An Autumn Afternoon at 2 AM

Beyond the dark hours, when aspirations and progress drift into a comatose state through a steady feed of sleep deprivation, coupled with an anthology series of short subjects on chronic anxiety. Medicinal sedatives can be dangerous. But despite the sarcastic gloom I illustrate, discouragement is seldom welcomed because somewhere submerged deep within the well of my prefrontal cortex, past the creepy girl with long black hair and "Mr. Wind-Up Bird" (In Haruki Murakami’s novel The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle), is a beetle’s drone of hope—a reluctant optimism for a single year of consistent, timely, healthy, CDC-recommended nights of sleep. 

For now, the profession-nerfing kryptonite that is my late afternoon remains a recurrent keepsake of meditative isolation. Will tonight be a binge of NBA and Rolex Paris Masters highlights from over the weekend, or will it be a late night with Clair Obscure: Expedition 33 (Sandfall Interactive, 2025)? Am I a grown man or 17 years old? “What Was I Made For?” (The Billie Eilish song’s stuck in my head—and I don’t mind.) Questions you probably don’t give a damn about.

Luckily, there’s no need to cure your curiosity. We both know the answer is plural. Thus, tonight, we embark on a journey with "Expedition 33", Wilson, and Alcaraz (or Sinner...), to excavate my scatter-brain and alleviate neurodivergent unemployment. Why do I sound like a titular narrator in a cartoon within a cartoon, previewing next week's episode with such passionate, fanboy ambiguity that it's clear he's the only one tuning in? Why all the Japanese stuff? I’m unsure; it’s merely what’s flowing right now—Mt. Fuji’s erupting.