Thorns, then Roses

Okay, so I know I'm trying to be more positive, but let's be honest: usually the negative news is slightly more interesting. Sorry, maybe I'm a bit too cynical after my time in the news biz. But here I am trying to be a balanced journalist and a looking on the bright side type, tempering my usual negativity with some sunshine. Here goes:


1. Bad: it kills me that I wasn't in Guate to cover the sink hole story

And next month George W. Bush is going to be in Guatemala, which I obviously won't be covering, plus Rigoberta Menchu has announced she'll be running for president in Guatemala in September's elections. Both a woman and Indigenous. Very interesting.

Good: Apart from the obvious good news that I didn't fall into the sinkhole and die... with my work right now, it sure is nice having a big pay cheque every two weeks. I'm doing such different stories everyday. And I've even been able to use my Spanish, calling Mexico for some stories.

2. Bad: I went salsa dancing Tuesday night. This weird too-close dancer guy asked me to dance repeatedly. I don't really say no to a guy asking me to dance and I thought he seemed harmless (and at this point in my life, harmless is nice). BUT: after dancing our final song together, another guy asked me to dance and he told me that "supposedly harmless guy's" friend was taking pictures of me as I danced. And he was taking the pictures when the friend pulled his sexy, getting too close moves. ICK! What is up with that? And where the heck are those pictures going to end up? Is everything on camera these days? Isn't that so violating?

Good: I got to go salsa dancing. And on a Tuesday night. There's a different salsa club every night of the week here. While there may be a creep, not all salsa guys are so disgusting. Maybe I should dance more often with the guy who told me the other guy was taking pictures of me. I think he really was harmless. And he's a salsa teacher, so he knows what he's doing.

3. Bad: I went to a sweaty basement gym where all they have is spinning. It's just a bunch of people on bikes pretending they're in the mountains. Is anyone living in the real world these days?

Good: I didn't need to visualize the mountains. All I needed for motivation was to stare at the female instructor's amazing legs. One day, people. One day. I will live in this artificial world if I can have legs even half that muscular. And she's had 3 kids. Now that's someone to admire.

4. Bad: Life has kinda sucked lately.

Good: Maybe it has to suck in order to get me to a better place. And I'll be all self-actualized and full of experience. Isn't that what women in their 30s are about? We're not full of emotional baggage. We're "experienced."