getting better all the time.

Another interesting insight from the February issue of O － "100 Things that are Getting Better." Just to prove we're not 100% headed toward hades in a handbasket, the feature outlines things on the upswing, from floral arrangements to tights.

Here's a dozen that caught my eye and my concurrence:

2. Shapewear － I'm not into spanking, but I'm all about Spanx.

18. Dads － The number of stay-at-home pops has grown from 98,000 to 143,000 nationwide within the past seven years.

20. Hillary Clinton － The global goodwill she's building as Secretary of State makes me very pleased she didn't go for VP [see #29].

25. Marriage － The American divorce rate has dropped steadily since 2006, and is now at its lowest point since 1970.

29. Our reputation around the world － According to the Pew Research Center, our image is rising in Latin America, Africa, much of Asia and western Europe [see #20].

39. The news － Only about 5% of newspeople were women in 1973 [the year I turned five]; today, 42% of journalists are female.

51. Office chairs － Ergonomically and ecologically friendly is the trend.

61. Wanda Sykes － Golly, how I love lesbian comedians [Ellen, Rosie, Paula Poundstone, anyone?]. Seriously.

73. Street food － Here in Austin, airstream trailer food courts are popping up like yummy, edible wildflowers.

75. Animal shelters － The number of abandoned and euthanized canines and kitties has fallen from 17 million to 5 million. Still 5 mill too many, but improving.

78. High heels － I've forever followed the comfort-over-fashion credo, but I like to pump up my peds now and then as much as the next girl. Finally, shoe designers are finding ways to merge stiletto style and sole solace.

88. Headache treatments － As a lifelong migraine sufferer, I can testify to the success of both my daily preventative and my as-needed treatment meds. Much more effective than narcotics, and － bonus! －I can function during and remember my recuperative period.

So, what around you is improving? what still can use improvement?

image source: maggie's austin