Your results may vary

My prescription for tonight:

Hostess cupcakes and ice-cold milk for dinner.

Skip your homework for once in favor of two episodes of The Simpsons, during which the line "too late, mom, the mob has spoken!" will cause you to bark in sudden tearful laughter, and one episode of Jeopardy, and God help you if tonight is the night Ken Jennings loses.

Remember how grateful you are for your friends and family, and how pleased you are that they voted, no matter for whom. Be grateful for victory in local initiatives: the library will get badly needed repairs and refurbishments, and the mass transit budget will not be devastated this year.

Then early to bed, and up early in the morning to prepare for 2008, and a few of the causes that will need extra support between now and then.