1. Hell and Back: This article, by a reporter in New Orleans who continues to report on the devastation from Hurricane Katrina, details his descent into a massive depression when he didn't even believe depression was a real thing. Incredible piece of writing, and so much of it is so similar to my own experience. Via dooce, who also writes great stuff on this topic.

2. My moods continue to fluctuate between Normal and Dark, and the afore-mentioned article gave me a much-needed jolt, so I've been starting to take this a bit more seriously. Before I was just frustrated. Now I'm a bit more motivated to fight this sucker. I've been doing inventories of what's stressing me out and what I can and can't do about those factors right now, and why I don't need to worry about them. For example: my student loans are coming due at the end of November, and I'm making so little income that the payments would be over one third of my income. But, I have applied for interest-free status and will likely be approved due to said low income. So, I shall wait and not worry. (Except that I am very good at worrying, and rather poor at waiting.)

3. My hands and wrists continue to ache, but the pain has certainly lessened in the last week. I have been avoiding typing in the evening, avoiding unnecessary typing at work, improving my desk set-up to be more ergonomic, doing stretches, and wearing wrist braces at night to avoid inadvertently putting my wrists in stressful positions while I sleep. I'm still on a quasi-break from the blog though, hoping to get rid of the pain altogether.

4. I went to a Leafs/Sens game (see?). I had no idea the Leafs sucked so much. It was entertaining in a self-deprecating sort of way.

5. I actually beat Chris at pool last night. Such flukes must be commemorated and celebrated annually. Perhaps I will make myself a medal and wear it constantly, just to remind him of that one time when he got beaten by a crippled girl who really sucks at pool. (He went on to beat me twice after that, but really—that's just a return to the natural state of things, given that he's been in a pool league all year and I have played less than 20 times in my life. What is remarkable about that?)