#365Gratitude Day 73: Sweet, silly friends

My friend Matti brought me an awesome surprise yesterday.

The t-shirt, not the cat

If you can't make it out, it's a t-shirt with a somewhat forlorn looking shark on it that says I JUST WANT A HUG.

Such a thoughtful, sweet, funny gift.  Matti (and his brother, Andy) are exactly that - quirky, gentle, generous folks.  They really are like big kids, who are happy to share something nice with a friend, and get joy out of the pleasure of giving it.  I'm blown away by it.  It's my new favorite shirt.  

Andy had on this other amazing shirt that I need to go looking for, and which fans of comic books, and cute cats will love.  It was this one:
 

How fracking adorable is that, right?

I think Matti and Andy are "supurr" friends of mine.  Thanks you guys!

#365Gratitude Day 72: Keep on casting

Friday night it was another night of casting.

Not this kind actually

Brother, Mae, and I recorded another episode of The Big Little Podcast.  This time it was a personal interview, with Ollie, our girl Kate's partner.  I love Ollie, who was charming, sweet, raw, brave, and open.  It's going to be a terrific show when it hits the feed in a few weeks.

After the show, as we often do, we had "after dark" time, where we kept the stream going, invited in a few friends to the Skype conference, and just jawed it up for a while.  (Actually until about 2:30 in the morning.  Oy, such a tired headache the next morning.)

You know what? I LOVE IT.  I love the whole process, from start to finish.  I love brainstorming topics and talking points with brother, finding guests, scheduling them, being on the air, doing promotion, the whole damn thing.  I love every second of it.  

Periodically we get fan mail which is lovely, and sometimes, heartfelt entreaties for help from listeners.  This thing we do, it makes a difference.  I'm so glad for it.  It's one of the most important things in my life.

I don't see it stopping any time soon.

#365Gratitude Day 71: My nerd heart melted

My friend Cargo tweeted about a YouTube clip of Robert Downey, Jr., in character as Tony Stark, giving a kid a bionic prosthetic arm.

I love everything about this.  I love that my friend, also a big old nerd, was moved by this.  I love that it happened.  I love the work that the prosthetic arm maker is doing.  This whole thing is just fantastic.

#365Gratitude Day 70: Sprouting

In my day job I work with a Java framework called Grails. I've been a tech guy for a long time, but a Java guy for only maybe 4 years in total, and a Grails guy for about a year.  

I have previously been somewhat down on myself about this, feeling like I wasn't far enough along compared to others and that I needed to get to some arbitrary place of proficiency to be taken seriously. 

At my new job I can see how needlessly hard I've been on myself.  I'm one of a small team, and there are folks here who know Grails better than me, and some who do not. I've already made some really positive contributions, and I can feel my own skills growing and maturing. 

The less I worry about what to do, and just do, the more this seems to happen. 

There's a Lao-tzu quote about this that really speaks to this experience. 

"When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be."

#365Gratitude Day 69: Totcho Mama

Last night, as I was getting ready to leave work, Missy texted me and wanted to meet me for dinner, and to go with her to an Ingress build. She had other business that brought her to the area earlier in the day, and was near my new office.   

This was a delightful surprise.  I love  getting out of our routine, and having a date night.  She asked me to pick a restaurant so I did.  This one:

SPACEBAR is a dive.  It's a little hole in the wall bar.  The name appealed to me instantly, because, pun.  Then when I checked them out on Yelp I was even more pleased.  Their food is simple.  They have basically three things: 20 different kinds of grilled cheese sandwiches, tater tots, and a lot of different kinds of beer.  It sounds like an eight year old boy's idea of what a grownup restaurant is supposed to be.

It was, in a word, amazing.  Missy got a more simple but excellent sandwich, while I got one with grilled portobello mushrooms, red onions, and some sort of sauce on it.  But the thing that really shined were the "totchos".  They're tater-tot nachos.  Feast your eyes upon them in all their unhealthy glory.

So. Damn. Good.  

Afterward, we popped next door to an old record store, where we scored all sorts of interesting stuff.  Missy has a record album fetish, and loves looking for old music.  During dinner, we got into a discussion about what we like, and I asked her if she'd ever heard of Edith Piaf.  

If you haven't, check out this:

She hadn't.  They had an album and it was among several we got.  After that, we went to the build, and drove through foggy, rainy Falls Church.  As I drove, she hacked portals on both phones.  

What a great date night.  I'm grateful for little adventures like this.  My wife's my best friend.  I'm so lucky.