I heart....

A list of little (and sometimes big) things, that just make life that little bit nicer ^_^

This list will be added to, so whilst it may be itty bitty now, it has the potential to get really rather long...


13. Receiving and writing letters. Where’s the joy in checking your email and just seeing a subject title in bold? Finding a handwritten envelope on your hall floor or inside your po box however is whole other matter.

12. Codex by Radiohead. So they sprung King of Limbs upon us and each listen I hear something new and interesting. But it’s Codex that has stolen away my heart, beautiful, haunting and thoroughly goosebump inducing. Welcome back boys, you were missed.

11. Cleaning the bathroom, there is something so satisfying about seeing it all white and gleaming and compared to hovering/dusting/scrubbing the floor it’s relatively pain-free.

10. Physical photo albums. Looking at photos on a computer screen is fine and certainly takes up less space but there is something delightful about flicking through a proper photo album. As a child I used to love looking through those of my parents, perhaps one day my child can get the same exquisite joy from seeing me as a young ’un.

9. Folk music.  Joanna Newsom, Stornoway, Laura Marling, Emmy the Great, Mumford and sons, Johnny Flynn and the Sussex Wit, I love them all. I need to go to the Greenman Festival one of these days. 

8. Clever architecture.  I love it when people think outside the box, who says things can't be beautiful, interesting, artistic as well as functional. I am a little bit obsessed with Thomas Heatherwick's 'Rolling Bridge', something about it just appeals to the child with me.
The Rolling Bridge- picture courtesy of business week
7. The smell of rain on dry pavement. In fact I happen to know that an uncle of mine loves this smell so much that when his garage gets dry in the summer he sprays it with a hose just to recreate it, and who can blame him?

6. Darts, perhaps a little too much for a 20-something female but I do. Personally I prefer the BDO to the PDC. The Lakeside just comes with so many weird and wonderful characters (and equally weird and wonderful wive) and to me encapsulates the spirit of pub darts. Lovely stuff.

5. Public art. I strongly believe that appreciation and access to art shouldn't be restricted to certain types or classes of people. 

Crosby Beach, Liverpool
4. Multicoloured umbrellas. Who wants to see a black umbrella on a dreary grey day? Well, not me that's for sure. Spotted, striped, patterned, it all makes me smile.

3. Sayings. Ask anyone who knows me and they will tell you that I have a weird and wonderful array of sayings that I commonly use. These include mega heart, uh oh spaghetti-os and say it ain't so Santa, say it ain't so and the overuse of the words selfish, ridiculous and actually.

2. Small cinemas. Yes, large cinemas offer slushy-ice drinks and play the biggest hits every half an hour thus making your chance of seeing the film of your choice sooner greatly increased. However they lack charm. I like old, slightly sagging, velvet covered chairs and the intimacy that's afforded in small cinemas. Perhaps it's partly a nostalgia thing, memories of the Monaco cinema and their child matinees on Saturday mornings.

1. Books by Haruki Murakami, particularly Hard-boiled wonderland and the End of the World and Kafka on the Shore. If you've never tried one of Murakami's books, now's the time to get lost in his magical weavings.