8 beautiful things

1. This family project. I love its purpose, I love the imagery, I love the music, I love everything.

2. This friend's recipe. I was there when she made it the first time, and Good Goobledy-Goo. It's amazing, and I really need to make it myself.

3. People who make people laugh, and people who are good sports about it. To wit, the clip below, which should start at 9:54 (via Colossal, and don't worry, it's safe for work, unless your employer frowns on weeping with laughter):

4. This website. I've mentioned it before, but now they've enhanced it to include different sceneries, and if you choose, music, and even a guided meditation. Awesome.

5. The concept of trying something. This past weekend, my family and I joined some friends for dinner at a local Ethiopian restaurant, some of whom were Ethiopian themselves. I'd never had Ethiopian food, and I'm not ashamed to say that I made a complete and total pig of myself. But one of the best things about that night was watching Alex dive into the food herself: to her credit, she's not afraid of trying anything, even if it seems completely foreign to her at first. And as I watched her eat, I thought to myself, man, that is the secret to life: being open to trying something. Deciding that something isn't for you is totally cool -- whether it's a position in politics, or religion, or an adventure sport, or travel, or whatever -- but to have the courage to at least try it first? Dude, that's everything.

I feel a blog post about this coming on, after I think about it some more.

6. The Chumbawumba Principle. It's long, but may we all live by this.

7. Late evening walks. I'm becoming a fan of taking walks, which, as I've mentioned before, is just not done in Houston. But I'm doing more of it lately, with Alex. We talk about our days, and occasionally find something pretty to photograph (like the images in this post). It's a habit that I'm trying to develop for the summer. Strongly recommend.

8. This quote, by C.S. Lewis: