10 Awesome Things (part one)

I read this articletoday on the Herald website.  They asked their colunists and photographers for one thing that they thought made life worth living, and came up with a list of 25 things that make life great. Here are a few of mine, with a bit of explanation. I’d love to read yours too, so feel free to comment with a few!

In no particular order…

Music

An easy, obvious one, I grant you. But there’s a reason its obvious and easy. I could probably do ten different paragraphs on ten awesome songs that that would be enough for this entry, but I’ll condense it as much as is possible.  I think i did a blog entry on music a long while ago, before I failed spectacularly at updating. I just spent the last half hour looking up old songs I loved when I was younger, and ones I didn’t care much for when I was younger but love now.  Alot of people will talk about songs as being like a trigger, but I think they’re more like a bullet. Once fired, a song will go through your mind till it finds just the right point, the right neuron to fire and synapse to stimulate. Some pass right through unspectacularly, taking only a few minutes your life and hearing with them. Others though, others get stuck. One might get stuck in your arm, you get tense and clench a fist out of excitement or anger, a crescendo or drumbeat making your blood flow. One might hit your leg and make you want to run or dance. Some get your right between the eyes and have you thinking for hours, throwaway lyrics multiply in your head like philosophical bacteria until you’ve gotten a new slant on life from a few seconds of a single track. More songs than enough will hit your heart.

To Kill a Mockingbird

I know, going from the blanket heading of  “music” to an individual book isnt very generous to music, but like I said, I did a blog post on it so it gets less screen time. This list will probably be odd in that regard. Anyway, this book floors me. Its like a manual on courage and conviction and decency. I’ll never forget reading the last page of part two. Atticus is explaining to his son why he sent him to wait on a mean old woman who had no kind words to say for him. The old woman was dying, and Atticus’ reason for sending his son to see her every day will stick in my memory till I die. Go read it.

Superman

Yeah, you knew it was coming, what of it? My liking for Superman is practically a joke about me. A cliche and around number 3 on the list of “obvious things to know about Stephen”, missing the number 1 spot of “his name is stephen” and number two of “he is tall”. Someone asked me once why I spent so much damn money on comics. She could see much better ways to spend that money. To her, what I had just spent was a new belt. To me though, it was a number of things. Escapism for one. Part three of six for another.  But more than anything, it was hope. Naive, childish, brilliant hope, and wonder, and the belief for a period of time that I was the equal of any challenge in the world. How this fictional character grew to have that effect on me, I couldnt tell you. Dont care to investigate it too much to be honest. I could go into details about the portrayal of the character in the current comics. The moral fortitude, the grace, the iron will. When it comes down to it though, the only thing that matters is this – He’s the good guy. The ultimate good guy. And he stops the badguys. So the John Williams theme tune makes me stand taller and I kinda want a cape.  I like my glasses. I might even think it’d be kinda cool to be a journalist. The coolest thing for me is that I just want to be one of the good guys.

Coffee

Another obvious one if you know me well enough. I do love my coffee. Although I start my day with it, I’ve never really found it perks me up. I can drink coffee and night and sleep like a baby. No, the best thing about coffee for me is that its an excuse. An excuse to meet friends, or sit back in a comfortable chair or read or watch TV. A delicious excuse I grant you, but it wouldnt taste as good without the extras. Venti latte, no stress, little bit of comic reading and half an hour to myself. Marvellous.

Writing

I dont mean the physical act of pencil to paper. That actually gives me cramp in my hand. No, I mean the process. The moments where the ideas go off like fireworks in a firework factory next to a timber yard. Whn what you were tying to think of just unfolds in your head like its always been there and you finally get the little lightbulb above your head like in cartoons. The moments that keep you smiling for the rest of the day, because you know you got that line justright. Even when I do have to note it down, pushing past the hand cramp, there’s something great in seeing it in front of you, ink on paper. The ideas in your head pulled out and tied down. This is closely followed by the gut wrenching terror of someone actually reading what you’ve written. Aft er that comes either relief or redraft and with the really good critics, you get both. I love writing and I dont do it enough. Hassle me about that ok?

Ok, thats five done! I’ll post again soon with another five, in a clever plot to make sure I update twice in quick succession. I have Matt to thank for that one (thanks Matt)

And again, please comment with some of your favourite things!