A Few of My Favorite Things and Some Things I Hate

There are countless things in a given day that can tick a person off, but if we didn't get irritated and angry, we wouldn't know what makes us happy. I don't know, maybe it's the Irish in me, but part of me enjoys getting angry and loves recalling the little things people do that get under my skin; but I think it also helps me feel more passionately about the things that brighten my day.

So, prompte by a few inconsiderate Winter drivers, here is a list of some of my favorite things and a few things I hate...

A Few of My Favorite Things:

1.) A nice, well-poured, warm Guiness after a long day.

Though our American methods don't compare to those of England and Ireland; it's still a damn fine drink.

2.) A cup of coffee made so well you can drink it black instead of drowning it in sugar and milk to cover up the taste.

3.) Singing along with a bunch of friends to a bar band's rendition of Sweet Caroline.

4.) Writing a poem I'm proud of and hearing a good friend's reaction to it.

5.) Feeling the eyes of a man I love on me when I look away.

6.) Telling a painfully bad pun or joke.

7.) Driving in the car listening to my favorite song or CD over and over.

8.) Buying a new dress and wearing it for the first time.

9.) Listening to a Nina Simone song outside on my friend's porch on a summer night.

10.) Eating a great slice of pizza.

Chicago style or New York doesn't matter, just as long as it's good.

11.) Hearing from a friend I haven't spoken to in a long time.

12.) Scoring a new freelance job / having a query letter accepted.

13.) Watching one of my favorite movies, The Thing Called Love

14.) Sketching a new fashion idea.

15.) Sleeping in on the weekend (if only we could outlaw alarm clocks).

16.) Someone with a great sense of humor.

17.) Hearing my name spoken by a man I love.

I don't know why this gets me, but there's nothing better.

Some Things I Hate:

1.) When it snows and people don't clean their cars off.

This is sooo agravating, the ice flys off their roof and crashes into your windshield at 65 mph on the highway. This one has been a recent irritation with the bad weather we've been having (and incidentally was the catalyst for the list).

2.) When people talk about themselves ALL the time.

3.) Paying more than $1 for a cup of coffee.

Let's be honest, it really shouldn't cost more than 75 cents. When I go out and buy a cup of coffee at a cafe or chain store, it costs anywhere from $1.20 to $1.60 (and that's a plain, unflavored, size small coffee). That's crazy.

4.) That I can't get the news.

There are countless sources: newspapers and news radio and TV stations and yet all I get are obsessive health freak outs or shameless pandering to one political demographic or another.

The over-saturated health coverage isn't even news, it's: what cracker I shouldn't eat anymore, which green tea is healthier, or how I could be prone to follicle cancer because of a shampoo I once used. We were never meant to live forever, get over it and give me my news.

And if it's not the health crap, it's right or left wing biased propaganda. Just once I'd like to see a news station that doesn't cater to one side or the other. If I wanted to see a catfight I'd watch Rock of Love Tour Bus.

5.) When drivers stop at the end of an on-ramp.

6.) When my cell phone or the other person's cell phone dies or loses connection right in the middle of a sentence.

7.) Classic movies re-made.

Re-make the crap and do it better, don't re-make a film that was done right the first time.

8.) Paying $18 - $20 for a CD.

9.) Hearing a song you love on the radio, but you don't know the name of it or the singer / band and the DJ doesn't tell you.

10.) Rising gas prices.

11.) Grocery shopping and running errands in general.

If I could get back all the time I spend doing just that, I would probably have two book published and a few degrees by now.

12.) The cult of celebrity.

It disgusts me that the media wastes so much time covering this stuff and disgusts me even more that celebrities make as much money as they do, doing whatever it is that they do.

13.) Manipulation.

14.) Running into an ex, especially when you look bad.

15.) Being around boring people.