500 Things To Be Happy About

Had to wander around Eslite (yes, that wonderful bookstore from Taiwan) and browse those books. Couldn’t pass up the chance to hang out at a bookstore even if it’s located in a mall. Didn’t bother with English books or the translated versions. Merrily checked out the Chinese books.

The girlfriend bought me a beautifully illustrated cheerful book by Lisa Swerling and Ralph Lazar- ‘Happiness is... 500 Things To Be Happy About’ (2014). It’s originally in English, but at Eslite, there were two editions- the original English only, and one the English phrases and their accompanying Chinese translations. Chose the one with Chinese translations because it was more interesting, and the translations have been done well. 《500 個生活裡的小幸福》、陳思穎譯。

It’s a small book, but thick and heavy. Read it in a heartbeat. Too cute, these illustrations and phrases. Definitely a book to flip through to read it again and again. There's no story, so you don't have to read it page by page in proper order. In fact, I could just open it to any page and start from anywhere.

Clearly not every action stated in the book brings me happiness. Some are meh. But many are pretty funny. Loads resonate with me too. Those are the things that make me wear this secret grin for a few seconds as the exact memories floated up.

"when you tear a page from a notebook and its edge is perfectly neat / 從筆記本上整整齊齊撕下一頁",

"being home alone / 一個人在家",

"making that shot into the wastepaper basket / 把紙球精準地投進了廢紙簍",

"using a pen 'til the very last drop of ink / 把一支筆寫到墨水耗盡", and

"scaring the living daylights out of someone / 把別人嚇得魂飛魄散"

Hahaha. YES. YES. YES. YES. YES.