We woke up this morning to a temperature of three degrees, which broke the old record low for the day in this area by 2 degrees. A steady twenty mile an hour wind, with higher gusts, hasn't helped our nerves either. The snow in the back yard is strewn with bits of branches and speckled with pine needles.

We get to play water roulette. Reach for the tap and hold your breath. Will water come pouring out this time or are the pipes clogged with ice? What excitement!

Surely the weather is the last refuge of scoundrels who insist on writing but have nothing to say.

Or perhaps not the very last refuge. That may be to simply refer to someone else's more inspired efforts. For example, I had the following email from David Burton this morning:

Just wanted to let you know that the eleventh issue of my zine, PIXEL, is available for downloading.

This issue features Lee Lavell's "Much Nothings" column (what's wrong and right with the world); Eric Mayer's "Notes From Byzantium" column (cats and physics, double meanings of words, book cover art, and working at home, illustrated by Brad Foster); Ted White's "Whither Fandom?" column (a behind-the-scenes look at Corflu bidding and editing legal transcripts); Chris Garcia's "Found In Collection" column (about his unusual auction strategies); Peter Sullivan's "Being Frank" fanzine review column (this time an in-depth review of the latest TRAP DOOR); and a lettercolumn. Twenty eight pages in all.

Cover by Jen Woll, and interior illustrations by Brad Foster and Manfred Klein.

It can be downloaded from http://www.efanzines.com/CPG/Pixel11.pdf File size is approximately 750K.

I haven't read it yet but the issue is worth downloading if only for the spectacular color illos by Brad Foster. His take on my blog about cat physics is better than the blog.

Now I am off to check the thermostat.