August Happiness Challenge: Day 9

Rizz appreciates characters

On Day Nine, I'm happy about Gray and White Kitten and The Walking Dude.  

Gray and White Kitten was born in Millennial Park at the beginning of summer. He was all alone, without mama kitty or littermates. A homeless couple adopted him and are taking the best care of him they can. He's got a small portable litter box, a collar and leash, and toys -- all donated by passers by. He's amazingly chill about noises and doesn't even blink when a bus belches by or a siren blares. He encounters many dogs during the day but doesn't care much about them either. This is not to say he's not alert. He is. I've watched him enthusiastically take down a knotted pair of white socks. 

I realize that the two who adopted Gray and White Kitten are pimping him for donations. It's effective, too. I manage to scrounge change or a dollar bill every time I see them. And I've tucked a couple cans of canned food into my bag's side pocket.

I also know that it's more than likely that, without these two homeless kids, Gray and White Kitten would have perished in the park like his siblings, become road kill on the very busy streets, or fallen prey to some of the very sick fucks that are out there. I worry about what will happen to this cat come winter. I know there are homeless shelters that allow pets, but I doubt that the other dogs and cats that spend the night there have been immunized or fixed. 

But still, it was nice to see Gray and White Kitten looking healthy and loved. It's been a pleasure this summer to watch him grow, to see his ears go from round to pointy.

The Walking Dude is a Chicago staple, a homeless man who walks ... and walks ... and walks. He is tall and thin, with flowing white hair and a mustache. (Think a white-haired Barry Gibb.) His clothes are well worn, but the hair on his face and head are always immaculate as he walks all day and all night. In all weather. In May of 2016, he suffered a severe beating. He was hospitalized for a while and citizens contributed $40,000 for his care. News reports said he was "fine," but I no longer saw him walking, walking, walking. Today I did! And he looked fine.

I'm happy that the city is a vibrant place filled with unique and special characters, and I must remind myself to take the time to look.

If you want to play along, just come back here (meaning to this blog, not this individual post) each day in August, looking for the Happy Cub. Every day I will try to have a post with the headline: August Happiness Challenge: Day [X]. Leave a comment and then post your own daily happiness, with August Happiness Challenge in the title to make it easy to find.

Does anyone do Facebook right?

That provocative question appeared on my Facebook feed Sunday. I've been thinking about it ever since. And the answer, I've decided, is "no."

If a person shares that they something did well, are they being "self congratulatory?" Are they trolling for praise? Or are they just happy that they had a personal victory and they're sharing the moment?

If someone posts about an annoyance or disappointment, are they being a "downer?" Should they keep their shallow, First World problems to their damn selves? Or are they wisely letting their frustrations out so that they don't fester?

To the original question -- "Does anyone do Facebook right?" -- a woman snidely responded, "High school never ends." Just because she was being bitchy doesn't mean she wasn't right. Those adolescent feelings of vulnerability and that need for peer approval never really go away, and social media just exacerbates them.

This week I saw a post by a friend of a friend, a woman who took a selfie of herself at the beach. You can't see her face, but you can see her tummy, bikini bottom, legs and bare feet. Her body is certainly nothing to be ashamed of. Yet she wrote how nervous she was, posting this picture to share and preserve her happy, peaceful moment on an empty beach.

"It's hard because with every picture you post you're hoping someone will like it and say something positive. However your gut tells you someone in the world is going to hate and criticize how you look. So here's me conquering my everyday anxiety and 

thinking I look nice in this picture."

My friend Amy posted the perfect response to this woman: "The only thing wrong with this picture is we can't see your pretty face."

But by admitting that she wants someone to like the picture and say something positive, is she begging for approval? Is she pathetically trying to compensate for some hole in her soul? Or is she courageously making herself vulnerable?

I don't have the answers. But I'm grateful to the woman -- someone I don't even know -- for raising the question. This stranger has made me more thoughtful and empathetic as I scroll through my feed.

Social media makes it easy for each us to be a distant, almost anonymous audience member in a cyber colosseum, giving our thumbs up or thumbs down to the poor schlubs who share their lives with us.

I must remember that each of us is doing the best that we can, and that it was a person who wrote that post I find it so easy to mock. A fellow human, not a cartoon or bot. Just someone expressing themselves and looking for validation.

While I'm sure my current moment of kum ba yah will wear off and revert to elitist, impatient eye rolls in the future, I must restrain myself from actually commenting. My nasty comments could harm the person they're aimed at and, I've learned this week, they also diminish me.

WWW.WEDNESDAY

WWW. WEDNESDAY asks three questions to prompt you to speak bookishly. To participate, and to see how other book lovers responded, click here. 

1. What are you currently reading? Mrs. Jeffries Learns the Trade by Emily Brightwell. This anthology introduces Scotland Yard's Inspector Witherspoon and his maid, Mrs. Jeffries, in the their three earliest adventures. I've barely dented the first story, but so far I'm enjoying it. Ms. Brightwell successfully creates a veddy-veddy Downtown Abbey atmosphere. And I know this will definitely be more "cozy" and less Cornwell -- meaning I expect little that's grisly in these books.

2. What did you recently finish reading? Kennedy and Nixon, by Chris Matthews.  There is little new in this book. It's the way Matthews frames the contrast between these two historic men that makes this a good read. He casts Kennedy as Mozart, naturally gifted and charismatic, the one to whom everything appeared to come so easily. Nixon, then, is Salieri, hardworking but workmanlike, consumed by, and eventually destroyed by, jealousy.

Matthews treats both men with respect and compassion. It's especially evident in the passages about their deaths. I'm paraphrasing here, but JFK died as he lived -- in an open convertible, with a beautiful and loving woman at his side, charming everyone he saw. His death was sudden and fast, which he expressed more than once was how he wanted to go. Nixon died a lonely widower who lingered four days after suffering a stroke. Kennedy once famously said that life isn't fair. If he were able, Nixon might argue that death wasn't fair, either.

3.  What will you read next? I've got Sue Grafton's X, a Kinsey Milhone mystery I've yet to crack open.
 

August Happiness Challenge: Day 8

 Rizz is happy I found what I'm looking for

On Day Eight, YouTube made me happy. I learned Tuesday afternoon that Glen Campbell died after a long battle with Alzheimer's.

"Gentle on My Mind," "Wichita Lineman," "By the Time I get to Phoenix," "Rhinestone Cowboy" ... all hits, all mentioned prominently in his obituary.

But the song that nagged at me and nibbled tenaciously at my consciousness was a little-known country ditty I remember hearing at my uncle's house. The last line was, "I'd say 'no thank you, Lord, I'll just keep Ann.'"

So I went to YouTube and searched for "Glenn Campebell Ann." I found it! On record and performed live on a Bing Crosby TV special! 

It was so satisfying to find it. I love YouTube!

PS RIP to Glen Campbell and Uncle Ted.

If you want to play along, just come back here (meaning to this blog, not this individual post) each day in August, looking for the Happy Cub. Every day I will try to have a post with the headline: August Happiness Challenge: Day [X]. Leave a comment and then post your own daily happiness, with August Happiness Challenge in the title to make it easy to find.

August Happiness Challenge: Day 7

Rizz is happy to just write a check

On Day 7, I was happy I have an emergency fund. The  hospital bill for $412.94 arrived in today's mail. Obviously, that is not the source of my happiness.

I'm happy, though, that I don't have to put that $412.94 on plastic. After all, my 2017 "OneWord Goal is to focus on what counts," including my credit card debt.

Right now, my emergency fund has $1350 in it. I won't like seeing that total dip below $1000. But like the last check I wrote from this fund -- $175 for HVAC repair on 6/24 -- I'm happy I have the cash on hand. Now I'll have to build it up again, by adding between $20 and $25 every month.

While I'm at it, I'm also happy I still have good insurance. Part of why I wanted to have the colonoscopy this summer was that I wanted to make sure I could pay for it. Looking over the bill, I see that the procedure cost $8196. My total responsibility is less than 10% of that.

After my bout with c.diff, this test was wise, if not immediately necessary. I'm fortunate that I have the insurance and funds to pay for good healthcare.

 

If you want to play along, just come back here (meaning to this blog, not this individual post) each day in August, looking for the Happy Cub. Every day I will try to have a post with the headline: August Happiness Challenge: Day [X]. Leave a comment and then post your own daily happiness, with August Happiness Challenge in the title to make it easy to find.

Let me tell you a story

This month I've been attending a storytelling workshop here at the office. It's taught by members of Chicago's Second City troop.

Here's the story I'm telling/reading presenting at tomorrow's workshop (if I can get away from my desk). The prompt was, "Tell a true story about one of these things: your earliest memory, feeling lost, or being transformed." 

"Feeling lost" was the easiest for me, and I was surprised by how vivid this memory was.

FEELING LOST

When we’re little, we’re like corks on the water. Where we go depends on where the currents, or the grown-ups, take us. So I don’t know how or why I ended up at This Grandma’s house for a sleepover. I only know that my mother presented the idea to me as though it was going to tremendous fun.

I knew it wouldn’t. 

Spending time with This Grandma wasn’t as much fun as being with my Other Grandma. While This Grandma promised to teach me how to polish her silver some day, my Other Grandma laughed at my jokes and let me read to her. This Grandma didn’t get my jokes and told me she preferred it when I read silently.

This Grandma was all about noise. She didn’t like anything loud. She hated “disruption.” 

So when I woke up in the middle of the night and had to pee, I was conflicted. I was unfamiliar with my surroundings and unsure how to find the bathroom in the dark. I was also reluctant to call out for help or turn on the lights. The house was dark and completely still, just the way This Grandma liked it. I decided it was best to keep it that way.

I got out of bed and walked carefully through the bedroom. A bit of gray light from a street lamp showed through the window shade. I was tempted to roll it up to let more light in, but that roll-up shade could make a sudden and startling “snap” noise, and that would not be good – not in This Grandma’s house in the middle of the night.

Now I was in the hall. It was long and really dark. I felt along the walls until I reached the door and knob that would let me into the bathroom. I stepped in and felt cool tile, instead of carpet, under my feet and was certain I was close to the toilet and the relief that would come from finally being able to pee. 

Only I could not find the toilet! Somehow, I was hopelessly lost in the pitch-black bathroom. I reached out and touched the smooth sink and the bumpy wicker clothes hamper. But where had the toilet gone?

I started to panic. It had to be here somewhere. I had to pee. 

Reaching up and around me in the dark, I felt the towels on their rack. Was I moving in the right direction toward the toilet? I could no longer remember how the room looked with the lights on. Suddenly I was scared. I was lost in the bathroom.

I took a step forward and felt something on my face. I didn’t like how it felt or smelled so I quickly turned away but it followed me. I tried to push it away but I fell down and it fell with me. Together we made noise and I started to cry.

The bathroom light came on and I heard This Grandma’s voice. 

“She’s wrapped in the shower curtain,” she called to This Grandpa. Then she came over and unwrapped me. 

“I’m sorry,” I cried, stepping up and out of the shower curtain. “I really have to pee.”

“Did you wet your pants?” she asked, pulling me toward the toilet, which now I could now clearly see was right where it belonged. I wasn’t afraid of the dark anymore. I was still a little afraid of This Grandma.

I shook my head, pulled down my pants and sat down. She leaned against the door, waiting for me. I looked up into her face. She didn’t seem mad, or even disturbed. She was all squinty and barely awake.

When I was done, she put a hand on each of my shoulders and steered me out of the bathroom. I started to remind her that I should wash my hands, but thought better of it. 

Filled with light from the bathroom, the hallway looked much shorter than it did in the dark.

Wordlessly she put me back in to bed and left the room. My mother or my Other Grandma would have said something reassuring, but This Grandma just shuffled out of the room and back up the hall. 

I noticed she left the bedroom door open and the bathroom light on. That made me happy.

And I remembered that even though I had been lost and scared, I didn’t wet my pants.  That made me happy, too. I fell asleep feeling almost brave.

August Happiness Challenge: Day 6

 Rizz loves the library book fair

On Day Six, I got free books. The library book sale is a big event in my village. I've always supported the cause by shopping it. This year, I volunteered and helped sort the more than (gulp!) 100,000 books that were donated.

Friday night, it costs $5 to get in and the line stretches around the block. I skipped that. Saturday it's free to get in. And Sunday, it's always been closed to the public. From noon till three, anyone with a photo ID from a hospital, school, and senior or daycare center can carry out as many books as they want for free.

This year, the Friends of the Library introduced a new wrinkle. Sunday from 10 until noon, volunteers also shopped free! YEA! I brought a canvas tote and left with books to share with others. Three new, or like new, paperbacks that I'm going to send to the troops. I also grabbed a paperback mystery for my aunt. It's about a dog trainer-turned-sleuth. She likes dogs, she likes mysteries, she could use some cheering up, so why not? Even if she hates it, it was free.

And here's the haul for me, me, me!

How to Hepburn: Lessons Living from The Great Kate by Karen Karbo. A study of one of my all-time idols' fabulousness, and how to achieve it ourselves.

American Heiress by Jeffrey Toobin. I read Patty Hearst's own account of her ordeal, but I've always been curious about Toobin's take. And what they hell! It was free!

The Lonely Lady of San Clemente by Lester David. OK, I know this one will likely be crap because biographies by Lester David are usually pretty superficial. But I know very little about Pat Nixon, and this seems like a good way to start.

Five Days in November by Clint Hill and Lisa McCubbin. OK, I know this oversized coffee table book is going to be depressing. After all, it's the first-hand account of the JFK assassination by the agent who jumped onto the back of Kennedy's Lincoln, and into the public consciousness and history when he pushed Jackie back into the bloody backseat. But Mr. Hill is one of the last people who was there that day, saw it all, and can still tell his story. That makes it valuable.

Helter Skelter by Vincent Bugliosi. I can't believe I've never read this. While I doubt there's much about the crimes themselves I don't know, I bet I'll learn a lot about the trial. I admit it bugs me that Mr. Bugliosi died in 2015, but Manson goes on and on. To borrow from Little Joe Cartwright, I guess no grave will have him.

Mrs. Jeffries Learns the Trade by Emily Brightwell. Set in Victorian England, it's about a Scotland Yard inspector who solves crimes with the help of his maid, Mrs. Jeffires. It's been a while since I picked up a new mystery series.

Racing in the Rain: My Life as a Dog by Garth Stein. This is an adaptation of his famous book for younger readers. That's by design. I'm afraid if I read the "adult" version (which I already have), I may become too emotional. I'll test drive (no pun intended) this "family" verison.

A compilation on the films of Bette Davis, and a TCM study on how mothers are portrayed in the movies. Feud piqued my interest in Davis, and  TCM promoted the hell out of that coffee table book for Mother's Day a few years back.

And no library book sale is over until I make a note of the year's Ubiquitous Book. There's one every year -- the book my neighbors bought in big numbers and then decided, seemingly at all once, to discard. In years gone by, I noticed which one it was as I perused the long tables as I shopper. This year, I made note of it as I was sorting.

In 2006, it was The Corrections.
In 2007, The Nanny Diaries.
In 2008, The Da Vinci Code.
In 2009, My Life by Bill Clinton.
In 2010, Scarlett, the Sequel to Margaret Mitchell's Gone with The Wind.
In 2011, The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood.
In 2012, Sixkill by Robert B. Parker (a Spenser mystery) 
In 2013, The Da Vinci Code all over again.
In 2014, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
In 2015, "The Girl" again, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest
In 2016, it's The Help
In 2017, it's The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo again

If you want to play along, just come back here (meaning to this blog, not this individual post) each day in August, looking for the Happy Cub. Every day I will try to have a post with the headline: August Happiness Challenge: Day [X]. Leave a comment and then post your own daily happiness, with August Happiness Challenge in the title to make it easy to find.

I think I deserve Monday off

I had a really (and literally) crappy day today, healthwise. Tummy trouble hit me Saturday night at about midnight, kept waking me up every few hours and didn't make it's last appearance until 9:45 this morning. This left me weak, sluggish and thirsty all day.

NOT FAIR!

If it wasn't for the current Big Project, I'd call in sick tomorrow, or say I'm working from home.

I'm still swimming in vacation time. Maybe I can take the 18th and/or the 21st off ...

In the meantime, I hope todays bland diet of Rice Krispies, hard boiled eggs and crackers behaves as it should.

Sunday Stealing

Freckles


Do You Have Freckles? No.

Do You Sleep With Your Closet Doors Open Or Closed? Open. The big walk-in closet is where I've tucked the cats' lavatory.

Can You Whistle? Nope.

Did You Wake Up Cranky today? I don't remember.

Zodiac Sign. I'm on the Scorp/Sag cusp.

What Is Your Eye Color? Green

Take A Vitamin Daily? Yes

Do You Sing In The Shower? Yes

What Did You Have For Lunch? Breakfast. I didn't get dressed and over to the coffee shop until 1:00. There I had bacon and eggs.

Do You Watch The Olympics? No.

Do You Prefer To Swim In A Pool Or The Ocean? Pool.

Bottled Water Or Tap Water? Tap. Lake Michigan water is really pretty good, and I hate the idea of all those plastic bottles being tossed away.

Do You work Better With Or Without Music? Depends on the ambient noise level. If there's a lot of chatter going on around me, I want my headphones.
Can You Curl Your Tongue? Yes

Is There Anything Pink Within 10 Feet Of You? Yes.

Have You Ever Caught A Butterfly? No.

Are You Easily Influenced By Other People? Depends on the situation.

Do You Have Strange Dreams? No

Do You Like Going On Airplanes? No. It terrifies me.

Name One Movie That Made You Cry.

Peanuts Or Sunflower Seeds? Peanuts

If I Handed You A Concert Ticket Right Now, Who Would You Want The Performer To Be?

Are You A Picky Eater? Not really

Are You A Heavy Sleeper? Not really
 
Do You Fear Thunder / Lightning? Not really
 
Do You Like Your Music Loud? Yes

Would You Rather Carve Pumpkins Or Wrap Presents?

What’s The Next Movie You Want To See In Theaters? Dunkirk

Been On The Computer For 5 Hours Straight? Not today

Do You Like Meeting New People? Not really
 
What Are Three Things You Did Today? Since "today" is only a few minutes old, I'll answer for "yesterday" -- read, watch baseball, sorted some paperwork

What Do You Wear To Bed? Oversized t-shirt

Do You Wear Jeans Or Sweats More?  Jeans

Name Something That Relaxes You. Cuddling a cat

 

August Happiness Challenge: Day 5

 Rizz is happy about his teammate

On Day Five, John Lackey made me happy. I worry about John Lackey. At 38, he's one of the (if not the) oldest Cubs on the roster. Last year he was key to our magic 2016 run to the World Championship. This year, he's struggling.

There have been whispers that he's passed it. He's old. He can't go deep anymore. He should be sent to the bullpen or DFA (designated for assignment).

There's an unseemly glee to all the buzz. Yes, Lackey is prickly. He snarls at umpires, at batters, his teammates and even birds if they get in his way when he's pitching. Other players seem to accept this as "John being John." But fans and reporters haven't embraced him.

GRRRR ....

Oh yeah, and on a team with four or five matinee idols, Lackey stands out as being scary looking. No car dealers or local restaurant chains have snapped Lackey up as their spokesman. I've never seen a kid wearing a Lackey jersey to the park. He's too intense and intimidating. I get that.

But all this makes me care about him more. If his manager and teammates stand by him, so do I. And today, he beat one of the best teams in the league, The Washington Nationals. It was his fourth straight win. OK, so he only went five innings. Whatever. He faced 22 batters and only gave up two earned runs and got a W next to his name.

I don't expect John Lackey to be a Cub in 2018. But as long as he's wearing Cubbie blue, he's one of my guys. And it made me happy to see the Cubs -- led by Lackey -- win today.

If you want to play along, just come back here (meaning to this blog, not this individual post) each day in August, looking for the Happy Cub. Every day I will try to have a post with the headline: August Happiness Challenge: Day [X]. Leave a comment and then post your own daily happiness, with August Happiness Challenge in the title to make it easy to find.

Saturday 9

Saturday 9: Wouldn't It Be Nice? (1966)

... because Nonnie recommended the Beach Boys
Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.

1) In the video for this song, the Beach Boys dive into the pool with all their clothes on. Have you ever ended up in the water while fully clothed? If yes, were you pushed? The nearest thing I can recall is when I was in high school. A group of us had an autumn sleepover, and even though it was too cold to use the pool, her friend's parents hadn't drained it yet. Post-midnight/pre-dawn, we all jumped in, wearing nothing but our nighties. Yikes! I can still remember how cold, gross and green the water was. Couldn't wait to dry off, peel off that nightie and slide into that nice, warm sleeping bag.

 

Where it happened

2) In this song, Mike Love sings he wishes "every kiss could be neverending." Where did you receive your first kiss? Was it wonderful, or awkward? Awkward. It was beside a local hamburger stand. I happened to run into a friend's older brother -- a college student! -- who was home for the summer and was surprised by how I'd changed since he last saw me. I'd always been crazy about him, so this was literally a dream come true. But I still had braces, which worried me immensely. The college girls he was used to didn't have braces. The next summer, I lost the braces ... and then I lost my virginity in the backseat of his car, parked just blocks from the burger stand, and we went on to date for three years. I just Googled him and discovered he's head administrator at a hospital in North Carolina. Our mothers were lifelong friends, so I got frequent updates on him and last I heard, he worked for a hospital in Ohio. So he got a promotion. Good for him! He was a nice man, we were just so young.

 
 

3) Brian Wilson was the creative force behind the Beach Boys. It's possible that the group's legendary and unique sound came from an incident of bad parenting. Brian's father hit him so hard with a wooden plank that he is deaf in his right ear. Which of your senses is sharpest -- sight, hearing, smell or taste? I suppose taste. I mean, I wear contacts and I've been listening to rock through headphones for 30 years, so it can't be my sight or hearing. Maybe smell? Probably taste.
 
4) Brian's brother Dennis was the cutest member of the group, and also the only one who could surf. Have you been to the beach yet this summer? Nope. Could have gone to the beach with my niece when I visited her in Michigan last week. She lives in a community fueled by tourists, who stay in cottages and summer homes along The Lake. But instead, we spent our time wandering through the quaint shops. Both she and I burn so easily, it seemed like a safer choice.
 
5) Dennis was also the Beach Boys' most colorful member. In 1968, he struck up an unfortunate and dangerous friendship with Charles Manson. Is there anyone in your life that you worry has bad taste in friends/lovers? I worry about my niece. She needs to be in love, and that leaves her vulnerable to unsavory characters. Her first boyfriend, while she was still in college, was underwhelming -- kind of a slug who was happy letting her support him. She went from him directly to her next boyfriend, who was very ambitious but also a pretentious asshole. I was saddened but not surprised when he cheated on her with an ex. This new guy, though! I like him! He's affectionate with her, he is politically progressive and has won over her cat, Annabelle. I hope they stay happy, at least for a while.
 
6) Lead singer Mike Love is the grumpiest Beach Boy. He refuses to perform if the concert promotional materials refer to the group or their songs as "oldies." Does it bother you to hear the songs, TV shows and movies of your youth described as "classics" or "oldies?" No. But sometimes the passage of time makes me sad. I was watching a "Dick Van Dyke" rerun that revolved around a British playboy (Richard Dawson) who had designs on Rob Petrie's wife, Laura. It occurred to me that just about everyone who was making me laugh is now dead. (Please stay healthy, Dick Van Dyke!)

Dick Van Dyke, Richard Dawson, Mary Tyler Moore

 
7) This song has appeared on soundtracks for movies as diverse as Shampoo (1975), The Big Chill (1983),  50 First Dates (2004) and It's Complicated (2009). Do you own any movie soundtracks? Yes. One of my favorites is My Best Friend's Wedding.


8) In 1966, the year this song was popular, the Miranda Warning became law. Without looking it up, can you recite any of the Miranda Warning? "You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be held against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided for you. Do you understand these rights?" All those seasons of "Law & Order" taught me a thing or two!

9) Random question: The local college is pleading for models of all ages and sizes to pose for the life drawing class. Would you help the kids by volunteering to pose in the nude? No. It wouldn't be nice to scar those young people for life.

August Happiness Challenge: Day 4

Rizz loves art

On Day Four, I enjoyed everyday artwork. I walk along the el tracks every workday, and often over the weekends. This form of public transportation makes my life easier and helps my community thrive. On the other hand, it can be dirty and ugly. 

The village has done wonders to prettify the el tracks. Local artists submit sketches, the paint is provided by a local store, and we get to enjoy the view. Here's just a sample of the artwork I pass every day. Today, I stopped to appreciate it.

Ugly, untreated wall

Behind the bike rack

If you want to play along, just come back here (meaning to this blog, not this individual post) each day in August, looking for the Happy Cub. Every day I will try to have a post with the headline: August Happiness Challenge: Day [X]. Leave a comment and then post your own daily happiness, with August Happiness Challenge in the title to make it easy to find.

What I left out

When I recounted this week's emotionally-charged conversation with my friend, Barb, I didn't include these two aspects. Composing the post was tiring, and in my attempt to get as much down as I could, as quickly as I could, I chose to save these for later.

Later has arrived.

1) Her terrier, Lucy, was once John's girl. When she and John first began dating, he dozed off on her sofa and puppy Lucy awakened him by licking his bald head. He found this delightful, and his warm and loving response to her dog helped assure Barb he was "The One."

Since John has been away so much, hospitalized so often, and has lost so much weight, Lucy is now afraid of him. He looks different, he smells like medicine, and he doesn't take her outside anymore. For me, that was the saddest story she related. I'm sure John feels bad about this, and I'm sure Lucy is lonely and confused.

2) Her first counselor was, literally, a joke. Barb is under so much pressure, is so sad, is so overwhelmed that her own health has begun to suffer. So her doctor recommended a shrink. Fresh out of school and young enough to be Barb's daughter, this PhD just stared with wide eyes as Barb recounted all her troubles -- financial, emotional, physical. Then she recommended an app. "How millennial," Barb laughed. My friend really does need help to get through these next difficult months/years, so I'm happy to report she now has sessions with a new, more mature and actual shrink, not a virtual one.

August Happines Challenge: Day 3

 Rizz loves nice people

On Day Three, teaching kindness made me happy. Today, downtown is filled to the brim with happy people. The Cubs are home, playing an afternoon game, and it's the first day of Lollapalooza. The streets are crowded, but the energy is positive. Amid all this excitement, I witnessed a small moment that touched my heart.

A dad and his towhead little boy were waiting at the light at Michigan and Randolph. The son was so young that his shorts -- clearly covering a diaper -- were the biggest thing about him. His father had a grocery bag filled with snacks. Dad dropped to his knees on this busy corner, withdrew a small bag of Cheetos, and handed it to his son. The boy started to open the bag, but his father told him to stop.

He pointed his son to the teenager tucked beside the streetlight, holding a sign that read, "Homeless & Ashamed." The toddler waddled on over and, with great solemnity, presented his Cheetos to the kid.

I know the little boy was too young to fully understand what he'd done. But in a way, that's what made it so great. I hope that seeing and interacting with the less fortunate becomes a natural part of his life.

If you want to play along, just come back here (meaning to this blog, not this individual post) each day in August, looking for the Happy Cub. Every day I will try to have a post with the headline: August Happiness Challenge: Day [X]. Leave a comment and then post your own daily happiness, with August Happiness Challenge in the title to make it easy to find.