Laptop working again at the moment.

Something like my usual writing and blogging schedule should soon resume, I hope.

Unfortunately, my brain is not feeling very collected today, and so assembling a series of interesting statements into a blog post worth making may well be beyond me.  This does not bode well for my fiction-writing, either, come to think of it.

Usually, travelling long distances satisfies some very basic drive in me, with the result that post-vacation I am more energetic, collected, focused, and organized for an appreciable stretch of time.  While I had a lot of fun going to Chicago, various negative factors, ranging from uncomfortable sleeping conditions in Chicago, too much time in cramped spaces on the road, the lack of a defined itinerary that would permit relaxation and mental inactivity, and building financial stress (now alleviated, but particularly prickly at the time) lead to the reverse.  I have been notably less productive, with a shorter attention span, since returning.  Slowly, I am marshalling my mental forces, but in the meantime I have to contend with various frustrations which my own ineffectual frustration is compounding.

Bah, humbug.