reasons to hope

it's probably good that i'm not rich. (oh wait till my hubby reads this.) money, it seems to me, sends people in one of three directions: it accelerates an innate inclination to be generous; or it accelerates a kamikaze inclination to party with paris hilton; or it sucks away your sense of purpose and produces a desperate need to eat nothing but cheetos while staring blankly at an endless cycle of friends reruns.

i'd like to think that if i were rich, i'd be the kind of person who looks at the world and decides to fund cancer research and build schools and feed the hungry, and save whoever needs saving, but there's an excellent chance i'd be the kind of person who looks at the world and decides never to get out of bed again. in fact, staying in bed with cheetos and a tub of gelato isn't such a bad idea right now. if only i didn't have to do chores. sigh.

let's face it, it's not pretty out there. the economy of the entire world is in shambles and the world as we know it is threatening to collapse. global warming is accelerating at an alarming pace. and madonna still looks great. people no longer work like dogs to get ahead, they work like dogs just to stay where they are. some days i need to give myself a few good reasons to put on some lipstick and venture out (or at least get out of bed).

so here's my list:

• there are still flowers all around us, and they like to be photographed. they preen and pose and don't complain when we turn them this way and that or look at them from behind.
  
• javier bardem and gerard butler. swoon!
• friends, near or far, all deeply adorable, all wonderful people who make the world a happier place, who are interested and interesting, who are quietly unequivocally there for you, offering sweet salvation and good gossip.
  
• our friday breakfast at the hawker center at jago close is something i always look forward to. roti prata and milk tea! yum!
  
• who needs money? window shopping and planning outfits for nonexistent occasions is really fun! you can pretend to be a model or a fabulously rich socialite at a trunk show. next time i'm bringing my camera so i can snap photos of my favorites. =)
• bacon ice cream - seriously! check out davidlebovitz.com for the recipe. the first step involves candying the bacon! let's all take a moment of hushed reverence to contemplate this epicurian wonder. i firmly believe what chicken soup does for the common cold, bacon ice cream will one day do for the pms-ing woman. i bet it'll go well with cheetos.
  
• there's a reason why they printed cookbooks. it's so you can close your eyes and randomly open a page if you can't decide what to cook for dinner. thank you nigella! thank you jamie! thank you ina!
  
• life will never be boring if you rearrange your furniture ever so often. i do it every time i'm premenstrual. little improvements count for a lot. and it's a great way to make sure corners don't gather dust.
  
• today i watched my son organize his dinosaurs in two sets: herbivores and carnivores. more proof that he got great genes from me.
  

i could think of more, but those are enough for me. it's possible that gerard butler, bacon ice cream, and cooking good food will not change the hard truth that plans frequently fail and dreams have been known to dim. but at the end of the day, when my hubby kisses me goodnight and holds me tightly, everything feels right with the world again.