so as far as karma goes, I'm all set). Sometimes I forget about them for a month or more, then I get them out and write down a few things here and there. In a year and a half I have amassed quite the collection (the first 100 are easy, beyond that, weh). This week was momentous for me, because I hit the 5000 mark in the happy list (and the happy list outnumbers the sad list by about 50%). To celebrate, I will share with you a random sampling of that list. Feel free to agree or disagree:

0006. fancy panties
0157. mittens on a string
0316. finding the matching lid for my tupperware
0415. painting smocks
0537. juice boxes
0826. heart-shaped jacuzzis
1018. the sound of Jason's key in the door
1314. opening a bottle of wine just because
1608. the song 'Sugar Sugar' by the Archies
1917. how Jessie would cry every time she got the old maid.
2138. the certainty of vasectomies
2300. pink snow on our balcony
2488. stuffing a can of beer up a chicken's arse
2694. watching Jason "braid"
2835. people who can correctly use the word plethora
3137. scrotums
3380. homoerotic football statues
3627. baby's first Cheerio: a little o-shaped piece of heaven
3952. accidentally choosing Feliz Navidad on the jukebox
4136. dumb criminals
4303. working out behind a guy with a great ass
4522. save a horse, ride a cowboy
4770. giving/getting the ole "good job!" after sex
4915. Edina and Patsy
4944. when people refer to their horses as their mounts

Phew. Well, that's like a bad trip down memory lane or something...Anyway, if you have anything that makes you smile, do share, I can always use the help!


p.s. 5000 items like that fill 94 pages of lined writing paper, front and back. To actually reach my goal of 1 000 001, I will have to add 46 new items every single day from now until I'm 83. Yikes!

13 comments:

Tara said...

Weren't mittens on a string the greatest thing? If I could only put my memory on a string and stuff it in my coat...I would be set!

Monica said...

Plethora is one of my favorite words and I over use it!!!!!

things that make me smile
1. My sisters baby Peter giggling & smiling at me
thats the best one :)

Unknown said...

Things that make me smile:
* When I watch a Lassie episode and Timmy doesn't fall into a well.
* Thinking about when my human tries to get me to eat something bland and I fall down, roll over and pretend I'm dead
* Eating a new bone outside in the winter
* Puppies when they run into things full speed and fall over
* When I get to herd children around the yard and keep them safe by barking
* Getting rawhides to that point of being really soft and gooey and then putting it on my human's lap
* Thinking about the time my human couldn't get his snowblower started due to the fact I chewed on the sparkplug wire
* My friend Haley's breath
* When someone in my family smiles at me from the heart and says "I love you"
* When I run so fast that it feels like I'm flying

Lord Chimmy said...

46 items a day until you are 83?! That is a tall order. Missing one day really causes a backlog of entries.

Harry said...

I like the idea of 1018 best. The plethora record; ya can keep the rest. (Had to rhyme it, just to be silly)


1. New words 2. Hot McHurl fries 3. Ally Opp, by the Hollywood Argyles 4. Making it safely thru a red light 5. Homemade lemonade (happy listing, J)

Tim said...

may i say i love this idea?

Ian said...

A couple things from your list also make me smile.
Sugar Sugar and dumb criminals
Ian

{illyria} said...

completing my christmas shopping. that makes me happy. =)

Jay said...

Most of those are also on my list!
I guess you don't make it to 5000 by accident...also, sometimes you have to get very, very specific. Tedious. Sometimes I forget what is compelling me to keep up with this!

Monica said...

one million and one things that bother me is easier
people who make alot of chewing noise when they eat(get some manners man!)

smelly old people who dont bathe, i dont know, they still think we must conserve for the depresion or something, you smell!!! go take a shower!!!

happy list I could write a million more, isnt it sad how bad is easier :)

Anonymous said...

a year ago i wrote a speech entitled -a life worth living- containing 222 tips on how to enjoy life.

a similar idea to your smile-making-things...

some of my ideas:
buy shoes that are beautiful, make you feel gorgeous, are extremely expensive and hurt like hell.
dip into the company ink.
do something illegal, don't do it alone.
go for ice cream in the middle of the night.
try to move something with your mind.
follow your nose.
be inspired by a commercial.
make up a word. Use it as often as possible.

a very abbreviated version.

jay, love your blog & reading about what you're up to.

- kellyarse

arash said...

- finding lint in my belly button
- getting a hummer while I'm driving
- a cute smile from a stranger that makes you feel like smiling for the rest of the day

Jay said...

I fell way behind on the list, but keep the spirit in my heart :)