Because I have not posted a list in quite some time, and because by now my (few) readers know I'm "list happy," I decided to delight the blogosphere with one:

"12 Random Things That Make Me Feel Alive" (not that I don't normally feel alive, but, you know ...)

1.) Listening to musicals or Frank Sinatra (really any swanky singer from that era).

2.) Having long conversations about hypotheticals, specifically ones that incorporate fictitious characters.

3.) Having company over for dinner.

4.) Wearing shorts after a long, cold winter.

5.) The way it feels when someone you care about feels just the same.

6.) Waking up when it's still dark to travel somewhere you've never been before (coffee is preferably involved in this process).

7.) When really sweet old people talk to you for a long time and grab your hand as though they are reaching for a little bit of your youth.

8.) The last page of a good book.

9.) Writing poetry or stories with no intention of anyone ever reading it, but the faint hope that you might be the "next Emily Dickinson."

10.) Being hugged -- really hugged.

11.) Spontaneously changing plans and going somewhere last minute; this process usually involves some level of scheming.

12.) Running then jumping in the pool -- if this can't wake a person up, I don't know what can.