Usually I hate Mondays. This weekend was so good, though - not for big exciting, shout-out reasons, but just for general happiness and good times - that it's left me feeling warm and contented today. Sure, there are downsides to life right now - for instance, the stench in the living room is still truly appalling, despite vinegar treatment to the couch yesterday - but they aren't getting me down today. I feel buoyed up by this weekend's happiness, which is a wonderful feeling, and one that I'm savoring.

So here are links to things that have made me laugh or feel good lately, in videos and online audio:

Via Neil Gaiman, here's my now-favorite Mitchell & Webb sketch, one that'll make any writer cringe (and laugh):

Via albionidaho, I've discovered a fantastic new Brit-com, The IT Crowd - and the best news is, most (or maybe all???) of its episodes-so-far are up on YouTube! Last night Patrick and I meant to just watch the first episode, "Yesterday's Jam", but ended up getting hooked and staying up late to watch the second episode, "Calamity Jen", too. They were both hilarious. You can start watching the first episode here.

I probably would never have read Sara Ryan's YA novel Empress of the World, because nothing about the 1-line concept leapt out and grabbed me when I heard about it. But I'm always looking for stories to listen to while I knit, so when I saw that she'd podcast her novel as a series of readings (one chapter per episode), I thought I might as well give it a try. Within 5 minutes of listening to the first episode, I was hooked, because - well, her characters felt exactly like me and my friends at that age! I went to exactly that kind of academic summer camp for several years as a kid, and then I worked as a counselor at another one when I was 20. The setting and interactions are spot-on, the characters she writes could have been my camp-mates, and the dry humor is just perfect. I wish I'd gone to camp with her! Check out the first episode.