The Little Things

I had a confrontation with a student today who is usually a good student. He chose today to be difficult for some reason, and it has totally soured my mood. In an effort to reclaim what had been a peaceful day prior to this, I am going to focus on some of the little things I love.

1) The little cream-colored McCoy planter on my desk -- It holds the blank 3X5 index cards I use as memo pads, notes to class, to do lists, etc. It has two tiny gnomes, one on each end, and is roughly shaped like a log with ivy twining around it. I don't know why it should make me so happy, but it does. Maybe it's the gnomes.

2) Dillon playing with her toy mouse -- Has there ever been anything as heart-cheering as a kitten with a toy? She chases it, pounces it, and brings it to me as proudly as anything weighing less than three pounds is capable of doing.

3) PEZ -- Walking in and seeing all my kitschy little dispensers lining my office walls makes me smile. I wish I could have more of them here at school, but they're small, portable, and tempting in a way that means they'd disappear pretty quickly.

4) Writing with my fountain pen -- Mom and Dad gave me a nice one for Christmas last year. It's not a Mont Blanc (I'd be too nervous to use one, anyway), but it's got good balance, a responsive nib, and I feel loved when I write with it.

5) My maneki neko collection -- Whenever I look at one of my maneki neko, or lucky cats, I can remember Japan and where I was when I bought it. I can remember Tokoname and the color of the tiles in the rain or the wall made from old sake jugs. I can remember the excitement and fun of traveling with my friends and going to pottery festivals where we always bought more than we should have and then struggled like beasts of burden to get our treasures home on the trains.

6) A new (or new-to-me) Law and Order: CI -- When I get to sit and watch the alluring Vincent D'Onofrio take apart some crime from the inside out, it makes me happy. Of course, I would probably also be happy watching Mr. D'Onofrio read from the telephone directory.... I wonder what he'd do with his elegant hands for something as silly as that?

I'll stop with six. I feel better. Now it's time to grade some essays. I have one of my night classes for the first time tonight, and I am determined to get some of this unfinished work done before it.