100 Things I Love: Let’s try this again

Last April, I noticed several other bloggers, including Kari from A Grace Full of Life, write about a few of their favorite things — 100 of them to be exact — and decided to come up with my own list. I had such a good time the first time, I figured it’d be fun to try my hand a second time.

Let’s try this again, here’s a second 100 things that I love:

—1. An old watch that still works.

—2. Technology that works the way you expect.

—3. The Berenstain Bears Children’s Book Series.

—4. The look my wife gives me when she’s proud of me.

—5. The scene from Notting Hill where Julia Robert’s character says to Hugh Grant’s William Thacker, “I’m also just a girl, standing in front of a boy, asking him to love her.” I love the line, but it does occasionally come back to haunt me. My wife likes to use it on me anytime she wants something. “I’m just a girl, standing in front of a boy, asking him to take out the garbage.” Ugh, see what I mean!

—6. Lest, you think I’m a softee, the scene from The Untouchables where Sean Connery’s street smart beat cop lectures Kevin Costner’s Eliot Ness on the “Chicago Way” and how to get to mobster Al Capone has long been a favorite.

—7. People who disagree in a civil way. Whatever happened to two people disagreeing without one breaking down and calling the other names.

—8. Norm from the 80s TV Show, Cheers.

—9. The feeling you get when your child goes back to school. Oh it stinks, but when you think about them maturing and growing into who they’re supposed to be, it’s a great thing to see.

—10. Fluffy coconut-creme pie.

—11. Ben and Jerry’s ice cream.

—12. The start of the football season. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, the National Football League (American football) flourishes because it’s sport and it’s interesting, but it’s also a modern day version of the soap opera. Who kissed whom? Who’s angry with whom? Who is up and who is down? It’s a manly version of a soap opera.

—13. Brian’s Song, a 1971 ABC Movie of the Week that recounts the life of Brian Piccolo (James Caan), a Chicago Bears football player stricken with terminal cancer, and focuses on his friendship with Hall of Fame running back Gale Sayers (Billy Dee Williams). 

—14. A long shower to wash away the craziness.

—15. Trying a new dish. I’m by no means a chef or a foodie. A bowl of cereal is a challenging meal for me, but I still like using my limited cooking skills to try something new.

—16. The feeling of having written or created something.

—17. A thoughtful handwritten note.

—18. A great steak dinner.

—19. The doggy cone of shame. Oh, the cone of shame is not a good thing, but when you have an older dog, seeing the cone of shame, means that the lil pup is going to be alright. She’s not letting anyone write her off just yet.

—20. Childhood photos. Yes, aren’t I adorable in this picture?

—21. The orange, red, yellow leaves of Autumn.

—22. Teachers.

—23. Visiting a new place and being a tourist.

—24. A beautiful bridge.

—25. Cold, hard ice cream, preferably Death by Chocolate or, let’s go real kiddish, CottonCandy.

—26. A Major League Baseball or National Football League Playoff run by a local team and what it does to a city. It gets everyone, even nonfans, happy and enthusiastic. People go about their normal, everyday with a spring in their step.

—27. The forest in the morning and how Nature wakes up and starts each day.

—28. Silence. Peace.

—29. Every four years it’s the same. I start off not really paying attention to the Olympics, but I soon fall in love with how the athletes work to overcome challenges and celebrate with their families and everyone who helped get them to this point. I love the people-related stories. The recent Paris Olympics were the same. Whether it’s Hunter Woodall’s reaction to his wife, Tara Woodall’s medal in the long jump, or any of the other athletes and their families, how do you not be happy for them.

—30. A new shirt that fits perfectly.

—31. A greeting card that I got from my wife recently. The message: “There’s no one I’d rather have by my side. You make it all worthwhile. I love you.” Way to go Hallmark. You got me where it matters.

—32. “We spend precious hours fearing the inevitable. It would be wise to use that time adoring our families, cherishing our friends, and living our lives.” –Maya Angelou

—33. Old sea shells and memories of past trips to the beach.

—34. My mother-in-law’s chicken. The butter and crispy pleasure oozes off each piece. There’s nothing else like it. When you eat the chicken, you need to keep the EMTS on alert, a heart attack is about to happen, but it is so worth it.

—35. WordPress bloggers. Love the writers and the community that they create.

—36. Albert Bierstadt, who was one of the most prominent and influential American landscape painters of the 19 ^th century and his beautiful depictions of the early American West.

Albert Bierstadt: Witness to a Changing West

—37. The three Whitetail Deer that occasionally surprise us with an evening visit in our backyard. It’s not every day and we certainly can’t chart our watches to it, but it still happens frequent enough that we notice.

—38. Day hikes.

—39. Taffy and caramel popcorn that you get at the boardwalk at the beach. If you haven’t figured it out by now, I have a nasty sweet tooth.

—40. Nature Photography. In another life, with another upbringing, I would’ve become a Nature Photographer. Hello National Geographic, think I could follow one of your photographers around for a month?

—41. The rise of walk-in urgent care facilities in the U.S. I recently cut my ankle while I was working in my yard. It was really rather stupid on my part. In any event, I could see that there was a lot of blood and I was going to need some stitches. We thought first about going to the ER, but decided to try a local urgent care and I’m glad we did. We ended up saving a day of waiting in the lobby.

—42. Twizzlers. Yum.

—43. Having a few blog posts in the can and a long list of things to write about written down in my journal.

—44. Great songs from my youth. A Simple Man by Lynyrd Skynyrd.

—45. Reaching the crest of the mountain and looking out over the valley below. No matter the season, it’s always a rewarding feeling.

—46. Accepting failure and never being a prisoner of your past. Realizing that we’re all human.

—47. Back to school supplies.

—48. “Every single day, in every walk of life, ordinary people do extraordinary things.” –Jim Valvano

—49. A pizza joint where its sticky on the floor, there’s neon on the walls, and the pizza isn’t too thick or thin, heavy on the cheese and pepperoni and low on the grease and the pizza melts in your mouth.

—50. A good listener. Someone who listens to what you have to say and participates in the conversation, giving you things to think about and even playing Devil’s Advocate.

—51. September, the most pleasant month of the year for my money. Sunny days and crisp nights. Just you wait.

—52. The power of Broadway to tell a story. I still remember my wife taking me to see my first professional musical, Miss Saigon. I went as the dutiful boyfriend, not expecting much, but came away amazed by the vocals and the music and the power of the story. I remember being surprised how I invested I had become in the show. Our next show was Les Misérables and, of course, I was hooked.

—53. Cold watermelon.

—54. Strong writing on a TV show or Movie, taking you places that you least expect. I’m thinking of the TV Shows, Better Call Saul and Breaking Bad, two shows that I normally wouldn’t care all that much about, but found interesting because of the strong writing.

—55. Chocolate brownies. They remind me of mom.

—56. Good old fashioned Chicken and Waffles.

—57. People going through challenges who still see the good and beauty in others.

—58. Cassette mix tapes from the 80s. Where else will you find Eric Clapton right next to Prince or The Violent Fems or U2.

—59. Getting a bonus or some unexpected money in your paycheck.

—60. Great acting. I love when real pros get me to feel something out of the blue. It doesn’t matter what I’m watching, where I’m at, or if I’m just passing through, but if I see Robin Wiliams and Matt Damon from in Good Will Hunting on screen, I have to stop and watch. And when they have juicy parts like this, I’m all in.

—61. Those silly Old Time Photo shops located in beach towns and amusement parks where you dress up in costumes and mock outfits from the Roaring 20s or the Wild West or some other time.

—62. People who laugh at their own mistakes. I had a boss who would literally point out his mistakes and laugh at them, it made everyone else relax and more willing to try new things.

—63. Bosses who make time for their team and encourage and praise a job well-done.

—64. Spending a bit of time each day — in thought, tears, and laughter. I think I used this one previously, but it’s still a good one.

—65. Finding an old yearbook and spending the next hour reminiscing and thinking about friends and memories from the past.

—66. The feeling of completion you feel when you’ve mailed your annual federal income tax return and can forget about them for another year.

—67. A fresh Lobster Roll or Crab Roll, a cold beer, good company, and a spot along the bay watching the fishing boats come and go.

—68. Guilty pleasure books. Pretty much anything by John Grisham, James Patterson, Nicholas Sparks and a host of other authors. Books like The Firm, Dear John, The DaVinci Code, The Bridges of Madison County, etc.

—69. Finding an old arcade and playing Galaga or Pacman or pinball and reliving the 80s.

—70. Compassionate, empathetic people.

—71. “This above all – to thine own self be true.”— Hamlet Act 1 Scene 3.

—72. The moonlight. It holds so many possibilities.

—73. Thomas Cole’s Voyage of Life Series. Cole was an American Romantic landscape painter who founded the Hudson River school art movement and painted the four-part The Voyage of Life series. I wrote last year on the Heart of the Matter how the series is one of my favorite pieces of work.

—74. Speaking of great painters, Norman Rockwell’s simplicity.

—75. Stupid movies that are so bad they become good. Tremors, Point Break, Road House, all come to mind.

—76. Museums. The subject-matter doesn’t matter. I love them all the same.

—77. The old couple I saw at a wedding recently who were on the edge of the dance floor dancing quietly by themselves when they thought nobody was watching.

—78. The Nutcracker.

—79. A good underdog story.

—80. A.A. Milne and Winnie the Pooh wisdom.

—81. “Writing is an act of discovering what you think and what you believe.” —Dan Pink

—82. Creativity that comes to you at the strangest times.

—83. Football Part II. College football starts in full on Saturday and I’m looking forward to several games, including Penn State (8) versus West Virginia; Clemson (14) versus Georgia (1); and Notre Dame (7) versus Texas A&M (20).

—84. A family photo and everyone is smiling and has their eyes open. Of course, I love the messed up ones just as the same, because they show the craziness of life.

—85. A great blog from another writer that makes you feel an emotion deep inside and spurs an altogether new idea.

—86. When my wife and I both suggest dinner out at the same time. Even better when we suggest the same place.

—87. Fresh-laundered clothes.

—88. The Shawshenk Redemption. A horrible name for a movie, but an amazing movie that just gets better with age.

—89. Shutting down my computer, putting away my work papers, and walking downstaits to see my wife’s smile.

—90. My back, which often feels twitchy or sore, feeling great.

—91. Great Hollywood dogs, everyone from Benji, Scooby-Doo, Lassie, Marley, to Hooch from Turner & Hooch, Lady and the Tramp, Snoopy, the 101 Dalmations, to Pluto from Mickey Mouse, Toto from The Wizard of Oz and Old Yeller. Ruff, ruff.

—92. Smokey the Bear. Remember him! “Only you can prevent forest fires.”

—93. An expected busy weekend that all of a sudden becomes a free weekend.

—94. A clean micro-fiber cloth to wipe my glasses. Love clear glasses without oil and muck on them.

—95. Eagles and Take it Easy.

—96. People who do what they say, say what they mean. In other words, real people.

—97. Jesus Christ’s message on loving your neighbor. And by loving I mean loving your neighbor no matter their immigrant status, skin color, religion, political affiliation, belief system, etc.

"You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” —Mark 12: 30-31

—98. Ted Lasso.

—99. Walking in the rain.

—100. A smile from someone you don’t know.

—101. A traditional Irish blessing.

May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face;
the rains fall soft upon your fields and until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of His hand.

—102. I’m not a huge Maroon 5 fan, but everytime I see this ten-year-old clip of their video for Sugar, I break out into a smile. It reminds me that it’s hard to not laugh and smile when you see others laugh and smile.

—103. Swedish Fish.

—104. Corn on the cob in late summer.

—105. A freshly poured Guinness.

What’s on your list of 100. Or like me your next 100 items.

100 things I love!