[Misc] And with a thing that tiny you're be hard pushed to please anything.

[Stato]

Inspired a bit by @Bozza 's recent thread of positivity https://www.northstandchat.com/threads/what-unites-us-is-greater-than-what-divides-us.401965/ and the Christianity discussion, I've been thinking that 1) We all need stuff in our lives that brings us unqualified joy; and that 2) This stuff is different for all of us.

Obviously, the foremost is probably other people, those we love and who love us. However, this thread is not asking for this, nor for the profound, or the meaningful. It is looking for the tiny and insignificant that can just be relied upon to make you personally feel a touch of happiness.

Of course, what is one man's meat is another's poison and anything that is posted will irritate someone. I'm not asking for comment on whether you agree with anybody's offering. I'm just interested to know what small things make you personally at peace with the world and ready to smile and / or laugh.

So, what piece of art, food, ephemera, sound, view, whatever you want, just makes you happy?

To show that nothing is too trivial, here's my first offering. Every time I see Les Dawson play the piano badly, I know what's coming, I've seen it a thousand times, but it just hits me in the right place, never gets old, always makes me smile and chuckle like the child I was when I first saw him do it.



The title is from 'The Young Ones'. Vyv's response to Rik saying "Tiny things please tiny minds." Probably misquoted, but apt as any thought of Rik generally makes me smile.

 

[timbha]

Alice, in Vicar of Dibley

 

[Stato]

Another example for me is the rare moment when a really great pop song captures the zeitgeist, particularly if the artist seems like an underdog. Best example is Common People at Glastonbury in 1995. When Jarvis starts the song at about a minute in, it feels like the whole country knows the words and is singing along together. Gives me shivers every time. Feels like a moment of unity and just makes me happy.

 

[A mex eyecan]

Blackbirds singing on a summer evening

 

[Titanic]

Sleigh bells.

 

[Simster]

"you'll" or "you'd" be hard pushed...​

 

[Stato]

"you'll" or "you'd" be hard pushed...​

Neither, I missed out the word 'gonna'. Told you it was probably misquoted.

 

[Simster]

Neither, I missed out the word 'gonna'. Told you it was probably misquoted.

It was a good line anyway.

 

[Stato]

Blackbirds singing on a summer evening

A few years back on a visit to the De La Warr Pavillion, I caught an exhibition of a piece by one time Pink Floyd collaborator Ron Geesin, that made a kind of jazz out of blackbird song played back at various speeds. It was really beautiful. I could have stayed for hours. It was certainly far more joyful than my wife's deriding of it, because she wanted a cup of coffee. Mind you, 'a cup of coffee' would be her answer to this question, so each to their own.

 

[Thunder Bolt]

This makes me chuckle, smile and cheer all at the same time. The dreadful free kick, the silly pass, the keeper taking out the defender, and of course, the Albion goal.

Somehow I linked the wrong goal. Now edited.

 

[Boroseagull]

Bird song in general - but my absolute favourite is the song of the Ortolan Bunting. As a point of interest Ludwig van Beethoven was enthralled by its song he based the opening bars of his 5th symphony upon its song.

 

[Goldstone1976]

Seeing a flash of turquoise as a kingfisher flies down the river.
Picking a strawberry off a plant
Eating a perfect poached egg
The moment my float disappears from view

 

[birthofanorange]

Wisteria in June.

 

[birthofanorange]

The moment my float disappears from view

I usually find that another wadge of toilet paper and a second flush, assists that process.

 

[Brok]

I love watching old working boats go past, blowing smoke rings out of their exhaust.
Always makes me smile...

 

[Stato]

Of course there are the tiny rituals involved in the opening of something brand new:
The first marks in an untouched notepad or exercise book;
Using a spoon to punch the gold paper on a jar of instant coffee;
Using your finger nail to slit the plastic cover down the seam of a vinyl album, or CD;
Pulling the plastic screen cover away from a phone or similar.

All feel a bit like leaving the first footprint in snow.

 

[birthofanorange]

Using a spoon to punch the gold paper on a jar of instant coffee;

Oh this! ^ And getting first sniff.

 

[BrightonCottager]

Wisteria in June.

True, but I prefer Wisteria in May outside Craven Cottage.

 

[birthofanorange]

At my age, a full-on stretch that doesn't feel as though you've pulled or dislocated anything, so remains pure joy.

 

[Stato]

Dust motes in sunlight, particularly against the wood of pub furniture when the place is quiet. May seem to be connected with the anticipation of a lunchtime session, but it's beauty used to make me smile even when I was working behind the bar and not going to be drinking.