The frost has set in good. Every morning. The first thing I do when the alarm clock goes off is to pull the curtains. I have them open at night. But it's just too cold in the morning. I want it cold at night but not too cold in the morning. What a dilemma. But a cold bathroom is the worst. Icy tiles. Tip toeing. Leaving the hot water running for a while before I get in the shower. If only there was some way to precisely control temperatures in different rooms. A man can dream, though. A man can dream.

Nothing much happened at work. Cafer is still not there. But he has come home from the hospital so he should be okay soon I hope. René the former supposed heathen soldier came by. Not a scratch on his face.

Today is the birthday of someone very special.

Happy birthday Sascha!

Sascha is the dog of course. The guy on the left is Skye's brother Bas. I like this picture. Notice how Sascha's attention is focused squarely at the piece of cake in Bas' hand. Hehe. He is such a lovely dog. Skye sent me a couple of movies of him too. Wonderful to see him moving around again. I miss him. He's getting so old. One year old. That's 7 in dog years, right? He's still a tiny little cutie though. I love him lots.

And I used to not like dogs. I still get nervous around bigger ones. But Sascha has shown me how lovely a dog can be. Like Skye has shown me how lovely animals in general can be. She has softened me good. Everyday life is so much nicer when you can smile at little things.

Hey, don't forget R.E.M.'s video. Keep it in mind.

I have spent time today on the hard drive that more or less broke down a couple of months ago. Back then I just disconnected it because I didn't have time or energy to deal with it. Now I'm finally ready. And it's not as bad as I thought it was. I have been able to copy lots of stuff off of it. Amongst others my complete collection of Eels, Radiohead, rem , Coldplay and Nirvana concerts. I'll cleanse myself with alterna rock yet.

I was watching Alias today. And suddenly they were playing Landslide in the background. At first I thought it would be the original version. But I turned it up and was pleasantly surprised to hear Billy's singing. Landslide is a good example of the whole "coversong" thing I talked about yesterday. When I bought Pisces Iscariot and heard it I really wanted it to be a Billy Corgan song. It's so beautiful. At first I was disappointed that it was "just" a cover. But I have gotten over that. Because it's an amazing song. And how lovely that they used it on Alias. You would expect them to use an original version, not a cover.

And I'm getting older too.

Don't you just love goodbyes? Hooray!

np: pumpkins - silverfuck (920117)