Stellar Political Me

How to be Happy in the 1920's

Fri, 18 Apr 2008 13:41:37 GMT

My roommate sent me this post from Real Simple this morning. Enjoy.

Happiness Apr 17, 2008 2:00:00 AM
Happiness Tips from 1820: Still Helpful

In 1820, English writer Sydney Smith wrote a letter to his unhappy friend, Lady Morpeth. He offered his tips for how to be happy – and his suggestions are as sound now as they were practically 200 years ago.

"1st. Live as well as you dare.

2nd. Go into the shower-bath with a small quantity of water at a temperature low enough to give you a slight sensation of cold, 75 or 80 degrees.

3rd. Amusing books.

4th. Short views of human life - not further than dinner or tea.

5th. Be as busy as you can.

6th. See as much as you can of those friends who respect and like you.

7th. And of those acquaintances who amuse you.

8th. Make no secret of low spirits to your friends, but talk of them freely - they are always worse for dignified concealment.

9th. Attend to the effects tea and coffee produce upon you.

10th. Compare your lot with that of other people.

11th. Don’t expect too much from human life - a sorry business at the best.

12th. Avoid poetry, dramatic representations (except comedy), music, serious novels, melancholy, sentimental people, and everything likely to excite feeling or emotion, not ending in active benevolence.

13th. Do good, and endeavour to please everybody of every degree.

14th. Be as much as you can in the open air without fatigue.

15th. Make the room where you commonly sit gay and pleasant.

16th. Struggle by little and little against idleness.

17th. Don’t be too severe upon yourself, or underrate yourself, but do yourself justice.

18th. Keep good blazing fires.

19th. Be firm and constant in the exercise of rational religion.

20th. Believe me, dear Lady Georgiana."

What I like about this list is that it’s specific (even as to what temperature a bath should be!), manageable, and loving. I can imagine his friend putting this advice to work, right away. Now I’m off to work on #15, to make my office “gay and pleasant”.

we are...

Fri, 11 Apr 2008 23:50:21 GMT

blossoming

& I am in l o v e...

we are heading out to his parent's house again for a weekend in Philly

& I couldn't be happier to have been able to clear my weekend schedule for this.

twirl :)

Tonite

Thu, 03 Apr 2008 15:18:57 GMT

Is the first night of DC Lindy Exchange at the Jam Cellar. I'm psyched to throw my dancing shoes on and jive with the best of them. I haven't been dancing in a month and hope I can find the style & energy to get down all night! :)

I'm trying my best to not overextend my stay with the boy. I can't tell if he's enjoying the spontaneous, non-stop hanging out.

I wish you could have been there Tuesday night, we went out to Gravelly Point with two blankets, a picnic basket & a bottle of Vino Verde. We spent the night watching the planes fly into Ronald Reagan National Airport every 3-4 minutes. At first it was scary to see the jets that up close & personal, but it got very cool, very soon....

the road less travelled

Tue, 01 Apr 2008 19:58:59 GMT

Life is brilliant. The world is beautiful. What does it mean when I can enjoy a three hour round trip drive in the middle of nowhere in the pouring rain. A smile on my face.

This week, I'm recapturing my life.

Taking the time to relish in the little things that once boosted my spirits. Like bubble baths and shopping. The latest sophie kinsella read. Checking out that yarn shop this morning on 8th & E in Southeast. (Came home with a delectably chunky green & pink yarn -- I won't tell you the price tag)

Later we're going to the Silver Diner in lue of dancing (cancelled!) to catch up with friends I feel I've neglected in the past month. It didn't help that Julia went away to London for two weeks, but I miss here dearly.

Wednesday night is starbucks & Thursday night is Jamcellar.

Can a girl really wait until Friday to see him? I miss holding hands and the mundane act of getting coffee together. (so far -- my favorite aspect of this whole relationship thing) There's just something about feeling to comfortable with another person that you don't mind hanging out with them @ 7:30 in the morning in 1/2 PJ 1/2 streetwear ensemble.

A part of me hopes we'll be spontaneous & see eachother at some point, but another part is enjoying the hiatus.

I was talking to my sister yesterday about how her husband is going away for a year to Alaska and how it will be a hard time for her & my niece. I told her that, "distance makes the heart grow fonder" and I can't help but think this week is contributing to that affect in my own life.

I've never felt this way about another person before. Sure there've been relationships, but never this grown-up feeling.

I think i was getting carried away for awhile there, but I'm really excited about the future. Taking the time to get to know eachother. There's just so much on the table and when I get down and really think about it, there's so much I want to know about him.

Intricacies, quirks, habits, wants, desires, dreams, ambitions, needs...

Life is beautiful.

letting a month slide

Fri, 28 Mar 2008 17:15:22 GMT

I can't believe I've let a month fly by without venturing into this space. There's so many things I want to spill. To tell old friends. To get off my chest.

Life is beautiful.

Finally jumped into this world of the Internet & Politics.

The new hair is still getting compliments weeks later.

That blog guy & I are official.

What I like about him: his desire to go on adventures in the city with me. his seinfeld outlook on life. his sense of humor. his smile. his eyes. the importance he places on family. his cashmere scarf. his punk rock side.

We went out last night with my new friend Jane & some of her friends to the Banana Cafe for 2.50 margaritas. This morning when I came into the office, Jane said we were so cute together. Something in the way we hugged.

I love hugs.

I should be...

Sat, 01 Mar 2008 21:17:45 GMT

taking a nap, but I'm so jazzed up from the comfy, cozy, blue skies ride home this afternoon. I took the long road home with a few pit stops. picked up a darling bottle of wine for our homemade dinner this evening. rolled the windows down, pumped up the volume on jack johnson, fell in love with track 8...

came home to musings written on our bathroom wall, a quote from Billie Collins about a beautiful spring morning.

amen.

So, I'm comfy cozy in my flannel pjs. hopefully will fit in some shut eye, but I'm so happy I could cry : )

I can't pinpoint the source, but there's just something about things falling into place that just makes me giddy from the inside out.

what a...

Fri, 29 Feb 2008 18:07:46 GMT

Fucking Nightmare.

Pardon my french, even Relient K would blush.

On a side note, Happy Sadie Hawkins Day.

promising

Wed, 27 Feb 2008 04:14:33 GMT

Keri Smith had her baby, can you believe it? I've been following the blog off and on for a couple years & this is like the conclusion to a well-read story. What's next?

I finally went dancing tonite. It had been a month. I've been caught up in a whirlwind of work, work & this new "romance." Somewhere along the line I lost traction, a bit.

Can you believe that I had forgotten the pure exhiliration of dancing to the brink of exhaustion? -- Luckily, I didn't forget how to dance. Things fell into place.

Beforehand, I went to dinner with the class at an uber nice restaurant. We enjoyed crabcakes & I split a bottle of wine with Doris, my new favorite woman of all time. (Gotta love sass) --

So the point is that I don't want to lose myself in this relationship. I already sense friendship neglect and it makes me sick lately. All those times spent with friends, bonding over the single life. I still need to be there for my friends.

The key will be to find a happy medium.

Keep everyone involved smiling.

No pressure :)

But, I like him, I like him, I like him I really really do.

what i'm thinking...

Tue, 26 Feb 2008 02:59:24 GMT

that sometimes a $47 excursion to ann taylor loft is justified after a splendid day of work

that a night of relaxation, finishing a book & sipping a glass of Sarah's Patio Red is acceptable

especially when things are just starting to come together, like pieces in a puzzle

i'm finally getting back to the dancing scene tomorrow night after weeks of absence, it seems

i can't wait.

electricity

Fri, 22 Feb 2008 02:41:11 GMT

Work has been crazy. My to do list just seems to get longer and longer as the week goes on. My plans for a day off before next week seem foiled.

So I came home tonite and made myself dinner and poured a glass of wine. Put a solid dent in this new book called, "electricity," before dipping my feet into a super hot bath. Must have spent an hour in the tub just letting the steam mingle with my skin. Painted my nails a hot fuschia..."winter wine" according to the label.

So here I am, squeaky clean, full of zen tea, nose still stuck in "electricity" --

We had a wonderful time Tuesday night. Just the little things, like, "I can't go seven days without seeing your smiling face" and the like. That passionate kiss on the waterfront on the way back to the arena. I don't know that he knows I'm picking up on these things, but I'm giddy about the whole thing.

Which is why I'm glad work is busy & my schedule won't allow for crazy weekends like last time around. I'm still trying to remain guarded about this whole thing. But is that the right thing to do?

Everyone is so happy for me & I'm trying to be happy for myself. Just trying to get used to this whole boy liking me for being me thing. Just trying to grasp this whole nice guy thing. This mature, yet immature, punk rock song emo like thing we've got going on : ) --

So I can't wait to see him tomorrow. It seems every time I see him there's a new development in our relationship and it's maddingly exciting.

It's nice to walk around the office with a smile underneath.