Comfort

So briefly, this is what's going on in my life right now (although probably most of you who read this know anyway). I'm dating someone. It's great. He just moved to Texas. Long distance relationshipping ensues.

I tell you this only because I wanted to right a post about coping methods/comfort habits. I've been noticing what I do to comfort myself while trying to adjust, and I've determined that I like it. So briefly, here are my comfort . . . things.


Food

Ice cream is obvious, but I definitely went out and bought myself some Spumoni. It seemed more special occasion than cookies and cream, and I got twice as much for the same price as a little thing of Ben and Jerry's Chocolate Macadamia.

Peek-a-boo eggs. If you've never had these, you've missed out on one of the great joys of my life. You cut a hole in the middle of a piece of bread and stick it in a skillet, and then you crack an egg into that hole and cook it. Flip it over to cook the other side, and if you cook the whole thing in butter and add a little salt and pepper to the egg, it's much better. I always like to break the yolk too, but if you like runny yolk guts, by all means leave it. When you're done, you stick the little pieces of bread that you cut out of the middle on top of the eggs (hence the peek-a-boo aspect.) I don't know why these are better than egg sandwiches, but I love them and they're great comfort food.

Like so. 

Movies

BBC miniseries movies and period dramas are the ultimate comfort food of cinema. I'm tempted to go out and get Little Dorrit and Bleak House and watch all 20 hours. (I really must own those someday. They're both so excellent.) For some reason, I never get tired of North and South or Jane Eyre or any version of anything Jane Austen. I've watched them all a dozen times and will probably watch them many more times in my life. Little Women and Anne of Green Gables never get old. It's movies like this that make me want to have daughters - just so I can introduce them to the joy of such beautiful worlds backed by full string orchestras. 

I'm also having a strange hankering to watch Lawrence of Arabia that is not entirely without precedent in times of need. 

Talk

Facebook chat/IM. To all of my friends who have listened to me whine over the past couple of days/weeks, I thank you. I promise to return the favor when you need it. I'm sorry that I pounce on so many of you when you get online. I've kind of been a lurking lurker. 

"Real chat," as my friend Rayla calls it. I've spent a couple of nights hanging out with my friend Carly and an afternoon at Steak and Shake with Rayla. Why is it so comforting to just talk to someone about everything - especially when that someone will glory in the drama of life with you? I love it. 

Work

Not yet. I'm sure eventually homework and school work will take over the comfort duties. So far avoiding them has been better. (I worked today, I promise!)

Buffy/Doctor Who

Because they make everything better. 

Writing 

Turns out I still like to write things down when I'm working through them. I've written more in the last few days than I've written on the blog here in the last two months (which isn't saying that much, if you think about it). Hello, old friend writing. I miss you sometimes, and I sure do love it when I have things to write about. You've always been good to me. 

Playlists

This is always one of my first coping mechanisms. Life got you down? Make a playlist about it and everything will seem better. I like the preemptive playlist approach. If you know it's coming, make the playlist ahead of time so you've got something to listen to in times of crisis. After awhile you start having playlists for every occasion, but making them is still often the most therapeutic part for me. 

What do you guys do to cope with life's minor kinks and kerfuffles?