The Doldrums

      My friend calls lapses of depression a "case of the doldrums." Well, I had a case of the doldrums for about a week and a half, and I'm happy to say I've finally emerged from it. It was sort of strange how it all came about. It literally just came about, almost out of nowhere and I say almost because I went to a film festival and watched Melancholia. The title kind of tells it all. But can a film really spark a week and a half case of the doldrums? Wouldn't you think eating candy, or watching a comedy help? Maybe your favorite food? Well if you eat your favorite food and then burst into tears because you imagine it tastes like ashes, then you have a serious problem. I did not do this, but Kirsten Dunst did, and it was painful to watch.
      So, I drug (physically, not chemically) myself through those 10-12 days and here I am, on the biggest high I've had in a while. I literally accomplished more today than I have in a while. Well, yesterday I spent the entire day studying for an exam (an all "dayer": much better than all nighters - which I never do). That was pretty productive. Well I guess I can't say I've had the most productive day because I did get really distracted and something I was supposed to work on around 2 didn't get started until around 6. 4 hour diversions are never a good thing for a college student, especially during the Thanksgiving rush period. I have one more exam and a giant paper due. Every second counts at this point.
      As I sit here writing this I realize I should probably be sleeping or writing said paper, but I felt that writing the intro and planning the rest of the paper out was a huge accomplishment for today. Therefore, the chaos can resume tomorrow. I want to share an interesting picture with you guys.

      This picture is of a cross section of the spinal cord. Aren't the colors just fantastic. It's due to the silver stain method, but I love the browns and yellows. It's very Autumn appropriate. Just a short lesson, the lighter brown color represents the white matter and the darker brown represents the grey matter of nervous tissue. The grey matter contains the unmyelinated cell bodies and such and the white matter contains the myelinated axons. Cool huh?!
      Well I suppose I should go to sleep and not cheat myself out of some much needed hours. I have a big day of trying to focus tomorrow! Let's see if I can finish off this paper. That will be the goal!