Why did the news anchor chicken cross the road? In search for good news.

I've got some good news and some bad news....

How many media expert does it take to figure out what sort of news sells best? None. Say it with me: bad news sells. That's the bad news. Yet, after another car crash with innocent victims, may they rest in peace, which was the reason for another day of national mourning, I think many were left cynical. Of course, quietly so. This is less a testament to their character, in fact I will openly admit I felt skepticism rise in me as well- we mourn for a day, TV channels will change their broadcast schedule and content for a day, reasons will be thrown around the newspapers, the opposition will blame the current government for the fact that they haven't been doing their job. After the small changes in legislation, necessary to calm down the general public, it will all slowly go away, business as usual. Hypocrisy is ugly, I don't condone it regardless of the reasons behind it and this case is no different- we have become numb to the gross over-exposure to negatively slanted news reports. It is inevitable, given the psychology of our human nature.

Have I got news for you! Paradoxically, t is this desensitisation, though, that allows for some good news within tonight's report- more and more often lately I find myself impressed with the great kindness of humans. I see volunteers travelling the world to help out people they have never met. I see people setting up dog shelters, sparing from their time, energy and money, to heal homeless dogs and feed them. I see an old couple still holding hands after decades of marriage, as they pass through airport security. I see kindness to strangers at stations. It is all within us, and I don't believe that some are innately good and others- innately bad people. Hopefully, if you just allow yourself to, you will see such Acts of Random Kindness. And, as saturated as we've become with bad news, where good news are not a given, but the exception, we inevitably are more impressed with them. As the capitalist world some of us live in will have us know, scarcity means higher value. Ergo, the rules of economics and human nature make me believe that soon enough, news channels will start looking for the good news, and more importantly, we as viewers and co-habiting humans, will be looking for our own good news.

It was in search for evidence for these good news that I set up my other blog, and I am still looking, every day.

Why did the chicken cross the road? To get to the horizon.

I think that universities and clubs have much in common. They both involve the human condition of wanting what you can't have. It is said that people need a constant aim, and if our primal urges for food and shelter are satisfied, then we will invent a new aim. I will be talking about the never-ending chase of the horizon.

I've applied to a few universities in Holland, where I'd like to do a Master's degree in Media and Journalism. While I had no clear favourites, two of them seemed more appealing. Groningen only accepts 15 people to do the course, and oddly enough, they very much liked my interview,so I got an offer from them. Secondly, Erasmus  University Rotterdam offered a very appealing degree and just yesterday they told me they have accepted me too, on the condition that I pass all my modules and exams. Awesome.
Yet, the funny little female mind of mine indulged in some subsequent mind-games. What the bleeding hell must be wrong with them, accepting me to do a course there?!
Silly me. I would like to get into a good master's course. Challenge accepted. I have been offered place at the best universities for my speciality. Challenge completed. So...i am confused and suddenly thinking that what I wanted must be of less value, if I've achieved it.

Should you make the mistake of going into a club, there's the usual meat market: when it is a straight club, some girls are hot, some girls are not. Some guys hit on the former, and the later you go in the night, the fewer the good looking guys are, they are somehow taken by 10:30p.m. So, if you're a girl, and you're hit on by an attractive man (and let's face it, it almost never the good-looking ones!), then I personally get flabbergasted. That's nice of you to approach me... but if you're not taken by now, then something must be wrong with you. It may not be looks, but there's always something wrong.

That is at least the case with many women. They bitch that it is never the hot men who hit on them.However, when the inadequacy is not physical, they will immediately start looking for it until they can pin it down. There must be some other horrible shortcoming. Indeed, sometimes, may it be short? Is the coming short?

Of course, the entire reason for this disbelief is our own female shortcomings. In Theatre Arts, they talk about suspension of disbelief.And to chase happiness is an absurd concept- if you chase it, it will run away. It would do all of us well if we believed in our capabilities, knew our strengths and accepted our flaws.