January 31, 2010 Good Stuff

Oh hai good stuff blog! I seem to have forgot about you! Truth is, I've been a little swamped lately with work and finding out that I have to work during the superbowl, so it's been hard to focus on good stuff. But I have to learn to still focus on good stuff even when it's hard! I made today a good day!

Instead of going to get coffee around my house, I decided to go to my favorite PJ's on Magazine street uptown. There's just something about the atmosphere uptown that I just love. Anyone who's been to New Orleans probably knows what I mean. I just love Magazine street. So I headed over to PJ's and got my coffee and then did a little shopping.

I found a tshirt that I've been wanting at funrockin' but they didn't have my size...but their store in the french quarter did! So they held it for me and I drove down there to get it. There were men in dresses everywhere in the french quarter because a famous radio talk show host down here who has since died always said if the Saints ever made it to the super bowl, he would wear a red dress. So today was "men in dresses day" in the quarter...I was not aware of this fact until I got down there. The funny thing is, I didn't even look twice...I just figured it was normal quarter folk. But anyway, I got my tshirt! And I also got some cajun boiled peanuts and the most awesome little wooden carved frog from the french market!!!! It has little ridges on it's back and comes with a little wooden stick, and when you run the stick along it's back, it sounds like it's going "ribbit!" :D I love it!! The lady who carves them makes crickets that sound like they're chirping too!

Came home and mom fried fish which was delicious! and then just relaxed and watched tv. And now I'm FINALLY updating this blog. I swear, I'm going to try to keep up to date with this blog for now on...it really makes a big difference in my moods when I do...I've noticed that. Ok..well that's all for today!

January 27, 2010 Good Stuff

So I feel like a bit of an ass, but I'm so freaking totally excited and exhilarated at the same time right now. I called House of Blues today to see if tickets had gone on sale yet for the Vampire Weekend show on April 9th...4 months from now...the show that hasn't yet been announced in any of the papers, music magazines, anything....yeah, they've gone on sale and the show is SOLD OUT!! I nearly cried. I can't tell you how upset I was. Megan had to just sit in the car and pat my back for a little while and tell me it would be ok while I became all doom and gloom. Well, I decided to do some research at work on some of the middleman ticket exchange websites and I found tickets! And I got two!! For um...$77 a piece :/ Actually they were $59 a piece but after you pay shipping and "processing" they're a bit more. And that was the cheapest tickets I could find. But I don't even care at this point because what this means is that I'm going to see Vampire Weekend on Friday April 9th :D Me and Megan both said we don't care what we pay, we're just doing it...we're having fun...we haven't been to a "big" show that wasn't a local band in ages and we're treating ourselves! Now I just need you all to tell me that it's worth the price of 3 hardback books! Yes, I measure things in the price of books...don't judge me!

In other good news, I've started Manhood for Amateurs by Michael Chabon and it's so freaking good!!!! Why have I shied away from Chabon for so long? I was convinced that I would either hate him or that he would be too smart for me or something....but god I love this book! It's nonfic, so I still need to try his fiction, but I'm totally in love with this book :) I'm also reading the Hobbit for the third or fourth time and it's just as good as the first! God I love Tolkien!

Hmmm....what else....No headaches! No headaches since the night of the Saints game which was Sunday and I only got a headache that night from screaming and drinking too much. But my massage really has helped out quite a bit. Ok...that's all for tonight...I needs sleep!

January 25, 2010 Good Stuff

I think I might drop the handwritten journal and just start blogging the good stuff. I find that I actually enjoy writing in a blog a lot more than writing in the journal. Though I do like writing in a journal too! Just not every day. But anyway, onto good stuff!

*Seeing everyone's smiling faces everywhere I went today. Everyone is still riding high on the Saints' win last night and I expect that the city will be for a long time. I went and bought my NFC Champs tshirt and hat today and I love them! Same ones they had on during the award ceremony last night. You should've seen the crowds out to get them!!

*I had my massage today for my headaches and it was soooo nice. Though a little painful, but painful in that good way. Masseuse said that I should be headache free for the next few days after all the work she did today!

*Good books :) I really have been super lucky so far this year! I've really enjoyed every book I've read so far and I'm really excited about reading. Ok, well that's no surprise there, but sometimes I just love that excitement that reading can give you.

*All of my good online friends that still seem to love me despite the fact that I've been a stranger this weekend. Love you guys!!!

January 24th Good Stuff!

Really really freaking good stuff!! Do I even need to tell you what the good stuff is for today?? The Saints are going to the freaking super bowl for the first freaking time EVER!! I'm so freaking excited that I couldn't even write this down in my journal first...I'm just typing it up right on the blog. Seriously, this city has been waiting forever for this. I know I've been waiting for this since I was a little boy. I've never been much of a sports fan, but I've always followed the Saints. There's something about them...they're more than just a football team. They have character like no one else. Just an amazing bunch of guys and such great fans!!

I can't even begin to tell you what this city is like right now. I can't even put it into words. It's basically like anarchy has broken out, but a peaceful, loving type of anarchy. After the game you could hear fireworks and screams (good screams) coming from neighborhoods everywhere. My entire family was just in one big hug and everyone was crying. This is more than just football to us folks in New Orleans...it represents a lot. Really emotional.

Then we get in the car to head uptown and EVERYBODY on the roads is honking their horns like crazy and screaming out their windows :D It was SO much fun. We made a pit stop at Walmart first and the people at Walmart kept screaming Who Dat over the loud speakers :p Needless to say, everyone everywhere is just ecstatic. As am I. And to top off the night, I got on twitter to see that Neil Gaiman said "who dat" tonight too :D

Ah, I'm in such a good mood right now!!!!

January 22, 2010 Good Stuff

*Hour long twiter conversations with Jason, Amanda, Ana and Eva. I had so much fun today just chatting for hours (?) on twitter!! Talking about video games and music and whatever else. It put me in the best mood for the rest of the day.

*Jason's kitty fund in memory of Neil and Nancy's cats spawned from tweets between him and Neil himself! Even though it has nothing to do with me, it got me so excited when I saw that Jason and Neil tweeted each other :D

*I actually slept in today which helped my mood a lot. I haven't been sleeping good lately and I don't know why. But last night I slept very sound and didn't wake up until NOON today!

*I had a really good counseling session tonight!

*I redid my iPod yesterday and it's so good to have all new songs to listen too and stuff that I'm not sick of....yay music!

*Went out for drinks with Megan after the counseling session and saw Leslie who I hadn't seen in a long time. I missed her a lot. It was good catching up with her!

*New York! New York!

January 20, 2010 Good Stuff

*I decided today that I'm definitely going to New York this summer. Probably not til around August, but yeah. I want to tart traveling more. I need to find a way to start doing that in an affordable way. Because there are SO many places that I want to see that I haven't I'm so very UNtraveled :(

*Vampire Weekend is number one on the Billboards! I would have never thought that, but congratulations to them!! And thanks to Ana for pointing it out to me :) And I swear I'll stop talking about Vampire Weekend.....eventually...

*I got a new client today and it sounds like someone who's going to be really good to work with. He's a young guy and seems to have a lot of motivation for change. I was just getting worried again yesterday about being back down to only one client and then I got this call today, so definitely a good thing.

*I started reading Little Brother by Cory Doctrow today in e-book format just to see if I would like it and got TOTALLY hooked by the story. It's so good!! He used the word "teh" in the first chapter. As in "teh kittehs!" I'm in love. Wasn't expecting to like it this much. Only thing is, I wasn't expecting to add a fourth book to the "currently reading" list. :/

*I saw two pelicans sitting on the pipes in the canal today and they were huge and gorgeous. I wish I would've had my camera. those birds amaze me even though I see them all the time.

*There's an awesome thunderstorm going on right now as I'm writing this.

January 19, 2010 Good Stuff

*I got off of work half an hour early today. That's always a good thing.

*I'm thinking of getting a new car. This excites me to no end. But I don't know if I should or not. the thing is I CAN right now, but that doesn't mean that I should. My logic is, "oh, I've been paying a car note for 5 years now, so nothing will change." But the truth is, my car's in fine condition aside from needing new tires. I'm just sick of it. I just need to think of it and not act on impulses. But I REALLY want a new car...I tend to get sick of cars after 3 or 4 years :/ I've been driving for 13 years now and this would be my fourth car if I got a new one!

*Today was sort of a melancholy day which I guess is a good thing. It wasn't particularly great and nothing horrible happened. Just sort of blah...

January 18, 2010 Good Stuff

*Gifts arriving to friends and being a good gift after all when you were worried they'd be awful! I sent Jason a book about Emily Dickinson's gardens because it sounded really cool and was worried he either A. would have it already or B. wouldn't have it because he had no desire to read something like that :p But it turns out it was a book he wanted!

*Great tshirts. Saw a shirt today on someone that said "outlaw organized religion. stop the violence." How true that statement can be at times....especially these times.

*Another wonderful email from a friend that cheered me up!

*On my way into work today, my favorite radio station played the best row of music! "Diplomat's Son" by Vampire Weekend, "Drumming Song" by Florence + the Machine, "So Says I" by The Shins, and then "Blood" by The Middle East (the video I linked to the other day!). And I'm sure they played more good stuff, but I had to go into work so I didn't get to hear any more :(

January 16, 2010 Good Stuff

Today was just a generally good day. I went to bed at a somewhat decent time after a good night at work and woke up late. Which means I slept a lot which is good. I got my prescriptions filled, got my morning coffee and then Megan and I went to Half Moon to watch the Saints game which was a good thing in itself. We won 45-14 and are now advancing to the NFC Championship!! Went to dinner at an Italian restaurant after that which got me sick, but we won't talk about that. Laughed the whole way home. Wrote a book review finally. Read a book in the tub with a Lush bath bomb and then ate a piece of king cake and got the baby. I'm going to bed a happy man tonight!

January 15, 2010 Good Stuff

*Neil Gaiman and Amanda Palmer announced their engagement today. There's so much happiness in this!! It's kind of freaky how much one can be in love with another couple, but I just think that they are the most awesome pair and they seem so genuinely happy. It puts a smile on my face!

*The thought of trave makes me happy. There are so many great trips I'd like to go on. A few I'm really considering. One is to New York possibly this summer or later in the year. And today I heard about Neil Gaiman and the people at The House on the Rock planning a weekend during Halloween at the House on the Rock themed around American Gods! I would die! I seriously want to go so bad and Megan and I have already started talking about it. I've never been out of the south (:() so both of these would be totally awesome!

*I'm seriously in love with the new Vampire Weekend album. Like, can't stop listening to it. And I can't wait to see them on April 9th!! I'm getting White Sky, Run and Diplomat's Son stuck in my head all the time and driving people at work crazy singing them. It's ok though because Rachel sings Regina Spektor in the office all the time, so even though we both make odd vocal noises all day, we're both introducing people to good music!

*If no one else wants to host a mini-challenge in February for the Graphic Novel Challenge, I totally want to just because of an LOLCat I made from Pat's cat, BooBoo :D He was playing air guitar! It begged for it!


*My new migraine meds rock! They get rid of my headaches without any side effects. Maxalt - Try it!

*The Saints are playing in the divisional playoffs tomorrow!! Hopefully this will still be a good thing tomorrow!

January 13, 2010 Good Stuff

While the earthquake and the horrible loss of life and destruction in Haiti is most definitely not a good thing, the outpouring of emotion by the rest of the world and the aid that has been given so far is. It saddens me so much that it takes a disaster like this for the world to unite for aid and charity and to reach out and embrace each other as humans, but it brings me to tears that we are capable of uniting in this big of a way. What a strong and beautiufl force during a horrible and devastating time. There are other good things to focus on today, but everything else seems so damn trivial right now that I can't even begin to write it down. Maybe tomorrow....

January 12, 2010 Good Stuff

*Today I'm in love with biofeedback. #nerd. One thing I love about this exercise of noticing the positive in life is that it's starting to become an unconscious thing for me. And on only the 12th day. Tonight was hell at work. Pure hell. Very interesting patients. I love my patients, but I hate the beurocratic bullshit at that place. I realized all of a sudden tonight that I was just exhausted. My back hurt, my feet hurt, I was getting aggravated, so I just stopped for a second and listened to what my body was telling me. I sat down in my chair and put my feet up on my desk and closed my eyes for five minutes and just let my muscles relax. And after five minutes I felt so much better.

*The people that I work with. And by that I mean the people I serve, not my coworkers. I know that other people's mental illnesses should not be one of my "good things" but the truth is, it fascinates me how our brains work. Particularly with the people who come into our trauma program. I've been forming more and more of an interest in working with survivors of physical, sexual and emotional trauma in my own private practice. The cases are very sad, but at the same time, it's amazing what the brain is capable of doing to help us deal with these issues.

*Caffeine. I love my coffee so much, but sometimes I'm just especially fond of it's natural active ingredient.

January 11, 2010 Good Stuff

*Getting my currently reading pile down to one book finally! I never thought I'd do it, but I finally have, only I'm about to crack open a second book, but that's ok because it's BLANKETS!

*Curling up in a warm bed with blankets and Blankets.

*My favorite station on XM Radio had a two hour show today dedicated to playing the entire Contra album with commentary by Ezra and Chris from Vampire Weekend. Made of awesome!

*I had a really good counseling session tonight that was totally unexpected. It was really sad though, but I'm proud of my client and I just wanted to hug him after. He did a lot of hard work today and talked about a lot of hard things and I had to fight back tears myself. I'm really just so damn proud of how far he's come in three months.

*My doctor is starting me on new migraine meds since the ones I'm on are crap. I can't tell you how happy this makes me! The possibility of once again having relief is just wonderful!!

*I finished Above His Shoulders by Dan Williams today and what a truly amazing book and amazing journey it was. It's the resource I'd suggest for anyone who's ever been molested as a child and is looking for a story to relate to. His journey and his ultimate outlook on life just breaks your heart but gives so much hope for healing. And he's a fantastic writer.

*A fancy new yellow case with a black lightning bolt made by Threadless for my iPhone!

January 10, 2010 Good Stuff

I've just generally felt good today. I don't know what it is exactly. Maybe it's this streak of cold weather that we've been having lately, maybe it's that I'm feeling better, maybe it's that I haven't worked so much. But I'm loving life right now.

I have these moments a few times a year where all of the awesome things about life kind of hit me all at once and its just overwhelming. So many wonderful things like friends and compassion, diversity, the emotion of love, creativity in all of it's forms, words, science, music, nature, books. All of these things are so beautiful and they're all there to be appreciated every single day and I overlook that so often. It's overwhelming when it all hits you at once how much the world has to offer.

*Friends. I'll never tire of listing this as a good thing. Emails shared with good friends, twitter conversations, and more importantly, the love the trust, the emotion, and the bond shared within those conversations.

*A night out with friends. Megan had friends in from Texas so we met them out in the french quarter tonight and then headed out to Half Moon for beer and hummus. Really quite a fun night! And I hadn't seen Andy in like three years so it was good to catch up on what's been going on.

*Mix CDs!! I love making mix CDs, even if they're for myself :p I love the CD I made tonight. It has lots of Vampire Weekend (who I'm seeing in March!!!!), Tegan and Sarah, The Middle East, Kings of Convenience, Phoenix, XX, and Passion Pit among others. Music in general just makes me happy :D

January 9, 2010 Good Stuff

*On my way home from getting coffee this morning I saw a hawk pick a fish up out of the canal and fly away with it in it's talons! I've never seen anything like that. And it flew right next to my car for a few seconds. Amazing!

*Weird psychic thingies. Or whatever explanation you want to use. For some odd reason I was thinking earlier about how I hadn't really heard Ana talk about her brother in a long time. I have no idea why that would've popped into my head (not in journal: The whole thing I was thinking about was bloggers' families and how I've gotten to know them...wasn't really pondering on it, it was just in the back of my mind while I was getting ready and for some reason my thoughts ended on Ana's brother. *stalky stalk* :p) But then she posted about him today on her private blog! I love it when stuff like this happens, though at the same time, it weirds me out a little when things that specific happen.

*Waking up and seeing an email that Margo Lanagan is following me on Twitter. Yes, I know authors are normal people just like everyone else, but I squealed a little bit when I saw that. I just love her.

*Wonderful friends that I can share my pains and joys with who know that they can do the same. It's such a wonderful thing to have supports that care and that are just beautiful, wonderful people.

*Feeling good enough to go back to work tonight and the fact that my first day back was SLOW.

*Freshly washed sheets!!

January 8, 2010 Good Stuff

*Emails from friends that can move you to tears, conversations on Twitter that make you want to reach through the screen and hug someone and phone calls from sweet friends just checking up on you. All in one day. I feel loved!

*My naked Japanese neighbors. The people who live behind us walk around their house naked all the time! And their back door is a sliding glass door with a curtain that can close. I've seen it closed before. Well, I went out to smoke the other day and the curtain was open and the man and woman were both walking around with no shirt on. I didn't want them to see me and know that I had seen the woman topless, so I ducked down. Well yesterday, I went outside and same thing, but their patio door was actually open this time and the man waved at me! So I just smiled and waved back. It's not like they're swingers or anything. At least I don't think so. they seem like a very nice couple, probably in their mid 40's who just find nothing wrong with being naked all the time! And who am I to judge. If I were comfortable enough with it, I'd probably be naked all the time too. But that will never happen :p

*A wonderful cup of Orange Dulce tea in my favorite mug wrapped in my my mug warmer that Eva made for me!

*Having discovered a new favorite book, Tender Morsels, so early on in the year!

*Discovering the craftzine.com website thanks to Jason! Now I just wish I were talented enough to actually create something that's on that website.

January 7, 2010 Good Stuff

*Calling in sick to work. I woke up this morning still feeling like shit and thought to myself that I really just need a day off. So I did it. I've never heard of a place aside from my job that makes you go to work sick. that's the reason that I'm sick in the first place. But today I just said "absolutely no, I'm sorry, but you'll have to find someone else." And it's just been a wonderful day of laying in bed and getting better in pajamas all day and reading.

*Tender Morsels. I'm almost finished and OMG what an amazing book. I just can't get over how much I love this book and now I just don't want it to end. I'm hanging on to the 50 pages I have left like they're precious gems.

*I bought a humidifier today and it's like a little tank of awesome. I wake up every morning, even when I'm not sick, unable to breathe, so one of the nurses at work suggested I get one and it really is helping!

*Megan gave me my Christmas present from Nicole (her sister) today and it's a giant homemade sushi pillow!! I love it! It's so fluffy and soft. She says it's a crunchy roll, but I'm convinced that it's actually a tuna roll.

January 6, 2010 Good Stuff

*Hugs from Mom when you're feeling sick. I don't think you can ever be too old for that and really, nothing feels better when you're just all together feeling like shit.

* Really comfy pajamas and getting under the covers in bed. Is there a better feeling in the world? I don't know? Well I do know of a few, but not too many...

*Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species: A Graphic Adaptation. Just Wow!! This book is made of awesome. It's science and history and evolution and beautiful pictures all wrapped into one.

*Vampire Weekend is coming here on April 19th and I'm going!! And Contra comes out on Tuesday! I'm so excited!!

*Jason's post on why GLBT issues matter to him.

*Therapy (my job). I just love what I do so much and I forget that sometimes because of all of the bullshit that goes on with administration. But sometimes I stop and just really think about it and it makes me so happy to be doing what I love and to continue to learn more about the field.

*Watching a handwritten journal fill up is just wonderful :)

January 5, 2010 Good Stuff

*I actually crocheted a chain last night. Now it wasn't perfect. Some stitches were bigger than others and my hook would get stuck in the middle of a piece of yarn sometimes and I'd have to start over, but I have the basics down. Now I have absolutely no idea how to do more than a chain. It all sounds so damn confusing after that!

*Alka Seltzer Plus Cold Formula. This stuff is wonderful, though this cold is not. Aside from prescription stuff, it's the only thing I've ever found that's given me relief. While we're celebrating cold remedies, let's go with mentholated cough drops to soothe a sore throat too. Ah yes...

*"Blood" by The Middle East is such a beautiful and moving song that I just want to crawl into and listen to over and over again and let itself wrap its melody around me. And the painting on the album cover is just wonderful. (not in journal, but here's a pic of the album cover:)And here's a link for the video for the song which is really just as beautiful as the song itself. Gah, it's so awesome!!

*This cold weather. There's something so wonderful and electric about arctic air. I love to just breathe it in, especially in the night time. It clears up sinuses pretty well too!

*Twitter and today in particular, Bill Willingham's tweets on reasons to read Fables.

January 4, 2010 Good Stuff

*Megan's back in town! She had been gone for a week to have a late Christmas and New Year with her family and I missed her. So it was good to spend a couple of hours together after work just driving around talking and listening to music.

*I bought some new yarn and I'm really excited! I'm thinking that maybe the reason I had so much of a problem learning to crochet the first time was that I was using this thick "wool-ease" yarn with a smaller, size E hook, but tonight I bought some "cotton-ease" yarn which my creepy cute crochet book recommends in all of the awesome colors I need!

*Hot mochas on cold nights are just perfect. We stopped by CC's tonight and got one since the temps are in the 20's and 30's tonight. Delish!

*Jrock! I haven't listened to any Jrock in ages, but I downloaded "Gravity" by Luna Sea last night and it brought me right back to 6 or 7 years or so ago when I went through my big Japan phase. I remember Megan singing that song with her cousin at karaoke night at Numa Rei No Con....ah, nostalgia.

January 3, 2010 Good Stuff

*New music. I've found so much great new music lately like Atlas Sound, Passion Pit, The Middle East, the new Tegan and Sara album, Deer Tick, etc...and I continue my obsession with Florence and the Machine. Music is a constant in my life that never ceases to make me happy.

*The Saints. Ok, so we didn't win on the best of notes - a 3 game losing streak. BUT we had a 13-3 season, we're the NFC leaders, have a first round bye in the playoffs, and homefield advantage for the second game. I'll take that anyday over how our seasons normally go!

*I saw the cutest little black boy and his mom running around his bicycle today chasing each other with the biggest smiles on their faces. Just going round and round in circles and he was laughing so much. He must have been about 4 or 5 years old. It was infectious and just made me smile too. There's nothing more beautiful than a happy child.

*Cold weather. Oh how I love cold weather!! We're supposed to have periods of temperatures in the 30's all week! And we've had the fireplace burning all day today! AND on Friday, we have a high of 34 degrees with a low of 26! They're saying we may even have a chance of snow!! Some people hate it, but I absolutely love it. It's invigorating.

*I had a two hour nap today and it was wonderful. I love naps.

*This journal and this idea and the friend that gave this idea to me. Truth be told, I had to force myself to do this today. I was in a mood. Kind of a funky mood, and by that I mean depressed. But I already feel so much better having brought to mind all of this good stuff. I guess you can't feel totally depressed when you're working the happy parts of your brain. There's science behind this exercise!

*science.

January 2, 2010 Good Stuff

*Beer from friends. As I write this, I'm drinking my ImPaledAle that Debi and Rich brought me from a local brewery in New York and it's delicious!

*An afternoon spent with family. Went to Serrano's with mom and Michelle tonight to celebrate Michelle finishing school and after that we all went to Borders. I have a hard time sometimes being social with my family and don't know why but I had fun. I bought Jonathan Safron Foer's Eating Animals, Anne Rice's Angel's Time, and Michael Chabon's new autobiography.

*I actually finished my first book of the year on the first day of the year and reviewed it on the second day of the year. And I loved it! Dave McKean's Pictures That Tick. Good Stuff indeed. And I replied to comments on my blog.

*Baths with bath bombs from Lush with bath pillows and Margo Lanagan's Tender Morsels. Perfect.

*Hanes comfort band boxer briefs. Comfy.

*Days off of work.

January 1, 2010 Good Stuff

*Good Friends:
-Rachel went out with me for New Years eve last night to the Half Moon and it was nice to have someone just to talk to and relate to. And someone who genuinely wanted to spend their New Years Eve with me
- When I complained about work on Twitter today, so many people sent good thoughts, but Ana in particular reminded me of so many wonderful things and people that I love

*Hong Kong Kitchen's sweet and sour chicken with spicy lemon sauce! Hadn't had it in ages and it was so good!!

*Pills. Because without them I don't know how the hell I'd deal with my my migraines

*The start of a New Year. This one is kind of a good and a bad thing. It always depresses me for some reason because it's a chance to think of another year that I have NOT accomplished some things, but at the same time, it's nice to have a fresh start and a clean slate. So I'm looking forward to 2010.

* The Golden Girls. They're my comfort show and just make me laugh. I hope they never cancel the reruns.

*Fountain pens. Because they're just fun to write with.