Looking back at my post titles from the last couple of weeks, it’s pretty damned depressing.

It is kind of depressing right now; to be honest, and I really, truly could use a win right now, however small.

That said, I’m going to try to remain positive. To that end, I’m going to try to stay out of the weeds on political news for a bit; I heard a discussion with a Pakistani novelist/intellectual this morning who was drawing parallels between today’s America and Pakistan’s traditionally flawed “democracy”. When the news media is seriously talking about the possibility of devolution and insinuating that “hey, maybe 241 years was a good run”, it just adds to the levels of stress (personal, vocational, etc) and ennui I’m dealing with.

Okay, maybe that last paragraph wasn’t entirely positive; it started that way, but got kind of stream-of-consciousness depressive really quickly.

Let’s focus on the cool stuff that happened this weekend. My eldest knocked out some pretty amazing first place finishes at the competition this weekend, all while doing it on a taped up, braced, sprained ankle. My wife pulled out a first place finish in one of her events as well (looking awesome in the competition debut of her new dress), and the youngest placed well in the couple of dances she competed in as well (her ceili group looked really great).

As for me, I helped keep things running backstage, fixing sound issues, making food and comfort runs for the judges, and taking care of some scorekeeping duties in the couple of divisions where I wouldn’t be compromised by having relatives in the competition. It was a long day, though it was a pretty good one overall.

Also, as I tried to get out of the house this morning, the kitten wouldn’t let me leave; she kept leaping up to her traditional shoulder perch, rubbing faces and purring, and knocking my glasses off so I had to stay a little longer. It was cute, and I appreciate the affection.

As for this week; work is work – I’m not going to discuss it further unless I get that win I’m looking for. I think outside of work, I’m going to try to work on some music, both because I have gigs and a recording session coming up in the next couple of weeks, and because it usually makes me feel better. I don’t think I have anything big scheduled, so I’m going to just try to power through.

Gotta think positive, so that’s what I’m going to do.