The Cycle

Eskimo is descending rapidly into the Bad Place. I've seen the pattern four or five times already. Noticed this morning that the hair was pulled back super-tight today for the first time in a couple weeks (though, oddly, she's not wearing her mourning clothes--usually at this point in the cycle it's all black all the time. Today it's red sweater, patterned skirt, and new black stiletto boots with black stockings; I must note this aberration in making my diagnosis).

She's back to talking loudly to herself and swearing while doing the ILL stuff--never a good sign. She wanted to go over some weird ILL stuff with me and in the process she became really grim and started bad-mouthing the managers and her co-workers with two student employees here and K. nearby, all the while kicking the upper foot of her crossed legs like a junkie in need of a fix, while her left hand was clenched tightly into a fist and jammed into her lap and her right kept fiddling with the mouse at the ILL PC. Distant, glassy stare, typically off to the side (when in the Happy Place, Eskimo makes eye contact and smiles). Let's hope for a quick vascillation back up to the top of the cycle; if this is a typical recurrence we're in for a nasty week down here.