For the book lover, happiness might be a library cake

I content me,

And from the sting of famine fear no harm,

Nor mind it, fed with better thoughts that feed

Me hung'ring more to do my Father's will.

-- John Milton

Happiness is chicken for 77 cents per pound

On rainy days alone I dine,

Upon a chick and pint of wine:

On rainy days I dine alone,

And pick my chicken to the bone.

-- Jonathan Swift

Happiness is Indian restaurant humor

Happiness is the story of the very first person to buy a Ford Mustang

Read it here.

Happiness is the Perseid meteor shower 2018, courtesy of the Virtual Telescope Project from Castel Santa Maria in Italy

Hosted by astrophysicist Gianluca Masi, here.

Click the images to enlarge.

Happiness is a homemade bean burrito, perhaps the best for you and cheapest meal you can make for yourself

I reckon the most expensive thing is the tortilla itself, while the whole shebang is something just north of 72 cents:

Flour tortilla: 33 cents

1 oz. sharp cheddar cheese: 18 cents

2/3 cup prepared pinto beans (13 cents) and basmati rice (4 cents): 17 cents

0.11 oz. spice mixture I prepare from bulk purchased salt, onion and garlic powders, chili powder, crushed red pepper, oregano leaves and cumin: 4.6 cents.

I can season a one pound batch of beans, which makes nine burritos, however I like for 41 cents doing it this way instead of 79 cents for an unadjustable store purchased packet, a savings of 48%.

The price of the beans shown is for a store purchased one pound bag at $1.19. At Sam's Club you can cut this to 63 cents per pound by buying the 12 lb. bulk bag. Per burrito that's 7 cents instead of 13 cents, bringing the whole enchilada down to 66 cents.

The price of a little canola oil for frying is not included.

Toppings are another matter entirely, which with the salsa are really the salad part of the meal.

Happiness is heart healthy sweet bing cherries, on sale last week for $1.99/lb

This week they're $3.99, alas.

A serving is about one dozen cherries, giving you 12% of your daily dietary fiber and 16% of your vitamin C. You also get vitamins A and K, folate, potassium, calcium, zinc, iron and copper, and some important anti-inflammatory compounds.

The dark red color of cherries comes from anthocyanidins and proanthocyanidins, which are compounds that help decrease inflammation in your body, according to Michael T. Murray, author of "The Condensed Encyclopedia of Healing Foods." A 2006 article published in the "Journal of Nutrition" reports that Bing cherries can reduce inflammation associated with cardiovascular disease and stroke. The study also suggests that eating cherries can lower your cholesterol. The beneficial compounds in cherries can ease the discomfort of arthritis as well, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service.

More at the link.

Happiness is homegrown, if you know when to strike

It is many a man's case to tire himself out with hunting after that abroad, which he carries about him all the while, and may have it better cheap at home.

-- Roger L'Estrange

Happiness is Rosie, the cat with her own pack of Huskies

Here!

Happiness is a Rush Limbaugh sendup

Rush Hudson Limbaugh,

a febrile font of faux pas,

everyday, from his throne,

behind a golden microphone,

grifts millions spoutin' hoo-ha.

-- Johnny

Happiness was the plumber Alan Longmuir, founder of the Scottish supergroup Bay City Rollers

From the obituary here in the UK Guardian:

“Just a plumber from Edinburgh who got lucky” was Alan Longmuir’s dry assessment of his career. ... In their peak year, 1975, they had two UK No 1 singles, including the signature hit Bye Bye Baby; the end of that year saw them top the American chart with the stomping Saturday Night . . .. Alan and his younger brother, Derek – the Rollers’ future drummer – went to Tynecastle high school, which Alan left at 15. After a year of office work he was apprenticed as a plumber, but the job was secondary to his yearning to be a musician. ... He returned to working as a plumber and from 2000 until retirement was a bylaws inspector. ... He viewed the 70s with wry humour, saying in 2008: “I remember sitting at the bar of the Beverly Hills hotel – there was Patrick Magee, Barbra Streisand, David Soul – and Alan Longmuir, the plumber from Edinburgh.”

Omega-3 supplements found to be just as inefficacious as vitamins

Tim Chico, professor of cardiovascular medicine at Sheffield University, said it was unlikely any one element of the diet could alone prevent heart disease. “Previous experience has shown that although some types of diet are linked to lower risk of heart disease, when we try to identify the beneficial element of the diet and give it as a supplement it generally has little or no benefit,” he said. It happened with vitamins and now the Cochrane research had shown the same thing with omega-3.

“Such supplements come with a significant cost,” he said, “so to anyone buying them in the hope that they reduce the risk of heart disease, I’d advise them to spend their money on vegetables instead.”

More here.

Happiness is how far one can go on nothing more than lubricated imagination

Should but his muse descending drop

A slice of bread and mutton chop,

Or kindly, when his credit's out,

Surprise him with a pint of stout;

Exalted in his mighty mind,

He flies and leaves the stars behind.

-- Jonathan Swift (1667-1745)

Happiness is a gift of coffee: Every cup is a fond reminder of the giver

This drink comforteth the brain and heart, and helpeth digestion.

-- Francis Bacon (1561-1626)

Happiness is being a pork-eating infidel

Ounce for ounce, pork has three times less saturated fat than beef.

Happiness is a chart comparing the nutritional characteristics of cheeses

Seen here.

a

b

Happiness is eradicating plants poisonous to pets

Foxglove is toxic to cats and dogs

 

 

 

 Of simples in these groves that grow,

We'll learn the perfect skill;

The nature of each herb to know,

Which cures, and which can kill.

-- Michael Drayton (1563-1631), The Quest of Cynthia

Happiness over the 4th of July holiday was a six-pack of Edmund Fitzgerald Porter by Ohio's Great Lakes Brewing Company

Available in longnecks at Sam's Club for $7.96, plus deposit.

"Does any one know where the love of God goes

When the waves turn the minutes to hours?"

Happiness is Frankie Ford's 1959 cover of "Sea Cruise"

Here.

Oo-ee! Sort of a cross between the characters Alfred E. Neuman and Gilligan, singing.

Happiness is that you're a little less likely to die sooner if you drink coffee than if you don't

From the story here:

The apparent longevity boost was seen with instant, ground and decaffeinated, results that echo U.S. research. It’s the first large study to suggest a benefit even in people with genetic glitches affecting how their bodies use caffeine.

Overall, coffee drinkers were about 10 percent to 15 percent less likely to die than abstainers during a decade of follow-up. Differences by amount of coffee consumed and genetic variations were minimal.