Those of you who’ve been watching know it’s been a rough week. Won’t belabor it anymore. I’m not at the low point I was on Tuesday, but there’ve been some flare-ups. Like I said the other day, I really appreciate the friends and family who’ve been there to support me with a kind word, a joke, or a picture of their cat.

Given how I’ve been feeling, I decided I’d give myself a mental health day today. I took off work (other than to fix a thing my boss screwed up, but that took me 20 minutes this morning), slept in, and just tried to relax a bit, and take some time for me. So far, I’ve drunk some iced tea, listened to some music, and played Witcher 3 for a few hours. I probably won’t do much else besides write this. I needed it.

I also recognize that I’m ridiculously privileged to be able to do what I did today. There are a ton of people out there who don’t have the luxury of spending a few hours of annual leave to push the grind to the side and take a long weekend to breathe. I am thankful that I can do that, that my job is secure, pays well, and if I need to, I can do it from my bedroom with my cat sitting next to me.

Which of course makes me feel guilty for feeling less than okay with all of this when I’m comparatively way more comfortable than most.

It’s cultural and deep-seeded, that Catholic guilt. At least I got the liberal “love your neighbor” stuff out of it too.

Anyway, nothing really on tap for the weekend. I have TV, books, video games, beer, and a London Broil I splurged on at the grocery store when I was out the other day running errands after work. I’m going to ignore the news and try and shed the stress. All we can do.

Anyway, tunes. Picked random off my hard drive this time, which means way more of my friends end up in the feed than on Spotify (though ost of them are on there too). I shall say that #6, written by my wonderful friend Mikey, is, in my opinion, one of the best songs I know, and I make sure to thank him for it regularly.

Stay safe, folks.

1. “Polka Face” – Weird Al Yankovic
2. “Matty Groves” – Efenwealt Whistle
3. “All The Stars” – The Wailin’ Jennys
4. “Land of the Dead” – Voltaire
5. “In These Arms” – Bon Jovi
6. “Drunkards & Philosophers” – Mikey Mason
7. “Wicked Solder – Tonic
8. “She Said, She Said” – The Beatles
9. “Life Goes On” – Poison
10. Trouble Every Day” – Frank Zappa and the Mothers…
11. “Tiny Dancer” – Elton John
12. “DnD Cowgirl” Madison “Metricula” Roberts
13. “I Hate it When You See Me Cry” – Halestorm
14. “For Those Below” – Mumford & Sons