Yesterday I was focusing on Neil Pasricha's Awesome Books but did you notice how awesome he is? According to Wikipedia, he launched his blog in 2008 and by 2009 he had 10 million hits, followed by international best-sellers based on his awesome idea. Wow.

I have 2 regular likes. When I hit a chord -or something- I rise to 3 or 4. Yesterday I hit 9. I do have lurkers, readers who lurk in the shallows and who comment once in a while on something they feel lukewarm enough about to express it: a correction of a typo, a moot bit of grammar, a point of information about my topic. Nothing I ever write will go viral, nor do I want it to. I was tempted, early on, to give the odd pointer on sexual technique but I decided against it. Others can do that and do it quite well, though they may not be as imaginative or innovative as I am. They'll never know.

My blog is a cobweb blog, spinning along with random thoughts, catching whoever flies by and pauses for a moment to share a thought. Initially I subtitled my blog "a garden of literary delights", and it can be that. I love reading, I love words, I love language. I also love magic and fantasy. I have a pretty good memory and I have lived a long time so I have a lot to remember. So I'm not likely to run out of blog fodder. Also, I keep on learning, as those of us who are lucky enough keep on doing as long as we can.

So I guess my blog is just a gentle, quiet rumination as I drift (plunge? - not yet) into old age.

Okay, Browning (1812-1889): "Grow old along with me! / The best is yet to be, /The last of life,/ For which the first was made."

That's all for now.

While I was trying to think of more "micro moments of positivity", a phrase I picked up from somewhere, coined, I am sure, by a Millennial who has no sense of time past or future, I remembered The Book of Awesome by Neil Pasricha (2011) and The Book of (Even More) Awesome: Junk Drawers, Puppy Breath, the Smell of Sizzling Bacon, and Other Simple, Brilliant Things (2012). They will raise your spirits and trigger your thinking.

Here is a key thought for someone my age: “Life's too short not to sleep when you feel like it.”

Recently we had a death in the family, in my daughter's family. Moose, the chocolate Lab that she had given her husband for Father's Day seven years ago, died suddenly and unexpectedly. (kidney failure). It was a terrible shock and I've been trying to think of words to offer comfort for my son-in-law from a distance. (They live in the U.S.)

While I am still thinking, I found these words by Neil Pasricha:

“A long hug when you really need it Sometimes we all get rattled. When bad news surprises you, painful memories flash back, or heavy moments turn your stomach to mush, it’s great to fall into a warm and comforting pair of big, wide open arms. Shaking with sobs, dripping with tears, you snort up your runny nose and smear snot across their shoulder as that hug relaxes you and comforts you and helps you get through everything, even for a minute, even for a moment. Maybe there are “It’s going to be okay” whispers, some gentle back rubbing, or just the quiet silence of knowing that they’re not going to let go until you let go first. As their steady arms support you, and the pain washes over you, the hug gives you a warm glow in a shivery moment. So when you eventually pull back, smile that classic “I’m sorry and thank you” smile, and swipe wet bangs off your forehead, you still might not feel great, but if you’re lucky you’ll feel a little more AWESOME!"

Neil Pasricha (1979), by the way, is a Canadian inspired by his immigrant parents to look with wonder and gratitude at this brave new world. Depressed after his divorce and a friend's suicide, he began consciously to look for the bright side of things and started a daily blog in June of 2008 "accentuating the positive" (that's from an old song by - I think - Irving Berlin. Have to look it up.) By 2009 Pasricha had 10 million hits on his blog and he won the Webby Award for Best Blog. The books came after that, international best sellers.

Wow. Awesome, in fact.

P.S. I looked up the song "Accentuate the Positive". It was written in 1945, lyrics by Johnny Mercer, music by Harold Arlen. I listened to it on Google. You can too.