100 things that make me happy

On my friendsfriends list, someone I don't know (snow_white) is doing a "100 things I love" project. She has no rules for it posted, so I shall make my own!

Rules
Post 100 things that make me happy before the end of the year.

I've lost nearly two months already out of this year, so I might not make 100, but we'll see!

Why do this? So far, this has been a darned sucky year. I've been trying to focus on the positive as much as I can ("But at least I'm not in the hospital!" works really well). This will be part of that effort.

Why "100 things that make me happy" instead of "100 things I love"? To me, 'love' is a really strong word and I feel would restrict me. I don't know if 100 things exist that I love! Unless we're being really loose with the word, like "I love ice cream".

So! On with the show!

Thing #1 that makes me happy: My job. Rarely in my life have I been able to say that. Would I rather be rich and not have to work at all? Well, sure. Failing that, I'm surprisingly happy where I am. I believe my boss values me and appreciates my work (even though I am very much the least skilled person of the group). I like all the other people in my group (never before have I been able to say that about a job). I love the work -- I get to be as anal as I want about getting things exactly right. It's so satisfying! And the people I work with are just as picky about grammar and typos as me*.

I'm in the (also rare) position of being the most technically experienced person in my group. They all have decades more writing experience than me, but most of them can't log on to a Linux machine.

I learn new things nearly every day, and most days I have enough time to slack and read LJ/personal email. My boss doesn't hover, yet she's there if I need help.

To top it all off, if this group hadn't taken me in I'd be out of a job, so... bonus! :)

*Talking about my work as an editor worries me, because I'm paranoid someone will go EDITOR? EDITOR? BUT LOOK! A TYPO IN THIS POST! AND LOOK HOW ROUGHLY THAT SENTENCE IS WORDED! I'm not (and would never claim to be!) perfect. :)

The coolest LJ ever! (And Happy Thing #2, #3)

LJ recommendation: antarctic_sue. She posts a photo a day while at McMurdo Station in Antarctica. So cool it's frozen!

For some reason, ever since I was a little kid, I wanted to live in Alaska or Antarctica (I was too young to know the latter wasn't an option). I'd still like to, though as I can't stand being cold, I'm not sure how practical that wish is. Looking at blogs like that, full of everyday pictures, makes me very happy. Wistful, but happy.

And in 100 things that make cats happy news:

What a good idea! I'm surprised sellers haven't targeted pets directly sooner.

And lastly, I like Tom Hiddleston as much as the next person, but I don't get some people. Someone posted this picture of him with the caption of "so beautiful :3". I... I just don't get it. He can look attractive, but that picture? His eyes look sunken in, the lighting makes his skin look dirty, and the way the photo is cropped? tilted? makes him look like he's balding. Different people have different opinions, I guess...

Edit: Bonus happy thing: I love this icon, it's one of my favorites, but I never have reason to use it. It makes me happy just looking at it! The background is so well done, especially knowing it took him only seconds to do. Such a cool snow/sky effect! (Should this count as #3? WHY NOT!) Edit 2: I just wish the wolf eyes were colored. Wonder if I can touch it up myself...