Winston Churchill had his “little black dog” of depression that followed him everywhere. I have my kobolds.

Kobolds are, of course, little annoying sprite-like critters from Germanic folklore. But I think of them in the D&D sense, since I’ve been playing Dungeons and Dragons since I was in junior high school. They’re low-level creatures, with few hit points, which means that any fighter with decent swordsmanship skill can take one out. On the other hand, they often attack in swarms, they lay cunning traps, and they ambush the good guys. So to my mind, they make the perfect metaphor for my depression. It can attack in singles (a pretty good day marred by a momentary bad mood), or in swarms (days or weeks when I just feel plain ol’ shitty for no reason at all). Swarms, traps, and ambushes. The metaphor can be extended indefinitely.

And I’ve been feeling those kobolds swarming for the past week and a half now. And tonight it’s pretty bad too. So you get a short entry tonight, all about kobolds, because I just don’t have the energy to post any more.