30 Day Writing Challenge - Day 1: 10 Things That Make You Really Happy

First, I am doing this with my sister. She's doing a blog each day for 30 days based on this list. She's an excellent writer and a school teacher to boot. You could learn shit from her. Like not to say shit and say stuff instead. I think this first assignment should be easy, but we have to first define happy. I find most of the times I'm content. Many things help me to be content. That is, I've surrendered my ego and desires to settling for the next best thing. Is content the same as happy? If so, then what the hell is Really Happy? I think I will simplify this and go with the items that give me joy to the point of laughing hysterically or weeping pathetically or anything that gives me an emotion other than Meh. The list below is not necessarily in any order of importance.

Music - Be it the radio, my iPod or my guitars. (I'm down to 2. I used to have 5.) I can describe my life based on songs I've listened to through out. Music has documented my life. Anything Beatles takes me back to my boyhood years (1960s). The Eagles reminds me of the 1970s and high school. Genesis and Yes takes me back to my college days. Jethro Tull has been with me from junior high until now. The Cars: Reminds me of the late 1970s and early 1980s Florida when I lived in Fort Lauderdale and my move to Long Island and then my drive to NJ after my separation from my first wife. ("Since Your Gone" was playing on my car stereo as I drove over the GW bridge.)
Food - Let's face it. This should be on everybody's list. I love food. Not just certain foods. All foods. I watch Diners, Drive-ins and Dives religiously in hopes to find new restaurants in my proximity for me to try. There isn't a food that I wouldn't try. Mexican, Italian, Indian, Mediterranean, you name it; I've tried it and loved it. One of my most favorite places I have visited was Epcot Center. There are 22 restaurants representing 12 countries including the USA. I have not dined at them all, but someday I will.
Vacations - Any time off from work is a good time. Like the old adage says: A bad day of fishing is better than a good day at work. I like to travel, but staying home and doing absolutely is its own reward. My last two away vacations were to Phoenix and parts of Arizona. I have somewhat a romance with that state. Something that just can't be explained.
TV - Over the years I've become more of a couch potato. I know I should be getting out and exercising or meeting people. Why? I see people all day. In the evening and on the weekends, I need some Me-time. And TV usually fits the bill. Comedies, dramas, movies, etc. it all works for me. I'm looking forward to the eighth season of Doctor Who.
A Good Drive - In my Jeep on a warm sunny day with the top down, I truly enjoy a nice long drive to no place in particular. It could be to the shore or just around the city or even away from the city to the country. Catch some fresh air and good Vitamin D supplied by the Sun.
Sex - I am a typical male. I like my women or woman. I rarely have ever dated more than one at a time. I love everything about a woman, except for maybe the nagging that comes with some units.
My cat, Potter - He's a pain in the ass and very much like me. I have shutoff my alarm clock for good. I no longer need it. As long as he remains with me and of course, is alive, I will never be late, because he promptly sounds off every morning between 5 a.m. and 7 a.m. with his kitty meows reminding me that it's feeding time.
Baseball and Football - I didn't want to say Sports, because I don't care for Soccer (English Football), Hockey or Basketball. And most of the Olympic sports are games to me. Gymnastics is just exercise not a sport. For that matter we should have an Olympic Pilates event then. I think if I work real hard this year I could take gold in Yoga. Yikes! I almost want to meet this lady. See #6 above.
Reading - I enjoy reading and not just the sports page or websites. There are two people in my immediate family that have always been readers: My sister, Sandi, and myself. Which is why we are both frustrated writers/novelists. Mom read for most of her life up until the last 10 years of it. My favorites are Stephen King, Michael Connelly and the late, Stephen J. Cannell and Michael Crichton. I'm currently reading the first book of George R.R. Martin's A Song Of Ice And Fire - A Game Of Thrones.
My sister, Sandi - We are very symbiotic. Okay. That's not quite right, but what can I say. She is of the higher mind and me of the one-cell organism. I don't share closeness with many people and don't have much in common with my other siblings. She is a friend as well as my youngest sibling. I look to her for her opinions on stuff because she may not always agree with me, but she wouldn't bullshit me either. She has inspired me to try writing again. She is an inspiration on other levels too. I'll go into that some other time. And never again is she is to stick me with any of the other 3 siblings without having my back and sharing their misery with me.