Smile

Happy, I'm happy
But that ain't good enough for you
Happy, I'm happy
--Happy, Sister Hazel

I was sitting outside Moe's Cafe on the campus of the 20th Century Fox lot Friday afternoon, enjoying a meal (well, I was actually just enjoying a bottle of water, since I had consumed my self-produced sandwich about an hour prior) with my four best co-worker friends (they all fit both titles equally--"friend" and "co-worker"), laughing and eating and enjoying the sunshine, and it occurred to me that if I were to design the ideal work/lunch combination (and I'm not sure why I'd ever have cause to do such a thing), these four dudes and this sunny location would all likely be involved. So it got me thinking about combinations of places and people that really serve to make me happy, from the recent or not-too-recent past. In the interests of keeping this blog as PG-13 as possible, these will be pretty dude-centric (I can assure you that this has nothing to do with my, um, preference; I can certainly recall combinations of female persons and place that were rather, um, happy, but that's not what this is about). So without Freddy Adu, an seven-deep list of happiness-inducing places and people (in no particular order, but you can consider Moe's with Joel, Hughes, Schnider and Zeus number eight):
- Playing NCAA Football at my mom's house with both brothers (with Dave and Tim as alternates for the fourth spot). A tradition at Christmas time (and anytime the three of us are together), we create ourselves (you know, so we're "in the game") and dominate opposing offenses on the way to multiple national championships (and maybe even a Heisman Trophy or two).
- At a Sister Hazel concert with Charlie and Joel (Kim). The last show I went to with Charlie necessitated a phone call to include Joel, but the times we've been together have been overjoyous. The greater number of company the better, and I think we usually roll at least 15 deep, dominating the front center and having way too much fun singing along to everything.
- Speaking of concerts, at a Collective Soul show with Tim, Mike B, Michael, Kevin and Phil (this actually happened, in Vegas, so it's an easy list to compose). We got there early enough to hear the warm-up, sat through a decent opening band called Pound (the cover of "Pink Houses" was their highlight) enjoyed the heck out of the show. The road trip element added to the enjoyment factor, I think, driving the B's suburban there and back same day.
- Another specific event inspired this one: watching UCLA basketball with the Riddell family men. The last time I saw my grandfather (he died last year) was during the '06 Final Four, when my dad (his son), my brothers and I went over to his house and watched UCLA dominate LSU en route to the title game (we won't mention what happened there). The possible range of last memories to have with a loved one before there passing is so broad, and we're incredibly fortunate to have something to wonderful on which to look back.
- Shooting craps with the amazing bunch of guys who attended little bro's "bachelor party" in Spokane. After pizza and stix from the Pipeline, we headed to Northern Quest Casino and (three of us) made a bunch of money on the craps table, thanks to two red-hot rollers in particular, one of whom went by the name Matthew Shupper. So necessary attendees in this happy scenario would be both bros, Langford, Dave, Tim (who wasn't with us, but went back with a group after his late-night arrival), and Shupe, to roll and make us all the money.
- This one's a little older and has a few permutations, but it includes a) playing NBA Jam, b) eating at In-N-Out (back when I actually did that), and c) playing NBA 2K, and it involves B, Side and Ev. I've thoroughly enjoyed all of the above with all of the above, even though none of the above have occurred in approximately five years. I even wrote a song one time (I think Ev still has the lyrics) that included something about a particular trip to I-n-I in a rented Mustang. But now, one is married (and lives in Orange County), one is engaged (and lives in Santa Barbara), one lives in China, and one doesn't really eat burgers anymore. Oh well, it was all nice while it lasted.
- Last but not least, playing music with Elliott, Charlie and Joel, and (the only female to make this list) Vanessa singing. The thing I miss the absolute most about not working at the church is the music (and more importantly, the musicians). I have so many fond memories of practice, of recording, leading musical worship for the youth, for the whole congregation, all kinds of stuff.
Now here's the thing: as great as all of these place/people combos are, several of them can't really be recaptured, and even the ones that can be done again won't necessarily be the same, right? So it's not about wishing for what once was (because I'm really good at that)--it's about being thankful for the great things I've been able to do and the great people I've been able to know, and then building newer and better things, so there are more things to add to this list in the future. Easy to say, easier to write, tough to do.