Today is my third day of captivity in my apartment on account of my (self-diagnosed) strep-throat. It hit me harder than I expected, and I haven't felt well enough to do much apart from either read or watch movies. When I'm sick, I try to do everything right; lots of rest, drink lots of hot tea, take aspirin, and not expose myself to cold in any way. My apartment is nice and warm if I don't open the balcony door, I haven't taken a shower since Thursday (!), and I've finally taken advantage of new services such as dine11.com and kozmo.com, which have meant I haven't had to go even to the Supermarket. Last night, I had Kozmo bring me the video, "Das Boot" - only $3.99 to rent for three days. They also brought me aspirin and a tooth-brush! And dine11.com brought me chicken-caesar salads from no less than Pasta Pomodoro. This makes being sick a lot easier - it's almost like having all the good parts of a live-in boyfriend, without the snoring :)

I had to write today after I read an article in the New York Times a piece that spoke so clearly to what I talked about in my last entry. The piece was titled "Are You Happy Yet?", and was one piece amongst many in an issue that covered how Americans live now.

What interested me in particular about the piece was how it tied together several strands of thought that had been going through my mind recently. The book I'm reading right now points out how early Americans focussed not on doing good, despite their religiosity, but on achieving prosperity. And this piece in the Times today suggests that true happiness comes from doing good toward others, an idea that sounds archaic today, and is rarely expressed. I remember it, however, as a tenet of my upbringing, one that I've mostly ignored. If a shopkeeper or waiter was ever rude or unpleasant to my Mother, she'd always sigh, and turn to us later and say "you know, that person would be so much happier and would enjoy his job more if he was nice to other people." She's a simple woman, my Mother, but it's funny how many of her sayings and attitudes have stuck in my mind.

I guess now that I've reached a point in my life where I'm relatively comfortable financially, I'm starting to search for more meaning. More like thrashing around than searching, really. I'll let you know what I come up with :)

In the meantime, this little burst of activity has quite worn me out. So it's back to my movies - Kozmo brought me the "Fight Club", which I'll probably fast-forward through to the parts where Brad Pitt takes his shirt off, and the last Star Wars movie, the "Phantom Menace". Hope I can stay away long enough to watch them!