As the thermometers outside are finally acknowledging, it’s now autumn. It’s both a favored time of year and one that tends to throw a wrench into my enjoyment of it. I definitely enjoy my time outside in the cooler weather; afternoon hikes along the river at the local park (which the dog loves), regular bike rides on the VCT (carefully dodging slippery leaves and traitorous pinecones), and heck, even seasonal chores like raking and blowing leaves. However, once daylight savings goes away and darkness starts coming early, my normally mostly managed depression ramps up a bit, especially with the fall/winter holiday season fast approaching.

Yes, Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) is definitely a thing I deal with.

This year, given the other stuff going on in my life, it’s been especially rough. Getting motivated and maintaining a positive outlook on the world (especially the current condition of the world) has been more difficult than in past years. That said, I’m doing what I can to manage it. Getting my regular outside time, using my therapy light, and working on giving myself permission to sometimes be a bit less productive: all kinds of self-care behavior those people who know things recommend.

And I’m mostly doing okay; mostly.

I know I’ll have better days and less-better days, and I try to be okay with that. And I talk about it; because if I do, others understand what I’m dealing with, and maybe somebody else out there will be able to move past the weird social issues around mental health and get the help they need, because I’ve had people in my life that didn’t or couldn’t, and now I don’t have them around anymore

Apart from all that stuff in the previous paragraphs, I’ve been spending a little more time playing guitars for my own enjoyment lately instead of turning it into work by prepping for gigs (though I’m working out arrangements of a couple of interesting cover tunes that’ll slot into gigs later), and reading some pretty good books. I don’t have much on the agenda for the weekend or next week, except for taking a couple of days off for the holiday and likely turning off my phone for a day or two, because that device that is such a big part of people’s lives in today’s (overly) connected world is it’s own sort of stress that I regularly need a break from.

Anyway, that’s my piece today. Here are some tunes that the algorithm spit out; mostly the typical indie fare, including a very cool bluegrass cover of a favored Pink Floyd tune at #6, and a neat tune I don’t hear often enough at #8, with a title referencing a particular punctuation device you can find several examples of in this post:

1. “See The World” – Gomez
2. “Primrose Hill” – James McCartney
3. “Seven Roads” – Stereophonic OCR
4. “Dreamboat Annie” – Heart
5. “Do You Love Me” – Guster
6. “Time >Breathe Reprise<" - Greensky Bluegrass
7. “F*ck My Life Up Again” – Marcus King
8. “Oxford Comma” – Vampire Weekend
9. “Solitaires” – Futurebireds
10. “Pretty Vicious” – The Struts
11. “Talk is Cheap” – Dr. Dog