Fortunately, my sleep takes me out of the danger zone, and I wake up groggy in the best sense of the word. It’s going to take two cups of coffee to get me going, which, in the context of my brush with hypomania the night before, is good. Very good.

So consider: Here I am in California for more than a week. I perk up around people. I experience a buzz from the conversations and the friendships I strike up. I also have to be on my game, because I am talking up my forthcoming book to total strangers. Then I do crazy things like tap dance. Meanwhile, my biological clock is not fully adjusted. I do not have the luxury of talking a daytime nap when I feel tired, and I have to pace myself through many more days on the road.

In the best of situations, all this is going to present a major challenge to my sanity. And I actually considered doing this without my meds? What am I? Crazy?

It’s a scary thought. Really scary.

This is John McManamy, reporting “live” from outside San Francisco.