Ok! Mix more or less complete. I couldn't get a hold of the one song from that Kurt Weill album, so we'll have to wait on that. But, if you're interested in hearing the rest, it's here, entitled provisionally, "Letters from Home."

It's interesting, when I first heard about Regina Spektor, I initially downloaded a handful of her songs, not knowing which albums they were off of, just to get a feel for her sound. And then when I got a hold of her album Begin to Hope, I heard the new version of "Samson", and was disappointed, and a little confused. It seemed so much less intimate and careful, two qualities I really loved about the one I knew and loved. I found this interview that explains the story of the changes, and also is kind of telling about her own relationship with her music. But, unlike her, I personally really prefer the slow one that was on her self-released Songs. And it just feels more right on this mix. So it's the one on there.

In other music news, Erika has gotten me into the Kate Nash fan club. So cute!

I spent my morning doing at-home spa treatments, drinking fermented barley water and oat grass and peppermint tea, and doing a facial treatment with an aromatherapy steam (lemon, lavender, and mint) and some extraction, two different kinds of masques, one with tourmaline and one for healing and soothing, a rosehip peel with brush massage, moisturizing with my super thick, rich Hungarian aloe cream moisturizer, cleansing with seaweed soap and finally topping it all off with a lighter moisturizer mixed with a bit of my Duac acne medication, and ceramide eye cream around the eyes. Needless to say, my skin feels pretty amazing.

Iranian "diagnosed transsexuals"

This is pretty amazing. In Iran, where homosexuality is forbidden, many young men who find themselves attracted to other men undergo sex change operations, and the rates of the operation are higher than anywhere else in the world except for in Thailand. A new film, Be Like Others, explores the experiences of some of these young people.