Twelve More Things

This list goes hand-in-hand with the guilty pleasures list, although it's a little different. Slightly. Enough. There are few -- if any -- surprises, however.

 
------------------
 
Twelve Things That Calm Me
 
1. Dark chocolate.
Really, that's all that needs to be said about that one.
 
2. Wine.
Yum.
 
3. Christmas music.
It's odd, but I occasionally pull out Christmas music in random months because yes, it calms me.
 
4. Almost any bookstore or library.
B&N, Borders, used stores -- I love them. My goal: to see the City of Books in Portland, Oregon.
 
5. Snow.
Provided I'm not out driving in it (because sometimes that is the furthest thing from relaxing), I love -- love -- snow. It's beautiful. And silent.

 
6. Thunderstorms.
Rain in almost any form is mesmerizing, as long as it doesn't come with wind. But when it comes with a light show? I can watch for hours.

 
7. People-watching in airports.
I like getting a layover of about an hour and a half -- that gives me ample time to find my next gate, find some food, and sit back and watch.

 
8. Writing.
This blog is my escape from the engineering world in which I live. I also have three different journals, each of which serves a different purpose, and bits and pieces of a novel in the making.

 
9. Campfires.
There are few greater joys in life than staring into a campfire. Oh, how I miss camp ...
 
10. Baking.
When I was still in school and got really stressed out, I would bake bread. Something about kneading dough just ... helped. Now I usually only bake when I need bread (I don’t buy loaves at the store) or if I'm bringing dessert to a party, but there are still those times where I need to let off steam.

 
11. Black coffee with espresso.
This one backfires if I have too much of it (caffeine jitters!!) but I love redeyes/depth charges. This is my choice poison instead of hot chocolate on a chilly day. (Or with a book next to a fireplace on a snowy day at #12. That combination is just as good as a tranquilizer.)

 
12. Storm Mountain.
Just being there makes all the difference. It's incredible.

Comments

daz said…
let me know when you head to the city of books, as i'd like to go back.
18 September, 2008 16:58
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

?

The confusion continues. Tuesdays seem to be the days for odd discoveries. Hmmm ... Much stress. Big presentation for work tomorrow. I'm downright scared right now, but that's probably mostly due to the fact that I have NO IDEA what to expect. On the bright side, in 24 hours, it'll all be over. Thank goodness. Then there are just papers left, but papers I can handle. And a presentation for senior design, but that's a group thing. Ten days and it's just finals week. I like finals week. Things are oddly easier during finals week.
Read more

The Ashley Files: The Gerbil Story

I'm not totally sure what spurred this memory, but this is a story that needs to be told. Over the years, I've had a lot of random jobs. It started when I was young and glued pictures for bridge reports (my family's version of "working with the family business). I had a job at Subway one summer (easily my least-favorite job), was a bridge inspection field technician with the family business, worked in a church camp kitchen, and was a lab assistant. The summer I started this blog, I was working at the school's day care. It was my second summer there. The job was certainly not what I was hoping to do the rest of my life -- but for a nineteen-year-old it was decent money and okay hours. And hey, a couple times a week I got to hang out at the pool and get paid for it. Not a bad gig. [My dad also referred to it as the "world's best birth control" and he may have been right.] I don't remember a lot of the ins and outs of that summer -- most
Read more

2019 Year In Review

It was awful. Fine. It wasn’t all bad. I have a niece now. My job is pretty awesome. I like my residence fine. I … avoided all parking tickets? But wow, was there a lot of garbage in the meantime. An unexpected funeral for a friend who died decidedly too young. Family members in and out of (and back into) the hospital. And throughout the last third, the specter of cancer hanging over everything. While a part of me keeps saying, “There is no need to dwell on all the crap, Ashley,” the rest of me is almost too exhausted for optimism. 2020 has potential, yes. Buckets of potential. Oodles of it. 2020 is chaotic neutral staring us in the face. Switzerland with anger issues. Taunting us with its possibilities. RIP 2019. 2020... Please don't be a jerk.
Read more