i can't smile without you

I've been called "bitter", "abrasive", "cold", "cynical", "a bitch", and, yeah, I own up to that.  But that's only a teeny part of my personality. What about the side of me that finds joy in the little things?  Inspired partly by The Book of Awesome (which everyone should read, even though I'm not in it.  Maybe I'll make the sequel) and partly by the fact that my blogs have been pretty buzzkilly, I've decided to make a list of random things that make me smile.  I don't have to justify them (though I probably will, because that's my way), but they are what they are and that's all I can say about that. 

 Hearing songs I loved in high school on the radio.
 Sure they usually turn up on some alternative station's "Retro Lunch Hour", but that's ok.  It's weird, because I'm not overly nostalgic for high school, but you give me the opening bars of "No Rain" by Blind Melon, and I'm grinning like an idiot.  

Photos of my friend's two girls. 
It's not some weird biological clock thing. These kids are just that awesome.   

 Inside jokes.
This is pretty explanatory.  It's why I find it hysterical that a friend sends me lobster memorabilia, or that after a visit to the East Coast, I was gifted with lobster printed socks and a lobster pen. No one really knows the true story behind Mr Pinchy, the squeaky lobster on  my desk at work, but that's ok.  All I have to do is squeeze his belly and I'm giggling.  

Getting thick envelopes full of goodness in the mail
Sure e-mail is good for the speed and convenience, but honestly, you can't beat getting something addressed to you in familar script that isn't someone looking for money.  It's something that someone you know saw and thought enough of you to not only buy it, but send it to you by pony express.  It could be letters, decos, swaps, stuff you've ordered online, it doesn't matter.  The point is that it's addressed to me for the sheer purpose of my happiness.

The Cheezburger Network
Home to LOLCats, Demotivational Posters, Engrish Funny, and so much more, I have lost track of the hours that I have lost to these sites, but all of them make me smile, and laugh like Edna Krabapple. Seriously.  It's like, the sexiest thing ever.  

Regretsy and CakeWrecks.
Just...go to these sites.  I can't say anything else.  I think they're that teeny bit more funny if you're a crafter or even slightly artistic, but if not, how can you not appreciate a website that describes itself as "Where DIY meets WTF"?, and who among us hasn't wished for a cake with sprinkles....lots and lots of sprinkles...  

Adam Lambert. 
Seriously, could he be any hotter?  

Eye candy in general.
Male, female, black, white, gay, straight...I don't care.  If you're pleasing to my eye, you make me smile

 (It's the cover art for her single "Thank God, I'm Pretty".  What.)

The musical numbers on Glee.

I was a theatre geek in high school  I don't have to say any more.

New Pyjamas
I know this makes me sound like I'm eighty, but I never realised the power of pyjamas till I bought some on a whim a couple years back.  I was always a big fan of the flannel pants-old high school play t-shirt combo, but then I saw a pair of pj's that I just had to have. So I did.  Now that's pretty much all I wear.  From their outlandish printed bottoms to their subtle matching tops (or vice versa), pyjamas are just the best.  If you're having a bad day, go out and buy yourself some new jams, have a shower, slide into them, then curl up with bad tv and comfort food and I guarantee you'll feel a zillion times better.

My friends.

What can I say?  My friends rock.  Be they old school friend, penpal, interfriend, blog buddy, or someone who sent me something cool because I ordered it from their Etsy site.  You all make me smile and I love you for it.