Glitz Glut

I guess it's time for Fiorella to weigh in on the economy since everyone else has. Fio doesn't have any solutions yet, but she does have a historical perspective.

She thinks it all goes back to the Reagan era, when Hollywood went to Washington. Jimmy Carter had ideals and values, but he also seemed a bit dorky. Reagan, on the other hand, had glamor--and the rest of us decided we wanted that too. All we had to do was use our credit cards. We deserved that bigger house, those snazzy duds, that car one step up from our neighbor's. We aspired to jobs we actually enjoyed, and the feel-good gurus told us all things were reachable. All we had to do was believe.

"Updating" was the name of the game as we eased ourselves into the HGTV world, in which perfectly good kitchen appliances are tossed in favor of more stylish stainless steel, perfectly good counters tossed in favor of more stylish granite.

Fiorella would like to tell you she hung back and said "Fie upon you and your false values," but she has always known she deserved to be a princess. That's why her appliances are stainless steel and her counters are granite and she's a little panicked about the future.

Oh well, Fio and Husband can always live off the land. Already they're harvesting lemons from the little trees on their back porch and gathering firewood from their acreage. Hmmm--maybe they can develop a taste for venison too.