Totally stressed out at work? That's common along the US Eastern Seaboard (from New York City, NJ, Philadelphia, and DC down to Georgia and Northern Florida) and Gulf States (across to Eastern Texas). Also Detroit, Chicago, Miami, and Las Vegas. Workers are merely "frayed" in other greater metropolitan regions, including Seattle and most of Minnesota, Colorado, California, and south of the Great Lakes. Hawaii, Washington, and the Southwest are "almost mellow," and you'll find "contented types" in Alaska, New England, and most of the Northern and Central states. [Michael J. Weiss, Newsweek, p. 8.]

Jellyfish are the latest pet craze in Tokyo, although their special tanks aren't common yet. (The jellyfish have to be protected from bubbles and strong currents or suction.) Jellyfish are inexpensive, don't chew the furniture, and move with a slow, soothing grace. They are also a popular food item in Japan, but that's a different species. [SJM, 21Apr98, 7C.]

A recent study at Ohio State U. found that avoiding pessimism is important to reducing anxiety and stress, thereby improving health. Embracing optimism had much less effect. [SJM, 06May98, 5E.]

(Still, optimism has its uses. As Noam Chomsky said, "Optimism is a strategy for making a better future." [QOTD, 19May98.] The Dali Lama once advised, "choose to be optimistic, it feels better." [DailyQuote, 18Mar98.])