let me count the ways.

There are things that I love arbitrarily.

And for some, it may make no sense. It is not like I particularly love air and then everybody is like, Of course she loves air; she would die without it! so no, it is not as obvious as that. But I think it makes as much sense as anything else in this world, which could be as clear as day to some and you might as well be speaking gibberish to others.

We’re all wonderfully and absurdly different.

But these things that I love, they make me happy. They are a part of the cast of characters in my life; and the fact that they’re here, always here, warms me inside, like the fireplace you know is lit and waiting for you when you finally come home.

But a list of the things that make me think and smile and most likely both are as follows:

• semi-colons. I don’t quite remember when I grasped that you could use them to cure what would otherwise be the forbidden run-on sentence, but once I got that, I ran with it. And how you can continue with your thought and not have to be so final as use a period is not too shabby either. I also love the way they look. Like a funny little ‘i’ that somebody put a slant on. Even now, when I read something and find a semi-colon within, I feel like I just hit a little tiny grammatical jackpot and I look at it longer than what is probably necessary.

• the moon. I know it’s always there for everybody, but for some reason I feel like it’s always here for me, especially. I grew up in this bedroom with walls that would have made an interior decorator shudder. I think my room had more angles than anything else, being on the far side of a geodesic dome house and all, and that left me with some oddly shaped windows as well. But every night, I could look out the window that was right across from my bed and see the moon. And so many things change; (see, a semi-colon! isn’t it just lovely?) my plans didn’t happen the way I’d thought they would, but still, there’s the moon. Silent and steady and peaceful and looking from high above where I bet everything is much clearer anyway. It’s comforting and I really like it so much, even if his face does look a little sad from time to time. I really can’t say much, anyway, because I have my own face that looks that way at times too.

• when people just plain say the wrong thing. Not in a rude or inconsiderate way, though. I just mean, when it comes out all wrong and you’ve inadvertently referenced something else, probably something sexual, definitely something ridiculous. Like tonight, when Jenna and I were looking for the right kind of tissues for her to get her through a summer cold (I know, poor thing!). We were walking in the grocery store and we finally found them. Jenna was so happy that she said something like, Oh! Wonderful little tissues, I love you all so much already. At which point I chimed in with, Yes! We just can’t wait to gather you all up and blow you! And then we looked at each other and laughed and laughed and said EWWWWWWWWW and then laughed some more.

• the nighttime. It’s when you can climb into bed and gather your books and journals and computer and just spend time reading or writing or spilling out your thoughts into whatever it is with which you want to catch them. And whatever tasks you had to do that day are either done or they now belong to tomorrow. But you–you still belong to today and therefore you can just do whatever you’d like to at the moment or at least rest in knowing that you don’t have to be anywhere anytime too soon.

There are more things that I love, but I also love sleep and should attend to that at the moment.