January 30
Unexpectedly Low




Listening to:

Reading: Once Upon a Star Nora Roberts – which has obviously not caught my fancy

Weather: 42, partly sunny

Trivia: What bird laughs like a human?

The laughing kookaburra of Australia and New Guinea has a loud, braying call that sounds a lot like a human laughing. It also has a softer "chuckle" call. The kookaburra is a small, stout hunting bird closely related to kingfishers. Its loud call is not actually laughter, but rather a territorial sound to warn other kookaburras to stay clear. The chuckle sound is a location call to keep family members together. Kookaburras are most likely to laugh in the evening and morning hours, when they sometimes cackle together in loud choruses. They are so punctual that they are also known as the "bushman's clock."

Cool word: Sunday [n. SUN-day]

Sunday is traditionally the first day of the week. For many modern Christians, it's the Sabbath, a day of rest, although in ancient times the sabbath happened on Saturday. Old English sunnandaeg was based on Latin Dies Solis (Sun's Day), translated from the Greek hemera Helio (day of the Sun). The Latin name has carried into many languages. In German it's Sonntag, and in Dutch it's Zondag. Swedish and Danish both have Sondag, but with different diacritical marks. In Welsh the day is Dydd Sul. The Romance languages changed the focus. In French it's Dimanche (Lord's Day) and the Spanish translation of that is Domingo. The Russians call the day Voskresenye (Resurrection).



I have no idea why, but I am feeling very low today. It’s like a heavy weight pressing on me, and there is no rhyme or reason to the feeling. Nothing terrible has happened, I just feel very sad.

Maybe it’s the weather. I do think sometimes that I might have Seasonal Affective Disorder, and that the lack of warmth and sunlight gets to me. It’s been so cold and gloomy around her so often lately.

I need to shake it, or to figure out what’s brought it on so I can get rid of it. I think part of it is a sense of loneliness. I need a special person in my life to car about me, and to want to spend time with me, and that just isn’t part of what’s happening with me right now. Not much I can do about it either.

I can’t think of a thing that would pull me out of this.

I’m making myself even more depressed as I write about it, so I need to stop.



I spent the day writing reports and trying to get paperwork out of the way. I had the worst time with the report that had to explain the horrible behavior of the child I had tested last week. I hat to write nasty things about kids, but I felt that I had to be honest about what he had been like. I would write part of the report, then walk away and go do something else then come back to look at it again. It eventually came out in a format that I think I can live with, but I will read it to the folks in my office before I make a final copy.

I think the parents will be angry no matter what I do.



This morning I watched "Notting Hill", but even that didn’t do anything to cheer me up. Usually something like that will lift my spirits, as London always makes me happy, but it didn’t work today.

I half watched the Super Bowl game tonight, but I wasn’t very interested. The second half was at least exciting, but I didn’t much care about the outcome. Not even the commercials were entertaining.



The cat is still making me crazy. He doesn’t seem to be sick, but he’s choosing not to use the litter box. I’m going to need the cat psychologist to fix this.

If it continues I’ll need a therapist for myself, as I think this may well put me over the edge.

Maybe I’m just over tired and sleep will do me some good.

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