only dimly aware of a certain unease in the air

"Jeepers, another stupid newsreel! I hate the news! " – Roger Rabbit

 A client sat down in Marie's chair, all ready to have her hair cut and colored. Marie draped a plastic smock over the woman's shoulders and tucked a towel into her collar. Then she prepared the mixture of color as the woman began to make conversation.

"Did you see what's going on with ISIS?," the woman began.

Marie squeezed a large gooey glob of hair dye into a small plastic bowl and began to whip it vigorously with a special spatula. "What?," she answered, absentmindedly.

"ISIS," the woman pressed, loudly pronouncing the name of the fearsome, headline-grabbing, terrorist organization as a sort-of reminder, "Did you see that they marched a group of Christian Egyptians along a remote beach and then executed every one of them?"

Marie frowned and shook her head as though chasing away the nastiness of current events. "No. No, I didn't. I really don't watch the news. It's too depressing."

News is everywhere and more readily available than ever. Besides the steadfast outlets of television and newspapers, news can be found instantly on your computer, your phone and your iPad. It's on big screens in the train station and LED-lit tickers in the lobbies of office buildings. News is everywhere.

But, alas, there are different kinds of news. There is the news about political events that may threaten the structure of democracy. There is news concerning ground-breaking decisions that could affect us in our everyday lives. There is news of scientific breakthroughs that could bring changes to how we actually live and breathe and function as humans.

You know, the boring stuff.

Then there's the other news. Stories about how Emma Stone accidentally flashed her underwear when she lifted her beaded green Elie Saab gown on the red carpet before heading into the Oscars ceremony. There are photos accompanying a story of a braless Beyoncé – her shirt unbuttoned to the navel – on her way to a lunch date. There's news invoking anticipation surrounding the "big reveal" of the next cast of Dancing with the Stars.

You know, the stuff that Marie doesn't find depressing.

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