Mood and Magic

My best friend sent me a link to an article about how coffee consumption is correlated with lower rates of depression in women. She joked about how not having coffee in the morning would make her very grouchy. My gut response was that such research findings could very well be true, since I have experienced more emotional challenges since having to reduce my coffee intake.

I realize that one could simply say that I am undergoing withdrawal symptoms. However, I tried to cut off all caffeine consumption in order to sharpen my mind for my graduate comprehensive exam (based on the research conclusions that caffeine actually makes one's brain fuzzier and less alert) -- oh, big mistake. I felt stuck in the middle stages of the famed Oatmeal cartoon about the emotional roller coaster all caffeine addicts ride on a daily basis [http://theoatmeal.com/comics/caffeine]. Physically, mentally, emotionally draining -- although far less severe pain in magnitude than what individuals who are refraining from heroin and other such drugs are said to endure.

As I have mentioned in previous posts, I do miss the activities related to drinking coffee, such as sitting in coffee houses, meeting with friends for coffee, and so on. I admit, I also miss the thrills of drinking coffee in the evenings and being tremendously more productive (whee!) I still drink coffee [like a wonderful white I had just hours ago at Simply Life (http://www.openrice.com/english/restaurant/sr2.htm?shopid=18912)] but I am also thinking about whether my coffee-drinking days will soon be over, a phenomenon I could never fathom when expressed by other people, but all the more comprehensible now.

Returning to Work

...in two senses of the phrase.
The academic year (for courses, not finances) started on 1 September, ending my summer routine heavy on research, light on pedagogy. I hope to maintain a more balanced "diet" of these activities this year, but I will have to be practical and meet all sorts of pressing obligations, usually associated with the latter category, so we will see...
I have also been taking a break from coffee to recover from some moderate ailments, and also on the advice of Chinese medicine physicians. I have tried to follow their orders to abstain from and then drink the absolute minimum amount of caffeinated beverages, which has been hard. I probably never had actual carte blanche to enjoy as much coffee as I want, but it is rather discouraging to think consciously about whether to have a cup of coffee on any given day.
With time, I hope to get back on the coffee drinking boat and continue writing this blog.