Everywhere you turn, the news is dire. The tanking economy has been the number one story since last September, with the miserable repercussions affecting everything from the job market to the price of ice cream. If it’s not the recession, it’s swine flu or a natural disaster or worse — more bad news about lesbian movies or queer TV characters that turn out to be “not so gay” after all.
After a particularly rough week, I was looking for a few geeky sources of happiness. I found them in the new Star Trek film (so much fun) and in a very timely link to Happy News, thanks to a piece on Geeksugar.
Happy News is a total godsend in such crappy times. Instead of the doom and gloom of your usual headlines, the site features quirky or cute or even monumental news that promotes positive vibrations. They report on anything and everything happy, feature their own columns, and link to good news from a wide variety of (reputable) news sources.
After browsing for a few minutes, I learned of the very first tweet from outer space:
Then I learned about the founding of a badass new exercise form called IntenSati by Patricia Moreno. I was feeling better already.
Better yet, my inner neuro nerd (and lover of all things adorable) was delighted to find a column that explained exactly why humans find baby animals cute. Needless to say, I’m happy to find anything that legitimizes my girlish squeals whenever I see a small animal (or a baby of any species, for that matter).
Finally, a quick item on a young girl who pitched a perfect game (the first young woman to do so in her all-boys league) made me beam from ear to ear. Maybe there’s hope in this world after all.
Speaking of good news — I feel that it’s my duty as a professional geek to point out that the re-imagined Star Trek is an absolute blast — for fans and (I would imagine) non-fans alike. Sure, the new storyline breaks from canon, however, it’s done in such a way that it all makes perfect sense, leaving everyone free to enjoy the best, most thoroughly fun (and funny) Trek experience this side of a particularly rowdy (I’m talking inebriated fans in full Klingon garb) screening of The Wrath of Khan.
The chief baddie has nothing on Khan himself or the Borg Queen (from the excellent First Contact), but that’s really a minor issue. Plus, the “new” Uhura (Zoe Saldana) is beyond excellent in the role, totally making up for her past as a costar in the Britney Spears‘ train wreck Crossroads.
Are you happy with the new Star Trek?
