Happy 101 Sweet Friends!!

It's been too long since I've done a meme. Luckily, the Sweedish bee geek just tagged me for one: "Happy 101 Sweet Friends".

The rules seem to be that you list ten things that make you happy and then tag ten friends. The mathematician in me points out that that multiplies to 100, and wonders where the extra "1" came from. Maybe it's just the bonus happiness that's created by sharing happiness with friends. Anyway, here goes:

1. My adorable family! I feel compelled to add the qualifier that we're not perfect, but I feel like my husband and kids and I are good for each other.

2. Following up on #1 (as I've said before), I think the most wonderful thing about our modern society is that parents have the option to have few kids and expect to see them live to adulthood, rather than a situation where mothers expect to have a lot of kids (if they live long enough themselves) and have to watch most of them die (as most of human kind has had to deal with).

3. Trains. I just love trains.

4. Science!!! I'm not poetic enough to wax poetic about this one myself, but fortunately TMBG and the symphony of Science guys are on the job.

5. Problem-solving. This is related to #4, but not just an extension of it. I love to identify problems, analyze them, and try to come up with solutions. This is a big part of what makes humans so successful and adaptable (and I guess it's also what makes me an engineer IRL).

6. The Internet. I love the way it exposes people to ideas (and people) outside their familiar circle, and encourages them to think and write.

7. Outer Blogness and the rest of my Internet friends -- where would I be without you guys?

8. Travel. You can learn quite a lot about different people and places from books and the Internet, but there's nothing like completing the picture in person.

9. Swapping stories -- another item that makes us human.

10. Our wonderful world!

For the links, I'd like to bring in a selection among the newest blogs of Outer Blogness. (If you're a former Mormon and not yet a member of Outer Blogness and our community blog Main Street Plaza, please leave a comment.)

1. almost pretty
2. A Million Dead-End Streets
3. Don't Mind Me
4. Edith-Marie
5. Eliza R. Snitch
6. POLY MOM
7. Strange Violin Music
8. The Girl With Kaleidoscope Eyes
9. The Loathsome Joy
10. We Were Going to Be Queens