Villains. Be they Ursula the Sea Witch (above), Cruella de Vil from "101 Dalmations" or any of the other fairy tale villains, they seem to almost always be...women. Think about it: they are often witches of some sort. I'm not sure what that really means. Hmmm. Interesting.

But, anyway, fast forward to today. Adulthood. Who are the real villains? They certainly have changed. Rather than being in cartoon form, you can find a villain every time you turn on the news. Someone has done something awful. It's sad really.

Sometimes I get depressed about the state of our world. It's a scary place.

But then, something will happen. A friend will give me a shoulder to lean on, Matty (my cat) will snuggle with me instead of galloping away in fear of a bazillion kisses or a stranger will actually say excuse me after bumping in to me. Or, I will simply watch Bert and see someone who just bursts with goodness.

Life definitely has its ups and downs. Bad things happen to good people. But I guess the lesson from the fairy tales is that the villains lose in the end and the good guys win. True, it may not always seem that way in real life. But if you have faith, things are indeed righted in the end.

After seeing "Wicked," my whole opinion changed on the Wicked Witch of the West. So I guess we have to be content that sometimes we don't know the whole story. :)

And while I will always think some people are indeed wicked, I have also seen that goodness does indeed win. Fairy tales do come true, albeit not in Disney form. Life is not in Disney form. Life is real and raw. And while at the end of the day, no one comes to rescue me on a white horse, I do get to end the day away from all the monsters with my own Prince Charming.

Take that, Ursula.