In the wake of 9/11 over 20 years ago, I started a blog called Three Good Things in which each post was — you guessed it — a list of three good things. With things as bleak as they are in these early days of 2024, relaunching the project feels like a good idea.
This week’s entry:
1. Fixing (or even TRYING to fix) things
Last week I took a little time to sit down with a Nikkormat FT camera (circa 1965) that I bought for less than $25 from an online auction site. The solid, all-mechanical camera body looks and feels great, the lens seems to be scratch and fungus free, and the light meter actually works, which is frankly shocking after almost 60 years. But when I press the shutter release, the mirror takes a second or two to flip up and trigger the shutter — or it doesn’t flip up at all.
The culprit is probably old gummed up lubricant, so I spent a good amount of time cleaning what I could without actually disassembling the camera, and then I worked the mirror up and down in hopes that it would loosen up. It didn’t. But I learned more about the way the camera operates and found an intriguing if clunky workaround. The button on the top of the camera that’s closest to the lens mount is a depth of field preview button. If the mirror is stuck, pressing the depth of field preview button triggers the mirror release and makes the shutter open and close. With some experimentation, I discovered that if I hold the depth of field button down first, the mirror always flips and the shutter does its thing when I press the shutter release.
So I didn’t really fix this camera. But I worked out a way to possibly get it back into some kind of operation. And most importantly, I had fun. This is a good reminder for me. It’s easy to get lost in abstract thoughts and worries. But working with my hands and figuring things out helps calm me down, ground me in the physical world, and give me joy.
2. Cooking for Good Eaters
I cooked two big, special meals for family and friends over the past couple of weeks, and folks ate and talked and laughed and walked away happy and satisfied. I can tire myself out when cooking a big meal — it’s a big job! But it’s always so worth it. Shared food really does provide a glorious foundation for real bonding, and it always feels like a privilege to be in a position to set that table.
3. Finishing scripts
I finished and turned in two comic book scripts this week. That’s not spectacularly unusual. In any given month, I’ll often write three or four scripts, and sometimes I finish two in a week. But I’m trying to take note of small accomplishments these days and give myself a pat on the back. Every finished script is a little miracle. I need to remind myself that I do hard things and take some satisfaction from that.
