Is to watch this every morning before going out into a world that can seem scary, what with crime and fears of crime, prejudice real and perceived, the grind of life that leaves you exhausted at the end of the day.I know it made my day.

Went to the Mid-South Fair Sunday and did what I do every year I go: Make whoever brung me pay the age-guessing guy $3 to guess how old I am.

The guy took the $3, looked me up and down, then wrote a number on a piece of paper. He guessed that I am 30 - but I will be 36 next month!

 Why this made me so happy, I don’t know, because I try not to be a vain person. But apparently I am. Now that I can see 40 down the road, I’m starting to realize how much our society values youth. And devalues age. Especially aging women.

So I was glad, for a moment, to be seen as younger than I am, even by a fair carny. And, I got to pick out a free ($3, actually) prize - a stuffed bunny that looks almost exactly like this - because the age-guessing dude was wrong!

So I’m going to a snazzy affair this weekend, and although I’m wearing a dress I have, carrying a purse I already own and didn’t get any new jewelry for the occasion, I thought I might get new shoes.

<>So for the first time ever, I went to Joseph’s, and saw, for the first time ever… Manolo Blahniks. You know, the shoes Carrie Bradshaw of “Sex and The City” favored. I held a shoe in my hand, and not so discretely flipped it over to see the price. Close to $400.

I could probably buy a pair of $400 shoes and still pay my mortgage and keep the all-important cable on… but there’s no way my Marshall’s-clearance-rack- searching, Macy’s-coupon-carrying, everything-eventually-goes-on-sale self could bring myself to do it.

<>So you Divas who actually own Manolos - did you cringe when you buy them? Did you have to work up to $400 kicks, starting with ones that were $200, then $300? What’s the most you’ve ever paid for shoes? (Me, it was $98.)

There are nooses, and then there are nooses. The nooses (noosi?) in the news are at Germantown’s Performing Arts Center and much further south, in Jena, La.

In the local incident, some theater dudes had hung the ropes above a stage. Bad idea, and they were fired for it, unjustly, I”d argue. I didn’t hear any evidence that these theater employees had a history of racial insensitivity, or that any crude comments accompanied the ropes, which apparently are used all the time in theater settings.

 My sense is that G’town officials were sensitive to the legacy of  nooses - and that is good - but then they got afraid of not being sensitive enough - a legit concern - and then they got nervous and figured the way to avoid further drama would be to fire the employees, which was an unfortunate overreaction.

 Then, there’s this noose, definitely designed to intimidate black students in Jena, La. Read more about it in my Thursday column.  

Do I have a soundtrack? What song is playing in my spirit, speaking to whom I am as a enter a room?

<>Spending hours exercising with an iPod blaring in my ears has started me thinking about the music that defines me. I tend to listen to the same songs to get my heart pumping, but those songs aren’t me.

<> So far, the contenders are:

<>Chaka Khan’s “I’m Every Woman”

<>Cheryl Lynn’s “Got To Be Real”

<>Carl Carlton’s “She’s a Bad Mama Jama”

<> What’s your theme song? <>