Things I Like (doin’ my bit for “1,000 Things We Like” by Rebecca Rosenblum)

 

Rebecca over at Rose Coloured has really started something. A feel-good something.

Actually, she began it 10 years ago, and now she’s building on it. She’s asking for help in creating a bigger-and-better-than-ever list, “1,000 Things We Like, 2012.” Here she explains how it works, and how you can participate:

“As I said in the previous retro post, I started listing things I like and exhorting my friends to do the same in Fall 2002. It was so much fun making that community list (boy does it take a village if you want to get to 1000) that it happened again 5 years later. And, now, to celebrate the decade anniversary of 1000 things, dare we go for 3000?

“I’m in. Fred, one of the best likers I know, is in. Are you in? If so, feel free to add to the list — either in the comments section or on your on own blog, with the link in the comments. If the numbering gets screwed up (it always does) I’ll fix and repost — promise! Your list contributions can be as personal or as general as you like, but do make ’em specific as possible — name the band you like, don’t just say “music” — we’ll need a lot of specificity to get to three grand! It’s ok if your likes disagree with someone else who previously contributed to the list — if for example you write summer and someone else already wrote winter! We don’t have to *all* like *everything* — just submit it as a thing that one *can* like!”

So, here are some of mine, in no particular order:

– endings to books that make me want to cry because they’re so perfect

– Leonard Cohen’s voice, no matter how husky it gets

– fresh mangoes, and don’t ask me to share

– freckles across the bridge of the nose (anyone’s but mine)

– driving alone with the radio turned up

– driving barefoot in summer (a no-no, I realize)

– the view of the lake from Loeb Boathouse in Central Park

– actually, everything about New York City

– writer friends, published or not

– kinkajous

– taking photos, when no one’s telling me to hurry

– buying a new bracelet

– creating something yummy for dinner when there’s virtually nothing in the fridge

– ghostly tales

– sunlight on water, so sparkly I have to squint

– talking to others who love books and movies as much as I do

– amber

– Saturday morning coffee (fresh ground) in my pj’s

– planning a trip, or a writers’ retreat

– dry wit

– browsing bookstores, with nowhere else to be

– my husband’s laugh when he’s watching Seinfeld re-runs, no matter how many times he’s seen the episode

– jazz festivals

– the feel of a sailboat heeling over

– Elvis Presley

– colourful anythings

– messages from old friends

– messages from new friends

– crazy coincidences (life is full of them)

– writing

– the first bite of a cone when you’ve licked down to it

–  the things I learn from my book club that have nothing to do with books

– a new bar of soap in the shower

– my Morkie’s little head-tilt when he’s listening

– memoirs that go deep

– a field of cosmos

– terra cotta

– swimming a long way under water

– a foot massage when I’m least expecting one

– creative people and the way they think

– old limestone houses

– roller coaster rides

– just-washed hair

– teaching people who really want to learn

– dolphins in the wild

– friends who don’t check their cell phones while they’re with me

– Battenberg cake

– Kingston’s waterfront

– Van Morrison’s “Brown-Eyed Girl”

– my kids accomplishing something I didn’t realize they could do

– me accomplishing something I didn’t realize I could do

– finding something that was lost

– The Great Gatsby

– chardonnay, oaked or un-oaked

– Facebook and Twitter (god help me)

– the Rideau Canal

– feeling giggly

– listening to my husband playing guitar

– people-watching

– roast lamb with garlic and rosemary

– a luscious teal on my toenails

– both “our” Ryans (Reynolds and Gosling)

– realizing I don’t have to go grocery shopping after all

– having my hair brushed and brushed, like my niece used to do when she was little

– the scent of snow

– strangers who smile (or smile back) at me

– cobbled streets

– being introduced to new music

– country music (don’t ask me why)

– dappled sunlight through leaves

– films that really make me feel

– hot, buttery toast

– the way a friend of mine signs off messages to me with “Zigzags” — there’s a story there

– Main Street in Unionville, day or evening, any season

– editing a wonderful manuscript

– remembering things my mother said, and knowing she was right

– sushi (and just writing that makes me crave some)

– houseboat holidays in the Thousand Islands

– having someone else clean my house — and that fresh smell after they do

– words I have to look up in the dictionary

– finding out my kids remember something about their early years that I thought they’d forgotten

– drinks on a patio in summer

– hiking in the autumn

– the way my husband’s eyes turn bluer when he wears a blue shirt

– enthusiastic people, whatever their passion

– singing “O Holy Night” at Christmas

– singing, period

– also dancing

– that weird connection that redheads have

– Greek food on the Danforth

– the scent of a wood fire

– hugs

– wearing sandals with a bit of a heel

– fresh cilantro

– horseback riding

– memories of my brother’s chuckle, so clear in my mind though he’s gone

– a new DVD arriving in the mail from Zip.ca

– spending time with a friend who’s known me forever

– disposable contact lenses

– the smell of  banana loaf baking

– zip-lining

– gentle (but strong) men

– strong (but gentle) women

– the light after a rain

– first time out with a new handbag

– canoeing

– goofy pratfalls in comedy

– pretty much anything chocolate with a glass of milk

– Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s crinkly-eyed smile

– achy-bright mornings

– rainy mornings as long as I don’t have to go anywhere

– my home office when it’s organized

– juicy peaches

– my kids making me laugh when I’m trying to be mad at them (sometimes)

– tropical breezes

– browsing celebrity mags at the hair stylist’s, guilt-free

– having a dog, because I never really thought I would

– the red rocks of Sedona

– a surprise invitation

– the chlorine smell of a swimming pool

– ticking something off my to-do list

– blue cheese

– Latin guitar

– that when we’re out, my husband notices cute babies before I do

– pretty journals with nothing yet written in them

– pretty journals with stuff written in them

– waking up to an adventure somewhere other than home

– wearing sunglasses

– Architectural Digest

– fireflies

– photos of my kids when they were wee and didn’t know how cute they were

– Indian food with raita

– Thai coconut curry

– wearing my hair up on a hot, hot day

– strolling the boardwalk in Toronto’s Beach neighbourhood, where I used to live

– the smell of fresh paint

– shavasna at the end of yoga practice

– good science fiction

– my dog nuzzling my toes

– riding a bike

– a short lineup at a checkout (or better yet, no lineup)

– Japanese pottery

– idea people, like Rebecca

Have some likes of your own? Of course you do.

Leave a comment below, or post on your own blog and add a link after the original post at Rose Coloured. I guarantee creating your own list will make you smile. And who knows —  it may even inspire a story.