A walk in the woods
Sep. 8th, 2010 10:12 pmThe other day my sister and I went for a walk in the woods. I found some interesting things and took some photos. We also picked quite a lot of mushrooms. Enough for three meals. They were delicious. :)
A tree that's turned over, showing the roots:
The mushrooms:
A tree that's turned over, showing the roots:
The mushrooms:
I've left several groups on FriendFeed. They're closed little clubs, where no one will welcome you. I have tried to comment and either I don't get a reply, or my comment isn't even approved. So that's it for me.
Another thing - twice now in the past couple of weeks guys who showed up on a community and begged me to chat with them, also nagged me for a photo and when they got it, they just disappeared.
I guess I'm ugly as well as boring...
Another thing - twice now in the past couple of weeks guys who showed up on a community and begged me to chat with them, also nagged me for a photo and when they got it, they just disappeared.
I guess I'm ugly as well as boring...
The first place is Östersund. The reason I'm so interested in this town is that I used to live there, for a while when I was very young. As far as I can remember now, i was very happy there. It's a beautiful town, in a beautiful spot. The entire region is beautiful, but I'll go into that in a later post.
It says on Wikipedia that Östersund is the only town in present day Sweden to have been founded and chartered in the 18 century. I didn't know that. What I did know was that people from the south colonised it, to tax the free farmers who lived up there and were more or less independent of any king of archbishop.
The town lies on the shore of a lake, and in the lake there's an island where many of the town's inhabitants live. One of Sweden's most famous composers made his home there and the house is open for visitors today. There's a runestone on the island, the world's northernmost runestone.
Just like Loch Ness, Storsjön (The big lake) has a monster! In fact, at least one other lake in Sweden supposedly has one, but Storsjöodjuret is the most famous.
There's a lot more to say about Östersund, but I want to keep this short. I'll just say that I have many fond childhood memories from Östersund.
It says on Wikipedia that Östersund is the only town in present day Sweden to have been founded and chartered in the 18 century. I didn't know that. What I did know was that people from the south colonised it, to tax the free farmers who lived up there and were more or less independent of any king of archbishop.
The town lies on the shore of a lake, and in the lake there's an island where many of the town's inhabitants live. One of Sweden's most famous composers made his home there and the house is open for visitors today. There's a runestone on the island, the world's northernmost runestone.
Just like Loch Ness, Storsjön (The big lake) has a monster! In fact, at least one other lake in Sweden supposedly has one, but Storsjöodjuret is the most famous.
There's a lot more to say about Östersund, but I want to keep this short. I'll just say that I have many fond childhood memories from Östersund.
More history
Jun. 22nd, 2010 11:46 amAs part of my historic blog posts, I'm going to post a little about a town/city or other area here in Sweden. Obviously, I'll focus on the history of the place, but I might also go into some other facts.
New blog post at Spring Meadow
Jun. 22nd, 2010 01:01 amThere's a new blog post over at Spring Meadow!
Swedish word 2
Jun. 20th, 2010 11:35 pmThis time the word is "mat" (n. food). It's pronounced with a long "a".
The first historic figure is the Roman emperor Trajan. When I was studying Ancient Culture and Society, he was always my favorite emperor. A seemingly good man, caught up in a difficult time. Ironically, though he seemed to have no taste for war and fighting, he was the Roman emperor credited with achieving the greatest expansion of the Roman empire. His life's work has been documented on a monument in Rome, Trajan's Column. There you can follow his career on what could be described as a sort of cartoon. In some images of Trajan he looks quite handsome. I imagine they are from his youth. So there you have him, one of the few Roman emperors about whom even the ancient Roman gossip columnists couldn't find anything scandalous to say.
Another little series
Jun. 20th, 2010 02:55 amI decided to start another new series of posts on this blog. This one will be about some historic figure. I'll list a few facts about the person and my own impressions of whoever it is. Don't expect too much. I can't post a thesis or even a term paper here. It will just be a short note because history is one of my favorite subjects.
Today's Swedish word: tröja
Jun. 19th, 2010 04:31 amToday's Swedish word: tröja (n. sweater, jumper, t-shirt). The "ö" is pronounced somewhat like the vowel in "word"."stir" etc.
Since I have come to realize that some people are actually quite interested in learning Swedish, I thought I'd start a little series: Today's Swedish word. I'll post one Swedish word and explain it briefly. Just a word of warning - even if it's called Today's Swedish word, it doesn't mean I'll be posting every day. I'll post whenever I feel inspired, as usual.
Two new places
May. 21st, 2010 03:14 pmThe other day when i was out for a walk, I found two streets I'd never been on before. If you live in a big city, that might not seem very strange, but I live in a small town of about 20 000 people. It's also an island. The streets in question were short and insignificant, but still, I found two new places within a ten minute walk of my home. It almost seems unreal. What's more, my mom, who's lived here all her life, hasn't been on them either. Where were they hiding all this time?
World Book Day
Apr. 23rd, 2010 09:41 pmBecause it's World Book Day, I'd like to share a little story about a few of the first books I read myself, as opposed to all the others grownups read to me. Of course I didn't love those any less.
When I turned four, I got - among other things - Tintin in Tibet and two little paperbacks about a girl named Camilla who solved mysteries in her little town. The first ended up in shreds, after I'd read it so many times. It also ended up giving me a lifelong interest in Tibet and the Tibetan culture.
The Camilla books were fun, because we shared a name, though I had a bit of trouble understanding why she was ten years older than me... They were cosy and a little exciting.
When I turned four, I got - among other things - Tintin in Tibet and two little paperbacks about a girl named Camilla who solved mysteries in her little town. The first ended up in shreds, after I'd read it so many times. It also ended up giving me a lifelong interest in Tibet and the Tibetan culture.
The Camilla books were fun, because we shared a name, though I had a bit of trouble understanding why she was ten years older than me... They were cosy and a little exciting.
What was that all about?
Apr. 11th, 2010 02:45 pmYesterday when I was out walking, I heard the church clock strike eight... at four! What was that all about? After the first four, there was a fifth sort of halfhearted one, then three more. Weird.
Should I join or not?
Apr. 9th, 2010 08:48 amThe other day a friend of mine invited me to join Facebook. People have done so before, one of them relatively recently, and I haven't felt the need to join yet another social network Besides, apart from being a major timewaster, there are things about Facebook that I just don't like. For instance not being able to upload any photos. Apparently Facebook will own the rights to whatever material I post.
So... Despite all that, there are reasons I might feel I should join Facebook anyway. It does seem to be a good way to keep in touch with my friends, but on the other hand, so far I haven't had much luck with that. It seems most of my friends (and the majority of them are online friends) are quietly working themselves to death. Most people seem to be doing that. Working themselves to death. I blame my boyfriend-less status on that. It's either that or I'm ugly, boring and weird. Which is it? LOL.
Here's another reason I find myself reluctant to join Facebook:
What do you think? Should I join or not?
So... Despite all that, there are reasons I might feel I should join Facebook anyway. It does seem to be a good way to keep in touch with my friends, but on the other hand, so far I haven't had much luck with that. It seems most of my friends (and the majority of them are online friends) are quietly working themselves to death. Most people seem to be doing that. Working themselves to death. I blame my boyfriend-less status on that. It's either that or I'm ugly, boring and weird. Which is it? LOL.
Here's another reason I find myself reluctant to join Facebook:
What do you think? Should I join or not?
Real estate trouble
Apr. 6th, 2010 10:53 amAs some of you know, my house burned down. It was severely traumatizing and I still can't look at a little red and white cottage without almost crying, but that's not what I wanted to go into here.
Though I have a nice garden and some land, even if the house is gone, I'd been hoping to find something bigger (more land) some day, to grown my own veggies, fruit etc. For that reason I've been looking at real estate agents' sites, for a couple of years now and the trouble is, regardless of the price (within or out of my range) there simply isn't anything even remotely interesting in the areas I'm interested in.
I know I'm picky and I probably have different standards than most people, but I just don't like anything I've found on those sites. That's made me wonder if the truly good objects don't get to the real estate agents at all. Or could it really be that in a country like Sweden which is sparsely populated and relatively 'clean' and green, there isn't any land left for someone like me? It hardly seems possible.
In any case, I'll keep looking, but by now I'm beginning to get discouraged. I know exactly what it is I want, I just can't find it. Sigh. After what happened to the house, it feels a little creepy to live on the land, at least for some time to come. Who knows if whoever set fire to my house is still out there, and still has a grudge against me? Oh, well, I suppose I'll have to overcome my fear, because I can't stand to stay here any longer. This little town doesn't have anything left to offer me. It was a cute little town when I was a child and probably even more idyllic when my mom was little, but today, now that I'm grown up, it just doesn't do it for me. (Don't get me wrong, I'm not looking for something in a city, I just don't feel at home here anymore.)
Though I have a nice garden and some land, even if the house is gone, I'd been hoping to find something bigger (more land) some day, to grown my own veggies, fruit etc. For that reason I've been looking at real estate agents' sites, for a couple of years now and the trouble is, regardless of the price (within or out of my range) there simply isn't anything even remotely interesting in the areas I'm interested in.
I know I'm picky and I probably have different standards than most people, but I just don't like anything I've found on those sites. That's made me wonder if the truly good objects don't get to the real estate agents at all. Or could it really be that in a country like Sweden which is sparsely populated and relatively 'clean' and green, there isn't any land left for someone like me? It hardly seems possible.
In any case, I'll keep looking, but by now I'm beginning to get discouraged. I know exactly what it is I want, I just can't find it. Sigh. After what happened to the house, it feels a little creepy to live on the land, at least for some time to come. Who knows if whoever set fire to my house is still out there, and still has a grudge against me? Oh, well, I suppose I'll have to overcome my fear, because I can't stand to stay here any longer. This little town doesn't have anything left to offer me. It was a cute little town when I was a child and probably even more idyllic when my mom was little, but today, now that I'm grown up, it just doesn't do it for me. (Don't get me wrong, I'm not looking for something in a city, I just don't feel at home here anymore.)
Phone providers, internet providers... providers of digital tv... For years now we struggled to switch away from one to another, and now suddenly, we're going the other way. Twice in just a few months, salespeople from the provider we're leaving, called and bullied mom, who is severely depressed, into signing up for new expensive services, that we might not even be able to use here, in my name or using my info, and her name. I'm surprised that's even legal, quite apart from the lack of business ethics, not that people like that have morals.
So, my sister and I decided to move our phone subscriptions to the old provider. Back to them, you might say. In any case, we're stuck with them for everything else - internet, digital tv, landline... So we thought why not move our mobile phone subscriptions to them too? When we left them they were more expensive than the ones we left them for, but now they've changed their prices.
I have to admit that I wanted this switch primarily to get back at the phone provider (the one we're leaving). No one treats my mom that way, no one treats us that way and gets away with it. Besides, no matter who gets treated this way, it's something that needs to be confronted.
Anyway, my sister called to give them a piece of her mind and fortunately, she was able to make them tear up the agreement, which probably wasn't valid anyway.
I suppose that should make it alright, but grrr I'm so angry with them. That makes the third phone company we don't like, for various reasons. Sigh. Maybe in a small country like ours, you can't afford to be so picky, but at least so far, I don't care. I'll do as I like. (And don't even get me started on salespeople in general...)
So, my sister and I decided to move our phone subscriptions to the old provider. Back to them, you might say. In any case, we're stuck with them for everything else - internet, digital tv, landline... So we thought why not move our mobile phone subscriptions to them too? When we left them they were more expensive than the ones we left them for, but now they've changed their prices.
I have to admit that I wanted this switch primarily to get back at the phone provider (the one we're leaving). No one treats my mom that way, no one treats us that way and gets away with it. Besides, no matter who gets treated this way, it's something that needs to be confronted.
Anyway, my sister called to give them a piece of her mind and fortunately, she was able to make them tear up the agreement, which probably wasn't valid anyway.
I suppose that should make it alright, but grrr I'm so angry with them. That makes the third phone company we don't like, for various reasons. Sigh. Maybe in a small country like ours, you can't afford to be so picky, but at least so far, I don't care. I'll do as I like. (And don't even get me started on salespeople in general...)
Male characters I'd like to shag ;)
Apr. 4th, 2010 04:49 amFound this meme on another blog, but I felt the list was too long and unwieldy. Worse, most of the characters I'd only barely heard of so I couldn't decide which ones I liked enough. So, this is my list of shaggable (or not so shaggable) male characters (note that it's about the characters, not the actors). I chose to add only characters I like to this list. There are none of the ones I can't stand to see at all. You do as you like. In fact, if you prefer, use any character (female too). Whatever you like.
This is how to do it:
Make your own list.
1. Bold the names of guys you’d definitely shag.
2. Italicize the names of guys you might shag after a little persuasion.
3. Leave the guys who don’t do anything for you alone.
Mohinder Suresh (Heroes)
Peter Petrelli (Heroes)
Nathan Petrelli (Heroes)
Hiro Nakamura (Heroes)
Spock (Star Trek)
Dr Julian Bashir (Star Trek)
Captain Julian Bashir (Star Trek)
Jean-Luc Picard (Star Trek)
Will Riker (Star Trek)
Harry Kim (Star Trek)
Worf (Star Trek)
Jake Sisko (Star Trek)
Boromir (LOTR)
Faramir (LOTR)
Aragorn (LOTR)
Legolas (LOTR)
Mitchell (Being Human)
George (Being Human)
Jack Harkness (Torchwood)
Ianto Jones (Torchwood)
The Doctor (Doctor Who)
Archie Kennedy (Hornblower)
Horatio Hornblower (Hornblower)
Robin of Loxley (Robin of Sherwood)
Robert of Huntingdon (Robin of Sherwood)
Guy of Gisburne (Robin of Sherwood)
Peter Pevensie (grownup Peter) (Narnia)
Mr Tumnus (Narnia)
Captain Jack Sparrow (Pirates of the Caribbean)
Will Turner (Pirates of the Caribbean)
Cal McCaffrey (State of Play)
Dan Foster (State of Play)
Dr Daniel Jackson (Stargate)
Jack O'Neill (Stargate)
Max Evans (Roswell)
Michael Guerin (Roswell)
Alex Whitman (Roswell)
Kyle Valenti (Roswell)
Fox Mulder (X files)
Alex Krycek (X files)
Walter Skinner (X files)
Cade Foster (First Wave)
Crazy Eddie (First Wave)
Joshua (First Wave)
Quinn Mallory (Sliders)
Colin Mallory (Sliders)
Danny Taylor (Without a Trace)
Martin Fitzgerald (Without a Trace)
Dr Greg House (House MD)
Dr James Wilson (House MD)
Dr Lawrence Kutner (House MD)
Richard Moser (Rex, a Cop's Best Friend)
Alex Brandtner (Rex, a Cop's Best Friend)
Peter Höllerer (Rex, a Cop's Best Friend)
Fritz Kunz (Rex, a Cop's Best Friend)
Nathan Muir (Spy Game)
Tom Bishop (Spy Game)
