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I went ahead and slept in for my morning class. He doesn't do much more than illustrate concepts that he explains in his own book, so it won't do me any harm. But then my psychology professor said that since he had covered everything in this week's chapter, we can take Friday off! That's awesome, I really hate driving back to campus when school is getting out and right after I just got settled in after getting home from my morning lecture. So today went pretty good.

Yesterday I had my first chess session with the kids. They're a little rambunctious, but they're really enthusiastic about playing and seem to get the concepts really well. I've only gone over the basics, like how the pieces move and certain rules that have to be followed, but I think at least a few in this group are capable of playing competitively against people who rank above 1800 someday.

Hello you, person I don't know. It's weird addressing an abstract, anonymous entity, but I'll do my best.

My thoughts lately have been scattered. If I could put a word to how I feel, it'd be dissonant. But there are moments, sometimes they can last a second or days, that punctuate that feeling... that existential dissonance. I read a lot about the various kinds of mood disorders, and I am almost certain what I have is called cyclothymia, a milder form of bipolar II. It's characterized by irregular swings between hypomanic and depressive states, and in the depressive states I often felt the weight of the "existential attitude," as philosophers call it.
I talked to my psychiatrist about it, and he put me on a mood stabilizer that was also to double as a sleep aid; Seroquel. Heh, big mistake. The first night I took it, I slept through my 9 o'clock class completely after hitting the snooze button several times, and then turning off my alarm.
So now I'm no longer taking it, or the antidepressants I was taking before. I am just taking Valium for my anxiety (which helps alleviate it completely with self-directed CBT), and it helps in sedating what I would call the insatiable curiosity to know objective reality.
Anyway, I think I'm feeling alright.

Peace out.