Embracing the Random

My friend and I went to Barnes and Noble recently, looking for a specific book.

Thing you should know: I take bookstores and libraries as a personal challenge. Can I find the book I’m looking for without help? Usually, the answer is yes, and I feel very happy. Sometimes I am in too much of a hurry to wander the necessary amount and I have to start by asking. These are disappointing days. Interestingly, I usually find that librarians know exactly where to look, whereas bookstore clerks usually seem as lost as I am. There are exceptions to this, of course. But I find it noteworthy.

Anyway. This particular day I had time to search, so my good-spirited friend and I wandered Barnes and Noble. In the course of that glorious, paper-soaked wandering, my friend caught sight of an intriguing book cover and pulled it off the shelf. She said, “This is cool.”

And I said, “I need it!” or something equally impulsive and enthusiastic.

Here is the book:

My friend, knowing I’d had a rough week, kindly purchased this book for me, as a “You made it through a difficult week!” gift. (Don’t I have amazing friends? Seriously, y’all.)

I’ve hardly read any of it yet because I am so excited about it. Has that ever happened to you? You’re so excited to experience something for the first time that you almost don’t want to actually experience it because the anticipation is so high? That’s pretty rare for me, so I’m drinking it in.

But I’m literally taking this book everywhere with me. I took it to Chicago last weekend in case I wanted to read it in the car.

And here’s the thing: there’s literally no reason I should be so excited about this book.

I am not Jewish, I am not interested in becoming Jewish, I am not dating a Jew, there’s no rational, logical reason for me to be so excited about this book that I have hardly even read it yet.

And I feel silly telling you about it because it makes me sound pretty geeky.

But here’s the thing: I’m excited about something truly random. So what? I’m excited about something. Shouldn’t I just embrace it and celebrate the fact that something, even something so obscure as an encyclopedia entry about Bette Midler, makes me smile?

So here’s what I want to know: what are the random things in your life that make you happy? What are the things you might be embarrassed to talk about because they seem so silly? Or the things that make you laugh for no reason when nothing else can? Let’s embrace those fun things together.