WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.210 align:middle line:84% And this is a woman I know whose husband 00:00:04.210 --> 00:00:08.680 align:middle line:90% is a comic, a very funny guy. 00:00:08.680 --> 00:00:13.120 align:middle line:84% Happened to mention that he had seasonal affective disorder. 00:00:13.120 --> 00:00:15.503 align:middle line:84% And you probably know that that's 00:00:15.503 --> 00:00:17.920 align:middle line:84% about sort of lack of sunlight and maybe you don't know it 00:00:17.920 --> 00:00:19.900 align:middle line:90% here so much, I'm not sure. 00:00:19.900 --> 00:00:21.790 align:middle line:90% At least not right now. 00:00:21.790 --> 00:00:25.060 align:middle line:84% There's got to be some acronym for the opposite of that, 00:00:25.060 --> 00:00:28.750 align:middle line:90% like too much sun. 00:00:28.750 --> 00:00:31.000 align:middle line:84% But so the-- of course the acronym 00:00:31.000 --> 00:00:32.939 align:middle line:84% is SAD, seasonal affective disorder. 00:00:32.939 --> 00:00:35.920 align:middle line:90% 00:00:35.920 --> 00:00:38.260 align:middle line:84% Whoever came up with the acronym must 00:00:38.260 --> 00:00:41.590 align:middle line:84% have been happy to think of everyone in winter walking 00:00:41.590 --> 00:00:48.110 align:middle line:84% around saying I have SAD instead of this time of year 00:00:48.110 --> 00:00:52.430 align:middle line:84% when the light leaves early and intimations of colder hours 00:00:52.430 --> 00:00:56.780 align:middle line:84% settle over the houses like the great oppressive oily scoots 00:00:56.780 --> 00:00:58.460 align:middle line:90% of a dragon's belly. 00:00:58.460 --> 00:01:03.260 align:middle line:84% I feel I don't know, a sense of ennui, listlessness 00:01:03.260 --> 00:01:04.370 align:middle line:90% or lassitude. 00:01:04.370 --> 00:01:06.950 align:middle line:84% But more than that a definite undertow 00:01:06.950 --> 00:01:09.800 align:middle line:84% of dread spreading over the waters of my 00:01:09.800 --> 00:01:13.700 align:middle line:84% already not exactly sunny to begin with soul. 00:01:13.700 --> 00:01:16.730 align:middle line:84% If one can even speak of the soul anymore, 00:01:16.730 --> 00:01:18.680 align:middle line:84% which is part of the problem, isn't it? 00:01:18.680 --> 00:01:21.800 align:middle line:84% I mean how do I even know if I have one given that I'm 00:01:21.800 --> 00:01:24.590 align:middle line:84% essentially a secular humanist and missing 00:01:24.590 --> 00:01:27.920 align:middle line:84% whatever constellation or holy Smurf guides 00:01:27.920 --> 00:01:29.640 align:middle line:90% people through their lives. 00:01:29.640 --> 00:01:33.440 align:middle line:84% Jesus or Muhammad and then either Muhammad-- 00:01:33.440 --> 00:01:36.050 align:middle line:84% either Muhammad's son or his second in command 00:01:36.050 --> 00:01:38.970 align:middle line:84% depending on who you thought was the true successor, 00:01:38.970 --> 00:01:41.690 align:middle line:84% which is only one of the problems still being worked out 00:01:41.690 --> 00:01:43.670 align:middle line:90% by wars and car bombings. 00:01:43.670 --> 00:01:47.240 align:middle line:84% Just as similar problems were solved in earlier times 00:01:47.240 --> 00:01:51.920 align:middle line:84% by flambéeing people in public after rack induced confessions. 00:01:51.920 --> 00:01:54.320 align:middle line:84% And if there's no immortal soul that's 00:01:54.320 --> 00:01:58.730 align:middle line:84% soon too soon if you ask me, to be either world up to heaven 00:01:58.730 --> 00:02:01.340 align:middle line:84% like a cow shining in a tornado or else 00:02:01.340 --> 00:02:03.890 align:middle line:84% hauled screaming into the underworld like a pig 00:02:03.890 --> 00:02:09.860 align:middle line:84% to a scalding tank that is if we just stop the filament worn out 00:02:09.860 --> 00:02:12.200 align:middle line:84% or shooting through the glass and exploding 00:02:12.200 --> 00:02:14.000 align:middle line:90% the bulb but either way done. 00:02:14.000 --> 00:02:16.130 align:middle line:90% Done for pure nothing. 00:02:16.130 --> 00:02:19.400 align:middle line:84% The socket empty for long enough to hear some prayers 00:02:19.400 --> 00:02:21.800 align:middle line:84% or poems, and then another little light 00:02:21.800 --> 00:02:25.130 align:middle line:84% bulb screwed into place with songs and lullabies. 00:02:25.130 --> 00:02:27.830 align:middle line:84% And eventually, loud music and drugs, 00:02:27.830 --> 00:02:30.900 align:middle line:84% which maybe I should be taking to overcome this thing 00:02:30.900 --> 00:02:34.370 align:middle line:84% I hardly know how to describe and which hardly anyone 00:02:34.370 --> 00:02:35.690 align:middle line:90% wants to hear about. 00:02:35.690 --> 00:02:37.700 align:middle line:84% Since who can hate-- who can think 00:02:37.700 --> 00:02:40.580 align:middle line:84% too long about such matters before all they want 00:02:40.580 --> 00:02:43.310 align:middle line:84% is a drink or a quiet place to curl up 00:02:43.310 --> 00:02:46.910 align:middle line:84% or a TV to turn on along with every light in the house," 00:02:46.910 --> 00:02:47.720 align:middle line:90% end quote. 00:02:47.720 --> 00:02:50.000 align:middle line:90% [LAUGHTER] 00:02:50.000 --> 00:02:53.670 align:middle line:84% And when your lover if you are lucky enough to have one, 00:02:53.670 --> 00:02:59.270 align:middle line:84% even if you sometimes feel bored and stifled by him/her/they 00:02:59.270 --> 00:03:01.800 align:middle line:84% or that maybe you could have done better, 00:03:01.800 --> 00:03:03.950 align:middle line:84% especially in terms of having more sex, 00:03:03.950 --> 00:03:06.440 align:middle line:90% money, complex conversations. 00:03:06.440 --> 00:03:10.130 align:middle line:84% A heavier plinth for your nobly woeful statue 00:03:10.130 --> 00:03:12.350 align:middle line:90% asks, what's wrong? 00:03:12.350 --> 00:03:17.120 align:middle line:84% You can forget all that and simply say, I have SAD. 00:03:17.120 --> 00:03:20.900 align:middle line:84% Since everyone knows the diagnosis is the first step, 00:03:20.900 --> 00:03:23.630 align:middle line:84% the one which stair or ladder is better left 00:03:23.630 --> 00:03:26.480 align:middle line:84% unmentioned since they lead either way. 00:03:26.480 --> 00:03:28.430 align:middle line:84% But our best traveled with someone 00:03:28.430 --> 00:03:32.000 align:middle line:84% steadying the rungs are waiting at the top or bottom 00:03:32.000 --> 00:03:36.140 align:middle line:84% with a candle, a word, a cup of something hot and not 00:03:36.140 --> 00:03:41.200 align:middle line:84% too bitter that you can drink down and proclaim good.