In Which I Attempt to Begin.

"What is the felt experience of cognition at the moment one stands in the presence of a beautiful boy or flower or bird?...When the eye sees something beautiful, the hand wants to replicate it." ~ Elaine Scarry, On Beauty and Being Just

For several reasons I've taken it upon myself to create this blog--one, being that I always intended to blog about something; but, not trusting my random fits of melancholy, decided that I needed a definite topic to talk about. Otherwise, I figured I would be doomed to have nothing to talk about except, perhaps, a bad commute on the subway home from work, or the fact that quite a bit of time has passed since I'd had anything "exciting" to do.

It's pretty late now, and my sister Brittany will be home from work in a matter of minutes, whereupon I will have to abandon this post and watch Firefly with her. Not that I'm complaining--but I would like to further expound on my purpose and subject matter.

For now, I will leave only the following list, which I think sums up basically the sorts of things I want to talk about here from now on. It is a list of 20 things which I consider beautiful, the kind of things that will hopefully be featured here in future posts.

1. The sad romantic smell of a campfire.
2. Springy curls, flowing waves and silky sheets of hair in any color.
3. A nude drawn by a master artist.
4. My best friend in her wedding dress that fit so perfectly without any alterations.
5. A ballet about love, or war, or a jewel heist.
6. A man's voice cracking with raw emotion and vulnerable imperfection when he sings.
7. The twinkle of Christmas lights and the taste of cold peppermint.
8. Violins playing faster than you can hum along.
9. Sweet creamy vanilla and rich smooth chocolate.
10. Elephants painting canvases with their trunks.
11. An open smile from my brother.
12. Making something well, whether it be a picture, a story, a song or a batch of cookies.
13. Tree-green against sky-blue and how those exact colors can't quite be reproduced.
14. Heart-breaking acoustic guitar that makes you sad for no reason.
15. Making my mother laugh. For real.
16. How the city never sleeps and you can find a place to eat at 1 a.m., and how it feels so friendly and safe if only for that reason.
17. How night in the country makes you feel closer to God.
18. The book of Hebrews when it feels like God has turned His back.
19. Blankets, pillows, hot tea and unspoken love for everyone in the room.
20. Ants rescuing their children when their nest is destroyed.

I could probably think of more right now, and will think of many more, no doubt, as time goes on....

How about you? What are 20 things that are just, for many reasons or none at all, just simply beautiful, and you notice it each and every time? And love them for it?