Hello, everyone. I've been rather depressed during the last month, actually, and I haven't done very much but some proofreading for a textbook company. I haven't even been on the internet, and I haven't checked my e-mail, either--just had no interest in doing so.

One of my cats, Niau, died on August 23; he apparently died peacefully out in our house in Vallfogona. I went downstairs at about 8:30 PM, leaving him on our bed along with the other four; when I went back up to where the cats were, at about 9:30, I found him stretched out dead in his cat bed. Probably a heart attack, or he just died of being old; we don't know how old he was, but we believe at least 15, since he and his twin brother moved in with us at the end of 1995, and they were full-grown adults.

The brother, Tail, is still disoriented, since he and Niau are quite obviously identical twins and had been together all their lives. They're very distinctive-looking; they're clearly a mix between Siamese and red tabby, since they have red points instead of black ones, and red tabby stripes up the tail. The two were inseparable, always together, and usually sitting on top of somebody, especially house guests, whom they liked to make welcome. They are by far the friendliest and best-natured cats I have ever seen, much less lived with. Now, of course, Tail doesn't know where his companion is.

We buried Niau in a small plot of land that belongs to Remei in the valley down by the stream the next morning. I'd hoped it was just a bad dream, but there he was, and it was quite clear he was dead, so the only thing to do was bury him. We bought some ceramic-tile letters spelling out his name and cemented them to a stone we put on his grave.

I saw my friend Franco Aleman yesterday, though, and a couple hours of talking with him inspired me to start writing again, so regular blogging will resume tomorrow. Tonight is the Barça game, and I'm of course going down to the bar to watch it, so that's one thing I'll report on. There is a regional election coming up, an immigration crisis, a new Barcelona mayor, more merger fun in the utilities sector, police corruption, Catalooniness right and left, the inmates taking over the PP asylum, and all kinds of other fun stuff to write about.