{"id":313,"date":"2010-02-15T13:03:45","date_gmt":"2010-02-15T20:03:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/melinakantor.com\/?p=313"},"modified":"2010-02-15T20:05:06","modified_gmt":"2010-02-16T03:05:06","slug":"what-floats-my-boat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/melinakantor.com\/?p=313","title":{"rendered":"What Floats Your Boat?"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Cheesy Post. . .<\/span><\/em><\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

So get this. Sometimes, I can actually be positive. Sure, it’s way more fun (and therapeutic) to bitch and moan and turn kvetching into an art form. And let’s face it. Lately, I haven’t been Miss Melina Sunshine.<\/em><\/p>\n

Why? Well, life’s been extra irritating. Suckitude, you know?<\/em><\/p>\n

This morning, I woke up with a headache. Not the ideal way to start a week off, right?<\/em><\/p>\n

So I stayed in bed, and listened to the podcast version of <\/em>Lucy March’s fabulous blog<\/em><\/a>. In one of her posts, she listed <\/em>50 things that make her happy<\/em><\/a>. Go Lucy!<\/em><\/p>\n

Now, while I think this is a great thing for somebody else to do,\u00a0I normally wouldn’t do such a thing myself, as I find it cheesy. (Again, I didn’t find Lucy’s post at all cheesy. It’s just that I’m supposed to be bitter. . .)<\/em><\/p>\n

But what the hell. I made a list. It’s not nearly as difficult as you might think. In fact, it was hard to keep it at 50.<\/em><\/p>\n

So here it goes (in no particular order):<\/em><\/p>\n


\n<\/em><\/p>\n

1. Listening to \/ watching Creature<\/a> snore, purr, scamper across the floor, play with squeaky toys, drink water. . . (you get the picture)<\/p>\n

2. Dumbeks<\/a> — listening to a really fabulous drum solo, or finally mastering a new rhythm or finger roll<\/p>\n

3. Point Isabel<\/a>, with the wild flowers, the S.F. Bay, and hundreds of sweet dogs<\/p>\n

4. Swimming in the Libyan Sea,<\/a> and hearing goat bells in the distance<\/p>\n

5. Having my friends around my kitchen table, especially for Shabbat or a holiday<\/p>\n

6. Greek and Israeli folk dancing<\/p>\n

7. Talking to my uncle<\/a> on the phone, using downright foul words over and over again and not caring about how ridiculous our conversation may be<\/p>\n

8. Waking up in California<\/a> after a long day of travel, coming downstairs and meeting my mother in the kitchen<\/p>\n

9. Almond blossoms, especially in Jerusalem<\/p>\n

10. Peet’s Coffee<\/a> (You can take the girl out of Berkeley. . .)<\/p>\n

11. Baking challah<\/p>\n

12. Sarit Hadad<\/a> (LOVE this song<\/a>, especially the last minute)<\/p>\n

13. Singing (at Camp Kee Tov, I got an award for having a song for every situation \/ occasion)<\/p>\n

14. Laughing (at Camp Kee Tov, I was also voted most likely to be a stand up comic overcome by her own giggles)<\/p>\n

15. Thinking about Camp Kee Tov<\/a>, best camp EVER, and my group’s cheers and songs<\/p>\n

16. The brief, silent moments during Kabbalat Shabbat services when I know we’re about to sing one of my favorite songs<\/p>\n

17. Sitting on the couch, late at night, and watching the Shabbat candles burn (here are my candles<\/a>)<\/p>\n

18. The look on a student’s face when they realize that they’ve created a computer program that makes their robot move<\/p>\n

19. Lemons from my mother’s tree<\/a><\/p>\n

20. My writing community (the Twitter, Facebook, RWA<\/a> Chapter and WWfW Forum<\/a> versions)<\/p>\n

21. Working with lovely, caring people who care more about my love life than I do<\/a><\/p>\n

22. My mother’s Death Row Chicken<\/a>, even though I’m 90% vegetarian<\/p>\n

23. My iPhone \/ MacBook and all they allow me to do<\/p>\n

24. Scrivener<\/a><\/p>\n

24. My glittery pens, girlie post-it’s, and various other writing accoutrements<\/p>\n

25. NaNoWriMo<\/a>, for the community, the accomplishments and the adrenaline rush<\/p>\n

26. The Moth \/ This American Life <\/a>(Hi Mike Birbiglia, Ira Glass, Andy Borowitz. . . )<\/p>\n

27. Garlic, za’atar, oregano and harissa<\/p>\n

28. Yemen, and their incredible, kick ass music and food (check this out<\/a>, and this<\/a> too)<\/p>\n

29. The words “hence” and “wherein”<\/p>\n

30. Remembering Tuck<\/a> (Tucky), the sweet, loving, enthusiastic dog I grew up with, and his best friend Genny<\/p>\n

31. Will Write for Wine<\/a><\/p>\n

32. Crazy, heroic locksmiths<\/a> (seriously, did you think, even for a second, I wasn’t going to go there?)<\/p>\n

33. Watching Buffy stick a stake into a vampire’s heart and watching the vampire turn to dust<\/p>\n

34. Netflix, Hulu, and Fancast for so kindly providing me with Buffy episodes<\/p>\n

35. Looking out the window of the B Train and seeing the Statue of Liberty behind the Brooklyn Bridge<\/p>\n

36. The Apple Store<\/p>\n

37. My magical, warm, adorable “Lucy\/Lani Socks” that fill me with love and creativity<\/p>\n

38. When Harry Met Sally<\/p>\n

39. Bubble Shooter<\/a><\/p>\n

40. Folk music from the 60’s (whatever, I was born in Berkeley)<\/p>\n

41. Singing the “order of the seder” at the beginning of the seder (which, for some reason, I find exciting)<\/p>\n

42. Getting lost in Prospect Park<\/p>\n

43. Snow days<\/a><\/p>\n

44. The Olympics<\/p>\n

45. Coming home after a long day to a dog who won’t stop wagging his little tail<\/p>\n

46. Getting lost in a book<\/p>\n

47. Friends who know me well enough to give me names like “Cannonball<\/a>“<\/p>\n

48. New York accents<\/a> that melt my heart and make me feel like I’m around family<\/p>\n

49. Wearing glittery make-up for Purim<\/a><\/p>\n

50. Lyra, lauto, baglama, bouzuki. . .\u00a0and songs like this<\/a> and this<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

Well, my dear friends. What are your “raindrops on roses?”<\/em><\/p>\n

And while I’m being cheesy (but in a good way), here are some Raindrops on Roses from me to you:<\/em><\/p>\n

[youtube]http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=dw2VX5wQYQg&feature=player_embedded#[\/youtube]<\/p>\n

\n

\"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Cheesy Post. . . So get this. Sometimes, I can actually be positive. Sure, it’s way more fun (and therapeutic) to bitch and moan and turn kvetching into an art form. And let’s face it. Lately, I haven’t been Miss Melina Sunshine. Why? Well, life’s been extra irritating. Suckitude, you know? This morning, I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-313","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/melinakantor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/313","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/melinakantor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/melinakantor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/melinakantor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/melinakantor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=313"}],"version-history":[{"count":27,"href":"https:\/\/melinakantor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/313\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":345,"href":"https:\/\/melinakantor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/313\/revisions\/345"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/melinakantor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=313"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/melinakantor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=313"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/melinakantor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=313"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}