Week in Review - Good news or else.

As you may have noticed, I've been a bit cranky [What? No! You've been a regular bundle of joy!].  I've decided this week to focus on positive news, because otherwise the screaming will start and never, ever stop and I just don't have that kind of time, you know? You know.

Here we go.

Chinese artist/dissident Ai Weiwei has been released after three months in prison. He was ostensible arrested and imprisoned for tax evasion. He's now under house arrest and a gag order.  Not complete freedom, but I imagine it's probably miles better than being in a Chinese prison.  Or any prison.  [Has anyone read World War Z?  Do you get the feeling that it's perfectly reasonable that the zombie apocalypse would start in China?  I do.]

The inimitable J.K. Rowling is going to start selling the Harry Potter books as e-books.  To do so, she's setting up a site called Pottermore.com set to launch in July, where she'll not only have the books for sale [available in October] but also allow you to join a house, play games, gain points and get all kinds of dirt on the Harry Potter universe that she wasn't able to include in any of the books.  Professor McGonaggal's backstory? SIGN ME UP!

A woman who suffered the devastating effects of borderline personality disorder when she was a teen in the 1960s has spent her life as a therapist and psychologist who developed treatment for the most depressed patients.  What's even more remarkable is that she did so while suffering from the effects and did not openly discuss her fight until this past year at a conference on mental illness treatments.  I take heart that this woman was able to manage her illness and used her compassion and understanding to make a difference in so many people's lives.

Sneaky, sneaky.  Birds which were thought to be extinct have been found in areas of the rain forest that suffered from deforestation.  A triumph of nature, even though I think birds are creepy and evil and scary. 

Suck it, oppressors.  Women in Saudi Arabia have taken it to the streets and are defying the driving ban by tooling around posting video of themselves online.  I love that they're doing this - and that Facebook is being used for more than people's latest updates about their pets' crazy antics.  No one cares what your dog did.  Not even your dog.

[PS  I'm glad to find that you thought I did a good thing by not taking the candy, but it still irks me that I had to pay for the book.  I hate that getting screwed feeling.  I emailed the teacher, and got another lengthy email back, which left me feeling even more dissatisfied, so I'm just going to let it go.  I can't keep dwelling - although I am a world class dweller.  Maybe I shouldn't keep dwelling, is the thing.]

What good news do YOU have for me, friends?