Things That Make Me Happy

• The fact that Hem's "Half Acre" was on a bank commercial the other day. It's nice to know that a band that sacrificed so much for their music, got paid. It really doesn't matter what you think about their music. It's beautiful that they were rewarded for their effort, their work, their attempt at making something they could love. Doesn't really matter in the end if anyone else loved it. That being said, clearly Northwestern Mutual liked it. "Think of every town you've lived in, every room you lay your head. And what is it you remembered? Do you carry every sadness with you? Every hour your heart was broken? Every night the fear and darkness layed down with you?"
• "I might be the least productive person in the loop." "You mean the whole 4 square miles in Chicago?" "Let's just put it this way, pretty soon the web of lies on my time sheet is going to come crashing down." -Anonymous
• My roommates.
• The fact that I'm like 99 percent sure my apartment could be a comedy or drama or reality television show, or study of relationships or study of disaster, or entrance into hilarity or insanity....something. It could be something. People would watch, or read, or something. And people would laugh.
• Broken Social Scene. I think if I had thought of this as a title for a book, I would've written a book by now. However, a band has stolen the title prior to my being able to write a second rate book about the social dynamic that is a legal education/career.
• 30 words: Pizza pot-pie. Flat bread with Italian seasoning. A giant salad of which I chose slightly too many onions. Sesame seed dressing mixed with Blue cheese. Chicago pizza and oven grinder.
• September weather in June.
• Being with someone that makes me laugh on a daily basis. Out loud.
• Two Brother's Brewery. Smoking loon pinot noir. Hacher Pschor (sic). Anchor Steam Summer.
• Francine: "Honey, do you know anything about lawyers?" "Actually I'm in law school." "Oh my lord, I guess I just put my big foot in my mouth." "Nah, don't worry about it, I know we suck." I love having a conversation with someone you don't really know, and you've only just barely met, but that you know could've meant something to you under different circumstances. That sounds complicated and weird, but it really isn't. This woman, in the five days I've worked with her, has said more grandmotherly things than I've heard in the last 2 years. It may be sad, but it's just true. I can't change that, and I can't help but smile when she drops some old sage type advise.
• Grilling for people that mean a lot to me.
• Telling stories, even though mine are sometime lacking in punchlines and not nearly as funny as they were when they were actually happening.
• The fact that I can look back at things, and miss things, and wish the best for the people I miss, but be aware of the fact that things are so much better. Things on a daily basis are easier. I spend more time smiling, less time worrying.
• When people call me a "good guy."
• Getting called out. But only if you know me well.
• "I'll give you a nickel for your quarter, malt liquor for your water."
• Mix CDs.
• Thinking about: Traveling, buying an apartment, being near a dock and boat on a lake sometime soon, the upcoming fall, college football, drama.
• Away messages.
• The fact that I am totally unafraid of meeting someone's family.
• Sleeping above the covers with the fan on.
• Quoting The Hold Steady, over and over and over and over again.

Lyrics:

"When you're out on a limb, up in a tree. M-I-S-S-I-N-G, just remember what the biker chick said that you're really alive, when you wish you were dead. That there isn't a god, or a heaven or hell-life's a little old apple and a william tell."

Lincoln Blow-by the way, i don't believe that, but love the song.