I feel I should note that although life is crazy I have been very happy lately. Very happy and thankful for family and friends (old and new).

In this memorable talk, Dan Gilbert demonstrates just how poor we humans are at predicting (or understanding) what will make us happy. Gilbert is a psychology professor at Harvard, and author of “Stumbling on Happiness”.

(Recorded Feb. 2004 in Monterey, CA. Duration: 22:02) More TEDTalks at ted.com

In case you haven’t had enough of fireworks – click on this photo for a terrible home movie shot from the wrong side of an apartment building. This is a blurry photo of the mass of people who were also enjoying the festivities.

Last night was the Halloween party. Christen and I dressed as matching school girls. I haven’t laughed that hard in a very long time. Jeff had come to visit at the last minute to get some attention, which I was glad to give. After the parties we came home, I was enjoying so deeply having him around.

I got up the nerve to ask him to be my boyfriend. It was as if I had regressed 10 years, back to early high school. My vocabulary cut in half, shaking and nervous… All my rules out the window, I jumped in headlong.