So my brain is full. Dog walking helps, as does listening to music on headphones.

When you work nearly nonstop, your brain gets quite full. All those thoughts, ideas, and worries you normally have time to juggle, sort out, journal about, or otherwise work through end up crammed into a finite space.

So my brain is full. Dog walking helps, as does listening to music on headphones. (My current obsession: the live album Geoff Koch just recorded at Lucas School House. Shimmering and yummy. You'll have a chance to own a copy in a couple weeks. Yes, you want it.)

I was discussing with a friend this weekend the "problem" of always being happy, upbeat, ready for the show. Her argument was that Americans expect to be happy all the time, hence our heavy reliance on antidepressant medication. (Me? I just went off the tiny pink pills, after over 10 years' of sucking them down daily. And I'm doing fine, thanks.) Apparently, the thought is that, if we allow ourselves to embrace the hollow, the unexplained sadness, the emptiness, if we give ourselves permission to spend entire days wallowing under the covers, crying or screaming or doing whatever we feel compelled to do, we will open new depths in ourselves, thereby better understanding our psyches and living much more naturally. Maybe that's true; I don't know. What I do know is this: (a) I do not have time in my life to spend entire days in bed; hell, I barely have time to spend nights in bed; and (b) I would much prefer to be happy all the time.

I laugh a lot. Sometimes I scream and yell. But I rarely cry. So I'm sure there are depths to be explored and all of that. But there is much to be thankful of, to appreciate and immerse myself in. So that's where my focus is. Where's yours?

In magazine news (that is why you're here, isn't it? Not to hear my sleep-deprived ramblings about mental health, or the lack thereof), the first national edition of PLAYBACK:stl goes in to the printer today. We spent all weekend hunkered over our computers; it's a good one. Some new features/columns, with more on tap for coming months. As always, please let us know what you like and don't like. We don't know if you don't tell us...got it?

Now if you don't mind, I'm going to return to my headphones. Whatever makes you happy, I say...