I have had a horrible day today - well a fair bit of it was horrible.
So here are a bunch of things (totally at random) that I am thankful for. I've heard that when you're feeling really rubbish, it helps to list things you're grateful for. There are two reasons for this. 1. It helps shift the focus to the positive. 2. It engages the pre-frontal cortex part of the brain, which when more active gives less room for the amygdala (the part that lights up during times of anxiety/anger/fear) to reign freely.
So, here goes. I am going to time myself (because I am a geek)....in no specific order Phil, your 3 minutes begins now, and you have to keep typing. Are you ready? Yes Phil, you are ready. OK. Go!
OK.....I am thankful for lovely Twitter people that have tried to keep me relatively sane. I am thankful for the SatNav that helped us find where we were going today. I'm thankful for my lovely parents (who really should've had me adopted years ago!). I'm thankful for whatssnapchatapp, or whatever it's called. I'm thankful fooooorrrrrrrrrrr ahhhhh, I can't think....I'm thankful for Mark Knopfler (woah that was random). I'm thankful for the internet. I am thankful for my fingers which allow me to type this. I'm thankful for my knowledge about the pre-frontal cortex, which I learned at work (I think that's where I learned it). I'm thankful forrrrr, come on surely my time is nearly up, it's gotta be 3 mins. OK, it pretty much is....I am thankful fooorrrrrrrrrrrrr, ok one last one, I'm thankful for baby meerkats.
OK. Publish!
(I still feel crappy, but that was a good thing to do)
I read a blog post the other day, which described how the British Red Cross has launched a campaign to help those in the UK with food aid -- essentially those that are struggling so much with money that they are no longer able to find the funds to purchase food for themselves and their families. This got me thinking. Why don't I donate some? So, today I did.
I don't really want to get into the reasons behind this current poverty situation in this post, or whether it's the current government's policies that have caused this. My overall, personal view is that money was probably mankind's worst invention, or at least that we invented something that we applied to *everything*, including health. I'm fine with money relating to who has the nicest car, or who has a conservatory or stayed in a 5 star hotel, but I am not fine with money being the key factor in whether a person can be healthy in life. Anyway, that's all I'm prepared to rant about.
The reality is that at the moment, there are people in my own country -- a developed country that are going hungry. Regardless of the reasons, I would like to do something about it, even if it's a small gesture. I would like to invite you to do the same, if you're in the fortunate position to do so. I'm not a rich man. I highly doubt I ever will be. However, at the moment, I'm in the very lucky position where it doesn't affect my own abilities to eat/clothe/warm myself if I give a little back. Maybe one day (though I hope to God not!), that won't be the case, but for now, as I can, I plan to follow my belief that a lot can be achieved by those that can give, giving, even if it's just a little (obviously the ideal situation is that a lot of people can do this simultaneously).
As someone that has experienced battles with mental health issues (in my case anxiety and depression) that caused me to eat very poorly for unhealthily long periods of time, I appreciate that access to basic nourishment is vital for good health. So, on the basis that I want everyone to be happy and well in their lives, I wanted to give something. My plan, while ever I can (which I hope will be for the rest of my time on this Earth!), is that each week when I do my weekly shop, I will order £2-3 worth of extra tinned food, and at the end of the month, go up to the local food bank. I hope it helps. Maybe you could do the same?
So ladies and gentlemen (plural?....really Phil?), I have discovered something. My brain has a G-Spot, and I know how to activate it.
What?! I hear you say! (in fact, I hear that a lot!). Well what I have discovered is that I am susceptible to autonomous sensory meridian response, or ASMR for short (because any other letter acronym would just be stupid). "What on earth is that" I hear you say! (I get that a lot too!). It's a relatively new thing as far as I can tell, which, according to Wikipedia, is defined as:
"a neologism for a recently described perceptual phenomenon characterized as a distinct, pleasurable tingling sensation in the head, scalp, back, or peripheral regions of the body in response to visual, auditory, olfactory, and/or cognitive stimuli."
But! It seems not everyone gets them. I only get them with one of the commonly known stimuli. For me, it's listening to the sound of whispering. It's hard to explain it, but my brain feels all tingly, excited and filled with pleasure. In no way though does it feel sexual (although there is often a strong association with pleasure and sexual activity....you're welcome ladies). Whatever it is, it's very nice. Here's the interesting thing though. It's not just something that happens when I listen to someone else whispering - I can do it to myself (story of my life!), although having someone else do it gives a greater kick (yes, I'm still talking about whispering....I think!).
The ever wonderful, Buzzfeed, has a short video to describe what this is. I don't find any of the other stimuli mentioned does it for me at all. It's very specific to whispering, but it's definitely there.
If you find that whispering does it for you, you'll get a massive kick out of this video
A few years ago, I wrote about my discovery of a hugely talented musician, Ludovico Einaudi (pronounced Ludoviko Ine (like in wine or dine) Audi (like the cars) ). Since then, my interest in him and admiration for his composing skills have continued to grow. Last Friday, I had the privilege of seeing him perform live.
It was one of the best concerts I have ever been to in my whole life. Spellbinding is the word I would use. He is primarily a pianist/composer and usually sticks to solo piano work. For this concert however, he had an orchestra with him to carry and emphasise his beautiful melodies. I went with my fab Mum to see this, and she described the experience as being in a place where together, Ludovico and his orchestra "made their instruments sing".
Earlier this year, he performed a warm up concert in London for this tour and a sample of this concert is available to watch online here. Obviously, it doesn't capture the full atmosphere of being there live, but perhaps if you watch it in full screen, switch off the lights and turn the volume up, it'll go some way.
Here's my favourite one, available on the video, "Waterways" is below. I hope you can spare a few minutes to watch it.
My all time favourite song of his is I Giorni, which he did play at the concert I saw, but it's not available in the video linked to above).
Thank you Ludovico for a magical night out. I won't forget it.
My name is Phil, and I was born in 1982. I was brought into this world naked, kicking and screaming. I had no background to me (OK, perhaps I caused my Mum 9 months of discomfort and if asked, she'll tell you that this is still the case 31 years later!).
I didn't really want anything. I just needed to be kept warm, fed and watered. Other than that, I was just this little thing (some would say I still am!) who had the deepest of desires to be happy, content and not suffer as my life developed. You were the same. Everyone started like this.
No-one sets out to hurt people (I know there are some mental illnesses than mean people have certain thoughts/visions about hurting people, but they're still born with the desire to not suffer in life. In fact, if anything, I would suggest these people's desire to not suffer is greater than the average person's.). We just want to get on with our lives and wish for them to go pretty well so that we can smile lots, and enjoy our existences.
“When I was 5 years old, my mother always told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down ‘happy’. They told me I didn’t understand the assignment, and I told them they didn’t understand life.”
-- John Lennon
As we get older, there are things that can make us feel happy/sad. Jobs, relationships, health concerns. Emotions, especially the experience of anger play a significant role in the levels of happiness we can experience, especially when in conflict with other people. So, I've been trying something for a while. You know what? It's working (oh, and it didn't cost me anything, or have any negative side effects).
It's called "random intentions of kindness", and if you're the sort of person that likes to understand something's background, it traces its routes back to Buddhist meditation. I'm not a Buddhist, or aligned to any other religion. However, I do have an interest in the westernised/scientifically studied (I need my science, people!) practice of "Mindfulness". I think I just find it useful to have my interest hooked onto something, but, if you're not of this personality type, that's fine, you can read on and give this a try if you like.
So this "random intention of kindness thing then...It's quite simple really. It's based on reminding yourself of specific human similarities when dealing with any other human. Reminding yourself of these helps to reduce feelings of anger, which invariably lead to conflict and reduce your likelihood of experiencing happiness. I've already touched on these three key similarities above, but to go over them again, they are:
Each person is a human being, just like me. (if you're already angry with them, you may be finding it hard to think of them as human, so if that's the case, perhaps start off physically....they have a head, eyes, cells, skin, toe nails etc etc)
Each people wants to be happy, just like me.
Each person wants to be free from suffering, just like me.
Therefore, I want this person to be happy.
My experiences have taught me that by practicing this regularly (this is very important), I am able to feel less frustration with people, remain calmer in a greater number of situations, and have healthier interactions with my fellow species.
My preferable way in which to practice this, is to go out for a short walk each day, and randomly glance at a few people, pay attention to them and say to myself that "I want this person to be happy, reminding myself of those three key human similarities".
Practicing with different types of people helps too. So, for example, I may include a homeless person, a person getting out of a Rolls Royce, a different sex, or age. If I'm finding it hard to bring about a sense of compassion for this person, I can refer back to the purely physical components of being human, and then, I may say to myself "I am sure this person does have something causing them unhappiness. Perhaps they're unhappy with their job, perhaps there's a family member they're worried about, maybe they're having money issues". Hopefully, none of these people will have those concerns, and my wishing them happiness is wishing them even more happiness than they already have in their already happy lives. Wouldn't that be nice? (Yes Phil)
It does feel a little strange at first to do this, and probably during the beginning, the habit of thinking "chav/snob/down and out" will feel like it's reigning freely. But, like anything you want to become more skilled at, you just need to repeat it over and over again. It will become easier, and crucially, your ability to switch on this "ahhhh, woaaaah, wait a minute....this person is a person like me etc etc" behaviour, will assist you in conflicting scenarios.
I would recommend that you watch this video (all of it if you have the time), but for the purposes of this blog post, the bit between 30.10 and 33.00 minutes is relevant.
I wouldn't say that I've become an expert in this yet. I still get pi**ed off with people sometimes. I still find myself having a bit of a rant. I still find myself engaging in prejudice thinking. But, less so. I feel that I have a kinder outlook to people, even those that have done bad things and I've found this part very interesting and sometimes a little confusing to be honest. It's not that I think what they've done is good. I will still be of the opinion that what they did (let's take the example of a convicted criminal) was completely wrong, but I am able to view them as someone who has suffered, and their horrible actions were probably the result of some suffering they experienced. I may retain the position that they shouldn't be allowed to walk the streets freely because their experiences and suffering have led them to become people who are now a danger to others, but I allow myself, albeit with restrictions placed up on them, to wish and end to their suffering. So, I suppose in that sense, it allows me to accept an ambivalence.
Give it a go maybe? Next time you're in Tesco buying your horse, pick a few people out and wish them happiness (probably not out loud though), based on your basic human similarities, and just see how it makes you feel.
Perhaps together, we can change the first auto suggest here (maybe the third too...).
"No they're not" (or "no there not!" for Facebook only users) I hear you say!
Well of course, as with most things I say, it shouldn't be taken too literally...
The impetus for this topic is the whole furore surrounding the "Report Twitter abuse" story currently in the press (and social media of course!). The short version to this story as I understand it, is that a couple of female British members of Parliament received threats of rape via someone on Twitter. This has highlighted the behaviour of online "Trolls" (individuals who spend a great deal of time harassing and insulting others for no apparent reason) and whether they've become too dominant and, well, maybe Twitter has just become not a very nice place.
Now, before I go any further, I need to make the following point very very clear. I absolutely condemn to the highest degree possible any behaviour that causes anyone any distress. To do what this person is alleged to have done is abhorrent. OK? Right, well that's that out of the way.
But, I still haven't addressed my original statement have I? That everyone on Twitter is good. OK, now, I don't really want to get into the debate of what Twitter should or shouldn't do in response to some people's requests for a "Report abuse" button. That's for the company to decide and for the users to decide whether they like the decision. After all, it's a free platform they have created for us. They are free to do with it as they wish, and we are free to go elsewhere if we don't like what they're doing with it.
What I want to focus on is the user : not a user, but the collect force of tweeters. There are two ways that I have come to my conclusion that everyone on Twitter is good. The first one is my own evidence. This, as you might expect comes from my own interaction with people : those I follow/tweet to/receive tweets from. This part is easy. Overwhelmingly, my interactions have been extremely positive. I've met some fabulously hilariously, wonderfully brave people via Twitter. People I say with honour are my friends. I've interacted with celebrities, learned things from people, had many many people make me laugh to the point where I have spat out my drink. In my view, under no circumstances should the actions of a few be allowed for one moment to detract from all that this extremely powerful tool (and tools like it) can, has, and will continue to do. So, yeah, that part of evidence was easy. I've always got on with people and found the vast majority to be all round lovely people!
The second part of my argument may never make sense, but I'll give it a go! Yes, I agree that some users' actions have been very wrong . They should not have said the things that they did and I strongly disagree with their action to do so. But, they are these users' actions. They are actions that are the result of each of these people's experiences in life. So, I suppose the essence of what I'm saying, is, by all means say that you disagree with their behaviour, but don't forget that even behind "bad" people, there is a person. Let me put it this way.....When (and lets take the example of the person alleged to have tweeted this horrible threats to these MP's), this person was born however many years ago, they were born naked, kicking and screaming. They were not born bad, or evil. They had their first birthday, sitting on the floor in front of a cake with a single candle in it, with the hopes, dreams and aspirations all people have. Probably he or she grew up with the idea of wanting to be an astronaut, or a football player (or maybe a Doctor like I did....but I discovered that I don't like sick people, so I had to drop that one sharpish!). They were born with the ability to do so much good. They may appear to have lost this, but I don't believe they have. It's still in there somewhere. So, if we go back to their origins as a person. They are good.
Anyway, you get my drift (possibly!). Still to this day, each morning, this person will wake with a deep seated desire to be happy, to not suffer. They are a human being (even if you find it hard to view them as a human, then at least could you acknowledge the starting point of anatomically they are a human?). They want to be happy. They do not want to suffer. They have their own worries causing them upset and distress. Because everyone is born (I believe) with a default setting of wanting happiness, this means they must also understand what unhappiness is, and that that is not something anyone wants to feel no?
So, when a person creates the conditions for UNhappiness, there must have been/be suffering in the mindset of the accused. Yes, I still agree that the actions they take are inappropriate, but they are as the result of suffering. In case that didn't make sense. My statement on this is as follows. Only a person who has suffered on some level commits an act of cruelty. (oh and I'm not saying if you've suffered you should go out and mug an old lady!). So, based on this statement my solution to nasty people is to offer them your thoughts of "wait, hang on a minute. I can never agree with what you've done, but you must have suffered and for that I offer you my wishes of contentment". I would like this to be the new food of the trolls and that if this is the new food for them, from now on, we should "FEED THE TROLLS!".
Wow! That was very wordy wasn't it! In summary. I like Twitter (and other social media). I've had so many fantastic experiences on it. I find it helpful to allow myself to disagree, sometimes very strongly with the actions of so-called "trolls", but I also choose (and recommend this be a choice you consider) that whilst retaining the disdain for such troll-like behaviour, we stop and consider what circumstances may have lead a person to think this is OK, act as if this was caused by suffering, remind ourselves of their status as a human, and basically....get on with everyone.
Right, best go sort out that little dispute between the Israelis and Palestinians! I think a game of Twister is probably all that's needed.
A few years ago, I did a blog post titled "Room Lovely", where I took an idea that I had seen on television to spend some time focusing on some of the things we really love because all too often we focus on what annoys us. I do recommend you view that previous blog post if you want to know what I included then and how it came about.
It's not so much the obvious things of family, oxygen, women with sexy legs etc, but many other things.
Some of the things in this "v2" were included last time. Now, that's not to say the things that I included originally would no longer be in my list - they probably would be. It's just that those still included must have some kind of ultra importance to it.
Anyway, I shall witter on no more and let's begin with (in no specific order) Room Lovely - Version Two:
Samba
Samba music, specifically the drumming component of it has become incredibly special to me over the past few years. I've always loved making music and wanted to do some drumming. In August 2010, I joined a local samba band in London, the London School of Samba. The lovely people I have met there that I am honoured to call my friends, combined energetic vibes. It's social ear porn basically! I think when Gloria Estefan came up with the notion of the rhythm is gonna get ya, she had probably been listening to Samba music. I actually wrote a blog post about a performance that I did with the London School of Samba for the 2011 London Marathon, which describes some of the joy I experienced.
Maps
I included atlases in my original post, but I'm bringing this forward because basically, if it's geographical, I love it. So much has a sense of place, our memories and personalities are created in these locations. Although somewhat biased, I have a huge huge fondness for the likes of Google Maps that are helping to make this geospatial information available to everyone! To me, maps = minature orgasm!
The Time To Change campaign
I have become a big fan of the Time to Change campaign, which seeks to promote a healthy awareness of mental health issues and bring about an end to the stigma associated with it. If four people read this post, then statistically, at least one of them will have or will suffer with a mental illness in their time. I make no secret of the fact that I have had battles with anxiety at times in my life. I know for a fact that this campaign specifically has helped me (and others that I know who have themselves experienced the pitfalls) to feel that little bit more OK about being a "practicing fruitcake". If you feel comfortable enough to do so, please give them some support, in whatever way you can.
Diagnosis Murder
I absolutely love this show! It never fails to make me smile. I love the character created for Dick van Dyke as "Dr Sloan". They seem to have completely captured what a truly kind, warm personality is, and whatever mood you're in, that's so comforting to watch. I hope this show continues to be repeated for many years to come! Although as the title suggests, it's about solving a murder, the show is peppered with humour and centered around the kind Dr Sloan who exudes compassion. I think for me, because I've had many dealings with the medical profession, some good, some, sadly bad, that I find some sense of comfort in seeing the creation of the compassionate doctor. Jump to 2.10 in this video and see Dick van Dyke in all his glory as Dr Sloan.
Mark Knopfler
As far as I'm concerned, Mark Knopfler is the greatest musician and song writer ever to have graced this planet. In the event we discover life on other planets, I strongly suspect that he would out-do those too. His guitar skills are second to none. His lyric creating is just a sublime act of human creativity and I have sought much inspiration in these for my own work. I strongly encourage you to give up one hour of your life to watch this documentary about this magician. Thanks Mark.
Cameras
I love photography. I can't claim to be a master of it but I've taken a few shots that I'm happy with in my time. Some pictures may be aesthetically poor in terms of pure photographic quality (I'm thinking mobile phones here!), but nonetheless, they create a story and a memory which the photograph helps to maintain. Then there are those professional who combine their knowledge with a great camera's technical features to give us something that produces a moment of wow inside us and reminds us of our world's beauty.
Meerkats
I think when I put this one down, I'm actually thinking of the comparethemeerkat adverts. It's hard to explain to those who haven't spent a reasonable amount of time in the UK over the past few years. I love what's been created there!
But meerkats in general are also extremely cute. Here are some for your viewing pleasure.
Snooker
Snooker is my favourite sport. Aside from the skill required to play it well (it's a little bit like golf in the sense that it doesn't look particularly difficult, but it really is, and this is realised by anyone who plays it), it's also the wonderful sportsmanship (take note footballers!) exhibited by the players, the close-knit family feel given to it, and also the BBC's coverage of it. Ah, when it's time for Hazel and the boys (you know what I mean if you like it too), you know you're going to enjoy your day!
David Attenborough
Sir David Attenborough is a true British great. I have had the completely pleasure of meeting him once and it's a moment I'll never forget. His enthusiasm, caring, knowledge, professionalism, dedication, everythingness are something that I treasure. Here he is in a clip from a TV show, shown just last week, in what I think is one of the most beautiful moments on television I will ever see.
London Underground
Also known as the Tube, this isn't really something that I use that much at the moment, but I have a huge admiration for it. It really is a feat of engineering! When you're in one of the tube stations, especially one that serves a deep level line, you begin to realise just what an amazingly complex labyrinthic wonderment it is. The tube map is itself an icon of London, and of course this ties into my love of maps too! Next time you're at a tube station/on the tube, just take a moment to think about what you're in. It's really amazing!
John Williams John Williams is a composer and has created some of the most famous film scores ever. From Jurassic Park, to Star Wars, from E.T. to Home Alone, these iconic moments of auditory joy exist because of John Williams
Spotify
A running theme throughout this post is my love of music. Spotify for me is a brilliant invention that allows me to enjoy hours and hours of splendid music for a very low price. It's something I really get my money's worth of, and it brings me lots of enjoyable moments.
Social media
I'm thinking particularly Facebook and Twitter here, but the content being posted in Google+ is developing a really interesting narrative of its own. Both twitter and facebook have brought me new friends that I really value, twitter has given me many laughs, especially from the @Queen_UK, it's allowed me to chat to @StephenFry. It's given me news before the news told me it was news, and in one case, for this guy, it's proven to be faster than seismic waves!
Love Actually
A few years ago, my Mum introduced me to this film. Since then, it has emerged to be my favourite film. It's just a lovely lovely film to watch. It's basically one film comprising of a series of mini stories, many interconnected. Some happy, some even sad, all true to the nature of love. This is my favourite scene from the film.
Roald Dahl
As a child, Roald Dahl was my favourite author - to be honest, he still is. His stories captured my imagination. My favourite was Matilda. Any person who comes up with this as a quote is going to touch people's hearts and imaginations.
"If you have good thoughts they will shine out of your face like sunbeams and you will always look lovely."
- Roald Dahl
BBC
Some might say that the BBC has had a rough year, what with a couple of apparent scandals. Indeed, those should be investigated to see what went wrong. However, I am proud of the BBC as an institution. I am more than happy to pay my license fee and feel it is well worth the money. From it, I have got things such as Spooks, its wonderful nature documentaries, scientific documentaries, radio 4, round the clock (unbiased for this day) news and weather, up to date news websites, great comedy shows. I am a happy customer and look forward to many more years of their productions.
Word Play (the Uxbridge English Dictionary)
I love word play. Going back to the days of The Two Ronnies, I think it's so important to play around with these little 26 letters that we have and create laughter. In the present day, word play is represented in the form the BBC Radio 4 comedy quiz show, I'm sorry I haven't a clue and their round titled "Uxbridge English Dictionary". Brilliant!
Mindfulness
Mindfulness is hard to explain, but to me, it is a form of westernised meditation which seeks to bring about relaxation and focus by paying a great detail of attention to the present moment and experiencing it non-judgmentally, so as to allow it to be. Added into that is developing the compassionate side of your mind which makes you a kinder person, and less frustrated by people's, foibles. I consider myself new to this, but I have definitely experienced some positive results to this and can see a huge potential in it.
YouTube
I kinda gotta to include this given I've used content from there to illustrate my choices. But really though, it's a huge repository of information. Yes, a lot of it is in a way pointless, but it means something to those people. There is still an enormous amount of great content. It's given so many people a voice and is an extremely popular source for people to use an outlet for their humour, skills....dare I say, dance moves!
You
The poets, the scientists, the comedians, the doctors, the musicians, the inventors, the scholars. You're all amazing in some way or another. Don't forget that. Keep striving for happiness and spread it to as many as you can when you find it.
I don't know why I haven't done this before, but I'm doing it now. I suppose I haven't done it, because they're all listed on my Facebook page, so I can see them, because I am friends with me. Well, I'm a very nice person you know.
Anyway, rather than ramble on, in no specific order, here is a selection of my favourite quotations:
Some are even from me. At least, as far as I know they are. I'm not aware of them being from anyone else anyway!
I hope some of them inspire you :)
"I have always believed that hope is that stubborn thing inside us that insists, despite all the evidence to the contrary, that something better awaits us, so long as we have the courage to keep reaching, to keep working, to keep fighting."
- Barack Obama
If you're going through hell, keep going
- Winston Churchill
"Courage doesn't always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, "I will try again tomorrow.”
- Mary Anne Radmacher
"In the confrontation between the stream and the rock, the stream always wins - not through strength but by perseverance."
- H. Jackson Brown
"If you have good thoughts they will shine out of your face like sunbeams and you will always look lovely."
- Roald Dahl
"You don't drown by falling in the water; you drown by staying there."
- Edwin Louis Cole
"Success can only be achieved with a kind of pioneer spirit and the repeated use of three tools: failure, introspection and courage."
- Soichiro Honda.
"The true power of knowledge is only exposed once it is shared."
- Me (and not Einstein as someone thought! I am flattered though!)
"Time and the allowance of compassion are the only routes to contentment"
- Another one of mine
"Whether you think you can or whether you think you can't, you're right."
- Henry Ford (better at quotes than political alignments!). A previous manager at work who I really admire told me this though, so I like to pretend it's one of his.
"Two of the unexpected joys of undertaking tasks slightly beyond your experience and comfort zone is that you are a better person just for trying, and forever changed in succeeding. A life like that will keep a smile on your face and calm confidence in your heart."
- My former Boss
"Nice guys may finish last, but the good guys always win"
- Me again
"There are known knowns. These are things we know that we know. There are known unknowns. That is to say, there are things that we know we don't know. But there are also unknown unknowns. There are things we don't know we don't know."
- Donald Rumsfeld (not a fan of his by the way, but I like this quote)
"If you love somebody, let them go, for if they return, they were always yours"
- Unknown
"Whenever I get gloomy with the state of the world, I think about the arrivals gate at Heathrow Airport. General opinion's starting to make out that we live in a world of hatred and greed, but I don't see that. It seems to me that love is everywhere. Often it's not particularly dignified or newsworthy, but it's always there - fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, husbands and wives, boyfriends, girlfriends, old friends. When the planes hit the Twin Towers, as far as I know none of the phone calls from the people on board were messages of hate or revenge - they were all messages of love. If you look for it, I've got a sneaky feeling you'll find that love actually is all around."
- Opening lines to the film "Love Actually"
Oh, and of course virtually everything Homer Simpson has ever said.
