STRICTLY POSITIVE

The Strictly Positive column runs on Fridays (when possible) and concentrates on (surprise!) positive things I read, heard, or saw during the week.  It's my effort to get away from the troubling news of the world.  If you stopped by last Friday and read the inaugural installment, you caught the Star Wars text conversation between me and Pop Culture Nerd.  This week's column includes a continuation of that conversation on Twitter, so if you missed the start, you can see it here.

Exhibit A:  The continuation of the Star Wars text discussion on Twitter was one of the highlights of my week, as more smart folks chimed in.  In response to my post, the following occurred:

@MegGardiner1:  Best text exchange ever. Hans down.

@popculturenerd:  I'd bet Rodeo Sandy would've aced SW texting.

@SCPerkinsWriter (aka Rodeo Sandy - don't ask):  Well would you wookie there! It's the gang! I've missed ya'll a tauntaun!  xo, RS

@popculturenerd:  2 SW refs in 1 tweet? That's Admiral(Ack)bar.  I just Wedge in names & must cry Uncle (Owen).

@LolosLetters:  For all I Knoww, you two are just (Corporal) Making shit up now.

@MegGardiner1:  Are not. ARTOO.

@MegGardiner1:  I'll stop now.

@LolosLetters:  You're gonna (Senator) Bail? Every party has its (Storm)trooper. (Hey, it RHYMES with pooper.)

@SCPerkinsWriter:  Star Wars:  It's clearly Tatooine on our hearts.

Is it no wonder I love these people?


Exhibit B:  This sign made me laugh (and I'm an efforting vegan - but far, far from hipster):

Exhibit C:  At the Golden Globes on Sunday, Latina Gina Rodriguez took home the Globe for her highly-praised performance in the CW series Jane the Virgin and longtime actor Jeffrey Tambor won for his performance as Maura Pfefferman, a transgender parent coming out to her kids, in Amazon's Transparent (see what they did there?)  Granted it was the foreign press, but I'm not going to complain about anyone highlighting vastly underrepresented minority characters. The more exposure the better.

It was also pretty huge that these winning performances are from shows on non-traditional networks/outlets. I know the CW has never won a Globe and I'm not sure any CW show/performance has even been nominated previously. Transparent is one of Amazon's first forays into "television."  I love seeing more creative outlets for people with ideas that might be turned down by the traditional outlets, be it for monetary or other reasons. Huzzah to all of the above.

Exhibit D:  Those bastards at Ben & Jerry's have created three new flavors with COOKIE CORES. Of course, they still come in the handy single-serving pint size for easy consumption.

Exhibit E:  My Australian side laughed pretty hard at the evil genius behind a new service called Ship Your Enemies Glitter.  Which is exactly what it says it is.  For $10 (Australian), you can have a mess of glitter ruin someone's day.  I'm not proposing you take advantage of it (in fact, they're so overrun with orders they're begging people to stop), but the site is worth a read, especially the hilarious FAQ.

And this little ditty regarding what happens when you hit the "Buy Now" button:

"You'll then be taken off this shitty website for payment processing via PayPal. Yes, we know PayPal is a shitty company, hell why not send those dicks some glitter? After we receive the payment & spend the profit on cheap booze we'll get shit ready & have the mail sent to the person you hate."

I know I'm going to be looking at my mail from Australia with a keener eye than usual.

TGIF, ya'll.