Started while I wait for my ride home from the Allergist – In honor of it being the tenth –

Ten Things I really like:

1. Road Trips / Walkabouts. (especially with BHK) – It’s always fun to explore and discover new places… or even new things about a place you’ve visited a hundred times before. Additionally, the journey is often more fun than the destination. Grab a bagel, and out for a new adventure!

2. Almost the opposite of #1 – Lounging around the house, not leaving all day long. Having a headquarters full of love, entertainment, food and climate control is pretty dang appealing.

3. Change of seasons – I love, love, love seeing the Yellow-Green Spring change to Dark Green Summer to all of the Autumn colors… only to have the trees go bare and then start again. Snow is fantastic… I see just enough to want more, but not so much that it’s a peril or a nuisance.

4. Rain / Snow / Fog – Precipitation. Rain generally means that things are cooling off, being fed, getting life. (I suspect that video will be fodder for BHK in her “we should get some ducks” argument.) I’ve long preferred traveling in a mist or fog, especially on a hike. I enjoy a traditional “nice day“, too. Let’s just say I like most weather – anything that doesn’t kill me or make me sweat too much is good in my book.

5. monkeys and robots almost equally… Monkeys have a higher spiffy factor due to the biological aspect, I think. Emotion, awe, chaos are all pretty amazing stuff. That said, streamlined new-style and old school aluminum robots alike are pretty keen, even the unfriendly ones that want to destroy we humans for being a fleshy parasite on the surface of the globe.

6. Learning new things – That was really the other third of gaming that I enjoyed quite a lot – along with the social side, and imagination stretching. I love to learn new bits of things, from reading or a live good teacher, preferably. Wiki / Google is a good start, but I’ve found that developing skills from a more interactive knowledge source speeds things along for me. Example – How to make country-style “cat head” (called so based on size and relative shape, not ingredients) biscuits this weekend from Larry.

7. My new family unit. Duh. BHK, Pye and Newt make every day one with elements of love, affection and care. Extended family is also nice – I dig my in-laws quite a bit. Both are people I can learn and grow with in a very positive way.

8. Playing Games. Boardgames, Role playing games, video games… trifles that promote both social and brain activity are something to embrace. I don’t like solitaire games so much… seems to lack something. Even Video games are better if you’re playing them with a human cooperative or competitor-type next to you, or on-line somewhere. Even in those cases, a LAN party in the same room works better for me… however, the upside of on-line play is you can cut connection any time you like, and play in your jammies… (well, you can do that in person, too – depending.) The social aspect has to be with people I enjoy being around… I can’t get into gaming just for gaming’s sake.

9. Kind people. Folks that go out of their way to be respectful and helpful while not being a doormat. I’ve been really blessed to know and have known a huge number of terrific people… more than I suspect is average. Surrounding yourself with good folks is a fun way to learn about being kind yourself. Hanging out with an assortment of geeks, hippies, gamers and just general fans of being nice has helped me to become a better person, I think.

10. Helping others (see #9, above). I really like to do good works. I’m long overdue to donate some blood… one of the easiest acts of charity I can perform. I feel good when I believe that I’ve done something to make someone’s life better. I try to offer a kind word or make at least a simple gesture whenever I can. I get immediate feedback for it, even if the person isn’t grateful… how they react isn’t as big a deal as is the process involved for me.

1 year ago – Put in my notice at ACIM, many pictures, helped out at swensons, bruce moose / love cube, laser newt, beach us

• Pictures taken – PF Changs, Curious George, Weapons of Mass Destruction

2 years ago – saw Phoenix, mortgage, broward traffic lights post wilma, smarts quiz, newt fan mail

3 years ago – power out, Danny & the lions, wonder twins, network tools, adp off call, then repeals it, Florida mean to homeless

4 years ago – Comics, Local Events, silly joke. cancer bullet, Sea Monkeys, travels, programming thoughts, virtual schools, werewolf cult, phys therapy, vamp game, how lj works

5 years ago – steal this book, McDonalds Theory of War and Peace, “Big Books”

6 years ago – tortboy, tropicon, ken kesey passes away

7 years ago – fae friend gone