Dear friend,
Last Sunday, the 30th of November, B. and I drove from the Netherlands down to the Italian Alps. This is the place where we will spend the winter. We’re staying in my family’s alpine residence, a cozy little cottage with a wood fire.
Here’s the view from the window, just to get an idea.
‘Well, what are you doing there? And are you not running out of money yet?’
Good questions. Yes, the money is running low, so we’re living very frugally.
What I’ll be doing here is a broader question.
Currently I’m working on my recent soup story.
The first working title was ‘I ate fish soup with a fascist’.
But I had to scrap that title because the interviewee has a strong disdain for the Italian branch of nationalism.
The new working title is ‘I ate nautical soup with a nationalist’.
I’m a sucker for alliteration.
But you get the gist. I’ll be interviewing my ultra-nationalist friend from Bulgaria. I’m almost finished writing it all down. Some parts are…. quite disturbing…
Apart from the soup story, the goal this winter will be to get in great shape for next year. That means: a lot of hikes, trail running, sheep studies, reading books, and filming the occasional video for my Youtube channel.
If everything goes well, B. will have received her Dutch residency permit in March, so we can start looking for housing and employment there.
More miserable music
B. always complains about my musical preferences. It’s too whiny and miserable for her liking. I’m generally not allowed to play any Jacques Brel, Lana del Rey, or Scott Walker when she’s around (she has warmed up to Leonard Cohen, fortunately).
Recently however, I’ve found a new voice whose sad vibrations equally stir my heart. And to my content, B. stated that she doesn’t mind listening to this voice either.
The person behind the voice is Cameron Winter. I’ve been listening to both his solo work and that of his band Geese. Fantastic stuff. Very good (sad). From his Guardian interview:
‘The album is frequently funny, surreal and uplifting as well as prone to melancholy’
My first introduction was Cameron’s appearance on Later… with Jools Holland, where he played ‘Love Takes Miles’. Beautiful song, although in hindsight, I prefer the studio version. The song by Geese that I’d like to recommend is called Au Pays du Cocaine.