This Post Has No Main Idea

I like to call myself a realist. Some might say "cynical bitch", but those people also might say "I think The Bachelor helps people find true love", so really, who cares what they think? Anyway, I really soured on romance thanks to my ex-husband, who was a great one for romantic gestures and also for being a total selfish asshole, but even as a child I wondered how an abused maid like Cinderella would get along with a prince's family.

I'm always looking for the dark backstory, and generally there is one. Let's take Chastity Bono - er, I mean Chas Bono - shall we? When I was a little girl in the '70's, I watched Sonny and Cher with my mom. My favorite part was whenever little Chastity came out in a sparkling dress that matched her mother's. I secretly longed for a mom with straight hair who wore glittery dresses on TV, one who would put me on TV too. I got over it quickly, especially after I heard that Sonny and Cher got divorced. I got even more over it when Sonny became a Republican politician. And, er, now that little Chastity is a man (not that there's anything wrong with that) . . .well, let's just say it's probably good I never wore a sparkly dress on TV.

Sure, sometimes I think it would be nice to think that Katie and Tom do really love each other and that it's not just a business arrangement, or that EVERYONE on Rock of Love was acting, but that's not who I am. But as I listen to the news and read magazines, I start to wish that everyone was more like me.

We're going to run out of oil. Health care costs are going to be out of reach for the average American. We're not going to just "win" the Middle East like we did World War II. People who can't afford it, are too young or too insane for it are going to keep breeding. Not everyone can own a flat screen TV.

And we need to accept that.

Our current situation is the dark backstory to the Reagan and Clinton years. Every politician proclaims that he or she can fix things, if this or that bill is passed it will fix things. Bullshit.

Can't we just stop being optimistic Americans for one minute and realize that fighting on Fox News isn't going to fix jack shit - and neither is either political party? We need to accept our dark back story and learn how to manage it.

Look at Chas Bono. Her mother is a gay icon, the ultimate feminine fantasy-woman. Does Chas try to emulate her? Try to become her eager assistant? Try to become an earth mother archetype in rebellion? No. He goes in a completely different direction. Not dwelling on the past or hostiley rejecting it.

Although, the cynical part of me wonders how much of it had to do with those sparkly dresses.