A fascinating, heartfelt letter, and an absolutely superb answer from Cary!

LW, previous posters have given some excellent advice already. I agree that you shouldn't necessarily go to the other extreme & just do whatever comes to mind, willy-nilly ... but yes, it is time to listen to this other half of your being. It's crazy, it's irrational (or perhaps non-rational is a better word), and it may want things you don't consciously want or like, things you fear. Maybe it's time to find out why you fear them.

My own suggestion: a good Jungian writer like James Hollis, so you can start exploring the depths of your psyche, the places that pure logic & rationality have taught you to avoid. Again, this doesn't mean abandoning logic & rationality -- just finding a better balance between them & your neglected intuitive side.

Some sort of self-expression is very useful, especially visual -- paint, splash colors on canvas or paper, make collages -- dance, write without pausing to think about what you're writing -- and also take some time to be still, to turn off the chattering mind that must analyze every last detail, just for a little while each day.

Good luck to you, LW!

Proving my point quite nicely, thank you.

Not that a certain amount of snark isn't useful. Sometimes it's exactly what's called for, in fact. But as a basic default for everyday life?

Yes, of course I'm older. Why would I try to deny it, or hide it? Worse, why would I try to act & think like a kid when those years are waaaaay behind me?

There's actually something to be said for growing up. For one thing, snark isn't much use in coping with death, loss, grief. And it gets of the way of appreciating beauty, joy, wonder, among other things.

There is far more to being human than the trends & attitudes of the moment, after all.

A lovely tribute to a wonderful character, Rebecca.

But what is the obsession everyone has with "dated" these days? Anything that's more than a few years old has "dated" elements, it's completely "dated" & therefore only worthy of derision.

Yes, styles & accessories & zeitgeist are of their time ... but why can't they be enjoyed as such, as windows into another way of life, another mode of living, instead of always being fit only for a dismissive snort of laughter? "Oh, how ignorant & stupid & tacky they were then!"

After all, a few more years down the line -- probably sooner, given the accelerating pace of contemporary life & culture -- every daring, cutting-edge, utterly stylish item & idea of today will be equally dated.

When did snark become the primary lens for regarding the immediate past?

(I know, I know -- my complaint is hopelessly old-fashioned & dated.)

You are one of the few voices of sanity & honesty left, it seems. I've just pledged to the Moneybomb, and I'm going to call Obama's office now to register my bitter disappointment with his spineless vote.

But I sure as hell expected better from him than this. So it's another "lesser of two weasels, er, evils" election once again.

Now I know how the poets & statesmen of the old Roman republic felt as they watched it bloating into empire & collapsing. Only this times we've got the barbarians inside the gates, don't we?

You had your flaws, God knows, but at your best, you represented a lot that was good, a potential to be so much more than the lowest & greediest denominator. Interesting to see how they've caked the makeup on your rotting corpse & tried to re-animate it -- hey, just like "Weekend at Bernie's!" You can even stumble about awkwardly & reel off words like "Freedom!" & "Justice!" Hear the media-numbed masses cheering you on? Just keep those reality shows & plasma TVs comin', and you'll be fine, they'll let you do whatever your masters want you to do. And don't forget, you can still blow up the whole damn world -- how many times over? Say, you're just as strong & proud as ever! Wave that flag! Don't forget to squash the dwindling middle class while you're at it. Maybe you can dumb the culture down even more, because there's nothing you can't accomplish, you're America, long may she wave (while going under for the last time)!

Ours not only has the same damn warbly tune, but it's punctuated by an incredibly smarmy & loud "HELLO!"

I couldn't agree more -- those legs seem to go on forever, don't they?

But there was more to her than incredible dancing (as if that's not enough in itself). She had an alluring, sultry, seductive quality that just BURNS off the screen ... and at the same time, she was obviously smart & in control of her life. Both a fantasy figure for men AND women, and also a strong, real, flesh-&-blood individual.

They just don't make 'em like that any more ...

I meant to write, "What's really scary ABOUT Gingrich is that he's ..."

What's really scary is that Gingrich is that he's so obviously salivating at the prospect of losing a city. He sounds exactly like all the survivalists & RWAs during the Reagan years, warning about the pending Communist nuking and/or invasion of America, which they were so clearly, desperately, hungrily craving to see happen.