Optimism

I decided to write a list of all the things I feel optimistic about.

1. People are still writing excellent applications--games, utilities, browsers. In fact, they are better than ever and can do more than ever. And they're giving 'em away, in many cases.

2. Television these days--certain shows--are incredibly good. Shows like Nova, Horizon, the old (pre-jail) Martha Stewart Show, the David Attenborough documentaries (mammals, insects, birds), Seinfeld, The Catherine Tate Show, Mad Men, Peep Show, The Graham Norton Show, Little Britain, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. . .even Dr. Who. They are ten times better than the television fare available just two decades ago.

3. Although there is turmoil elsewhere, at least the U.S. is at peace on the domestic front.

4. Books are better than ever. Smarter, with better writing and better illustrations and more perfect knowledge. And bookstores are (almost) giving them away.

5. Food at the grocery store is better than ever. More diverse, and in some cases, such as pistachios, cheaper. Iran blew the whole pistachio monopoly back in 1976 when they took the American hostages. California producers started growing, and the rest was history. The best thing about pistachios today is that they no longer contain that icky red dye that used to stain fingers.

Well, five is about all I can manage today. Maybe one more.

6. NASA is still exploring and astronomers are still discovering new information about the cosmos. If you really want to read the good news in the world, filter out *.business and *.politics and just read *.science.