Countering the Snark

I have been tagged by the Incurable Logophile for a meme about being nice. NICE! What was she thinking? Snarl, snarl. Here are the rules:

• List five kind things you do for yourself.
• List five kind things you do for your closest friend, partner or child.
• List five kind things you have done for a stranger.
• Have fun!
• Tag five people.

Given my snarky proclivities it may be tough to come up with five.

Let's start with me, me, me (this is a meme, after all)
These could probably all be culinary but I'll try to mix and match

1. Have really good olive oil, organic butter, cheese, fresh fruits and vegetables, tea and wine as often as possible
   
2. See my old friends at least several times a year, which sounds pathetic but a few times a year is pretty good at this point
   
3. Travel somewhere interesting, new, and beautiful once a year
4. Read something non obligatory every day.
   
5. Walk a lot - New York is a great place for it! I walk to do most of my errands and very often I walk to or from the lab or school, which takes an hour. I'd love to do an hour per day, but sometimes that's not possible.

For The Ragazzo

1. Put away his shoes which would otherwise be scattered throughout the apartment
2. Play piano for him when he wants to sing (he was an early music and baroque singer)
3. Get the paper delivered to our door every morning
4. Make tea every morning and bring it to him in bed, in fact I need to do that right now
5. Let him know I love and appreciate him every day

and I'm going to add something - one nice thing they do for you:

1. He's really learned when to try to get me out of a mood and can often do so, or when to not try to 'fix' me and just let me have my feelings, funky or not.

For a stranger(s)

1. There is a blind woman in our neighborhood who I sometimes walk to the subway. I used to volunteer an arm whenever I saw a blind person on the street, but one fellow I offered to really resented my thinking he needed help so now I wait to be asked
2. When I visit a new country, I try to learn at least a little of the language and say something in it, because English is not the only language in the world
3. Give obvious strangers to New York directions - in their language when I can
4. Try to give generously to a few pet social causes rather than scantily to many
5. Some lucky devils will get my heart and liver someday, but I don't intend to rush the matter. Given all that organic cheese mentioned above, I hope they will still be usable.
6. Use deodorant and stay relatively slim - let me tell you, on the NYC subway it matters.
   

And I am adding - one nice thing a stranger has done for you:

1. One of my neighbors, who is almost a stranger, used to have a few cigarettes a day out on his fire escape to relax. Given the shape of our building, and the fact that I like to have the windows open, the smoke came sailing into our apartment every time. Both me and The Ragazzo really hate cigarette smoke, but of course he was on his own turf. We sent a note explaining the situation and from that day forward he went downstairs and outside to have his smoke. While you could make the argument he was also being nice to himself, he didn't actually stop smoking and he was totally within his rights to do smoke if he wished. I thought it was a particularly considerate gesture.

Have fun! - must I really?

Five Tags - I will leave this to your discretion.