You Are Among Friends

Really hot coffee in the mornings. I love everything about morning coffee, especially in the winter. I love the little routine of getting it ready, I love my scuffed-up Espresso Royale travel mug, I love stepping out the front door into the quiet white cold day and watching the steam rise from the cup. Also I am having some SERIOUS snot issues lately and hot coffee feels so good to my stuffed-up head and scratchy throat.

"The Yoga Experiment." My friend Gillian and I are working on the same mantra this year--persistence. She is taking up yoga, to the tune of five classes per week, and is chronicling her efforts in a new column.

Toms shoes. My Barletta Cordones have held up so well through daily stomping since the end of summer last year, even though I have abused them by trouncing through snow and ice and salt, over brick streets and cobblestone sidewalks. Love you, little greys.

Drawn diaries. Gemma Correll writes, alongside the first entry of her "daily diaries" set on Flickr, "Sure no-one is really interested in my boring life, but never mind." AU CONTRAIRE, MY FRIEND. I have read Nicole Georges' Invincible Summer anthologies a million times, and I could click through Gemma's Flickr set all day. I love the way these kinds of diary drawings bring out the excitement and fun of the average day-to-day "boring life."

Brunch. I haven't had brunch since Sunday, so this isn't particularly relevant; I just really love brunch because it's the best meal, the end.

My ukulele! I love this thing! I am not going to say much more about it right now because one of the aspects of learning persistence, for me, is learning to just learn more and talk about learning less. But I just love it and I play it all the time, a very simple pleasure.

Trying to be more grateful. It is a choice, one I am very happy to be revisiting.

I'm just so sick of pedants and conceited little tearer-downers I could scream.

--Franny Glass, born of J.D. Salinger.

And this:

For all that has been, thanks;
to all that will be, yes.

--Dag Hammarskjöld