I find myself completely taken with sitar music this morning.

I’m trying to wake up, and the coffee isn’t quite doing it for me.

Of course, coffee doesn’t work instantly. I have to give it more time.

So, I’m adding some sitar music into the mix. The sitar has a tangy sound, like a stab of color. That will cut through the mental fog this bright morning, surely!

My collection of sitar music is not impressive, however. It’s limited entirely to George Harrison’s oeuvre, actually.

So I’m listening to the early takes of “Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown),” where Harrison’s sitar work was a little more… overwhelming than the finished track.

Seriously, in the first take, Harrison played the sitar everywhere, filling every sonic crevice. …

Weekend Edition with Scott Simon is on the radio.

I have my first cup of coffee sitting on the desk in front of me.

But I don’t have a donut.

There was one. A chocolate donut. It was glazed. I remember seeing it.

And it’s gone.

The plastic container, it was still there.

But there was no donut. Only crumbs.

I wanted the donut.

I’ll have to settle for Cheerios.

I know, Cheerios are healthier. But I really would have liked that donut.

It was chocolate!

At least I still have my coffee. And Weekend Edition.

Sometimes, my mad ideas work.

I went to fix a cup of coffee. And as I was standing there, getting a coffee mug down out of the cabinet, I noticed, on the counter, was a cannister of Instant Hot Chocolate mix.

Hmm, I thought. Could I make a moccachino-like thing?

Had I been more awake, I would not have tried this. I would have realized this was doomed to futility.

But, because I wasn’t awake, there was nothing stopping me.

Two tablespoons of hot chocolate mix. A teaspoon of sugar. A dollop of milk. Then fill the mug with coffee and stir.

It turned out alright.

Though I think I’m going to have a regular cup of coffee when I go back downstairs for a …

I needed a coffee mug for the office.

The reason? I needed something to put my copious supply of pens in.

Cheap coffee mugs, the kind you can buy at the dollar store, work wonders.

I went to the dollar store at the mall nearby after work. They had coffee mugs. For a buck each.

And, much to my surprise, they had Winnie-the-Pooh coffee mugs.

Oh, there’s words on the mug. In Spanish. And the mugs are clearly unlicensed. Disney’s making no royalties off of these.

And if Disney knew that the dollar store at the mall were selling illegal, unlicensed Disney products, Disney’s lawyers would descend upon them like lions descending on their prey on the Serengeti. It would be quick. It …

Today, I felt anxious.

Today, I felt on edge.

Oh, I had reason. Today was my big day in the publishing cycle, where I had publications to put together from scratch and get them out the door to press.

But! There wasn’t anything different or unusual this time.

Actually, things should have been smoother sailing than in previous months.

No running-around-hair-on-fire, really.

And yet, that’s exactly how I felt. Running-around-hair-on-fire.

Which is an amusing concept. My hair is rather short at the moment. There’s not much to burn.

Not really the point.

I wondered about it today. I even voiced the feeling — “I’m really on edge for some reason. And I know I shouldn’t be. There’s no reason to be.”

And then it clicked.

It was the …