Here are a few of my most recent moments of contentment. Most of them involve reading, some sort of drink, and my sense of smell.

I'm reading a book about architecture with lots of "then and now" photos. An adobe building in 1850 and in 1892 and in 1943 and in 1989. I'm sucking the whipped cream off of a mocha...the bitter coffee taste balances the sweet cream taste perfectly. When I get back to my apartment my clothes smell dark and rich like coffee.

On a sunny day I open the windows of my car while driving through the woods just outside of the city on my way home from work. The air is cool and drippy, invisible moisture, it smells like soil, ferns, heavy wet moss and trees.

It's a beautiful day and I'm sitting on the balcony. I finally got a wireless card that works and I'm typing away happily on my computer, surfing the web, all the while basking in the sun. I'm drinking Vanilla Coke. I love this stuff...they used to serve Vanilla Coke at an old-fashioned ice cream and food restaurant when I was growing up. I'm a little younger than most people with Vanilla Coke nostalgia, but just the same, that is what I have.

It's fall and the cold liquid air smells nice. I'm walking down the street past all the coffee shops listening to my brand new Bjork Vespertine CD. I sit in one of the coffee shops and secretly sketch people in my sketchbook.

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