The older I get, the lower the bar is set, and I’m okay with that!

It’s been a pretty darned good day so far. Nothing spectacular, but that’s okay. I didn’t have to rush getting the lovely and talented Jess’ lunch and coffee ready this morning (I packed a lot of it last night). I didn’t have much of anything to do before I left for work, so I sat down and watched Headhunters on Amazon. A really funny Norwegian thriller about a short (and insecure about it) art thief who gets on the wrong side of a really bad guy. I heard about it from Adam-Troy Castro’s Patreon feed on the Facebook. He hasn’t let me down yet.

The movie ended, and I had time to do the stuff I’d forgotten I needed to do (wash dishes and fold laundry) with plenty of time left over to fix my lunch and head off to work. Jammed out to Elmore James and John Lee Hooker on the drive. Clocked in, and found a nice note from a student thanking me for my help with a paper.

Got an email from one of my favorite professors letting me know she’d posted a review of my novel A Rare and Dangerous Beast on Amazon and Barnes and Noble (5 stars out of 5! And she’s a literature professor, so she knows her stuff!).

Now I’m sitting here listening to Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Cole Porter Songbook (one of the greatest singers of all time singing songs by one of the greatest songwriters of all time). Gonna follow that up with Let the Good Times Roll, a Louis Jordan collection. Don’t tell IU, but this is a great job! It can get pretty hectic occasionally, but mostly it’s like being the English Department version of the fire department – a fair amount of time spent just waiting for someone to need help. Plus, it’s something that I’m actually good at (both waiting and helping students with papers).

If all goes well, there’ll be a nap after work, with the lovely and talented Jess, followed by leftover meatloaf sandwiches and fried potatoes for supper while we watch Boy Swallows Universe (great show!) on Netflix. Eventually, we’ll go to bed, where I hope to finish Razorblade Tears, a great crime novel by S. A. Crosby before I sleep. By the way, if you like gritty crime novels, I highly recommend it.

I remember when it took a lot more than a few good movies, tunes, and books to qualify as a great day. I don’t miss those days. I’m enjoying not needing excitement or thrills or major accomplishments, or anything spectacular for a day to qualify as great. All it pretty much requires is a leisurely pace, low expectations, and simple (but high quality) pleasures.

In all honesty, I have a lot more good days now than I ever had before. Fewer big thrills, but let’s face it: those things are exhausting.

Anyway, if you’ve read this far and are wondering why I’m bothering you with this catalog of mundane delights, I guess the joke’s on you. There is no particular reason.

I was just sitting here thinking about how I have (entirely by accident) managed to avoid all of the pitfalls of everyday life that cause me far too much frustration, despair, and anger, and how grateful I am for that. That’s all really.

Well that, and I like to recommend books, TV, movies, and music that I love.

Anyway, hope you’re having a great day too!