To get caught now would be the death of us all.

 Man, I let the day slip on me. It's 10:20 p.m. and I'm just now putting stuff down. Unfortunately, I have nothing I feel needs to be said, so there you go.

 I can't seem to shake the blues. I was chalking it up to pulling an all-nighter writing last week - not just the time awake but the mental energy of putting down 3,200 words of Actual Paying Work - but I don't know. Grumpy and gloomy, and I don't know what's bothering me so I don't know how to do anything about it. Nothing major, just edgy and tired. There's no taste in anything. Staying in bed all day not because of needing the rest but because I don't feel like being alive.

 It's not a matter of suicidal ideation, mind. Just boredom and ennui that will work itself out eventually, I know. It doesn't make it any more fun to go through while it's going on, though. These are the times I desperately want something to get my head out of the rut and get stoned.

 So I don't know. I finished the third book of E.M. Powell's "Barling & Stanton" books. I don't know if it is indeed the last book in the series but it did have a sense of finality to it. In any event, it was enjoyable even if the reveal sort of threw me. I was quite surprised when the guilty party was revealed.

 I've read a lot of mystery and detective fiction over the years, from Auguste Dupin to Harry Dresden and all points in between. In well-written whodunits, I'm pretty good at finding the murdered. I'd say at least four out of five times. Again, that's if it's well-written and not just a cliche-filled story hung on a detective novel frame. I'm looking at you, Dresden.

 That being said, I don't put as much effort into it these days. One of the reasons I appreciate mysteries is that if it's done well, it brings a good story with good writing without a lot of plot and bullshit to get in the way of the tale. Don't get me wrong, there is definitely room for art in literature - I'm a Faulkner man, after all - but sometimes you just want to enjoy a good yarn to pass the time.

 I've gotten into the groove with Hand of Fate 2, far as that goes. Since we got the fiber optic, I've been giving some of the big-file games I've gotten from Humble Bundle a shot. Last night was Conan Exiles. Okay enough for what it is and what it is, far as I can tell, is another World of Warcraft wannabe. Nothing wrong with that, of course, if that's your jam. I don't feel I get the whole experience because I don't really care for the co-op aspect of it. If I wanted to be social, I'd live my life entirely different than how I do now.

 Alien Isolation was also given a shot. Again, first-person horror games really aren't my thing and I don't care for crafting mechanics in every-goddamn-thing, but it looks well done. Unfortunately, it kept crashing on me. Whether it was because it just does that or my machine couldn't cope, I don't know, but it wasn't enough to make me put much more effort into it than I already had.

 You know what? I'm tired and it's been a day. If something interesting comes up, yadda yadda yadda.