Neil Pasricha's Blog, page 353

#409 Kids who dress themselves

It's the little girl wearing a tutu on the downtown street. It's the boy in the Superman outfit at McDonald's. It's big rainboots on sunny days, mom's lipstick smeared across faces, and big bright mismatched costumes.

There's just something so pure and innocent about little kids dressing themselves up for a day on the town. All  grown-up social norms and fashion pretenses just drift away in favor of laughing in the moment and living for the day.

AWESOME!

Photos from: here

#410 Edible dishes

Let's get tasty.

Save yourself some work, save yourself some time, and let's gobble up the dishes our food's packed up in:

• Ice cream cones. Bubble gum ice cream from Baskin Robbins was a staple of my childhood and I'd always get it in a cup to save the chalky pink frozen gum for the end. One day I switched up my game and went wild with a sugar cone instead… and after that there was no looking back. That cone is like three meals in one: ice-cream only appetizer, cream-n-crunch entrée, and a...

#411 When your computer heals itself

SYSTEM ERROR.

Sometimes your buzzing box of lights and wires crashes a bad crash and completely stops working. So you reboot, unplug everything, plug everything back in, unplug everything again, plug everything back in again, and finally call in backups in the form of teenage kids or nerdy friends.

Unfortunately, after hammering keyboards and searching for clues for hours you eventually give up and go to bed where thoughts keep running through your worried head: Did I lose my assignment? What...

#412 The air just before a thunderstorm

Warm wind whips and whistles down the streets sending cigarette butts, crumpled receipts, and dry leaves swirling in all directions.  Specks of dust glow in deep sunbeam tints as dark clouds shuffle in the sky. There's a warm and wet sense of electric anticipation as lightning bolts flash silently in the distance, dogs bark in the background, and everyone races for cover.

You hear the nylon swish of umbrellas popping open, the scrape of plastic chairs dragging across patios, and the...

#413 Trying on your new clothes again as soon as you get home from the store

Stiff creases, unhemmed pants, and itchy tags can't dent your mood.

Now it's time to change real fast, clear the kitchen runway, and strut your stuff in a private fashion show for your friends, family, and dog.

AWESOME!

Photo from: here

#414 Driving home from a long trip and getting all your radio stations back

Fade to fuzz.

It's always a sad scene when you're bumping down the highway and your old faves start fritzing out on the radio. Yes, you wince as songs start missing notes and DJs start garbling the weather…. before eventually just dissolving into the distance. Staring back through your rearview mirror a hot tear slowly drips down your cheek as you watch the orange sun set on your friends from the AM spectrum.

Now when you're bumping back home it's the opposite story. You've already tried and...

#415 When you're not the new guy anymore

The first day was scary.

When you opened the door everything was a giant swirling abyss of new teachers, new faces, new rules, and new places. So you tiptoed in smiling and shaking hands, So you just put your...

#416 When you try cooking something new and everyone likes it

I blew it last week.

A friend came over after work for that homemade meal I'd been promising her. Since my standard dinner lately has been a plate of nachos and a couple spoons of Nutella I figured it was high time to cook a proper meal.

It started well: I snagged a fancy pasta recipe off the innernet and raced through the grocery store after work loading up on ingredients I had no business buying — sun-dried tomatoes soaking in tubs of yellow oil, artichoke hearts squeezed into tiny square...

#417 The sound of water lapping against a dock

It sounds like the warm and windy start of summer. It sounds like the cool and quiet finish to fall.

AWESOME!

Photo from: here

#418 Carrying the ice cube tray you just filled up all the way back to the freezer without spilling

Say goodbye kitchen puddles, wet socks, and half-filled cubes. Say hello to

AWESOME!

Photo from: here