And a Viscount Shall Lead Her

New Year's Day. The Lord and I met the Viscounts for Vietnamese food in New York's Chinatown. We were tackling the hors d'oeurves when Viscount A. said something along the lines of "This is a great deal."

I laid down my chopsticks and sighed. "What's wrong?" asked A., always more perceptive about changes in mood than the rest of the gang.

"This is gonna be a very long recession if every time we eat out or buy something we feel we need to congratulate ourselves for doing it on the cheap," I said.

Viscount A. shook his head in pity. "I said 'this is great fish.'"

We all laughed, perhaps a little too hard. We're starved for fun, that's for sure.

For the last few weeks I've been trying to find the fun. I switched coffee flavors at Dunkin' Donuts. I called friends who wallow in the ridiculous. I reread "Amy's Answering Machine" which is a must for anyone whose mother thinks you've been abducted if you are not at home on a snowy night. I practically did a raindance. And finally the clouds parted when I saw how foolish it would be to succumb to the 24/7 grim news cycle -- foolish and dangerous.

In these fragile months ahead, don't start a losing streak by disappearing, second-guessing or pulling the plug on new plans or ideas for 2009. If the loop inside your head is a cacophony of pessimism and negativity, delete the tape. Keep building bridges to the people that are generous and smart and, when you need it, ask them for some brain power. And laugh even if it's at your own expense (especially if it's at your own expense).