So many times I've meant to jump on here and write up a quick paragraph or two about how things are going for me but that never happened, as you can probably tell by the lack of posts since January. Strangely enough, I had told myself back at the beginning of the year that I was going to post on my blog at least once a week in order to get back into the swing of things, hoping that the activity would lead seamlessly into more fiction writing – so much for that plan. But hey, I'm doing it now so there's a start.

As for how things have been going for me … let's just say that when life throws sh!t at you it doesn't hold back. And while I like make a huge fuss over how bad things are for me I look around and see others suffering in ways that make me feel like a narcissistic idiot for complaining about my seemingly insignificant problems. But if I don't pay attention to my own needs then I'll never get over these issues.

What issues are these? First and foremost is a staggering huge phobia of contamination which I have developed which prevents me from doing much of the daily routine that others take for granted. I literally think myself into a corner trying to find the best order in which to complete a sequence of tasks which will minimize the cross-contamination between surfaces and reduce the number of times I need to wash. Literally I am expending huge amounts of energy planning and re-planning daily tasks which most people can perform while, say, jumping on one leg, patting their head and rubbing their stomach. As a result I don't get as much done during the day as I probably should – I find myself often avoiding tasks altogether if they seem problematic. There's so much that I could say about this problem that I'll reserve the details for a separate post.

The next issue is one of depression and anxiety, some of which may be caused by the first issue, or vice-versa. I've been in a state of mental flux that makes planning several days in advance a challenge; I may be quite upbeat one day and face-first in the mud the next. This has left me to essentially become a shut-in, only leaving the house once or twice a week. But, I've always thought that I would one day swap jobs to a hikikomori. lol

At the same time, though, I have managed to get quite a lot of trophy hunting done and I have finished an astonishing amount of new anime! That is in comparison to my usual snail's pace of progress through a series. Recently I sat down and, within a couple weeks, went through the entire 77 episodes of Sket Dance. I have to say that it was worth it for that series! Later I may post a review for it.

Lastly, I finally gave in to peer pressure and signed up on Facebook. It goes against everything that I have been saying that I'd never do for years but I got a little frustrated with people not communicating with me simply because I wasn't on FB. So now if anyone says they don't know what I've been doing lately, or that they can't get in touch with me, they have no more excuses!

Alright, here's hopping that I can keep up the momentum and write some more later!
PEACE~!