The Happiness Thread

it is always great to hear when someone is inspired to write.

Also nice to hear when people have an amazing night.

I have had a few amazing days and nights recently myself too. <G>

 

Best meme ever

 

Went to the hospital today to find out the sex of our new baby. Now that we know, becoming a parent again feels much more real. I can't imagine what it's going to be like with two (beyond the obvious nappies-and-sleepless-nights related malarkey), but then I couldn't imagine what it was going to be like to have one, so that's just me stating the bleeding obvious.

Anyway, I am very happy. And me and my other half are trying to work out if it would be utterly insane of us to take a year off and sit on a beach somewhere when the new one comes.

Yay, yay, and thrice yay.

 

This is the best thing ever. I can die now. https://www.edgarsmission.org.au/animals/leon-trotsky/.

 

I finished this scene I've been working on for like a week or two! Oh my god I'm so satisfied! Yes!!
Anyone want to check it out in the workshop. It's called "Conversation With an Angel."

 

Finished first draft of WIP -- Sleeper Earth 116k words

Now onto another few months of rewriting the whole first draft... Shit.

 

I recently received word that I am a finalist in the "Stossel in the Classroom" national essay contest! (John Stossel is a libertarian news pundit for Fox News.) The topic was on free speech in America.
http://stosselintheclassroom.org/essay_contest/
I don't know what specific place I got yet, but I was in the top 20 finishers out of 3803 essay submissions! The prize is $200 and a signed copy of Stossel's new book. I never thought I would do this well, so it's very exiting.

 

Anyone know the book 'The secret garden'?
Well it is basically a book about children and the friendship of a Robin (the bird).

Well, I now have one of my own
Started noticing him about a month back, he came nearer and nearer each time I sit in the garden. Picking stuff for his nest and eyeing me - eyeing him back. Now only about a meter is left

 

Just realized I have 3 extra days to finish my taxes. Yay!

 

Just made a tee time for tomorrow for the first round of golf of the season. Finally!

 

The only thing I could find more boring than golf would be football or monogamy.

 

Eh, eh, eh. No need to bring up that. (Monogamy debate) If he likes golf, that's good. Be happy that there is such happiness in the world. It could be so much worse. Appreciate.

 

Partisan politics?

 

That's OK. Even @Jack Asher can't harsh my mellow when it comes to golf. I'll admit it isn't much of a spectator sport, but I've found that those who consider playing the game boring have never held a club.

 

Quite the opposite. But it turns out standing around waiting for other people to do things is even more boring in real life than it is in World of Warcraft.

 

My father used to spend hours watching golf on TV. I never could understand that. I'm not big on watching other people do things. I've played golf and have found it frustratingly fun but watching... nah.

 

Oh, I wasn't saying watching it was fun. Though, even still, the same point applies.

 

Got a refund from my school for $100.

 

For those who need a pick-me-up with their writing:

This may require some backstory, though.

In Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear by Elizabeth Gilbert, she talked about Marcus Aurelius, an Ancient Roman philosopher/emperor from the Second Century. How he wrote in his private diaries: “Do what nature demands. Get a move on—if you have it in you—and don’t worry whether anyone will give you credit for it. And don’t go expecting Plato’s Republic ; be satisfied with even the smallest progress, and treat the outcome of it all as unimportant.”

For those who honestly have no clue what he was saying.

A Roman philosopher/emperor from the second ****ing century (as in he ruled from 161 to 180 AD) was telling himself that he didn't have to be Plato, no one expected him to be Plato. That he should be satisfied no matter what.

Let me stress this again:

A ROMAN EMPEROR.
FROM THE SECOND CENTURY AD.
WAS TELLING HIMSELF, IN HIS DIARIES, THAT HE DIDN'T NEED TO BE PLATO TO BE GOOD AT EVERYTHING.

Just let that sink in for a bit.

And yes, this makes me happy.

 

It's 4/20. I don't smoke, myself. But I know there are a lot of really happy people today. LOL.

 

Due to reasons outside my control, I was devoid of anxiety meds for a week. The old sensations returned, and I was back to how I used to be. Now that I finally have my meds, I'm back to normal again.

Oh, and no nightmares from watching creepy YouTube videos all afternoon yesterday!!

 

Me too. No nightmares at all.


Though, knowing I have a gun helps alleviate the anxiety.

 

I can understand that. But a gun would just make me nervous. Civilian gun ownership causes a lot of accidents. And what if the "bad guy" gets the gun? It would worry me a little. Plus, I'm a pacifist. A gun would just feel... too powerful. It's scary, thinking about the power to take lives. So easy... Just pull a trigger. It almost removes all the importance of it, doesn't it? So easy. (Shudders)
Okay, I think I've gotten philosophical enough about violence for the happiness thread.

 

Well, I'm just thankful I have my Second Amendment rights.

P.S. Tazers are good, too. Mace is okay for key chains. But it doesn't travel nearly as far as wasp spray. Wasp spray will blind you from across the room.

 

I wrote about this in a screenplay I'll quote here:

SUSAN (CONT)
A lot of people like to pretend they're actually two different personifications.
There's the them that does all the stupid shit
everyone looks down on them for, the the "real" them.
​

The elevator dings and the doors open. Thomas and Susan get out and walk down the hall.

INT. SUSAN'S BUILDING HALLWAY 02 - CONTINUOUS
Thomas and Susan exit and meander to her doorway.

THOMAS
I think I fail to understand.
​

Susan unlocks her door and they step inside.
INT. SUSAN'S APARTMENT - CONTINUOUS

SUSAN
You've never heard a guy fuck up, say a racist joke, or punch a cop;
and afterward claim, "that isn't me?"
As if he exists as two different people,
a socially acceptable one, and a piece of garbage.

THOMAS
I don't have a lot of...people...in my life.
But I know what you're getting at.

SUSAN
Well in our case it's really real. The person I am on the meds,
and the person I am off of them are two entirely different fucking people.
​

Susan sits on the couch and pats it to invite Thomas to sit with her.

SUSAN (CONT)
One of those is the real Susan, and I like to believe
it's the one without an arrest record
who can hold down a job without killing herself.
​

People will talk to you like taking meds makes you some kind of freak, but they're wrong. Taking the meds allows you to be the you that you were always meant to be.