The Old Positive Spin Trick

It really is all a matter of perspective. My boss, whose schedule is usually pretty hectic, is facing a hellish week involving a three-day conference with a press meeting sandwiched in Tuesday afternoon, a trip straight from that conference to a board meeting the following day, and an overnight flight to a second conference on Friday, with no turn-around time. She basically has to be "on", poised, together, and ready to speak with coherence and eloquence, for five days straight. I think that kind of stress would kill me. She just laughs and says, "What a nutty week."

And I still remember something my friend said to me last winter, when we were discussing the fact that there is no good way to get to the coffeeshop with the Tuesday poetry night; it was a fifteen-minute walk from the nearest subway station through dark, icy streets. "I enjoy the walk, actually," she said. Hearing her say that turned it from a slog where I constantly questioned how worthwhile the evening would be, into something fresh-air-and-exercisey that I began to enjoy also.

Vesto Slipher is a great name. It is a real name, belonging to an astronomer.