On behalf of smiling, here are three items plopped like sandbags on a place that’s a bit flooded with sad stuff:

1. Gabrielle Giffords hasn’t let the tedious and lonely and crummy task of recovering from a brain-battering bullet get the best of her. She doesn’t owe us good news but she sure does deliver.

2. Driving yesterday, I approached an intersection and observed a fellow automobiler smiling…with teeth. She wasn’t on the phone and had not won the lottery far as I know. She wasn’t smiling FOR anybody. Cheered me up quite a bit.

3. There exists a group known as “Elders,” initiated by Nelson Mandela. This peace-promoting-pack comprises those who have been statesmen, like Desmond Tu Tu and Norway’s former prime minister Gro Brunkland. It’s neat that they donate their time to visiting places of global unrest, which is just about everywhere. It’s even neater that they believe the effort is worthwhile.