I am not certain whether I have explained the actual purpose of this column "Viennoiserie". It is supposed to serve as a tiny window of surveillance on the things going on in my life, but not in a dreary diary-way, but rather providing snapshots. Oh, and it is of course all ye cunning folks from outside of Austria for whom I provide this exclusive and very personal service.

Days and nights are currently filled with wild thoughts about ... export credit agencies and environmental and social standards. I am applying for a PhD scholarship granted by the Austrian Academy of Sciences, which means I have to provide them with some kind of exposé. Deadline is next Tuesday; funny how I always get a touch of a flu when I have to concentrate...

Apart from struggling with a slight fever and the painful defeat of my football team against the German side of Dortmund yesterday night, I get increasingly worried by a feeling of growing old. Just look at the recordings currently on heavy rotation on my stereo:



Call me an old bore, but I get a godzillian times more kicks out of Mr Ferry`s frail version of "The Way You Look Tonight" than out of anything on the contemporary pop charts. Apart from that, I started buying cut flowers occasionally, not for reasons of courtship, certainly, but for strictly decorative purposes. Yes. This IS pathetic.

Anyway, judged from the outside, my days pass as uneventful as could be. Occasionally, glittering sparks of excitement appear. Like the unveiling of the identity of a certain Mr Darren Spooner ...