2006

Snodd från Gustav med vissa tillägg.

* Dag(ar): 28e januari - alla MGs samlade på Bella Italia. 23e juni - San Juan på stranden i Barcelona.

* Festivitet: Det kan bara bli Novischfesten, minnesluckor och fruktansvärd baksmälla till trots.

* Inköp: MacBook och läderstövlar.

* Film: RENT - från förra året, ja, men inte premiär här förrän i februari. Brokeback Mountain får hedersomnämnande på samma grund.

* Låt: Årets bästa låt har jag ingen koll på, men *mina* bästa låtar för året blir Jefferson Airplanes White Rabbit, Triumphs Fight The Good Fight, Kansas' Carry On My Wayward Son och Blue Oyster Cults Don't Fear The Reaper. Jag insåg en dag att min spellista enbart bestod av 70-talsrock.
Oh, och Jump Little Childrens Cathedrals, så klart! *älska*

* Accessoar: Mallorcaringen som jag numera känner mig naken utan, och mitt tuffa nya halsband.

* Bok: Montecore - En unik tiger, Jonas Hassen Khemiri.

* Inkomna sms: "Han é tankesultan! Grymmaste pjäsen, jag svär fett me cred! Khemiri is Da MAN!" Alltid underbart med delade åsikter.

* Intressantaste: Valet. Gäller även för 'Sorgligaste'.

* Beslut: Att hoppa av lärarutbildningen och satsa på lingvistiken.

* Ord: "Oki" ("I want to get the hell out of here" på Taiap). Och "kebabchaffis". Det är skönt att till och med översmarta författare kan säga fel.

* Citat: "Failure isn't an option because you, like me, are perfect ;-)" (Seriously, dude, you have no idea how much you cheered me up that time - I was close to tears and then you made me giggle!)

* Saknade: Elisabet (men inte mycket längre!). Janice. Los brasileños.

Make 2007 a good one!

Contours

So, we were sitting at Herkules' yesterday and I mentioned that my cousin had gotten glasses for when driving, which got us into a discussion about how a lot of people look really good in glasses. I don't wear glasses, never have, and so I asked M to try hers on, just to see how it felt and to know whether they suited me. I put them on, looked out the window, and Christ was the world suddenly sharp! I mean, I knew my left eye vision isn't perfect, but when I closed my right eye and took turns looking through the glasses and over them, I realised that it's probably a little worse than I thought it was.
A visit to the optician to see whether I should get glasses, perhaps?

Oh - we're going to Stockholm again in January, if I hadn't mentioned that. We're going to see Rent! And Invasion! again. When tickets are that cheap, you can't not go again.

And I'm a sketching goddess. Still can't stop.


Logan, I can't comment on your posts. There's no picture for the word verification. Boo.

Merry Christmas

Biggles and I wanted to take this opportunity to wish you all a very merry Christmas, albeit a little late for the Swedes, but anyway.

(As you can tell from his expression, wearing that hat was far below his dignity. Didn't stop me.)


Happy Holidays!

'Kiyoshi kono yoru'

Yes, today we sang 'Silent Night' in Japanese. And Polish, and Gaelic, and Hungarian, and Vietnamese. And five other languages. While having wine punch and gingerbread snaps and fudge. I'm going to miss this course and these people and our mentor a lot; it seems there are seven of us who are going to do the following 20 credits as well, and a couple who are going to do a few, but that's it.

I'm giving serious thought to doing five extra credits outside the regular 20 next semester. Neuro-linguistics does sound really interesting, it's on next semester (you can never count on a course like that to be given), and our schedule seems to allow the time. And - it's in English, which would be a real challenge. The catch? Three final exams in one week, or possibly two if they're feeling generous. We'll see. I think I'll sign up and then decide when the time comes.

I got the most awesome Christmas present the other day. A refridgerator magnet - hold on, hold on, it gets better - saying "You say I'm a bitch like it's a bad thing". Heh. Well, maybe you had to be there. But Ida rocks.
We also combined study group, preparing for the home exams and straightening out a few question marks (verbkongruenssystem i världen, Klingon-grammatik, och var i världen du kan hitta språk från fem olika språkfamiljer, som har ergativa drag, oerhört komplicerad verbmorfologi och 83 konsonanter men bara 2 vokaler), with a film night watching Dogma. I'd almost forgotten how much I love that film.

Anyone who isn't dead or from another plane of existence would do well to cover their ears right about now.

But I'm a fucking demon.

Read the Bible again sometime. Women are painted as bigger antagonists than the Egyptians and Romans combined. It stinks.

The future always on her mind

My 'Language Acquisition' mentor decided today she's going to make me a doctoral student and sponsor me to write my D paper about 'foreigner talk' in a couple of years. Heh. I heart her. And I heart this course. And I can pass for being Polish or Finnish or something non-Swedish like that, can't I?
I've decided what I want to do with my degree once I'm finished (on the side, of course, I'm still going to be a socio-linguistics professor. I promised my grandparents). I want to be a translator. I'm always complaining about badly translated books; that way I could do something about it. What better way to use an English degree? Ah, I'm already looking forward to doing English. I seriously need to freshen it up.

This whole, I'm-where-I'm-supposed-to-be feeling? I like it.

A small observation: friendship is calling the other person 'bitch' in a text knowing she will laugh her head off when seeing it.

Invaderad.

Stockholm. Invasion!. Skridskoåkning. Italiensk glass. Pizza Hut.
Teatern var fullständigt fantastisk. Och jag kan inte skriva på Khemiriska. Jag bara låtsas att jag kan det.

Och det är förväntan inuti när ljuset släcks och du hoppas och ber att du inte ska bli besviken, och du tittar på töntskådespelarna som pratar goja på scenen och väntar på att få höra mummel och hyssjanden någonstans bakifrån, och när du hör det första sshh-et ni tittar på varandra med skratten i halsen och shunnarna reser sig upp och börjar bråka och invaderar scenen och efter det, det är bara vad som händer där som betyder något.

Vad pjäsen handlar om är fullständigt omöjligt att beskriva. Den består till stor del av monologer, fyra olika skådespelare som framför fyra olika historier som alla vävs in i varandra av föreställningens gemensamma nämnare: Abulkasem. Vem är det? Varför är han viktig? Finns han egentligen?

Det är Bahador Foladis röst som blir mer och mer pressad och som sträcker sig in i dig och griper tag och det är tårögon och nejtankar när de andra skådespelarna kommer upp på scen och ljuset släcks, och sedan det är applåder och darrhänder och ett huvud fullt av snurror och ekon av rösterna du hört, och det är ni som tittar på varandra och vet att en gång inte räcker, inte ett dugg.

Vi skulle gått ut på La Isla efteråt, men vi var båda två totalt så tagna av föreställningen att vi utan att tänka på det bara började gå medan vi pratade om den, och plötsligt insåg vi att vi satt på vårt hotellrum och hade suttit där och gått igenom så mycket av pjäsen som vi bara kunde i ett par timmar. Det är otroligt att man kan skratta och skratta åt det man ser på scen samtidigt som man känner att man egentligen lika gärna skulle kunna gråta, eftersom det är en hårfin linje mellan det komiska och det fruktansvärt tragiska. Mycket balanserande på gränsen och många oerhört tvära kast däremellan.

"En av mina grannar är faktiskt från Pakistan, men han är jättetrevlig! Och jag sa till honom, 'It's okay. You can eat your food and have your parabol on the balkong, but please, please, dont make your daughter wear a slöja when she grows up. Please, for me, let her be free'."

Så, förutom att jag stukade foten under en promenad längs Drottninggatan och nu kör med kryckor igen, en perfekt helg.

Erkänn Abulkasem!

The struggling artist

Per request.


Milo doesnt look much like himself here, more like a cartoon character - so I decided that it's not actually a sketch of him but a sketch of Peter, based on Milo. Neat solution, huh?

JAckles on the other hand, I was very pleased with.


I think my fingers need to rest now. They're aching a little.

Where'd the day go?

Christ, I can't believe it's Friday again. Seriously, time needs to slow down. I mean, Stockholm and Invasion! is freakin' next weekend and Christmas is getting closer, which means this semester is amost over. And that kinda makes me sad. I'm going to miss my uni girls when we scatter.
Ida almost made me laugh out loud in class today, because this course is the most boring course I've ever taken, and so you're bound to get the giggles when your fellow Supernatural CQD:er points you to 'Wake me up when it's my turn to drive' written in her notebook.

Birthday was good. I'm sitting very comfortably in my new desk chair, looking at some lovely black & white posters of Paris that are being placed on my walls soon, and listening to my birthday CD from V. (And actually, I could be wearing my scarf from Harriet and drinking my Monty Python beer from Julia as well... Heh. I love my beer, called 'Monty Python's Holy Grail', with 'Gr' crossed out. Also, it's tempered over burning witches. Awesome.)
There was a family gathering on Saturday, which was nice. Then spex on Sunday, which was the funniest thing I've seen in a long time - it helped seeing several familiar faces among the leads and in the ensemble - and the Lucia medly made me giggle until my stomach hurt. "Mikadonnan står i fönstret! Mikadonnan står i fönstret! Så får vi lov, så får vi lov, att ta oss in i palatset?"
Then went to Kalmar's on Tuesday with my uni posse and M to celebrate a little extra, which was also fun. Although I have to admit I prefer Wermland's/ÖG - it was bit too small for my liking. So, Wermland's tomorrow night, and glöggfest/pepparkaksbak at Anna's place on Sunday. This weekend is not turning out to be that much quieter than the last.

I heart Supernatural. It's rivalling my Heroes love.

By the way, I'm totally in a new sketching phase, and I love it. I particularly love to look at my 'older' sketches from, say, 2003 or even 2004, cringe, and realise that while I'm in no way a great artist by any means, I've actually come a long way since then.

Still oh so motivated

I seriously cannot stop. Straight boys may want to avert their eyes, I'm not sure.




I really do watch way too much television, don't I?

M got tickets for Lundaspexarnas' farce on Sunday afternoon for my birthday present. Going to be so much fun, they're usually among the best there are.
Oh - this is my 101st entry, and it's almost time for my bloggiversary. Time flies.

I just looked over at my reflection in the window, and realised that wearing braids makes me look like a little girl. Good thing or bad thing, one might ask. I'd say it could be a good thing, since I've applied for a job as a spy for Systembolaget. Be a neat job, wouldn't it, running round trying to buy alcohol without an ID?

All the motivation you need

I'm rapidly growing addicted to making motivators.




And you are definitely going to be subjected to more of these in the future.

'Cause my TV set just keeps it all from being clear

The weeks go by so fast now. I don't know what happened to this fall, it seems like it had barely started when Christmas began showing its red twinkly face around the corner. The lights are already up on the square, they've put up the trees all over town, and we're planning a glögg/gingersnaps-baking party in the not too distant future. But before that I need to survive the birthday outing next week - "Då ska vi supa Katarina under bordet", as one of my lovely coursemates put it. And I still haven't found my hangover-food.

I've been given the number to a chiropractor in town who's supposed to be very good. Hopefully he'll be able to do something about my shoulder, which is still playing up on me after all these months. I want to be able to go swimming again, dammit.

My goddaughter is only a few months away from becoming a big sister. She's excited to take on the task as well as concerned about where the baby is going to sleep when they're visiting grandma. She finally came to the conclusion that 'grandma can sleep on that side, and I'll sleep on this side, and the baby can sleep in the middle and I'll hold her'. As much as my stint as a nursery teacher put me off being around small children, I'm totally excited about getting a new baby in the family. And above all, to watch Nic growing into being the oldest.

Supernatural tonight. I might have to squee for a bit.

'Cause I've got one hand in my pocket

Auntie: I don't get why they're doing it outside, I mean, you know what the cold does...
Grandpa: Well, maybe they keep their pants on.
Me: Dry humping?
Grandpa: We're changing the subject now.

I managed to work dry humping into a conversation at my grandparents'. I rock. If I manage "I'm lovin' you like a two-dollar whore" as well, my CQD will be complete.

A quick Heroes comment - Nathan' wife is called... Heidi? Dude, please. They couldn't think of anything else? I don't care about supermodel Heidi, either. Not even the Klum can take the 'German goat-girl' sound out of that name.

A day in the life 2

In which she's worried and annoyed

Gustav, jag bör nog varna dig - du uppskattar kanske inte den här lilla klagovisan.

Det ska bli dyrare att bo som student. Det ska bli dyrare att bygga studentbostäder, och på så vis högre hyror för de bostäder som ändå byggs. Och folk undrar varför en 25-åring fortfarande skulle vilja bo hemma?

Vi studenter har nog med pengar. Vi har så gott om pengar att man till och med skulle kunna sänka vårt bidrag och den tid vi har rätt till det. Min förhoppning är att regeringen om några år inser att den bästa idén för att lösa problemet med studiemedel är att istället för att tilldela varje studerande ett visst antal år med rätt till studiemedel, tilldela dem en viss summa och möjligheten att fördela den summan på det sätt som passar dem. Som det är nu (och som det har varit länge, det ska medges) blir många lurade och tror att de kan ta ut bidrag de första åren och spara lånen tills de behövs längre fram. Icke. Sex år är allt du har, sen är det kört. När du pluggat i fyra år, inser att du är inne på fel spår och att du kommer att behöva fyra år till, sticker statsministern ut huvudet och ropar 'Gotcha, sucker!'

"Det ska löna sig att arbeta." Låter bra. Men när det innebär att det framför allt lönar sig därför att alla bidrag dras in så att du helt enkelt inte har råd att vara arbetssökande eller sjukskriven? Ja, sänk A-kassan! Se till så att de fega, utbrända människorna ger sig ut i arbetslivet igen!
Men det är klart; för vissa lönar det sig ju verkligen att arbeta. Staffanstorps politiker höjde sin egen lön med 50 %.

"Vi ska satsa på ungdomarna och se till att de får jobb." Jo, man tackar.
Så varför bör pensionsåldern höjas till 70 år? Om ni vill satsa på ungdomarna, borde då inte pensionsåldern sänkas? Ut med de gamla, in med de unga? Eller menar ni att de båda ska arbeta halvtid och bli partners, dela på jobbet?

...
In other news, I'm seeing my remaining time at uni like this: another year and a half of linguistics, and two years of either English or Spanish. 80 credits each; enough to teach. I think.

The best soy latte that you ever had

Wine, ice cream cake, bisquits, samba music, cool people and a Tjernobyl theme. All in all, a great night.

I've figured out that the best way to keep yourself from going out after a party is to not bring any money, your ID or credit card with you when you leave home. If I had, the others would've totally been able to convince me of going with them to Wermland's, which would have ruined my plans of getting up early tomorrow to go to Ikea.

I still think it's cool that V's friend is my coursemate's friend's coursemate. V, I don't know what it is, but you two kinda look like each other.

Excuses schmexcuses

For starters, apologies for the lack of blogging. T'internet and all things connected to it have been seriously neglected during the past week, but I have a good excuse, which is in short 'studying my ass off and trying to lead a social life at the same time'. It's tougher than I thought. I feel a bit like I've been abandoning all my /mgs as well, which really sucks. With all that's going on for everyone right now it makes me feel even worse.

Another thing that's been taking up my time has been rearranging my room. Just a few days ago everything I owned was cramming up the kitchen and the living room, but it's all starting to come together now. We bought a dresser yesterday. Nothing fancy like Ikea, just good old Jysk. I spent the whole afternoon putting it together. Normally I'd just leave it to my father, but since he's out of town a girl's gotta do what she's gotta do, even when it does include hammers, nails and swearing. It was all worth it, though - it's now standing next to the desk beneath my window, filled with clothes, looking like it was always meant to be there.

I love how the room is turning out. The only thing I'd have wished for is to have the walls painted as well, but you can't have everything. I'll just have to put stuff up on the walls to cover the cracks. Yes, I have room for posters on my walls! I've been living with one single Lord Of The Rings poster for years because the arrangemeant of the furniture meant that there was no space for anything else. That is so going to change.

What else?

* My hands are looking all icky. The skin is coming off my fingers from when I burned them, and they almost look worse now than they did then.

* My birthday is less than three weeks today. I feel so old.

* Secret Santa has been sorted! Now I've just got to rub my brains and figure out something fabulous to send.

* Emails will be sent to those expecting soon. Promise.

Now, exactly how involved was he?

Americas funniest homevideo evar:
Mummy and daddy have decided it's time to let their children know that they are going to get a new brother or sister. The boys, roughly three and five years old, sit on the sofa. Mummy's on the floor in front of them; daddy's doing the filming. She breaks the news. Younger brother jumps down and disappears off screen while older brother looks mildly happy as well as freaked out. Camera goes looking for younger brother. Suddenly, the kid sticks his head in front of the lens, gives two thumbs up and shouts:
"You did it, daddy!"
(Cue mummy falling over laughing.)

Ehrm. 90 percent on the phonetics exam.

Is it any wonder I haven't been sleeping well?

predorsoprealveolar sibilantisk frikativa formant amplitud metates afoni palatum apex fonologisk fonetik artikulationsapparat fonematisk transkription aspirerad spektrum diakrit dorsopalatal retroflexer afasi kardinalvokaler halvvokaler konsonantdimensioner ocklusion oregelbunden finstruktur lodrät strimmighet tyst fas bilabial nasal dissimilation samartikulation prosodem frekvens akut/grav accent betoning prosodi total blockering glottis röstspringa farynx ejektiva perceptorisk fonetik IPA kommutationsmetoden laryngal ansatsrör approximant brusljud lateral allofon homofon särdrag betydelseskiljande haplologi supradental spektogram satsintonation

Hyperonymi partonymi coda rim ansats kärna antonymi produktion/perception/inlärning agglutinerande ergativitet complementizer phrase NP VP PP fontotaktisk regel kontext avledning agent sammansättning Markus grammatikaliseringsprocess bundna morfem affix fusionerande stavelsestruktur fuktionsord tema patient gynnad fundament syntax variabler OVS typologi lingvistiskt tecken Chomsky verbpartikel Labov pidgin progressiv paradigmatisk polysyntetiskt diskurs koreferens syntagmatisk frasstruktur stor tillgänglighet IP metafor semantiska särdrag +- enhet större än sats meronymi oh mitt huvud

Okay, I'm done.

Good company

- Och när vi nu pratar om 'coda' så kan ju det ordet faktiskt betyda flera saker och leda till förväxlingar.
- Jo, men eftersom man nu stavar det ena med 'c' och 'o' -
- Jo, fast det handlar ju bara om skriften och har inget med egentligt tal att göra, fonetiskt kan de bli homofoner beroende på accenten.
- Men man förstår det ju av kontexten.
- Ja, man förstår det på en pragmatisk nivå.

Så kan det låta när en grupp lingvister pluggar in i det sista inför en tenta.

Håll tummarna för mig imorron.

We're going to the city, oh yeah

Yep, we're going to Stockholm for one night on December 9th. We did it! We got tickets to Invasion! (and really good tickets, at that). I'm excited.

By the way, Jonas Khemiri got nominated for the August award. Awesome.

Snodd från V - Resor:
· När reste du senast?
I augusti till London med mina farföräldrar.
· Vilka länder har du besökt?
Hmm... Grekland, Italien, Österrike, Tyskland, Spanien, England, Danmark, Cypern och Portugal (egentligen Madeira, men det hör ju till Portugal).
· Drömresemålet?
Som jag inte redan har besökt; Australien och New York. Redan besökta; London och Barcelona som jag aldrig får nog av.
· Roligaste reseminnet?
Oj. Många. Min 20års-fest i London 2004. Lavender 4 Life med V och tjejerna i London 2006 (och att bo på Generator får ett extra omnämnande). Havana Club och O'Connell's med spanskgänget i Madrid 2003. San Juan på stranden med M och hela gänget i Barcelona 2006. Och hela kanotingen med mina gymnasiepolare 2003, som visserligen var inom Sverige men ändå en resa.
· Tråkigaste reseminnet?
Skulle kunna vara när jag sprang rakt in ett ett välputsat fönster på Mallorca och spräckte näsan. Det satte sina spår. Fysiskt och psykiskt. :P

When macaroni become 'pattisar'

On Friday, M and I went to hear Jonas Hassen Khemiri (remember him from my probably longest entry ever, in April? the writer?) speak at Malmö Uni about language and identity. That man really amazes me more and more every time. He's such an inspiring speaker.

I don't know... There's just something about him. He puts so much thought into what he writes and you can dig into the books and find something you've never thought of before every time you read them. There's something behind everything; nothing is there by coincidence. He makes you think, he makes you re-think, he makes you question, and he makes you unsure whether to laugh or cry while doing it. It's an amazing read.
And you discover new clues in the books listening to him - just today I realised that his name can be found within the fictional rapper I-on Carry-on aka Shuffle N's name. Try and figure that one out.

We're looking to possibly go to Stockholm in December to catch his debut play Invasion!, which is re-opening in November. We wanted to go on the opening night which happens to be just two days before my birthday, but of course that was sold out. From the little he's told us about it, I'm really intrigued. Hope we can make it.

(And I got my copy of Ett Öga Rött signed! *squee!* /fangirl)

So. Exams this Wednesday and Thursday, chai night slash studygroup tonight, regular studygroup Monday, Tuesday and probably Wednesday, possibly going out on Thursday to celebrate that we've completed the first ten weeks and hopefully passed the exams, and then a sitting on the 4th to celebrate even more. There's a gasque on the 20th which I'm really tempted by as well, but if we manage to sort out the trip to Stockholm that'll have to be my priority.

Hands are better. A bit sore and still kinda stiff, but way better.

Bye for a bit

I have managed to burn my hands, which are now stiff and covered in blisters, and am having a hard time typing. I'll be leaving the the blog for a bit until I don't have to type with only my right thumb and little finger.

Really sorry about tonight, G.

emehoB eiV aL: To pain. I feel like I'm wearing gloves.

Well, the blog does say it's all about me.

So I'm totally cross-posting this all over the internet, but I don't care. Because for the first time ever, no matter how vain it sounds, I'm in love with a photo that actually happens to have me in it. Playing with my beloved camera and a mirror and this was what came out:



Don't worry, it's not going to turn into a habit.

A day in the life

I was part of a 'Day in the life' photography project today, and thought I'd share my pictures with you guys. The day hasn't been very exciting, but as you can tell from the pictures, has consisted of a lot of studying.


My morning entertainment - when it works out. This time, apparently I screwed up.


Doocing it up.


Studygroup with the girls today. We went through two earlier finals and straightened out a few question marks.


Just realised that this hasn't been getting any water in a while. Is it supposed to?


I went to Arom in the afternoon to do some more reading. God, I love this place.


Need an explanation? It's no wonder my head is tired tonight after all this studying.


Going home.


Enjoying the third 'Heroes' episode to finish the day.

And that's where I left off.

Sinking low

I'm about to do something I never thought I'd do.
Yes, I'm posting a youtube video. Ladies and gentlemen; the Myspace Song.

---Edit---
Okay, no, I'm not, because it messes the page up. But check out the url and laugh.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ncmOeRYywk
John Hill simply rocks my cotton socks. Well, he has for a long time since he's awesome and has the ability to make me bawl my eyes out, but I didn't know he was funny, too.

Logan, would it make you happy if I told you that I'm going to do my poster presentation about Welsh?

Technology?

Can't live with it, can't live without it.
The laptop I've had for no more than a month and a half has decided it's royally fucked up and suddenly shut down on me the day before yesterday. I turned it back on. It turned itself off. Lather, rinse and repeat. Now, it's very unpredictable - on Thursday night it was working fine all night. Last night it wasn't. This morning I couldn't even turn it on before there was the now so very familiar and dreaded 'click' followed by a black screen.

My computer genious father then thought of the idea to empty the parameter memory, and again Trekkie (for so it is called) seems to be in a good mood. For now, at least, and so I have spent the afternoon copying over endless amounts of stuff onto my iPod (damn, am I glad I went for 60 instead of 30 Gb!) in case it throws another hissyfit. Which I'm sure it inevitably will, sooner or later.

It couldn't have happened at a worse time, either - I have a poster presentation which is due next Monday and I really need to be able to work on my computer with it, preferably without it shutting down just when I'm about to hit 'save'.
...
Saw K last night for the first time in I don't know how long - he's got a two week holiday before he goes back to Cosovo for his UN soldier service thing. He has beefed up, begun to look scarily like his brother, and hasn't changed much besides. It was great catching up.

Off to dance some salsa at Club Havana tonight. I almost wish I wasn't, though - it's pouring down outside.

Now... Where was I?

Blanks from Friday night have been filled in and could have been worse (the fact that I tried to unlock my neighbours' door at 5 in the morning is awkward, but hopefully they slept through it), and I managed to reclaim my songbook at the union. All's good.

It's been a strange couple of months, weather wise. In July/early August we reached record temperatures and had some fantastic weeks. It suddenly got cold and rainy in middle of August, and everyone were saying how summer ended so abruptly. Then, at the start of September when everyone including me had stocked up on autumn shoes and clothes, summer decided it wasn't quite done with us yet, came back, and seems to have lasted until yesterday when the leaves were falling everywhere and you could actually smell autumn in the air.
Talk about schizophrenic seasons.

From one thing to another...
Heroes premiered on NBC last week. I've been waiting for it for what seems like ages, and finally managed to download the pilot today (before anyone thinks I'm doing anything illegal and goes all AntiPirat on me, you can watch the episodes on NBC's website). And damn, but I'm hooked. You can watch it just for the sheer hotness if you want to - it's got an extremely fanciable cast, including among others Milo V, Sendhil Ramamurthy (I think his superpower is making women all over the world stop what they're doing when they spot him) and Santiago Cabrera - but it's also really cool and has some very interesting storylines. I mean, flying brothers, a cheerleader who's indestructable, a japanese called Hiro (his name alone makes him awesome) who can travel in space/time, an artist who paints the future and a stripper mom with a wickedly evil(?) mirror twin who kills people? Bound to be good. It could well freak out and become over the top, but so far I'm loving it.
Also, I loved the fact that the scenes in Japan actually were in Japanese, no broken English with Japanese accents.
And Hiro is adorable. 'Yata!'

I'm so television's bitch.
Watch Heroes and become its bitch along with me!

Sittings have consequences...

Like big-ass hangovers. Damn. This was the mother of them all, I couldn't even eat anything until late this afternoon. And the after-carneval didn't turn out to be as much fun as it should have - bright lights and high volume.
Do you tend to crave any special hangover food? Care to share the recipe? I've never really needed it before, but I sure could've used it today.

Never before and never again, not like this. Thank god Annica was there, I wouldn't have made it home without her. She's going to have to fill in a few blanks for me on Monday... It's quite scary, really. I do wonder what the boys were actually serving at the after-party, I was doing alright until we got there.

Except for that, and the fact that I managed to leave my personally dedicated songbook at the union, the sitting itself was absolutely awesome. Entertainment by Bleckhornen and the Wermland's/Kalmar's choir, nice food and great people. People you knew quite well, people you knew a little, and people you didn't know at all. I ended up with a perfect mix at my table - Annica a few seats away from me, worked perfectly for signing to each other; Hannes, who I knew from the song-singing the other week; Erik, who was in charge of said singing and then made himself famous at the rounders picnic by smashing into a low branch when running his last stretch and proceeding to bleed all over the place, on one side; and never-met-before people for the rest.

Highlights of the night included Emil stripping down on request, being prepared for 'Tomtarna på loftet dansar jitterbugg' and the looks on the faces of the people who weren't, and my personal favourite, making fun of all the other union people.
G, for your sake I will refrain from quoting 'En Kalmarit'. ;)

Clothes make the woman?

I bought it, I bought it, I bought it!
I bought a new dress. It's blue and gorgeous and I love it and I want to wear it every single day. I know, I'm such a girl. It cost half my study allowances, but it's so pretty! I won't get the opportunity to actually wear it officially until my birthday in November though, which annoys.

I got a call earlier from one of my sponsors, and it seems like I'm going to be working in the kitchen at Wermland's on Wednesday. They probably don't know that I'm a disaster cooking, but it's going to be fun!

And yes, apparently I am on a mission to learn Welsh.

Oh-bla-di, Oh-bla-da

I'm going to the novisch picnic in a couple of hours. Excited and yet a tiny bit nervous seeing as it includes rounders. I still can't really believe that I actually volunteered to something to do with that horrible game which brings back the memories of jeering voices shouting 'Okay, everyone! Move forward!'
Rumour also has it that it's required to drink at beer at each stop. Now, that could be interesting.

It's the annual Culture Night tonight, and we're going to the Salsa/Samba show. Nothing to put some pressure on you like watching really good dancers do the things that you are supposed to be doing in a matter of weeks, right?

On a different note, I'm very disappointed that none of you guys actually gave me the solution to the Kinyambo problem. :P

...

Hallelujah! I'm one step closer to having defeated my fear of rounders! I wasn't 'burned' once, and I managed to hit the ball every time!
So tempted to go to the barbecue and club tonight as well... Means M will have to get a guest ID, though.

By the way, Kalmar Union are bloody cowards. Sorry, G. ;) But they wouldn't accept our invitation/challenge, depending on how you see it, to play with us. And we had way more fun than they did.

Linguistic geekery

We were studying Kinyambo (Logan, I swear, if you tell me that you speak Kinyambo, I will have to kick your clever ass), a Bantu language, today and since I love stuff like this I thought I thought I'd share.
So, we've got a bunch of phrases:

1. Nakajuna - I helped
2. Barakoma - They will tie
3. Nitukoma - We are tying
4. Narajuna - I will help
5. Nituchumba - We are cooking
6. Nimujuna - You (pl.) are helping
7. Orasoma - You (sg.) will read
8. Baratura - They will put down
9. Nimukichumba - You (pl.) are cooking it
10. Bakakinaga - They lost it
11. Arakinaga - She will lose it
12. Nibatura - They are putting down

With the help of these phrases, separate the affixes to figure out what akakisoma and ninachumba mean. Go on, it's fun! And piece of cake to some language nerds I know... ;) (G, how's this for a lesson?)

I now want to study Kinyambo. Way cool.

There was also a discussion about how English and Swedish both tend to use borrowed words (which in itself is an expression I have issues with, but that's for another time) in the plural, in the singular. We say one 'one panini' ('paninis' in the plural) and 'one paparazzi' ('paparazzis' in the plural) when in reality it's one panino - two panini, and one paparazzo - two paparazzi. Then, in Swedish, we have 'muffins' - most of us say 'muffins' to talk about the little cupcakes both in the singular and plural. Except for sometimes when just for the hell of it you can hear 'muffinsar'. Now that's properly försvenskat. And makes total sense, too - if 'muffins' was really a Swedish word 'muffinsar' would be the proper form in the plural!

Ve och elände

Så, det har blivit maktskifte i Sverige, och vi har nu en borgerlig regering.
Jäklar.
Jag vet egentligen inte ens vad jag ska säga, annat än att jag är väldigt besviken på svenska folket. Även om jag anade det redan innan hoppades jag ändå längst inne att vänsterblocket skulle komma igen. Nu är det bara att hoppas på att det blir byte igen om fyra år, innan moderaterna har hunnit ställa till med alltför stor skada... Framför allt är jag orolig för ekonomin - tidigare under de borgerliga regeringarna har det ofta blivit problem på den fronten.

Skolan? Mer läxor, ordningsbetyg? Tror alliansen att det är rätta sättet att förbättra saker och ting; att gå bakåt i tiden? Och vad innebär det att lärare ska ha större befogenhet att skapa ordning i klassrummet?

De lovar att alla brott ska utredas? Hur kan de lova det?

För att inte nämna att det nu styrande partiet är det enda som inte vill höja studiemedlet. Det här blir en underbar tid att vara student, kan jag säga. Och får man sen inget jobb efter utbildningen, eller om man mot förmodan skulle råka ut för något så att man inte kan arbeta, ja, då är det riktigt kört. Mindre bidrag, javisst! Min mamma är hemskt glad över detta. Nu blir hennes inkomst ännu mindre. Det tackar vi för.

Mest skrämmande av allt är dock Sverigedemokraternas framfärd. Det fjärde största partiet i Malmö, såg det ut som. Varför? Vilka är det som lockas av dem? Kan vanliga, hederliga människor verkligen attraheras av dem och inte se igenom deras glättiga yta var allting stammar ifrån?
Otäckt, är vad det är. Det är en sak jag ger de borgerliga partierna poäng för; att de tillsammans med vänsterblocket tar avstånd från SD.

Quotes, this time

Last time we had film/tv scenes, this time I'm doing quotes.
You figure out where they're from.

"I can read women. You've got to know their wants and their needs. And that can be anything from making sure she's got enough money to buy groceries each week to making sure she's gratified sexually after intercourse."

- What do we say to him?
- We say nothing. The guy's going to hell for seven years. What are we going to do, wish him luck?

"He jests at scars that never felt a wound."

- I think it's only fair to tell you, you just paid for the funeral for the person who killed your dog.
- Yeah, I know.
- You knew?
- Yeah. I always hated that dog.

"Just don't disappear again. I like to say goodbye to the people I love even if it's only to cry my eyes out, bitch."

"Sometimes I think people don't understand how lonely it is to be a kid, like you don't matter. So, I'm eight, and I have these toys, these dolls. My favorite is this ugly girl doll who I call Clementine, and I keep yelling at her, 'You can't be ugly! Be pretty!' It's weird, like if I can transform her, I would magically change, too."

- Well, you know what happens when you assume.
- What?
- I don't know. Something about a donkey. It is a stupid American phrase.

"I may chance have some odd quirks and remnants of wit broken on me, because I have railed so long against marriage... But, does not the appetite alter? A man loves the meat in his youth that he cannot endure in his age. Shall quips and sentences and these paper bullets of the brain awe a man from the career of his humour? No! The world must be peopled!"

"And so they do die. One every three seconds. There they go... And another one."

"This famous linguist once said that of all the phrases in the English language, of all the endless combinations of words in all of history, that 'cellar door' is the most beautiful."

"Tell you what, we coulda had a good life together! Fuckin' real good life! Had us a place of our own. But you didn't want it, Ennis! So what we got now is Brokeback Mountain! Everything's built on that! That's all we got, boy, fuckin' all. So I hope you know that, even if you don't never know the rest! You count the damn few times we have been together in nearly twenty years and you measure the short fucking leash you keep me on - and then you ask me about Mexico and tell me you'll kill me for needing somethin' I don't hardly never get. You have no idea how bad it gets! I'm not you... I can't make it on a couple of high-altitude fucks once or twice a year! You are too much for me Ennis, you sonofawhoreson bitch! I wish I knew how to quit you."

"What happens if Jerry gets mad?"

- I dreamt a dream tonight.
- And so did I.
- And what was yours?
- That dreamers often lie.

- Very romantic.
- Says the man who yelled "Finally!" at the end of Love Story.

Uni venting

This Lund university lark is actually a tad more stressful than expected... I have a massive amount of pages to read, on which I'm already behind. I haven't paid my student union/corpus bill yet (well, to be perfectly honest, I havent even picked up my bill yet). I can get this feeling in class that I really have absolutely no idea what Merle is talking about, and wonder if I even belong there. But just after that, I decide that I do. I do belong there, because no matter how new, weird and hard everything is, right now I'm loving it.
With all that's going on I'm feeling like a bad /mg at the moment, though.

There is some of fun happening, too.

Samba classes started on Monday, and while I was forced to realise the sad truth that I have no capability whatsoever of coordinating arms, hips and feet and the same time, it was still awesomly fun. And an excellent workout.

Another one of my coursemates speaks sign language, which gives me an opportunity to catch up on that. She's already gotten me to practise by spelling out words to myself during the lectures. It's quite fun trying to spell labiodental as quickly as possible.

During our SI meeting today we discussed grammar, and at the end of the hour I was saying to Anna how much fun it was. I half expected the regular 'You're crazy' look, but instead got an 'I know, isn't it?' It's awesome being around people who are interested in the same things.

My coursemates got their first taste of my sometimes inappropriate sense of humour. There was a lady from the Students' Health talking to us, and when she told us that 'Vi har en grupp för barn till alkoholister, som brukar bli full varje termin' I had to stiffle a snort. I know, I'm horrible, but it was kinda funny! They thought so too when I explained it to them.

I'm going to sign up for my union tomorrow - still shilly-shallying back and forward between Lund's and Wermland's, but I'm leaning towards Wermland's at the moment - and buying my ticket for the novisch party next Friday.

Ran into Fredrik on my way home today, always nice to see one of the oldies. I do miss the Malmö crowd, even if I don't miss the school itself.

And there just might be a chance that I'm going to study Catalan. The teacher, Casanova - yes, apparently that is his real name - just emailed me and asked me to call to discuss the possibilities of starting up the course. Oh, please, please, let it happen.

I think this is going to be okay.

The unique tiger

I've just started reading Jonas Hassen Khemiri's second book, Montecore - en unik tiger, and it's sofa king awesome I can't even wait until I've finished to write about it.

Jonas is a writer who's recently gotten his first book Ett Öga Rött published, but he's not quite happy about how it's recieved despite the reviews being positive. Sound familar so far? One day he recieves an email from Kadir, an old friend of his father whom he no longer has any contact with. Kadir wants to collaborate and write an autobiography over Jonas' father and begins, despite lack of enthusiasm from the son, to tell the story of the man he decides to call Abbas ("Hur ska vi namnge din far? För att profetera hans framtida omlokalisering till Sverige proponerar jag det symboliska namnet 'Abbas'").
You soon come to realise that the story he tells has to be taken with a grain of salt, though, and especially the portrait of Abbas.

I love this book, and I've only read a few chapters into it. I'm leaving you with one of my favourite quotes so far, and you can expect more in the next couple of days.

"Skriv mig... Är din succé ekvivalent med din fars? Har ditt bokliga kontrakt transformerat dig till miljonär eller miljardär eller bara säkrat några års trygg ekonomi? Är litterära ekvilibrister som Stephen King och Dan Brown nära vänner eller bara formella författarkollegor? Hur mycket slida får man glida som snart publicerad författare? Erbjuds du dagligen parfymerade trosor i korrespondens? Respondera mig gärna när tiden är dig tillgänglig."

(As you can see, Kadir's Swedish is, well, interesting.)

Anger management

That stupid git. That completely empty-headed man of a football coach. He's created a scandal where there wasn't one.
Okay, anger out of the system.

Lars Lagerbäck has sent Zlatan, Chippen and Mellberg home from the EC qualifying rounds assembly, because they went out after 'curfew' to have a drink to celebrate Mellberg's birthday.

I can only go on what I've read, and if there's more to it than that I might have to change my mind, but if there isn't...
They left at some point between 11 pm and midnight, and were back at 1 am. They had a glass of champagne/a few drinks (depending on whom you choose to believe). They weren't drunk. They didn't misbehave. It didn't affect their participation the next day. They're not given the opportunity to explain or apologise followed by a warning, but are sent home immediately after the coach finds out.

As it seems now, all three players might refuse to come back to the team while Lagerbäck remains, and if what I've read is correct, I wouldn't blame them. It sucks for the rest of the team and for the EC, but I blame the coach, not the players. I do realise they broke the rules, but I feel that to be kicked out is too hard a punishment.

EVS.

Only the good

Steve Irwin is dead. Killed at 44 by a stingray while shooting a documentary up at Port Douglas.

I may be silly, but it's made me ridiculously sad. He was always a kind of mad, over-enthusiastic, rash, animal-loving hero to me, and I thought no animal alive could ever take him. But it finally did.
And I just think of his poor family. Children aged eight and three.

It's hard to believe that the Dr Dolittle of crocodiles is gone.

When you turn into a six year old

It's funny how some things always remain the same. First day at school is always just that, the first day at school, no matter how old you are or how many times you've been through it. Same trouble sleeping the night before, same waking up long before the alarm goes off, same butterflies in the stomach while on the bus. But, thankfully it's usually also the same relief once you've actually been to the introductory meeting.
Or to the first class. Whatever.

The introduction made me so frigging excited about starting my linguistics studies. The building is great, I've found basically all of the books we need, schedule looks good with one day off each week (I think), about 20 people in class, there's Supplemental Instruction once a week for those who wish to attend, we get to do laboratory experiments in Speech Communication, our lab is brand new and the most modern one in Scandinavia, teachers seem fun and very enthusiastic, there's going to be morphology, semantics, phonetics, syntax, pragmatics, language acquisition, socio- and psycho-linguistics...

Jag är på väg att bli språkvetare.

*giddy*

(Logan, I think I stole your font. Hope you don't mind. It's just perfect.)

...

I'm having an impulse to write a short story called 'Songs for Pamela'. I have absolutely no idea what it would be about, but the title got stuck in my head one evening and now won't leave me alone. We'll see if anything comes of it.

Is it because I watched 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory'?

You know how you sometimes dream funny stuff when you're ill? I've always been like that. I don't usually remember what they're about, but I took a nap earlier and woke up with a phrase from the dream in my head:

"Ah, candymakers in heaven, we congratulate you."
And that is word for word. Really, I'd like to know what goes on in my head sometimes.

"Candymakers in heaven"...
I mean, seriously.

Changing it down

I wanted to write, but I'm still sick as a dog and completely unable to focus on anything longer, so this is all you get. Yes, you'll have to bear with my Rent love for another post. At least this is a short one for a change.

"To faggots, lezzies, dykes, cross-dressers too! To me! To me! To you, and you, and you, you, and you! To people living with, living with, living with- not dying from disease! Let he among us without sin, be the first to condemn - la vie boheme!"

"Will I lose my dignity?
Will someone care?
Will I wake tomorrow
from this nightmare?"

- Why choose fear?
- I'm a New Yorker. Fear's my life.

I want to take a moment to say that Aaron Lohr and Wayne Wilcox were absolutely perfect for their roles.

Getting to know me, part 2

Två inlägg på en dag, det har minsann aldrig hänt förr. Men, när nu Gustav hade en sån här intressant lista blev jag också sugen.

.Skulle du kunna tänka dig att delta i en dokusåpa?
Jag skulle hellre sätta mig i en ubåt.

.Vilken årstid tycker du bäst om?
Sommaren. Och våren när det inte regnar.

.Brukar du sjunga i duschen?
Det är snarare en regel än ett undantag.

.Vilken sport tycker du är roligast att se på tv?
Handboll och friidrott. Och fotboll, om det rör sig om ett mästerskap.

.Tror du på kärlek vid första ögonkastet?
Mhm.

.Vad är viktigast för dig?
Att inte behöva se tillbaka på mitt liv när jag är gammal och ångra saker jag gjort/inte gjort.

.Laddar du hem musik och film från internet?
Jag tror inte att jag vågar svara på den frågan på nätet...

.Vad skulle du göra om du vann en miljon kronor?
Just idag blir svaret på den frågan 'köpa en häst'.

.Vad är det bästa med julafton?
Maten och att vara tillsammans med familjen. Jag älskar julen.

.Tänker du mycket på ditt utseende?
Mer än jag borde, antagligen.

.Vad får dig att slappna av?
Musik. Gosa med min hund.

.Är du mörkrädd?
Ibland. Särskilt om jag har sett en otäck film. Både The Ring och The Shining fick mig att krypa ihop i soffan med fötterna uppdragna och varenda lampa i lägenheten tänd.

.Vilken färg är snyggast?
Efter Barcelona måste jag nästan säga rött. La Caperucita Roja. Annars får jag erkänna att jag tycker om rosa och trivs väldigt bra i svart.

.Tycker du matte är svårt?
Ja. Be mig inte om något svårare än nians tabell.

.Tycker du det är viktigt att ha märkeskläder?
Pah. Så länge kläderna sitter bra spelar väl märket ingen roll?

.Vad skulle du helst vilja vinna i en tävling?
Pengar. Eller ett hus i Spanien.

.När går du upp ur sängen en typisk helgmorgon?
Beror helt och hållet på... Om inget särskilt har hänt kvällen innan; vid nio. Annars framåt elva, tolv.

.Tycker du rökning/snusning borde förbjudas i lagen?
Gärna för mig!

.Har du piercing?
Ja, om hål i öronen räknas.

.Bråkar du och dina syskon ofta?
Jag bråkade ibland med min osynliga syster när jag var liten, men sen insåg jag att hon inte fanns och bråken upphörde.

.Vem är den viktigaste personen i ditt liv?
Mina föräldrar.

.Läser du ofta böcker?
Det blev mindre skönlitteratur i och med att jag började plugga och fick tjocka kursböcker att plöja igenom, men Harry Potter (ja, av alla böcker) fick in mig på läsningens bana igen. Så, svar ja.

.Vad föredrar du för sorts filmer?
Drama och filmer som får dig att tänka.

.Vad slösar du mest pengar på?
Resor, teater och böcker.

.Vill du gifta dig?
Jag känner inget jättebehov av det just nu, men vi får väl se.

.Vill du ha barn?
Nja... Tveksam. Återigen, vi får se.

Vilka tvprogram som går just nu har du fastnat för?
Desperate Housewives, Lost.

.Vilka husdjur har du haft innan?
Kaniner, hamster. Hund och undulat för tillfället.

.Är du bra på att laga mat?
Om jag anstränger mig.

.Var badar du helst?
Caldes D'Estrac och Sitges. Annars får väl Bjärred duga.

.Vad dricker du för alkohol?
Drinkar.

.Vilka djur är du mest rädd för?
Getingar. Allt med gadd.

.Vad tycker du om monarkin?
Har inga starka känslor rörande den.

.Vilka språk kan du?
Svenska, engelska, spanska, lite italienska och en del teckenspråk.

.Har du någon gång skadat dig allvarligt?
Bröt armen när jag var tio. Har stukat fotlederna rejält oändligt många gånger.

.Vilken kändis är hetast?
Milo Ventimiglia. Humma humma.

.Gillar du att dansa?
Salsa, alltid. På klubb när jag druckit lite.

.Vad har du för klädstil?
Har jag en stil?

.Är du flygrädd?
Ja, och det blir värre för var gång jag flyger i takt med att mina odds blir sämre.

.Vad tycker du om rökförbudet på krogen?
Bästa förbudet nånsin.

.Vad dricker du helst när du är törstig?
Vatten.

.Vilken är din favoritglass?
Glass som i glasspinne eller smak på kulglasss? Pinne - Magnum Strawberry White; kulglass - mango.

.Tror du på ett liv efter döden?
Jag vet faktiskt inte. Jag lutar åt reinkarnation.

.Vilket kaffe sörplar du helst?
Alldeles vanlig Latte Macchiato.

.Vilket mobilmärke föredrar du?
Eftersom jag har en Siemens säger jag väl Siemens.

.Vad har du för personlighet?
Umm... Snäll?

.Har du varit deprimerad?
Ja, för länge sedan.

.Tycker du om sushi?
Har bara ätit det en gång och tyckte att det var lite läskigt, men är villig att ge det en chans till.

.Tror du på livslång kärlek?
Ja, hoppas kan man ju!

.Vad äter du helst när du ser på film?
Snacks. Popcorn, chips, nötter.

.Lever dina föräldrar tillsammans?
Japp.

.Skulle du vilja träna någon typ av kampsport?
Absolut, om jag bara hade råd. Skulle gärna lära mig aikido.

.Har du tandläkarskräck?
Skräck och skräck, jag spritter inte precis av glädje när jag får min kallelse.

.Har du någongång haft självmordstankar?
Mycket länge sedan.

.Vilken hårfärg har du naturellt?
Smutsblond.

.Biter du på naglarna?
Det är sällan, men det händer.

.Är du beroende av något?
Musik, teater, internet.

.Vilka internetsidor besöker du varje dag?
MiGCentral, Dooce, olika bloggar, TWoP.

.Höger- eller vänsterhänt?
Höger.

.Humör just nu?
Hängig, trött och irriterad.

.Favoritgodis?
Jag är inte mycket för godis, faktiskt. Men ge mig en påse ostbågar och du får mig till vän.

.Musik just nu?
Avenue Q, OBC.

.Vad sa du senast?
Ingen aning. Alltså, jag sade det. 'Ingen aning'.

.Favorit-hangout?
Vaddå hangout?

.Saft eller alkohol?
Beror på vilken saft och vilken alkohol.

.Hur många kuddar sover du med?
En.

.Spelar du nåt instrument?
Inte ett enda, tyvärr.

.Bästa film?
Just nu, Rent. Alltid, Requiem For A Dream.

.Tror på liv på andra planeter?
Ja.

.Har du några homosexuella vänner?
Ja.

.Är du kittlig?
Använder du det emot mig om jag om jag erkänner?

.Bästa bok?
Liftarens Guide Till Galaxen, A Long Way Down, The Long Walk, Ett Öga Rött, Les Misérables. Åh, förlåt. Jag tyckte att det stod 'böcker'.

.Om du fick välja en superkraft, vad skulle du välja?
Oh, oh, jag vill kunna flyga! Och resa i tiden!

.Skriver du dagbok?
Bara min blogg här.

.Är du klar nu?
Ja.

Sniff

I'm sick again. Its not fair, it was only a month since last time, and still I'm sneezing and coughing up phlegm like there's no getting rid of it ever again. Isn't there some sort of rule that says you can only have one giant cold every six months?

I got Rent. I watched it. And I bawled. My mum and dad watched it sporadically while doing other things on the computer, and I was trying very hard to keep the crying under control so as to not embarrass them or myself. I was doing alright, but then came Without You and the funeral, and I of course lost it. And that was when it happened. Towards the end of the funeral scene when everyone stand up to join Collins - the way Idina closes her eyes at that point always gets to me - my father decided that it was time to chime in.

"Oh, so this is one of those songs that everyone magically knows?"

That wasn't the worst part. In the end, when Mimi's lying on the table and singing 'I Should Tell You'... "Well, she's dying, but at least she can still do a little song." He then proceeded to laugh at me when seeing my drenched face.

He mocked it. He mocked Rent. I still haven't forgiven him.
You do not mock Rent in front of me. You just don't, not if you want to stay on good terms.

In other news, this is my very first post typed on my new laptop that arrived yesterday! It's fast, pretty, has a wide, shiny screen and large harddrive, and I still feel attached to my slow, scratched old one. I don't want to get rid of it. It was my first one, and it's cute.

Theatre mania

Home. Yep, I survived London and London survived me, and I've got my dosis of much needed theatre. Three shows in three days; Blood Brothers, Avenue Q and Rock You.

Avenue Q. Oh. My. God. It was seriously one of the best things I have ever seen in my life (and yes, I am aware that I used to say the same thing about Rock You). It was simply genious, and the changes they'd made from the the Broadway version worked so well, in most cases. For example:

'Here's a coin that says "euro" on it. But that won't buy anything!'

'Hallelujah! I haven't felt this good since I sued my parents.'

Everyone were amazing. Julie Atherton (Kate/Lucy) is my new girlcrush. She was so incredibly cute and her voice was sofa king strong I got goosebumps during 'Fine, Fine Line'. I also fell in love with Simon Lipkin (Nicky/Trekkie) whose facial expressions and line delivery made me cry with laughter. 'Me need to hurry home!' He was very different to Rick Lyon, which was just good since you appreciated his performance for what it was even more. Giles Terera rocked as Gary Coleman. I was apprehensive of a male Gary, but it worked perfectly even though they'd had to change some some songs so that he could hit the notes. 'I was the cutest little black kid on TV - I made a million dollars that my parents stole from me - my life was over when I hit puberty, but I'm here, fixing the toilets on Avenue Q!'

Best thing, I was coughing all the way through the show.
And a good cough it turned out to be, too.
Yaaaaaay!!!
Sorry. I'm still influenced by the Bad Idea Bears. They're so cute.

Spending time with the family was nice, too. Tommy's gotten married! I'm so out of the loop. Richard is studying Hebrew and is apparently almost as much of a language geek as I am. Jodie looks beautiful and so grown up. Robbie is twelve! I still remember the little six year old who was stomping as loudly as he possibly could to demonstrate his displeasure about having to go to bed. And my auntie can be so hillarious... My grandfather accidentally stepped on my grandmother's foot under the table, and I quote: "Ni får ju bestämma om hon ska vara mellan dina ben eller om du ska vara mellan hennes!" Oh, you should have seen my grandfather's face.


I wonder when I'll get to go to London next. It has to be before Q stops running, that is for sure. Seeing it once is not enough - god, I hope it gets extended, and that the cast stays.


(photos belong to www.avenueqthemusical.co.uk)

Favourite film/tv scenes

As you wished, Cucumber-boy. ;)

Dogma - Chris Rock's entrance scene. He rocks, if you pardon the pun. He falls naked out of the sky, and proceeds to tell them that he not only knew Jesus, but that "Niggah" - that is, Christ - ows him twelve bucks. Not to mention that he a few minutes later gives one of my favourite lines ever, when Jay complains that it's too far to walk to the town: "Back in the old days of JC we used to walk everywhere! Ever heard of a fat apostle? Nu-uh."
Number two from that film; Alan Rickman as the Metatron showing why the heroine didn't have to worry about him raping her. "I'm as anatomically correct as a Ken-doll."

Brokeback Mountain - Jake Gyllenhaal's speech. "So what we got now is Brokeback Mountain! Everything's built on that! That's all we got, boy, fuckin' all." Awesome.

Rent - the Without You scene. Mimi going through the withdrawl, Roger trying to comfort her... And when the Life Support people fade and disappear, I devolve into a sobbing mess.

As Good As It Gets - Melvin introduces Carol and Simon to each other, "Carol the waitress, Simon the fag", and has no idea he's said something that could be considered disrespectful. The list could actually be comprised of scenes from this film alone.

Romeo + Juliet - Romeo following Tybalt after Mercutio has been killed. I may not be a Leonardo fan, but the scene where he holds Tybalt's gun against his own head is intense. "Either thou, or I, or both must go with him!"

Everwood - the montage from the season 1 finale, before Colin's operation, with 'Cathedrals' playing in the background. It's one of the strongest scenes I've seen in a tv series.
I'll actually add one from the pilot as well; Ephram and Andy screaming at each other in the street. - I wish you'd died instead of her! - Well, I wish I had too, you little bastard!

Crash - Michael Pena as the dad talking to his daughter under the bed about the invisible cloak. I just found it all so touching.

The Fellowship of the Ring - when we first see Hobbiton with 'Concerning Hobbits' playing. When I first saw it, it was just like I always imagined it when reading the book, and actually seeing it on film was an incredible feeling.

American Psycho - when they all compare their buisness cards and Bateman realises that one of the other guys has a better looking card than his. You see how much that kills him and just how unstable he is, and Christian Bale does that scene so damn well.

Buffy - the season two finale, when Buffy makes the choice to sacrifice Angel for the world. Her face when she realises what she has to do is actually a bit heartbreaking.
Number two; from the episode Tabula Rasa. Everyone has lost their memory thanks to a spell going wrong, and Spike realises, after having taunted Giles about his British accent, that he sounds the same.' - Listen to Mary Poppins! He's got his crust all stiffened up with that nancy boy accent. You Englishmen are always so... Bloody hell. Sodding, blimey, shagging, knickers, bollocks. Oh god. I'm English. - Welcome to the nancy tribe.'

I could go on forever, but I'll stop there.

Creativity injection?

I'm writing again. It's not much, but it's writing, and it feels so damn good.

Kvällarna kyler
Obarmhärtigt närmar sig
sommarens svansång



The feeling when seeing your own name in 'print', even if it's only on a website, is truly awesome.

I whistle a happy tune

Remember I mentioned I was thinking of getting a new laptop?
Well... I ordered one. And a new iPod, too - they had a special offer if you bought a laptop and an iPod at the same time. I couldn't resist.
Estimated delivery in two weeks. Yay!

I can now add trouble breathing to the shoulder pain. Fantastic. I knew the painkillers could cause my asthma to set in, but even though they don't seem to help much, I dread what it would be like if I stopped taking them. Grrreat.

And the bright shall suffer

I'd like to take a moment to reflect on the fact that I took my first IQ test a while ago, and that my final score came to 127. I was quite surprised - that's not too bad, is it? Better yet was that my intelligence type is apparently, according to this particular test, an 'insightful linguist', and that careers that would be suited to me had 'translator' among them (it also had 'teacher', but I chose to ignore that). It seems like I could finally be on the right path to doing something that suits me.

I've been on prescription painkillers for the past week for my shoulder. It's been hurting for almost two months now, and it's starting to drive me a little mad. When it's at its worst I can't even take my top of on my own, or lift the showerhead with my right hand. The pills haven't started working yet, but I'm not giving up on them until I've finished the treatment. I'd really rather not have to take a cortison shot.

The doctor wasn't really a favourite of mine, though. The first thing she said after I explained what my problem was, was "And what do you want me to do about it?"
How the hell should I know? You're the doctor, you tell me what to do about it, I didn't say. But, at least she did give me the pills in the end.

She also looked briefly at the knot thingy on my leg which I've been worrying about for a while and which my mum keeps telling me I should have removed, and said it was most likely nothing. Oh, good. So why do I still check it every day?

I'm growing just a tiny bit addicted to blogthings.

You Are An INFP

The Idealist You are creative with a great imagination, living in your own inner world. Open minded and accepting, you strive for harmony in your important relationships. It takes a long time for people to get to know you. You are hesitant to let people get close. But once you care for someone, you do everything you can to help them grow and develop. You would make an excellent writer, psychologist, or artist.

What's Your Personality Type?

Fin de semana catalana

This weekend has been completely guay. First of all, the weather was nice. Importante. Second of all, Malmö was invaded by Spanish people from all of Catalunya! Even more importante! We were there all day yesterday, watching gegants and capgrossos, trying to comprehend how to bailar sardanes, and above all, speaking Spanish. With each other - for some reason it felt completely natural when being surrounded by catalanes - and with the people at the information center. Guay, as previously stated.

But I wonder... Was I really annoying when I was fourteen? Jumping around, screaming, pretend-fighting, hitting my friends with empty water bottles and pulling their hair? The girls waiting for the bus along with us made me want to slap them, shout for a bit, and then go home to enjoy a cup of tea. I felt so old. But really, is it possible for fourteen year olds to have become older and younger at the same time? They may look older, but they behave more childish than ever.

Or is it just my old age talking?

We also made a visit to Ikea, which I love for many reasons, and one of them is that you get to study men/women dynamics. It's awesome how men and women play such different roles in there. The men are very clearly there to drive the car, do the heavy lifting and possibly pay for whatever is bought. Maybe even look after the kids. They do their thing, find what they've come there to buy and then run through the house for the tills. The women on the other hand stop at every department, go 'ooh' and 'aah' over cute picture frames, pillows and lampshades, and try to convince the husband they really do need that new carpet for the living room.

It's hillarious. And I'm not ashamed to admit that I am indeed one of the women who go 'ooh' over cute picture frames.

I even bought one.

When going through my notes from the classes in Bcn I realised just how dirty our teacher Rosa was. 'Cachondo'? 'Hacerse paja' (with the definition "tener el sexo con tu mismo - los hombres lo hacen normalmente con la mano")? 'Que te folle un pez'? 'Tirarse de alguien'? You gotta love her, teaching us stuff like that.

...

eta.
If there was ever an actor ruined by a role, it's the dude playing mr Perry in Dead Poets Society - not even That 70th Show can redeem him for me. Whenever I see him, all I can think is "You bastard, you killed Neil!"

Haremos de las nubes terciopelo

I've become far too attached to these competitive reality shows. Damn you, Nigel Lythgoe. I know, it doesn't have quite the same ring to it as 'Damn you, Berlanti', but it works for me.
And Benji - call me!


G, I took a leaf out of your book and took the party test on tv4's website, although my results came out very different. Interesting, but no huge surprises except for matching the KD with 41 %. That was admittedly a bit disturbing.








Do you ever worry about the possibilities and risks of reincarnation? That next time you'll be born in a starving village somewhere in Africa, or as a pigeon, doomed to try and eat cigarettes off of the ground every day for most of your life?
Yeah, me neither.

Marital issues:

- Your grandfather has started to take milk in his coffee. Wants to be modern and all that, I suppose.
- That's not it at all. It's because you're making the coffee stronger these days.
- I make coffee the exact same way as I have for the last fifty years. You've never complained before. Milk...!

I do love my grandparents.
It's funny how nothing gets to be spontanous with them, though. We took a trip down to the West Dock yesterday, to enjoy the weather while it lasted, and then decided to call my grandparents to see if they were in for a surprise visit. They were. We went. There was coffee and three different kinds of cake. My grandmother's comment:

- It really is nice that you came, but it would've been even nicer if you'd called earlier so that we could've had something proper to offer with the coffee.

Three different kinds of cake apparently doesn't count. I swear, had we given them advance notice we would've had dinner there - the only way to avoid that is to call at the last minute.

...

I'm thinking of posting a bit of audio. Just have to get used to the thought of my rusty English being out on the web.

...

The SuperNots took away my eyecandy. Not cool. DirtyPhil, you will be sorely missed.

Ain't she the picture of a real life star...

Nose like Rudolph, sneezing, sniffling, red eyes continually running... Oh, I'm such a beauty right now. I went out to get some sun today - can't be losing all my tan and be looking all pasty white when they parental units come home from Crete - and as soon as a ray of sunlight hit me I started sneezing like I'd never be able to stop. I didn't stay out very long.

I finally found my schedule on the linguistic institution's webspace today. It's not looking too bad at all, I have to say.

Monday, 13-15 Structure and function of language
Tuesday, 9-12 Speech communication
Wednesday, 10-12 Structure...
Thursday, 9-12 Speech...
For the first ten weeks. Then we move on to:

Monday, 13-15 Language acquisition
Tuesday, 15-17 Languages of the world
Thursday, 13-15 Language acquisition
Friday, 9-11 Languages of...

I can hardly believe that I'm actually going to get to study this properly. It's not just two months of making sure we know the basis of linguistics so that we can fully take in what we are really there to focus on. This is really it. This is the focus. It's almost too good to be true.

I'm still missing Barcelona, and it took every effort not to order in Spanish at the restaurant the other day.

Films I plan to watch this week to pass the time with my handkerchief:
Child's Play. I haven't seen Chucky in ages.
Abre Los Ojos. Love this film. And Eduardo Noriega is hot.
The Basketball Diaries
Dead Poets' Society. Have to take the opportunity to blame the tears on the cold!
Good Will Hunting
Jurassic Park 3. Because I can't remember it.
Dogma. Chris Rock and Alan Rickman, it doesn't get any better.
Much Ado About Nothing.

Crash and A Clockwork Orange were also on the list, but have now been watched. I'm very efficent.

Lastly, Phil Ritchie is a sexy bastard and the SuperNots should keep him on the show for a while longer simply for my viewing/listening pleasure. If they don't at least I've discovered a new band through the show, and once again, it's not the band that the show is actually about.

A pack of memories

Yes, yes, the photos are done. It's amazing what an impatient bunch of people have been waiting for them...

http://flickr.com/photos/29551290@N00/

I still haven't figured out how to create a link properly without getting that dot in front of it, so, copy and paste please.

And I still miss Barcelona and the people there. Christ, Lund is boring during the summer, and it costs 50 sek back and forth to Bjärred if you want the beach! That's more than back and forth on the train to Sitges and Caldetas, both of which took 35 and 50 minutes. Do you want to know how long it takes to Bjärred? 20 minutes on the bloody bus.
Last night was Shóko night. That was hard. I was looking at my invitation flyer thinking it ought to be used instead of just sitting on my desk. I want the cava and the chocolate fountain, dammit!

Rock Star: Supernova isn't quite doing it for me. Or rather, the contestants aren't. Sure, there are some people I like rather a lot, but none of them is giving me the vibe I already felt from both Marty and Suzie (and of course MiG) by this time last year.
On the other hand I'm so hooked on So You Think You Can Dance? Loving Benji and Donyelle. Don't anyone dare spoil me!

Oh, and I've responded and accepted my acceptance to Lund University, so I suppose I am now officially in. Hooray! Only thing left is to let Malmö University know that I'm giving up my studies there, and I don't expect a riot to stop me seeing as I'm not allowed to continue there anyway, having not completed the work experience. I did get a VG on the theory part of the literary course, though. *gloats*

Therapy.

Okay, so, I'm home. Which quite frankly sucks.

To start off, I apologise for the lack of blogging and kindly ask you to blame the American Invasion that came upon us one Monday and took up all the computers. Christ, they were everywhere, all 'yeah', and 'chips', 'coke' and 'sure'. And they were tiny. I don't know why, but the majority of the students seemed younger this year - we were among the oldest by far with 21 and 22. There was also a distinct lack of creme-coloured catalans, which was disappointing. The train journeys weren't half as fun this year with no proper view.

El Guapo was no longer working at BCN Café, which caused Calle Casanova to lose its charm somewhat.

School was absolutely awesome. Before we left we'd planned to take quite a few days off, because you know, who really wants to be stuck in a classroom four hours a day for four weeks straight when the sun is shining outside and the beach is calling you?
Well, as it turned out, we did. Seriously, classes were so much fun we contemplated a lot before our last week which day we were going to skip before we came to the conclusion we just didn't want to miss out on anything. Because when you have teachers like Rosa and David, you never know what will happen. Funny thing - I had David last year as well and adored him, so when I saw his name on my transfer note I was one happy girl. The dude is too cool to even describe. Have you ever had a teacher who openly admits to loving Olivia Newton John and Xanadu, who suddenly starts singing 'You're The One That I Want', or who pretends to be Superman in front of a fan? Well, I have. And what more is, I have photographical evidence.

The teachers at Enforex are a very special kind. That, or I've just been very lucky both years. Our teachers during the first week were just as good as these - Moisés was one of a kind, and Aina, well, she was so cute and tiny I just wanted to put her in my pocket and bring her with me to Sweden. Rosa, just as cute in a totally different way with her love for chupachups, her calling me 'Kati' and her 'Vaya!'

I miss my class already. Best group ever, I've never laughed in school the way I have during these weeks... Our Polacio, he's not speaking Hispanski any longer. He's all about Polski now, with the penguins and his fishes. What in the world will Arthuro and Dante do without him? (Admit it, boys, you miss him like crazy! Well, we all do.) We're all going to Polacia next year, aren't we?
I'm still surprised at having a classmate with such awesome music taste. (Thanks for the tips, I'm on them!)

Damn not going to Pamplona. But the sound effects the boys made when describing the bulls rushing past were very, very entertaining.

I miss the beaches. Where am I supposed to go now? Lomma beach? Bjärred? They're nothing compared to Caldetas, Sitges and Montgat! And, as much as it pains me to admit it after having defended Sweden to a bunch of stubborn Brasilians for weeks, it was bloody cold when we got home last night. Yes, yes, it was cold. Moving on. It's warm now.

We're planning on going back in the beginning of October, somewhere around that time (Ricardo, you better get a job so that you'll still be there by then!)... I need paella. I need the paella parellada from El Cangrejo Loco (with a name like that, how can you not love the restaurant?). How am I going to be able to wait until October before I get to eat it again?

A few quotes which no one will find funny except for me, but I need to type them down to remember them.

Quelli, while playing pictionary: 'Japonés? Japonés? Japonés?' (and repeat)
David: 'Sabéis porque no funcionaban las persiennas? Porque una palomita habia hecho caca en el sensor.'
*'Porque las mujeres no saben conducir? Porque los hombres siempre les dicen que esto (tiny distance) es 20 centímetros.'
Ricardo: 'Polacio, no te mates, por favor!'
Polacio: 'Era mi hermana. Tengo dos pesces.'
* 'En Polonia no tenemos solo las palabras, tenemos grandes frases.'
* '... Pero!...'
* 'En mi país...' (Polacio, you know we love you, right?)
* 'Mejor con los pinguinos que los monos' (score!)
Moisés: 'Hace frío como en el polar norte! Ay, que me caye el moco!'

After the game between Brasil and France.
Me: I hope we didn't bring bad luck.
Arthur: No, no, it was Polacio.
Polacio: Es posible...

Photos? Coming soon.

---Eta---
Omigod! I got the letter from the university, and I'm in! I'm gonna be a linguistics geek!

Life in Spain

Okay, to begin with, there are a few things I've learned this past week.

- Spanish people hurt their arms and hands very easily. Not a day goes by that we don't spot at the least two people with casts or bandages.

- They also seem to prefer Alaskan Malamute and Siberian Hskies over most other dogs, which is unfortunate. For the poor snow dogs, that is.

- The sea is a lot warmer and easier to bathe in at midnight than in the afternoon. Although, alcohol might have something to do with that. I'm not completely sure.

- Coca, traditional Spanish cake to eat at San Juan, tastes really good. Especially with some sand on it.

Things are going well here. Despite getting afternoon classes last week we had a great time and ended up with two of the most awesome teachers ever. I may blog about them in particular eventually.
The house is full of germs, with our flatmates, the two of them that are left, coughing and sneezing all over the place. Wouldn't prise me in the least if I caught something.
The apartment itself isn't nearly as fun as last year, but we met some really cool people through one of our awesome classmates and celebrated San Juan with them. Very international - we had Sweden, Brasil, the Netherlands, Poland, Germany, UK and the US represented. Drinking games, champagne, swimming in the dark... So much fun. Best midsummer's eve ever.

Sweden sucked against Germany. That was embarrassing. Although there's no way Lucic should have gotten that red card, and the ref's face when he gave it to him? That was pure malice! He enjoyed it!

Shóko is still on. Free entry, champagne, fruit and a choicolate fountain? We are so there. Granted, the fruit and chocolate fountain is only on Wednesdays, but still. It's a good place to go.

I'm sure I've forgotten loads, and I would love to blog more about San Juan especially, but there is no time. I'll be back, hasta la vista, baby, and all that.

xxx

Off we go!

So, I'm leaving in a couple of hours now - just thought I'd leave a little goodbye note in here for anyone who might stumble by. Barcelona for a month, and it's going to be really good to get away. The bag is packed and I'm sure I've forgotten something, but what the hell - we're going to a big city. They have shops there.
Although I'm nervous as hell about the flight and the test we have to take tomorrow morning when we arrive at school.

Take care, you guys. I'll miss you. I can't promise I'll get online that much, but I'll try and pop in here to update at least a few times. No pictures guaranteed though, that'll have to wait until I get back home. ;)

Should the plane crash, I want Cathedrals played at my funeral. Remember that.

Evil, I tell you

You Are 28% Evil

A bit of evil lurks in your heart, but you hide it well. In some ways, you are the most dangerous kind of evil.

How Evil Are You?

Well, there you go. Apparently, I'm more than a quarter evil. Interesting.

I should pack. I hate packing to go away. The only thing I hate more is packing to go home.

When television turns into audiovision

How ironic is it that I rediscover my love for Everwood all over again when the show was about to have its series finale in the US? Screw you, CW and Dawn Ostroff. And a special 'eff you' to Brenda Hampton's train wreck 7th Heaven (or 7th Hell, if you prefer that) that is responsible for Everwood being killed. No more Bright, Ephram, Amy, Andy or Edna. And no more Colin, but perhaps that doesn't count seeing as he's been gone for the past three years. Still. I miss him.
I'm so getting the s1 DVDs when I get home (Colin! Did I mention I miss him?). And excuse me for a second while I yell at Amazon - who really have no responsibility whatsoever but are easy to blame when I don't know who else to yell at - for not having seasons 2-3 available.

Like I mentioned on here a long time ago I never listen to the radio. Subsequently, I 'find' my music in other ways, mainly by listening hard when I hear something I like on the TV. And thanks to Everwood (and TWoP) I discovered one of the most beautiful songs I have ever heard, which has been playing non-stop on my iTunes ever since I found it. Jump, Little Children - Cathedrals. Seriously, I can't stop playing it. You, go buy it on iTunes, or buy the CD (Magazine) or something - I don't care how you get it, just get it.

In the cathedrals of New York and Rome
There is a feeling that you should just go home
And spend a lifetime finding out just where that is

I love falling in love with songs. This one is going to stay with me for a very long time.
Thinking of the scene it was used in just adds to the whole feeling of it.

It's too warm to be outside. I'm just going to sit here by the computer until I'm heading into town for the graduation.
Maybe I'll listen to Cathedrals again while waiting.
I think I probably will.

Complement

As I promised, Logan. ;)
Zlatan Ibrahimovic. The man who could well save us in the World Cup if he just gets himself together. I know he has it in him, I know it. And so does he, I'm sure, but there's something not quite right at the moment.
"Described as 'half ballerina, half gangster', Sweden's Juventus striker could be England's undoing in Germany 2006." That was how the Sunday Times (UK) described him and god, I hope they were right.

Australia beat Japan! How cool was that? Three goals in the last ten minutes... The poor Japanese team had no idea what hit them.



As for the handball team, I think they deserve a picture as well. From left to right - Marcus Ahlm, line player; Pelle Linders, didn't play last night but is a great defence player; and team captain Stefan Lövgren.

I really miss the good old days of EC 2002. That was an amazing team, and it's not the same without the oldies. At this point, Lövgren and Vranjes are the only players left from the 'Golden Team'. I wonder if we'll ever get up to the standard we had back then.... I mean, really, we were unbeatable. Other teams feared us, the dangerous Bengan Boys. Handball players all over the world whimpered at the mention of names such as Wislander, Lindgren, Vranjes, Pettersson, Lövgren, Svensson and Gentzel. Now, well, it is what it is. We're not bad, but we're far from feared and far from the form we need if we're going to become a leading nation again. Will the new kids be able to hack it?


I ran into Tereze at H&M today! She's home this week to see her sister graduate and goes back to Italy on Sunday, I think. Really good to see her, I haven't seen her in ages. I think she found her home in Italy. Will be good to see her on Thursday again, before she goes home and we leave for Spain.

Yikes. Barcelona is less than a week away.

New look and sports

I kinda like this one. Pink is never wrong.

The football World Cup... Well, the game last night was a bit of an embarrassment. In your face, everyone who were saying we'd win by two or three goals. Zlatan needs to focus. Ljungberg needs some help on his side, he can't be expected to do everything on his own. Henke needs to move his feet. Mellberg needs to judge distance better and adjust his passes to it. Svensson just needs to get better. And Lagerbäck needs to put Kim Källström in the game earlier.

So, to advance, at the very least we need to beat Paraguy and Paraguay need to beat Trinidad-Tobago. If we beat England, well, that will just be a bonus. Before yesterday I was sure we would, but after seeing them play... Not so sure anymore.

And the handball team lost the first World Cup qualifying match against Iceland. It didn't look that good, but not too bad either. Kim Andersson made a great game for three quarters of it, but can't handle the pressure of being a few goals behind and took some bad shots during the last minutes. Several players seem to have that problem. If Kim gets past it, he's going to be unstoppable, though. Lövgren doesn't quite have the same wicked arm as he used to and almost seemed a bit hesitant to shoot at times. Worrying. Ahlm looked alright, though missed a few golden opportunities. Lindahl, well, he's no Pettersson, but did good. I want to see more of Larholm, and Franzén. Vranjes is still the largest littlest handball player there is - takes his responsibility when needed and isn't afraid to try and break through a wall of defence players 12 inches taller than him. Awesome, but one out of six having that drive isn't enough. Gentzel had a fantastic first half, had more saves than I could count and didn't let Iceland score until 8 minutes into the game, but couldn't keep up the same standard for the whole game. And can't be expected to. I would've liked to see Per Sandström in the squad - that boy has potential. I think he could have been a asset between the goalposts.

We've got one more chance next Saturday and need to win by at least five goals, so I hope the boys are World Cup-hungry enough to kick some ass. I know I am.

Oh, look at me being the sports girl.

Intrigued

I have to say I am a bit curious about this...

Nostalgia

It's that time of the year again... Boys and girls in tuxes and gowns heading to Grand Hotel for the student ball. Kids dressed in white, wearing the student hats, walking the streets screaming and blowing in their whistles. Fancy cars with flowers and decorations riding around town. People, all dressed up, hurrying along with huge bouqets of flowers in arms while also trying to hold on to a placard with a picture of a little boy or girl doing some typical child's activity.

Graduation time.
It's a huge deal in Lund. Let's face it - this town is famous for one thing, and that is the University and the snobbery that surrounds all things academic.

It's a great time though, if you don't mind you hearing deteriorating from all the car horns, whistles and general screaming. Everyone's so happy. It brings me back to when I was the one getting ready for the ball. Hair, make-up, pre-drinks... Fancy dinner at Grand, waving from the balcony, waltzing, party at Mejeriet and then at school, the aching feet and the people looking at us walking - limping - home the next morning.

It brings me back to when I was the one wearing white, walking around town singing with my friends 'För vi har tagit studenten- fy fan vad vi är bra'. I remember every minute of the day, despite all the champagne I had. Champagne and strawberries (and cigars, if you were that way inclined) for breakfast in the Botanical Park, the busride to our mentor's house during which everyone signed everyone else's hats (or at least as many as you had the time to), food and more champagne in the garden, dancing, signing more hats, riding back to school to be photographed, dancing and singing so much the photographer had to wait until we'd all calmed down, sitting in the aula hearing our class being called out, running down the stairs out to all of our families waiting, being the only class who defied tradition and sang 'The Bird Dance' on the stairs in front of everyone instead of the classic student song, and then riding around town with Ricky Martin on the radio (not my choice!) shouting and waving at everyone else in their cars. Family and friends waiting at home with food, cake, presents and congratulations. Going to Tegnér's to party with all the others all night.

Crying my eyes out to the pricipal's speech and the choir's goodbye song in the aula the next day, the same aula where we were shouting and laughing the day before. Large group hug in the classroom before leaving. Sitting in the park all afternoon with my closest friends, not wanting to say goodbye.

I can't believe it's three years ago, they've flown by so fast. That week was one of the best weeks I can remember. The whole atmosphere in Lund during these days is something special, especially if you're from here, have grown up with it and know what it all means.
Three years. Damn.