I have a lengthy series of Things I Hate. It’s on part 20 now. This is only part 2 of Things I Like. Apparently, I hate a lot more than I like. Anyway, I’m continuing with the like:

1. I like being tall. I’m 5’9″. Last night, I was walking down an aisle in the grocery store and a petite lady asked if I could reach the thing on the top shelf for her. She said she’d been standing there for ten minutes waiting for someone tall to walk by. I like wearing heels to make myself even taller, too. Male is 6’5″ and likes to remind me that I’m only tall for a girl, still I enjoy towering over people.

2. I like my dog. It’s really quite ridiculous how much I like my dog. I like my cat, too, but cats are different. My cat doesn’t nearly knock me over when I get home because he’s so happy to see me. My dog does. She makes me happy. It’s really hard to be grumpy or depressed when she’s around. I love my damn dog.

3. I love when my ipod, Mae, plays exactly what I want to hear when I don’t have a clue what I want to hear myself. Mae will occasionally put together a playlist that I couldn’t have thought up in a million years like the best DJ ever.

3. I love getting random text messages from people who I don’t talk to all the time. I have a friend who lives in Boston. Every now and again, I’ll get a text message from him in the middle of the night (Boston time). Sometimes, he even sends pictures. Every time I get one of these, it makes me smile. It’s nice when people you don’t see all the time think about you.

4. I like hearing a new song and immediately knowing it’s going to be a favorite. It doesn’t happen often, but sometimes, you hear something and you love it from the very first note. The same goes for books.

5. I like putting on an article of clothing I haven’t worn in a long time and finding something in the pocket. It’s a mini-mystery. A parking stub from Brooklyn. When was I in Brooklyn? And then the details come flooding back… or they don’t. Either way, it reminds you that even your clothing has history. The best is finding money. Wooo! $20!

6. I like when I’m hungry and don’t feel like cooking, and I remember that there are leftovers in the fridge. For example, I was just thinking about what to have for dinner tonight and I remembered that there is a perfect little Filet Mignon leftover from when Male and I grilled up steaks last night. Mmmmm.

7. I like taking my shoes off when I get home. I might have to put them back on again at some point, but dammit, they are off now. It’s my little “screw you” to the fact that I have to wear shoes all day. Boooo to shoes.

8. I like being outside. I live in southern California, so I get to be outside almost year round. We have a covered patio so I can even be out there in the rain. That’s where I can usually be found on weekends and weeknights. I feel claustrophobic now whenever it’s too hot or too cold to sit outside. I’m spoiled.

9. I love playing Mahjong on my phone. Actually, it’s more like I’m obsessed with playing Mahjong on my phone. I don’t mean that sissy solitaire game that seems to prevail, but the real deal, the four-player Chinese version:

Fortunately, I’m not playing with real money or it could lead to real trouble.

10. I love hats. Just look at how many different kinds of hats there are! I mostly wear a trilby, a short-brimmed Fedora like Mr. Frank Sinatra is sporting here…

or snap caps (a.k.a. bunnet, jeff, newsy, ivy, scally, driver’s, flat caps, et cetera.), which look a little like Mr. Brad Pitt’s chapeau…

but I love ladies hats. I want to bring back ladies hats. The flashier, the better. Like Marlene Dietrich…

Or Claire Trevor…

Or Barbara Stanwyck…

Or Bette Davis…

Or Grace Kelly…

Now those are some hats. Feathers, veils and brims for days. I want those back. Ladies, let’s all go out and buy fancy hats.