What's a four letter word for "fake"?

This is the kind of crossword puzzle hint I hate (and I'm not sure if there is an answer to the preceding clue, if you're trying to figure it out) because the obvious answer is this: fake.

We seem to be having trouble defining ourselves, others, objects, feelings, movements and pretty much everything these days. We're going through a mass identity crisis.

My new band has been struggling with finding a name. We've gone through a ton of them, and it's gotten to the point where we just need to pick one and move on. I thought up a few more last night, so my list of suggestions keeps growing, too. But the suggestion that we make the cut and get it over with was generally accepted, so hopefully by next week we'll have defined ourselves.

One down, everyone else to go.

I'm not going to presume a national feeling on everyone's part, but merely a super majority. There seems to be a general dissatisfaction with the last almost eight years of Republican rule. I don't hear a lot of cheers for the war. And everyone seems to feel they are broke--or nearly so.

Having said this, the Republicans have decided who their next President should be. Interestingly, they didn't like this guy eight years ago more than the guy in the White House right now. And it seems like there aren't a lot of supporters for the guy in the White House now. What is the Republican party? What are conservatives? This question has had a little more traction of late because of the passing of William F. Buckley. Most of what I read says conservatives need to redefine themselves again.

And the Democrats are trying to decide if they're a white woman or a black man. So to say they're doing any better than Republicans on defining themselves is probably more hopeful than true.

Are we in a recession? The definition of a recession is two consecutive quarters of negative growth. So far, we haven't had one quarter of negative growth. But this also means you never know you're in a recession until you've been in it for a while. Hence everyone arguing if we're in one or not. I'm not sure if there is a prize for predicting this, and since I've been hearing this argument since last summer, the person who said we were in one first was obviously wrong when he said it.

Recession or not, we're all feeling the pinch. With the exception of the President, we are all too aware of how much gas costs. And, with the exception of Karl Rove, we all know that going to war in Iraq to keep gas prices low didn't work. In fact, it's exacerbated the problem. I'm thinking there isn't much that any professional politician really knows, except how to raise money. And their feelings and predictions aren't good for much either.

Can we elect someone for President by lottery? Y'know, if you are over 35 and voted in the last two presidential elections, you get thrown in the kitty. I don't think this would be worse than our current system.

Looking for a job in the last few months, I've had to try and figure out who I am. Everyone always says find something you like to do. Well, I've had a lot of jobs, and most of them I could've cared little to less about the actual work. It's work, I'm good at it and I'm paid to do it. What do I like to do? I like to do what I've done for the last two years: trade stocks, watch movies, read books, play and listen to music, take walks, have a few drinks, a few laughs and generally take it easy. But this isn't a time when anyone is making money trading stocks, and there isn't a lot of money in taking it easy.

But there are things I can do well, and I've used that as a guideline for the job search. It doesn't define the soul part of me, but more the skill part. And since that's what I'd be paid for, that's probably good enough for now.

We, as a nation, will define ourselves in a few ways over the next year. We'll find a new leader. We'll try to weather this economic storm. We'll keep our head above water.

I can say that only you can truly define yourself, no matter what anyone else might tell you.

Matt Worley is good with his hands, a drummer, writer, wisher and hoper, genius, failure, sometime fighter, part-time lover and generally nice guy.