Things That Make Me Happy
a positivity palate cleanser
I’ll admit my Substack has taken a turn for the morose as of late. Don’t read too much into that. Honestly, I’m doing great. In fact, I couldn’t be better. It’s impossible to be any better (or worse) than you are in this very moment.
Think about it.
Anyway, I thought this week maybe I cull my psyche for more positive, uplifting material. It took some digging but lo and behold, I found 20 Things!
20 Things That Make Me Happy
When dogs are dreaming and they whimper and their paws twitch like they’re chasing something.
Cloudy days, especially in the desert. We have a surplus of sunny weather here.
Serendipity (not the 2001 romcom with John Cusack and Kate Beckinsale).
Shirts that fit just right. I guess that goes for pants, too.
Trees—the taller the better.
Obligatory tree-hugging pic at Yosemite National Park Old buildings that haven’t been remodeled or updated.
When I catch my kids laughing with their friends from a distance.
Bookstores—even the shitty ones.
When you remove the seal from some perishable product (ketchup, a vitamin bottle, an orange) and it comes off in one piece.
The snap/crackle of a campfire. Watching the flames dance. A cold beer. Friends talking about shit that doesn’t matter in the real world but in that moment it’s everything because somehow the fire and the stars opened up a whole other dimension.
Clearing my inbox.
Making a baby laugh. I realize this is a pretty low bar. But it happens to be the target audience for my comedic talents.
The sound of rain on my skylights.
That warm feeling of finally releasing water from your ears after a swim.
The understated yet satisfying guitar solo in Wilco’s “Impossible Germany.”
Doing a good thing for someone without expecting anything in return or without them even noticing it was you.
When you take off your socks and they left those lines around your ankles and you can finally scratch ‘em real good.
When a dog smiles at you with their big stupid tongue hanging out.
When you’re approaching a stop light and you take your foot off the accelerator but before you start to brake, the light turns green and you can just zoom on through.
Unboxing my proof copy of Sleepers with all my book club friends at my favorite bookstore, where I wrote a good portion of it!
Unboxing Sleepers at Stacks Book Club
PRE-ORDER SLEEPERS for 99¢!
Sleepers launches June 16, 2026.
But you can reserve your Kindle edition for only 99¢. That’s less than the cost of a pack of gum. It’s one-sixth the cost of a Starbucks. I can’t even think of a single thing you can buy for just one dollar.
But it’s not just what you get for a dollar—an amazing book—it’s that you’ll be helping this amazing book reach a greater number of potential readers because all pre-order sales count toward launch day sales. For 99¢ you can help make this book a bestseller—and me, a bestselling author!
Can’t wait ‘til June 16th to read Sleepers?
If you don’t mind leaving an honest review on Amazon when it’s released (or anywhere else before then), I’ll give you a FREE Advanced Review Copy right now. Just sign up on my website and I’ll send you the link.
Talk to Me!
Can you relate to any of these 20 things? Which one(s)?
What’s something that makes you happy that isn’t on my list?
What’s the last thing you bought for a dollar?
Sleepers shares a similar premise with my recently published Writers of the Future story, "As Long as You Both Shall Live"—a corporation using people's labor while they're asleep (your book) or their consciousness has been altered (my story). The similarities seem to end there, but I thought it was an interesting connection!
I preordered the book, looking forward to checking it out.
I feel you on no. 9 and 16