Oh Pollyanna, where are you?

I've never been one of those people who walks around telling people to "smile." I always felt that was disingenuous....if you're felling crappy, why fake it?

And it's been pretty crappy lately.It's been rather hard to turn on the news. Everyone's fighting about politics (myself included...it's hard not to), the economy's tanking, the world outlook, well....why am I writing this since everyone knows it?

There's a lot of fear out there right now. And fear is exactly what's causing the economy to tank (well, that and lots of other things/mistakes but that is an over- simplified explanation). So right now...perhaps what everyone needs is a good old-fashioned dose of faking it.

How does one do that when there's not a lot to smile about? Sugar helps. So does sunshine-y, breezy October days. Dancing like an idiot. Singing off-tune at the top of your lungs. Tina Fey is a brilliant antidote. So is Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert. When in doubt, play peek-a-boo with a baby. Or try my favorite thing to do, stare at people in a crowd and try to picture what they looked like when they were, say, six months old.

If asked A what to do, she'd say "tolor" (color).

So tonight, eat some ice cream. You deserve it. And if you want to be a super-bad-ass, cover it with hot fudge.

There now. At least I didn't tell you to "smile."