In praise of being ordinary

If you can accept for a moment the idea that ’simple is best’, I am sure you will enjoy 1000 Awesome Things.

This Blog is a view of the world celebrating discovery of simple pleasures within reach of ordinary everyday life, without being maudlin or preachy. Each awesome entry gives the same sort of pleasure a dad gets when he tells a dad joke, or when mum puts comfort food on the table for the family.

Regularly updated each weekday by Neil Pasricha, the site was launched on June 20, 2008. Pasricha now attracts 40,000 people each day to join his discussions on topics such as how to enjoy wrong coloured foods

Starting with small delight #1,000 and working towards #1, the site is now nearly half way to its goal. For each entry so far Pasricha has provided a warm, opinionated, biased, idiosyncratic take on everyday goings-on. He provides an explanation for each choice, and some of the pieces are quite detailed in their description and affects.

The illustrations are original, quirky and really add to the flavour of the blog.

The blog has good reviews from BBC, CNN, and Wired magazine. Someone on Wikipedia said their five favourite posts were:
· Ordering off the menu at fast food restaurants (#949)
· Old, dangerous playground equipment (#980)
· Smiling and thinking of good friends who are gone (#829)
· Mastering the art of the all-you-can-eat buffet (#864)
· Old, classic board games (#847)

My favourite so far is thing #565, ‘Moving forward and moving on’.

This week 200 of the best posts so far are being published in book form - The Book of Awesome. On Amazon, the book is rated highly by those who have seen a copy.

Pasricha says that he works in an office, and is just a regular guy who loves the smell of petrol, sleeping on the cool side of the pillow, and peeling an orange.

Writing these blog entries has had an effect on the man driving 1000 Awesome Things. He says:

I hope we hear lots more from this guy