grab happy

After such a heavy post yesterday, I thought I'd share some fun, funny and feel-good stuff I've found around the web lately:

-  Yesterday I mentioned developing a daily gratitude practice -- the author of thxthxthx takes it to a whole new level:  Leah Dieterich writes thank you notes every day to all the things in her life she's grateful for, from her own laziness to her boarding passes.  Take a look.

-  I've also fallen deeply in love with the blog Hyperbole and a Half.  The blogger is an artist who makes cartoon drawings of .... well, you'll have to just check it out.  My favourite post so far is about her Sneaky Hate Spirals, or what I like to call the Evolution of a Really Bad Day.  Take a look -- it's really funny, and will probably feel pretty familiar.

-  Rue McClanahan, one of the very funny actors of the old TV show Golden Girls, died last week.  Yesterday, in her memory, my sister sent me an old TV clip of Rue and Betty White, telling each other dirty jokes on the set of Golden Girls while they waited for taping to begin again.  Let me tell you, there's nothing that can get you giggling like watching two famous comics giggling together.  (Rest in peace, Rue.)

-  And finally, a shameless plug:  the website Shutter Sisters, of which I was a contributor, has just released their first book, Expressive Photography -- a book designed to help you capture the emotion behind the images you frame with your camera.  Each of the founding Shutter Sisters was invited to write one chapter ... and as a result, I'm thrilled to be one of the named authors and a contributor to the finsl product. 

It's a beautiful book, if I do say so myself.  If you're looking to help enhance your own photographs, please consider picking up a copy.

And on that note, have a great day, friends.

Image:  Photographed last evening in our back yard with my Nikon D300, together with a very sweet Nikkor wide angle 10-24mm lens, lent to me by the exceedingly generous Nikon.  Today's photo was just me taking it out for a spin, since I've never shot with a wide-angle lens before.  The story of how I came to be in possession of such a lovely lens (together with some hopefully stellar shots) will be told in detail in the next few weeks, I promise.

Song:  Happiness by The Weepies