My favorite cure for general gloominess:

Cleaning toilets. Most cleaning works fairly well, actually, but there is something about scouring a bathroom that just realigns things in my brain. Maybe it’s the smell of Comet. I’ve tried to pass this cure on to my children, but they just sense some kind of awful trick and turn away. They’ll realize I’m right some day.

Wine and walking work for some types of gloominess. (Gloria and I combined these last week, strolling around my neighborhood with glasses of wine in the afternoon like escapees from the community center 12-step program.)

Being with your best friend cures almost anything.