Waiting for good news. Remember good news? It has been known to happen. The Dismal Decade erased it from our short term memory, but as I recall there have been days to celebrate. There will be again. Here they come.

Cold Fusion was going to be this month’s good news, but it has been delayed until October. In the meantime, someone at MIT has developed a Solar Leaf, something about the size of a playing card that uses sunlight to split water into hydrogen and oxygen, which can then run a fuel cell; effectively making solar energy work at night. Solar cells in the daytime. Solar Leaves powering the night.

Dictatorships falling, not quietly like a tree in the philosophical forest, but noisily like real trees crashing down while opening the forest floor to light and new growth.

Businesses getting busy. It isn’t everywhere, but every week I hear about more friends having less free time because their businesses are busier, or because they’ve got a new job, or are chasing some new opportunity.

Japan, recovering, and while most are focusing on the nuclear issues, I keep in mind that the Japanese people continue to impress with the recovery from a massive quake and tsunami. They are doing what needs to be done, which is worth applauding. Their efforts are taken for granted, at least in the media.

Spring is arriving. Buds on the trees. Bunnies are chasing each other around my yard. The bald eagles and whales are hugging their respective sides of Whidbey’s shoreline.

I’m wearing shorts again. Oh wait, that happens year-round.

Dendreon is awaiting news too. Today, supposedly today, supposedly any minute, maybe even as I type, Dendreon (DNDN) should hear about reimbursement policies. Thrilling, eh?

Much of the good news we await comes in pieces. Bad news can be quick and traumatic. Good news, unless it is winning the lottery, seems to come in nibbles. Each element of the story held back, building tension and suspense, allowing pessimists to point and say “But it won’t clear this hurdle” and taxing optimists’ patience, persistence, and perseverance.

My stock spotlight is currently on Dendreon, but in the past the spotlight has hit other stocks in my portfolio. AOL, Starbucks, Pixar all performed well as companies and as stocks, but each bit of good news was always cautiously received because of gaps in their stories. AOL had great subscriber growth, but were the competitors coming on strong too? Starbucks (SBUX) continually surprised, but surely they wouldn’t be able to extend beyond Seattle, the West Coast, the coasts, North America, etc. Pixar could have stellar opening weekend box office receipts, but debates would ensue over production costs and merchandising possibilities.

I’m waiting for good news from my other lines in the water. I check my book and photo sales. I’m encouraged by those that want to take my classes. Networking is improving because of Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and good friends. I can’t know every possibility that results. I calmly add energies as “Smolinsky Moments” allow (aka serendipity, but really serendipity sounds dippy sometimes), but I also don’t try to control every tendril of potential good news. They probably don’t need my interference.

I’m also impressed with the news feed from Facebook and Twitter (@tetrimbath) because they give me views into friend’s daily celebrations. Rarely are the events large and significant in isolation, but they build into good news stories that should carry banner headlines. A scroll through a day’s posts reveals a menu of successes mini and major.

Looking past the bad to find the good is almost unstylish in some circles. I think if President Obama could deliver enough gold to pay off the debt and could discover cheap clean energy, he’d be chastised for inflationary measures, deflating the price of gold, and for driving coal miners out of business.

It has gotten to the point that when I hear bad news I wonder what good news they covered up. Didn’t coverups work the other way originally?

This just in, Medicare plans to cover Dendreon’s Provenge. Good news for patients, physicians, shareholders, and employees. Each of us is going to have to wait for the next bit. Where’s the patient on the waiting list? Which physicians have easiest access? Will the stock price go up on good news (not always the case)? Who gets which jobs in what is about to probably become a more dynamic and growing company? Everyone will have to wait a little while for their answers.

The rains are back. Good news for my plants. I wonder which ones will survive the bunnies, slugs and deer?