2012: The Year of Happy

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As 2011 draws to a close, I've been thinking of 2012 and what I want to achieve. It's going to be a big time of change for me - a new job, new projects and a whole new city - so I've been thinking about what I want to be at the heart of what I do. Though I'd love to change the world, make it a better place, start a movement, the thing that is really important to me is that I am happy and bring happiness wherever I go. I do love to smile, so that's a good start.

My mom would always say, it doesn't matter what you do in life as long as you are happy. As long as you can pay the bills and keep a roof over your head, you can find the happiness in anything.

I do think that happiness and fun should be at the heart of life. No matter how bad it gets, find a way to enjoy it. Make the hard things fun. Because if you can do that, you will spread joy to those around you. It's like a song I remember from my childhood, except I think of love also as happiness:

"Love is like a magic penny, hold it tight and you won't have many;
Lend it, spend it and you'll have so many, they'll roll all over the floor."

When I was growing up, my mom's agoraphobia was at it's worse. I was raised with a diet of TV and imaginary friends on the bad days, and on the good days, on the magic of one of the most crafty and artistic people I know. My mom can make anything from needlepoint to homemade painted chocolates. She has a garden to rival the Chelsea flower show, has renovated our house and makes stain glass. She fed my sense of curiosity but also my independence so I could take care of myself when she couldn't.

Sometimes on the days my mom couldn't get out of bed, we'd have bed picnics. Some of my best memories came out of the hardest times for her. She only told me when I was older, that it was all she could give us those days. Tried to make it fun so the debilitation wouldn't scare us. It never did. It was part of life. And it made us try to make the bad days good, the best ways we could. Sometimes having pizza in bed is the best you can do.

So as I head into 2012, I'll bring that with me. How can I be happy, how can I bring happiness to others, how can we all bring that philosophy into our lives. If you're not happy, why are you doing what you are doing? What are you going to do to change it? How are you going to spread your happiness?

Why I don't want to be a woman in "It's a Wonderful Life"

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Last night, 5 of us shuffled into the Renior Cinema to see the Christmas classic, It's a Wonderful Life. Though this is deemed by the American Film Institute as one of the 100 best American films ever made, it was a box office flop at the time. For me, it's what makes Christmas more Christmasy.

Two of our friends hadn't seen it before so I was excited to share it with them. A man who's worth comes not from the riches of finance but the friends that surround him? Brilliant.

It was emotional, as always, but after years of watching it, this was the first time I realised how backward Capra's view of women was.

Now I understand that women's roles were very different in 1947 - I don't agree with it, but it was what it was. In Capra's world, women may have been a bit feisty but all they wanted (or needed) was a husband or a man to be kind to them and lead them on the right path.

If you've never seen It's a Wonderful Life, stop reading here....

What struck me, was what happened to the women in George Bailey's life if he never existed (as is played out near the end of the film to show George that he really was worth something). His mother becomes a bitter widower who *shock* *horror* has stooped so low, she's running a boarding house. The local flirt, Violet Bick, becomes a drunk floozy without George's steady influence.

But the horror of all horrors appears to be the fate of Mary. Without George ever being born, his brother drowns, hundreds of men burn on a troopship, his Uncle Billy ends up in the insane asylum and the town sinks into a one of strippers, booze and crime as the renamed Potterville. But the one thing the angel Clarence doesn't want to tell George, is that without him, his wife is unmarried, in her mid-thirties and is working as a Librarian. Surely not! But yes. That is a fate worth than death.

I guess being in my thirties now, this is a bit closer to home. All I can say is, it's a good thing I'm not a Librarian. In Capra's world, it would be the end of the world for me. Thank God it's not.

Not everyone is built for 9 to 5

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Alarm rings. Snooze. Snooze. Snooze. Shower. Brush teeth. Check watch. It's what time? Find outfit still on drying rack. Throw on clothes, coat, and shoes. Hope makeup is in my handbag. Lock door. Unlock. Run upstairs. Grab scarf. No queue in cafe. Order with cash. Tap foot as barista takes his time making my drink. Shit. Bus. Run. Spill coffee. Check watch.

Sound like your morning? Maybe you're like me. Starting the day with a sense of urgency, of being one step behind. The plight of a night person born into the world of 9-5.

My brain is most ready to work at 9...pm. It's not condusive to a social life or, in fact, doing my day job. Its not that I can't work at any other time, its more like my brain gets a rush, a jolt of creativity as soon as night hits. I have had many a eureka moment on the dance floor at 2 am.

I wonder if this is due to my extreme extrovert nature. I find it hard in the mornings. I'm completely depleted. If I'm home alone too long on my own I feel the same. It took me a while to figure out we are all like batteries. Introverts wake up as a full battery and every interaction with someone drains them bit by bit until, at the end of the day, they're empty. Extoverts, like me, wake up drained and every interaction fills them up. I'm buzzing once night falls. I don't need coffee. I just need people.

In my ideal world, I'd be able to shift how the work world works. The concept of 9-5 is outdated. Most traditional employers don't understand that by shifting work patterns to suit the most productive time of their employees, they may actually get more work done. I see this working with developers. Reading the The Facebook Effect, you'll see the story of a team of workers only starting the day in mid afternoon and coding into the night. What if they were forced into 9-5? Would they have been as successful. I'd argue, no.

For me, I'd work 11-7 while others might choose to work 6-3. We'd all be happy and productive and I would stress less in the mornings. But until that day comes, I guess I'll continue to press snooze, and rush through my morning, spilling coffee in my wake.

Brewdog Camden: Why drink anywhere else?

Last night, the night I've been waiting for arrived. The launch of Brewdog Camden.

My first introduction to this Scottish Brewery came in a Squirrel shaped bottle. The gimic hooked me but it was the beer that made me stay.

I'm from the land of wheat (and other such plants grown in farmers fields) and we have quite a heritage of microbreweries. I've had my taste of many, many beers. Often in pickup trucks, sometimes in fields, usually by lakes. But, to be honest, I'd gone off beer the last few years and red wine has been my poisen of choice. I'm pleased to say it's Brewdog that brought me back.

Nominations for IAWTV Awards out this Wednesday!

I've just found out that the nominations for the Inaugural IAWTV Awards nominations are going to be announced this Wednesday beginning at 10:00am PST. We've entered Raptured so everyone have your fingers crossed!

If you want to watch Shira Lazar and Ethan Newberry make the announcements, you can watch the live stream here: http://bit.ly/wtchill