On Things Which Make Workdays Better
So I was trying to think of things which I could appreciate about the workday... and didn't get very far. But I did manage to make a list of things which really make the workday better when they occur (which isn't necessarily every day). Here is that list of 21 things which definitely make my workdays more tolerable:
2. Waking up on time
3. Not rushing in the morning
4. Being able to eat a decent breakfast
5. Not missing the bus
6. Getting the window seat on the bus
7. Not falling asleep on the bus
8. Not getting early morning visits from the boss (before 9am)
9. Not falling asleep at my desk
10. Realizing my plant survived the weekend
11. Getting notifications of a cancelled meeting-- which I didn't need to be at anyway
12. Realizing that my afternoon will not be wasted with a needless meeting
14. Realizing I may have a package (or two) waiting for me when I get home
15. Realizing I may see a good friend tonight
16. Actually getting work done
17. Writing good blog posts (counterproductive to #16, above, but oh well)
18. A nice, long lunch hour to spend as I choose
19. Having good, laid-back meetings with the boss
20. Playing around with an otherwise-boring project to make it more fun
21. Having random things happen (like when my boss left his phone alone in his office this morning, and it quacked like a goose every couple of seconds for over 30 minutes
).
On Topics Which I Am Currently Interested In
So, I just realized that both of the last two posts had to do with telephones and telephone calls. Completely unintentional on my part, and actually rather funny. The other thing I realized today is that I have been doing a lot of web reading lately on very few topics. Obviously, this would be because I have more than a passing interest in said topics. Now, I also seem to go through "phases" of interest in something, which means that I might not be interested in these topics in, say, a month, but for right now they are occupying at least some small part of my interest. Here is a list of my top five (or at least, the five I can think of first), plus some links just in case YOU happen to have an interest in these areas too:
1. Air transport-- airline companies as a whole, what they are doing right, what they are doing wrong, customer service, airport/airplane/baggage experiences, "confessions of...", etc.
- AOL Air Travel
- CBC: What Airlines are Doing Wrong
2. Related topic to the above: Smart packing for trips-- the 'one bag' movement, how to pack smartly, how not to pack, what to take, what to buy at your destination, good bags, smart travelling.
- The Travelite FAQ
- OneBag
3. Decluttering and simplifying-- clutter and Stuff, but life as well.
- Unclutterer
- Simply Stated: Blog
- Frugal Babe
- mnmlist
4. Personal Development-- relationships, perspectives, healthy mindsets, healthy eating, exercise, viewpoints, advice, tips, etc.
- The Happiness Project
- Zen Habits
- Tiny Buddha
- Urban Monk
5. Personal Finance-- On saving, and saving wisely (and getting rid of debt, loans, bad credit, etc). Also budgeting.
- Get Rich Slowly
- Dave Ramsey (author of The Total Money Makeover)
- The Simple Dollar
I'll add more links as I come across them. (This post has also struck me as a great jumping point for organizing a long list of links on Evernote. Maybe I'll do this later). Other things I have been reading about: entrepreneurship, design, effective charities, and DIY crafts.
Current wishlist
Hey all,
Just another list, this time for the benefit of those of you who may be looking to get me a birthday gift. Or a Christmas gift. Or whatever. **For the boxsets: if you know other people who are looking at this list, communicate with them to make sure you don't get duplicates!
1. A cbe hoodie (http://www.clothingbrandexperiment.com/index.html). I'd recommend collaborating on this one, it's a bit pricey. Talk to me first if you are planning to pitch in for one, I have a Succeed discount code which will get you half price.
2. Bones (the tv show) DVD boxsets: Seasons 3 and up
3. Criminal Minds (tv show) DVD boxsets: Seasons 2 and up
4. CSI:NY DVD boxsets: Seasons 4 and up
5. Harry Potter 6 (regular DVD please, no blu-ray)
6. iTunes gift card
7. The Body Shop gift cards
... and that's all I can think of right now. Cheers!
The Like List
I like...
1. Sunny days
2. The sun streaming in through the window in the morning
3. Walking outside at sunrise (just not the getting up part)
4. Lamb stew/curry/anything
5. Chai lattes
6. Fun scarves
7. The book "Trusting Soul" by Brian Andreas
8. Chinese food
9. Getting mail
10. Hearing from friends unexpectedly
11. Impromptu plans
12. Pear-flavoured Jelly Bellies
13. Shirts with horizontal stripes on them
14. Big boots
15. Candles (especially scented ones)
16. Tim Horton's coffee and Ice Capps
17. Anberlin
18. The Shaolin Wahnam Institute
19. Fair trade
20. Concerts, the theatre, any sort of performance
21. Roses, lilacs, peonies (minus the ants), violets, clovers
22. Luck
23. Red, black, green, purple, blue, golden yellow
24. My Cat Hat and wool toque
25. Waking up to emails or texts from friends
26. Making multicoloured or themed collages
27. Bones (the tv series)
28. Programming something which works exactly as it should
29. Designing awesome things which make a statement
30. Long car and bus rides
31. Long talks which are good
32. Long hugs
33. Short lineups at the campus Tim Horton's
34. Clam chowder soup
35. iTunes
36. (Fork and Knife) by Brand New
37. Cool tattoos
38. Music videos
39. Travelling by plane (except going through security)
40. Linguistics and languages and lingo
41. Doing well on things unexpectedly
42. Listening to good music through huge headphones
43. Alexander Keith's and Strongbow
44. RENT
45. New York City
46. Meaningful gifts
47. Pictures of people and the memories which go with
48. Unexpected money
49. Chi-Kung
50. Cats who like me
51. Canada
52. Hot Chocolate and Apple Cider on cold days
53. Having a camera when a photo opportunity presents itself
54. Essence (an awesome boutique in TD Square, next to the Le Chateau)
55. Shopping on Etsy
56. Criminal Minds (the tv series)
57. Learning useful things in class
58. Having awesome guy friends
59. Long walks with good music
60. Clear, warm nights
61. Flat shoes
62. Gauntlets/arm-warmers
63. Good sales
64. Taking the train
65. Having good company over
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66. "Vox Populi" by 30 Seconds to Mars
67. Free fonts
68. Zen Habits (http://www.zenhabits.net)
69. Feeling good after a job interview
70. Getting flowers unexpectedly
71. Fresh air
72. The Canada flag
73. Chinese characters
74. Soft kleenex
75. Ten Thousand Villages
76. Jade
77. Being surrounded by happy people
78. Large chocolate chip cookies
79. Cool professors
80. Smiling from the heart and being on the receiving end of a smile from the heart =]
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81. Adobe Photoshop
82. Bracelets
83. Laughter
84. Those days right after winter where anything above 0 degrees Celsius is considered so warm
85. Shoes with good ankle supports
86. Catching a bus after running for it
87. All-you-can-eat
88. Learning something new every day
89. First dates
90. The Dalai Lama
91. Ginger Ale (especially Canada Dry)
92. Cell phones
93. Warm hoodies
94. Buying merchandise which supports a good cause
95. Collages
96. People 'liking' my posts on Tumblr
97. Having good things happen when I take the initiative
98. Good senses of humor
99. Art stores
100. Teddy bears
101. Sushi
102. Music which soars and rings in one's ears
103. Not falling asleep on the bus
104. Early morning walks
105. The feeling of freedom after a huge house/room/closet cleaning
106. Good apple cider
107. Stargate SG-1
108. When my hair behaves
109. Scented candles
110. Unique items
111. Good customer service
112. Getting things done and not procrastinating
113. When Flash behaves and does wonderful things which work
114. The smell of rain, fresh bread, incense, guy's cologne and spicy curry (not together, and all in moderation)
115. Total Energy Pulse Point Balm by The Body Shop
116. Late night chats with good friends
117. Feeling good about oneself
118. Peacoats
119. V for Vendetta
120. "Say (All I Need)" by OneRepublic
121. Seeing someone again whom you missed
122. Those quiet, peaceful snowfalls in which large flakes just sort of meander downwards with no wind or force
123. Seashells
124. Singing randomly when there's no one listening
125. Finishing homework more than two days before it is due
126. Contact lenses
127. Mandarin oranges
128. Selling old textbooks
129. Happiness
130. Ottawa's Transitway
... To be continued. =]
Postage
Commentage
Snapshot
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Categories
- Fall 2009 (21)
- Lyrics (16)
- Anberlin (1)
- Brand New (1)
- Green Day (1)
- Lifehouse (1)
- Metric (1)
- Moneen (1)
- New Found Glory (1)
- New Order (2)
- OneRepublic (1)
- Owl City (1)
- Sarah Slean (1)
- Story of the Year (1)
- The Fray (1)
- Thriving Ivory (1)
- Train (1)
- Summer 2009 (3)
- Summer 2010 (29)
- Winter 2010 (5)
Listening To
- Clay Aiken – This Is The Night
- Clay Aiken – This Is The Night
- Clay Aiken – Measure Of A Man
- Paris – Midnight Train To Georgia [Gladys Knight & The Pips ]
- Paris – Midnight Train To Georgia [Gladys Knight & The Pips ]
- Adam Lambert – Mad World (American Idol Studio Version)
- Adam Lambert – Mad World (American Idol Studio Version)
- Adam Lambert – Mad World (American Idol Studio Version)
- Adam Lambert – Mad World (American Idol Studio Version)
- Justin Guarini – For Once in My Life
I Support...
- CFS: No Means No
- charity:water
- ECPAT International
- Etsy
- Octopus Books (Ottawa)
- Slingshot! Collective (CA)
- Stop the Traffik
- Ten Thousand Villages
- To Write Love On Her Arms
- TransFair Canada