Things That Make Life Worth Living

Many people, particularly those that don't know me very well, think that I don't have emotions or, more likely, that those which I have are in some way lessened or weakened compared to their own. This isn't really much of a surprise to me. When I was growing up, the two Star Trek characters I idolized were Mr. Spock and Data, and I suppose a large part of my personality comes from trying to emulate them. There's a reason that many people have a hard time telling when I'm being sarcastic or joking around. This is a long cultivated image, I can assure you, and one that comes very much in handy when crunch time happens, I'm trying to pretend that I didn't just draw a pair of aces while playing poker, and when I'm attempting to intimidate undergraduates so they don't realize I really have no idea what I'm talking about in class this week.

I am here to tell you, however, that this could not be farther from the truth. Reality is that I have a great deal of emotion about a large number of things. Some people would be surprised, in fact, to realize just how strong my feelings are most of the time. I think the real reason I work so hard to be reserved is simply the fact that I am, myself, surprised at their intensity. So, in an effort to A)Dispel this myth, 2) Let people know a little more about me, and Third) Write something positive for a change, I am hereby composing a list of the things that make me feel best in the world, or at least all of them I've encountered so far and which I can come up with right now.

1. The moment an experiment I've been working on for months finally works, and the result is novel and furthers our understanding of science.
2. Collapsing into your own bed at the end of a long, exhausting day (the value of this has been further driven home of late, for obvious reasons.)
3. Sitting down in your backyard with a beer in your hand, meat cooking on the grill, and the smell of the freshly cut grass you just mowed filling your nose.
4. Women who wear some combination of a necklace (the longer the better,) stockings, and/or heels while making love.
5. Going for an exploratory run through a brand new city with my camera in my pocket.
6. Brisk autumn Saturdays where you have nothing planned besides tailgating and enjoying a college football game in person.
7. Running faster and/or farther than I ever have before.
8. The red rock cliffs of Arizona and Nevada. I could live my life there and never get tired of looking at them.
9. Teaching, which I never expected to be true.
10. Figuring out the mystery before the detectives on the TV
11. The drunken stagger home from a pub/bar where you're halfway intoxicated with alcohol but the other half is simply from laughing all night long.
12. Writing, and going back years later to see that, despite all the mistakes, maybe you really weren't so bad at this after all.
13. Cursing up a storm
14. Watching dick sports fans' teams lose. Also, laughing at them.
15. A warm hand to hold as the sun sets.
16. Watching the night sky in all directions filled with fireworks on the Fourth of July from the roof of the Twenty Grand movie theater.
17. The band trip to the Alamo Bowl (but not racing to drink whole bottles of wine. Ugh.)
18. Stirring debates and discussions, about damn near anything
19. Fiercely loyal friends (you know who you are, Team Adam.)
20. When people who read your blog post comments. ;)

Thanks for dealing with my self-indulgent post.