Girl Surrenders Black Beret, Stops Writing Death Poems

I'm going to feel bad a lot over the next four years. Last Wednesday, after the election results were certain (in the electronic voting, no-paper-trail, Republican manifesto sense of the word), I said, "OK, G, you have three days to be depressed, then you have to shake it off." Three days stretched into a week of fitful sleeping, surly encounters in the grocery store, and the resurgence of black in my wardrobe after a period of hot pink, blue, and violet. I brewed my cup of hemlock. And then tonight, on my power walk, I was listening to "Hot Hot Hot" by Buster Poindexter and I realized it is just impossible to feel the darkness with that song in your head. So yes, I'll continue to be a fairly reliable downer, but in the spirit of balance, I want to also dwell for a moment on things that really crank me up, even though they're all old and mostly queer songs that you never hear at clubs any more. Maybe that's why I like them so much.

Please add to the list in comments, Anonymously or otherwise.

How I Dance the Blues Away:
"We Are Family" by Sister Sledge
"Respect" by Aretha Franklin
"Sexual (La Da Di)" by Amber
"I Melt With You" by Modern English
"Forever Young" by Temperance
"Jellyhead" by Crush
"Ooh Aah Just a Little Bit" by Gina G
"I'm Too Sexy" by Right Said Fred
"Cotton-Eyed Joe" by Rednex
"Tribal Dance" by 2 Unlimited
"We Like to Party" by the Vengaboys
"Shoop" by Salt 'N' Pepa
"Tarzan & Jane" by Toy-Box
"Made in England" by Elton John
"It's Raining Men" by the Weather Girls
"Vacation" by the Go-Gos
"Coming Out" by Fem 2 Fem
"Turn Me Round" by k. d. lang
"Sexy" by West End Girls
"Ray of Light" by Madonna
"Brand New Lover" by Dead or Alive
"Better Be Good to Me" by Tina Turner
"She Bang" by Ricky Martin
"Pata Pata" by Miriam Makeba

Shiny, Happy Movies:
Airplane
I Heart Huckabees
Rat Race
Toto the Hero
Enchanted April
Made in Heaven (the Timothy Hutton & Kelly McGillis one)
Love Actually
The Big Lebowski
Shakespeare in Love
Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me
Ferris Bueller's Day Off
In & Out
and Grand Canyon, because it has one of the best lines ever regarding the appropriate response to miracles.

The only funny shows on TV are "Scrubs" and "The Daily Show." Other than that, it's pretty much a wasteland for wit.

The last funny book I read was Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach, and it was truly, hysterically funny. Mostly I read about plagues, betrayal, politics, estrangement, grief, history, survival, and lonely places. I have one called The Brighter Side of Human Nature by Alfie Kohn. Maybe I'll read it this year.