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I love wearing my Apple Watch. Not only does it tell me that I apparently lost the ability to stay in Zone 2 while running, it also tracks everything else, lets me quickly set timers, pause my podcast without fishing my iPhone out of my pocket, and gives me glanceable information about my life.

Unfortunately, it looks like shit. That’s why I invested quite some money (€40) and bought this very pretty Casio watch. I love it! It’s shiny and has much more of a visual opinion than the Apple Watch, which has looked basically the same for the last decade.

Even talking about my woes of if and how to see myself as an artist makes me feel a bit like a fraud. Imposter syndrome needs to be suppressed. When I allow myself to feel and behave like an artist, though, I get these little glimpses of something that somehow feels true. It’s great to be able to talk to Cecilia about these things. She has produced more art in the last couple of years than I have in my whole life of perhaps, sometimes, maybe considering myself an artist.

Sorry, Pablo, I didn't really think you were weak. ONLY THAT YOU DON'T HAVE YOUR PRIORITIES STRAIGHT. HOW DARE YOU NOT RUN WITH ME?

Anyway! Anna felt better that night, and instead of celebrating her birthday with all her friends at the party that had been planned for that day but was rescheduled because of her illness, we went to a nice restaurant and had a cozy little evening.

Sunday is long-run day. I love a good yap and run. Later that day, we were invited to Basti’s birthday party in the park. I didn’t know anyone except Anna and still had a fantastic time. Basti and all of his friends were great, and I really enjoyed what might have been the last picnic of the summer.

When Anna and I first met, she told me that her friends Simone and Pastu love cats and would very much like to see as many pictures and videos of mine as possible. Back then, I already invited them to come visit and say hi to Gigabyte and Millimeter.

That finally happened on this day, and at least Gigabyte showed herself from her best side. Milli is a bit shy, but she came around after a while.

Those cinnamon buns were the worst! But at least they were very expensive, so it hurt twice.

Do you know those people who buy a very dry and far too expensive cinnamon bun and then let it ruin their whole day? They don’t stop complaining about it, it wrecks their mood, and they can’t get over the atrocity they had to endure? I never wanted to be a person like that, and I’m happy to report that I didn’t become one.

I don’t want the quality of my life to be determined by how well I can circumvent every tiny inconvenience. It’s far more fun to just go with it and consider the worst cinnamon bun of your life not a personal affront, but a good story to tell.

This was one of my favorite evenings from the last couple of weeks. I was somewhere in the city center, buying a new bag, and I knew Anna was out on the Alster, paddling around on her SUP. So I stalked her on Find My, got off the subway early, and ran to catch up with her. She picked me up and paddled me all the way back to my apartment.

Every time a long train ride is part of the itinerary, I pack my Switch 2. Every time, I pull it out for maybe ten minutes, if that, before it ends up shoved back into my backpack. You’d think I’d have learned by now and just leave it at home. But I’ll do exactly the same thing next time.

Marcel from four years ago would never have been able to go for a run after a day of travel. For one thing, I wasn’t running back then. For another, travel used to take so much out of me that I’d be completely spent.

But over the last couple of years, I’ve worked on my relationship with travel, and this run felt like one of the clearest signs of progress.

We should react with “Ew,” then completely ignore whatever tried to rage-bait us more often.

Sometimes, it really do be like that.

I tried to become someone who makes music. I failed and sold my e-piano. You win some, you lose some.

Now I need to pack up 93 books and send them to the company buying them.

Linus isn’t the youngest anymore. Sometimes he forgets he’s an old boy now. When we visited on Saturday and were ready to leave, he shot out the door and jumped down a couple of steps without a second thought for his brittle old bones… or ligaments. Poor baby.

Anna's mother had always dreamed of doing a Wattwanderung, a walk through the Wadden Sea at low tide to one of the nearby islands. So we packed our things, rented a car and a house, and made our way to Germany's north coast, where I'm originally from.

My reading can sometimes be a little too intense for Anna.

Days like this are the best.

I'm very strong.

I don’t know why, but the ending of Disclosure Day made me cry?!

Sometimes quality time together means doing things separately, but side by side.

I turned 37 on that day! That number doesn’t remotely reflect the age I feel I should be, but who am I to argue with Chronos?

The harbor’s birthday is a huge party, and people from all over Germany visit Hamburg to behave badly. It’s usually something people from Hamburg try to stay away from.

It was a slow and cozy day.

I slept like a baby after this day.

Model trains and a lack of privacy.

Not even the very expensive tickets could lessen my amazement about Sagrada Família.