Cheap Things That Make You Happy

[meteor]

Listening to podcasts.  I learn a ton about health, current events, classes, history, interviews (on about any topic) audiobooks, old radio theatre.  Where else would you learn about the mechanics of fire-engines, ice-climbing, dulcimer groups, and people's amazing life experiences. When I write to podcasters, they always write back and sometimes even want to interview me (!) Funny.

[BZB]

Making a dinner that was soooo tasty I realized I would have paid good money for it at a restaurant.

[sun and sand]

My little cat, Cocoa Puff, snores too. I thought it was just her but I guess not after reading these posts.  I guess it was a case of, "my child is the most beautiful, but I won't tell anyone"

[Cool Friend]

Hot water on tap any time you want it is a monumental achievement of modern civilization.

[OtherJen]

Absolutely outstanding weather today, and enough free time this afternoon to hike a 2-mile nature trail in one of the metroparks. It’s supposed to snow tomorrow, so the warm sunshine was extra special.

All of the trees in the park have leaf buds. Everything should be spectacularly green in a couple of weeks.

[AnnaGrowsAMustache]

My little cat, Cocoa Puff, snores too. I thought it was just her but I guess not after reading these posts.  I guess it was a case of, "my child is the most beautiful, but I won't tell anyone"

That's a great name for a cat.

[Trifele]

Sleeping with the windows open after the weather starts to warm up in spring.  Lovely!

[OtherJen]

Toasted gluten-free wrap sandwich filled with provolone, salami, deli turkey, diced tomato, and salad mix tossed in homemade mustard vinaigrette. I think I may have perfected my favorite sandwich, and the sum total cost of ingredients is about $1.

[Linea_Norway]

Today at our cabin perfect circumstances to ski everywhere. The snow is holding us on ski's. Nice sunny weather.

[koshtra]

Petroleum jelly! First it fixed my late-onset eczema when the expensive creams and moisturizers didn't help at all. Then I found how much better it worked for avoiding blisters on marathon training runs that what I had used before (Two Toms, BodyGlide, etc.). Now I've been using it on road burn/badly ripped up knees from falling (also running!) and it's helped the healing tremendously. And it's so cheap I don't hesitate to slather away - a humongous tub for under $4. Makes it even more satisfying to use!

Amen. And its cousin mineral oil (which is just petroleum jelly before you jelly it.) You can buy creams and moisturizers for a zillion dollars an ounce, but I haven't found anything that actually works better than mineral oil.
 

[Reader]

Hot water on tap any time you want it is a monumental achievement of modern civilization.

Yes. That. and air conditioning. A hot bath in winter and a cool room in summer.

[Rural]

At the risk of sounding pretentious, I have to say museums. Never been the smartest kid in the class, but found that I like learning. Plus museums let you see actual artifacts that I'd only know about in a book otherwise.

That's not pretentious. The whole point of museums is to share human culture (or science, art, whatever the focus may be) with the populace at large rather than keeping it all hidden away and limited to the elite few. I'd say museums, and appreciating them, are the exact opposite of pretentious.

[Trifele]

At the risk of sounding pretentious, I have to say museums. Never been the smartest kid in the class, but found that I like learning. Plus museums let you see actual artifacts that I'd only know about in a book otherwise.

+1.  Love museums.  We visit many of them, often.

[OtherJen]

At the risk of sounding pretentious, I have to say museums. Never been the smartest kid in the class, but found that I like learning. Plus museums let you see actual artifacts that I'd only know about in a book otherwise.

That's not pretentious. The whole point of museums is to share human culture (or science, art, whatever the focus may be) with the populace at large rather than keeping it all hidden away and limited to the elite few. I'd say museums, and appreciating them, are the exact opposite of pretentious.

I appreciate you saying that. Not a lot of people in my life understand why I like museums and have no interest in going to one at all, and some did say they are pretentious.

Museums are for everyone, and calling them “pretentious” says loads more about the person who said that than about you.

A few years ago, there was a major public outcry when the City of Detroit, during bankruptcy proceedings, considered selling off its collection housed at the Detroit Institute of Arts. The public considered the art to be held in trust for current and future generations, and the surrounding tri-county area actually passed a millage proposal to support the museum. Anyone living in the 3 counties now has free admission to the general galleries, and works like the ”Detroit Industry” murals by Diego Rivera remain available to the public and are protected for the future.

[Botany Bae]

We found a field filled with one of our earliest spring wildflowers, the sagebrush buttercup. Except, this population has been cut off by suburbia for decades, and has mutated excessively. Boy2 carefully harvested a few so he can try to cross them with some non-mutated ones from a different area just to see what happens. Cost was nothing but an afternoon walk with my teen, since we have plenty of pots, etc, for his impromptu science project.

I am happy for:
Tucked away public greenspaces
Vernal ponds and fairy shrimp
Walks with my son
Flower mutants

[mountain mustache]

having a pain-free enough week to ride my bike to work in the balmy 60 degree spring weather. There is nothing more amazing than pedaling home leisurely at the end of the day in the warm, still sunny evening. This week I've been pedaling a wide loop around town to get an extra 10 minutes of enjoyment out of the ride.

[MMMaybe]

Blood oranges being in season. Homemade lemon curd....

[OtherJen]

A thunderstorm! Nothing remotely severe is predicted so I'm just enjoying the occasional flashes of lightning, crashes of thunder, and smell of rain through the window.

[HappyCheerE]

Yeast! Saf Instant is like $5 for a pound that sits patiently in the fridge. Only 1/4 tsp to make delicious and easy no-knead bread, and those little hardworking cells wake up and turn flour and water into bubbling dough while we sleep. It's really amazing that we've tamed these microorganisms -- or that we've co-evolved!

[Trifele]

Yeast! Saf Instant is like $5 for a pound that sits patiently in the fridge. Only 1/4 tsp to make delicious and easy no-knead bread, and those little hardworking cells wake up and turn flour and water into bubbling dough while we sleep. It's really amazing that we've tamed these microorganisms -- or that we've co-evolved!

The other day on the highway I passed a large tanker truck that was labeled "Yeast."  I spent quite a while trying to imagine how many of those little guys were in there. 

[OtherJen]

Girls’ night in with good friends. We ate ice cream and watched movies. Definitely needs to be a regular thing.

[Hula Hoop]

Yesterday we did an easter egg hunt followed by a picnic in the park with a big gang of friends with kids.  After the picnic a few of us stayed in the park while our kids played in the playground.  We just sat on a picnic blanket in the sun and talked.  Then we went to a friend's house nearby for cups of tea with Easter cake (gift from one of her students) and chocolate easter eggs with tea.  Very inexpensive and made me really happy.

[dougules]

 I opened the curtains last night and fell asleep with the moon shining on the bed.  It was nice, and I actually thought about how it was completely free. 

[Linea_Norway]

I made a walk in high terrain in the forest and 99% of my path was free of snow.

I dislike that period between winter and summer when the snow is still there, as icy patches on the roads and paths. That seems now mostly over.

[Just Joe]

We had the windows open. House smells so good. Then the cold came back. Oh well.

I stood on a mtn side this weekend and marveled at all the different greens I saw below. Trees, grass, everything. More sparsely placed were flowering trees and bushes. So much neon green!

I'm much admiring the redbuds this year. Hardly ever noticed them before. I'm turning into my grandparents.

[Trifele]

I stood on a mtn side this weekend and marveled at all the different greens I saw below. Trees, grass, everything. More sparsely placed were flowering trees and bushes. So much neon green!

I'm much admiring the redbuds this year. Hardly ever noticed them before. I'm turning into my grandparents.

+1.  The redbuds are gorgeous.  Especially right next to that bright pale green of the broadleaf trees opening up.  Wow. 

[Gerard]

Got the first seeds in the ground!

[MaybeBabyMustache]

Tackling a long to do list & actually seeing progress!

[lentil]

Birds.

[middo]

Garlic sprouting in the vegetable patch.

[Linea_Norway]

The small birds around the house in nesting modus, taking in use our 4 nesting boxes.

[Sinconjuror]

I'm getting happier. when I give gifts to relatives

[zeli2033]

Walking to work in nice weather while listening to podcasts.

[Serendip]

The UK gardening show "Big Dreams, Small Spaces" on netflix.
Normal people work hard, are encouraged and chastised by Britain's favorite gardener.
Now to clean up my patio :)

[BookLoverL]

Writing things for my own amusement. Cost: free if you already have a computer, which I do. Entertainment value: very high.

[OtherJen]

The weather. OMG, the weather this week. Bright blue skies, tiny pale green leaves on the trees, spring flowers everywhere, and warm enough to skip the jacket. I'm taking every opportunity for a walk.

[zolotiyeruki]

Meeting up with dear friends and family.  We've traveled across the country for a wedding, and decided to make a family vacation out of it.  We spent a few fun days with the in-laws, spent a few days with the family of the bride-to-be (and mostly staying out of their way), met up with family members for a hot dog roast (cheap, DIY food, and cousins get to play!), met up with some best friends from a few years back (lunch at an inexpensive place), and had dinner with other family members for the cost of some ingredients (and cousin time!).  We've gone to an awesome dinosaur museum (cheap), a super cool aerospace museum (free), gone to several really nice parks (free!), played with baby chicks, and generally enjoyed the beautiful spring weather.

Tomorrow we finish the trek to the wedding location.  We'll hit some cool (free!) attractions on the way down, and I'm looking forward to a couple days of casual hanging out, splashing in the pool, and spending time with more family.  We really have been blessed with awesome relatives.

[Gerard]

Bailing out of the airport during a connection to go walk in the nearby woods. I saw finches, and a couple of deer!

[conwy]

Listening to the monumental, exquisite recorded performances of famous orchestral music made under the conductor Sergiu Celibidache. He worked with the legendary Fürtwangler, and was later influenced by Zen Buddhism.

Among the thousands of performances and recordings by various conductors and orchestras, this small number of absolute gems I've listened to hundreds of times by now and yet still keep coming back to...

• Debussy / La Mer (Celibidache, Munich Phil, 1992)
• Bartók / Concerto for Orchestra (Celibidache, Munich Phil, 1995)
• Bruckner / Symphony No 8 (Celibidache, Munich Phil, 1990)
• Schumann / Symphony No 4 (Furtwängler, Berlin Phil, 1953)
• Schubert / Symphony No 8 "Unfinished" (Furtwängler, Berlin Phil, 1953)
• Dvořák / Symphony 9 "New World" (Celibidache, Munich Phil, 1991)
• Ravel / Piano Concerto in G (Celibidache / Michelangeli, London Symphony)

Here, the work of performers and conductor alike are exceptional. The full inner complexity and richness of the music is revealed. The execution is of such a high level of mastery that the performance itself is art. Thus, art transcends art.

These unique and precious sounds are so deeply burned into my memory that I can "play" them back in my mind, without even having the recording available! (This has come in handy in the dentist chair or getting blood drawn lol!)

This is music for a lifetime.

I love the feeling that whatever happens to me, even if I find myself in poverty or in the middle of a war (which is highly unlikely), I will always have the memories of this music to draw on for comfort and strength to endure anything. This music will always exist for me, embracing me with open arms.

Thankfully, life has been much much sweeter than that. Listening to these while going for a long walk late at night or a run during the day is the best!

[OtherJen]

Lunch and an afternoon of conversation with my dad on his 70th birthday.

[Linea_Norway]

This is the time of year that wild edible plants have started growing.

And it is raining, stopping the forest fire dangers.

[OtherJen]

Just celebrated a dear relative’s 80th birthday. Time with family is priceless.

[Trifele]

Among the thousands of performances and recordings by various conductors and orchestras, this small number of absolute gems I've listened to hundreds of times by now and yet still keep coming back to...

Thanks for this @conwy!  Neat post.   

[Just Joe]

I repaired my bicycle and rode it for the first time this season this evening. Ahhhh....

I like riding one of our other bikes but mine is just right...

[NorthernMonkey]

Rode my bike to the park, with my miniature dachshund running along side.

He gets really excited going for a run, and his ears flap about in a hilarious way once he reaches full speed

[middo]

A rainy day today, but the sun came out at sunset and lit up the world.  So beautiful.

[Parizade]

Among the thousands of performances and recordings by various conductors and orchestras, this small number of absolute gems I've listened to hundreds of times by now and yet still keep coming back to...

Thanks for this @conwy!  Neat post.

+1, I'll definitely be checking out your list @conwy

[ohio4life]

Listening to podcasts.  I learn a ton about health, current events, classes, history, interviews (on about any topic) audiobooks, old radio theatre.  Where else would you learn about the mechanics of fire-engines, ice-climbing, dulcimer groups, and people's amazing life experiences. When I write to podcasters, they always write back and sometimes even want to interview me (!) Funny.

This is a good answer. I find podcasts to be extremely entertaining and make almost any activity seem like fun time. True crime and interview based ones are generally my favorite, but I've consumed dozens of different ones. I can't listen to them at work, but they are great for yard work, house work, cooking, cleaning, exercising, etc. A few friends have or had podcasts and it almost feels like hanging out to listen to those ones.

[Hirondelle]

Homemade pizza and board games with friends last night :)

[conwy]

Thanks for this @conwy!  Neat post.

+1, I'll definitely be checking out your list @conwy

Thanks peeps!

I don't know if everyone would get them, and it may take repeated listens to get really familiar with the music.

Especially with Bruckner, I found it  easier to put on the music in the background while I'm doing something else like walking or programming, and just wait for the "thunderbolt" effect to ensue!

What I can say is, once you really commit to and follow the music, these recordings open up a whole other dimension that most other recordings would never have come close to. It's really an experience. There's nothing comparable.