Wow, this week went fast! It’s strange how some weeks can just drag by, and others are over as soon as you blink. But here we are, Thursday yet again, and it’s time for Things I Love Thursday! Last week, we had a ton of new people writing their own Things I Love Thursday, and I think that made me happier than anything else. I hope they all keep up with it, and that more people start! It could be as simple as posting one thing you love as a Facebook status at some point today, or as big as a full blog post. Just take one moment to focus on something you love. It will be worth it. Anyway, this has been quite an eventful week, full of lots of things I love, so let’s get started!

Getting my Bike Back: Last year, at the beginning of Fall, I brought my bike out of my storage unit and stuck it in the lobby of my apartment building right behind the stairwell. I didn’t have a lock for the bike, so I just left it there. I had only used it once since getting it (it ended up in storage shortly after I got it) so I wasn’t too attached to it. The winter passed and I practically forgot all about it. Once the temperature started warming up, I dipped behind the stairwell to check on my bike and it was GONE! I can’t say I was really that surprised, since I didn’t lock it up or anything, but I was quite sad. Now, let’s skip ahead a few months to this past week: I walk into my apartment building to see my bike just sitting in the lobby, locked up with a few other bikes. Out of no where. A few more days pass before I found someone grabbing the other bikes and inquired about my bike. Turns out my bike probably wasn’t stolen, but rather the Super of my building tucked it into the locked closet under the stairwell for safe keeping. So, moral of the story, I have my bike back!

Every Page of Moby Dick: This is one of the coolest ideas for a blog! One Drawing for Every Page of Moby-Dick is the project of an artist named Matt Kish. He has taken his love for Moby-Dick by Herman Melville to a whole new level. He has undertaken the task of creating an illustration for every page of the 552 page Signet Classic paperback edition of the novel. Matt began this task on August 6th, 2009 and is currently on page 369 at the time of this article’s publication. I just can’t get over the full extent of this awesomeness, nor the talent involved in each of the pieces of art! The illustrations are all really cool, most have a very surrealistic feel and are done on random “found paper.” Definitely a great blog to add to your RSS reader and get a daily dose of the great white whale.

Wearing a belt: Back when I was working in bridge level fashion retail and living off commission only (no base pay at all), one of the most important aspects of the sale was the add on. Which basically means selling as many accessories that you can with a sale. If someone was buying a suit, you tried to throw together an entire outfit, including a matching shirt, tie, shoes, and belt. I would come up with certain catch phrases that would sell each of these items. One of my favorites was when someone would ask me when it was appropriate to wear a belt. I would respond, “If it has belt loops, then by God, wear a belt!” Thus implying that one should always wear a belt, and planting the idea that a well dressed man should have a belt to match every outfit combination. These days I’m working in a much less fashion-conscience field and I sometimes tend to forget to wear a belt. It’s just not at the forefront of my mind. But when I do remember, I always feel great about it. Because, if it has belt loops, then by God wear a belt.

Being Anonymous: Sure, it’s great to get recognized for all the hard work you do, all the cool ideas you have, and all the things you create. But there is limitless joy to be had from doing things anonymously. And when I refer to being anonymous, I’m not talking about trolling 4chan (who have actually been acting out of character as of late), but rather doing things with the end goal of no one ever knowing. Now, I won’t go into detail about anything specific I did this week (because that would totally defeat the purpose), but I do anonymous stuff all the time. If I’m ever standing by a pay phone, I’ll dial random 1-800 numbers until I get a voice mail system, and leave a message telling the person that I hope they have a wonderful day. I put up random stickers when no one is looking. I stick buttons in payphone coin return slots. I’ll do other little things that I’m sure no one will even notice, but it makes me happy that there’s a slight possibility one person may see what I’ve done. Maybe someone will see something random, something out of place, and it will make them smile. And they’ll look around to see who did it, but by that time I’ll be long gone.

French Vanilla Almond Crunch Cereal: Archer Farms (Target’s food brand) makes the absolute best cereal ever. Ever. It’s called French Vanilla Almond Crunch. It’s basically a vanilla flavored granola cereal, but better than any other cereal I’ve ever had. Not only does it taste amazing, it also fills me up in the morning! With any other cereal, I’ll have a bowl in the morning, around 9am, and be ready for lunch once 11:30am rolls around. Which is just annoying. With French Vanilla Almond Crunch, I’ll have a bowl and be full until 3pm or 4pm (ideal lunch time for my work schedule). And if work gets busy and lunch gets pushed back even later, it’s no big deal. Mornings consist of sitting down to breakfast with my cup of coffee, bowl of French Vanilla Almond Crunch cereal, and Feedler for the iPad. My day is off to a great start.

The Rest: The Bronx Zoo participating in TILT, commuting during off peak times, Free App a Day, finding out people are talking about you behind your back and they’re saying good things, vintage erotic fiction, Jon Reskind, wearing a suit and tie, The Open Door, Dill Pickle Pringles, dicking around on OKCupid with Ashley, showing my dad around Venus, gallery openings at Sacred, seeing a huge Shepard Fairey piece on the side of a wall and immediately knowing what it was, friend in town, Escape the Room games, IAmDann cane, three.sentenc.es, 16 Handles, finally trying Ethiopian food, NAG CHAMPA, Yelp, McSweeney’s, Chris Adrian, Hide Your Kids, Hide Your Wife, Drinking Monday, 2TB hard drives, driving, DOING LAUNDRY.

Related Posts:

• Things I Love Thursday, September 30th
• Things I Love Thursday, September 16th
• Things I Love Thursday, November 18th