This summer alone has seen some tiny openings of my world and worldview - stuff I never thought I'd like or appreciate. Here are a few.

Good toilet paper.

The thick, soft kind. It sounds silly, but every time I'm in a bathroom with the good toilet paper now, I go "How nice! A little luxury in my day." One of those weird, tiny little affordable luxuries that I probably won't spend the extra on for my own place without prodding, but which is... I mean, face it, comparing that stuff to single-ply is like driving a new Lexus versus a 2-decade-old Honda. Sure, they both get you there just as fast. The Lexus is totally a luxury buy. But it's so... nice.

Rap lyrics.

I got a thick, rich mixed bitch, handling bricks/And a quick-witted slick clique to manage the chick (from one of T.I.'s raps)

Roll that around on your tongue a bit. Taste the (thick, rich) spitting explosion of off-cadenced syllables - then try to say it faster, then faster, then faster, while still folding your lips fully around each word. It's a whole different sort of mastery of the English language that I've only slowly - and just now - become aware of. Whoa. I want more. I want more... who and what should I listen to? I want to learn how to appreciate it better. I'd like to learn how to do it. Need to listen to and read more, though, in order to get a feel for it.

Beer.

It really is tasty. I drink beer like I drink tea - not for the physical effect it has on me, but to appreciate the artistry of the taste. (In fact, I dislike being even mildly inebriated, and hate the jittery
feeling I get with caffeine, and do my best to avoid both.) The Cambridge Brewing Company's summer hefeweizen is currently tied with fresh-drawn Sam Adams Boston Lager for my favorite.

Cold, fresh, filtered drinking water.

Mmmmmmmmmmmmm, delicious. With the water cooler at OLPC's office not far from the mess of tables I work in, I'm closer to being not-dehydrated now than I think I've ever been in my life.

$2.

You can do a lot with $2. You can get a sandwich of some kind - a whole meal, reasonably filling if you eat it slowly. You can get a large drink - one that comes in a 24 oz. sports bottle, so that you can reuse it as your water bottle and have a way to tote around free hydration with you. When I have $2 in my pocket, I feel rich and free - like I can get something useful (that is to say, food) if I need to. I don't think I've thought of $2 this way since I was in elementary school.