A sign?

I couldn't resist posting about something I saw in the shop today. I am slowly getting used to using the washing machines here and remembering my washing times, after having had the luxoury of washing whenever I wanted. (Dagens I-lands problem!)

I think that maybe this detergent will perhaps inspire to wash more often. Or maybe it's just a sign that I should do the washing more often??

Ms Carling sent me to Heaven and back!

I have to share this videoclip with you. Yesterday I saw Gunhild Carling perform, and it was one of the coolest things I've seen. She totally blew me away. I was curious and have listened to her music alot today. Bagpipes rock! For those of you who don't know, if I ever get married, I would like it to take place in a Scottish castle with pipers, and with kilt dresscode! :)

Lindyhop at Heptown

I have tried something extraordinary. I managed to challenge myself and try out lindyhop at last night's crash course at Tangopalatset. I brought some colleagues with me: Marga, Marie and Göran, and Anna Karin. They were all fascinated by the fact that you actually feel like you have moved back in time to re-live the 20s and 30s - the dancers were amazing too. You can read about lindyhop in Malmö and retro living here. In the course, we had to switch partners every minute or so which was really good I think. I danced with someone whose name I cannot remember. He was indeed a very good leader and he claimed that he knew me from somewhere. Didn't have a chance to ask from where... We learned a basic routine, and I thought it was really fun!

Afterwards, we had a chance to practise what we had just learned to a live band and the splendid Gunhild Carling. I had never heard her before, but I'd say it was one of the best performances I've seen. That woman can do anything on stage! She is a multi-instrumentalist and even got the megaphone out for that true Billie Holiday sound. Amazing. I wanted to snog her, but since I'm not gay, I decided against it.

My friend Mårten (who got me into this in the first place) was there too, looking fabulous I must say. Very cool retro-style clothes. Who needs Harry's? Who needs Hipp? Who needs Etage? I really don't know what I've been missing. Mårten claims that once you've tried it you're hooked. It may be the case here too. Anna Karin was so fascinated by this and loved it so much that she's decided to come along to the course in February! Yay! The more, the merrier! Mårten showed me some moves afterwards. It's so much easier when you try it at your own pace and get someone to tell you how to do things. That was really nice. Below, you can hear him sing "I found a new baby". Very brave!

The evening ended with Marga's 60-something-tango-friend dancing with me for about an hour. He was a bit odd. His beard was tied up in a braid and he had a feather for when it got too hot. None the less, I got to dance some tango to swing music! :)

50 First Dates

Yeah, that movie was ok. I am not a fan of Drew Barrimore though. I was getting ready to go on a date with Baker Boy today. Again, he cancelled. I am quite fed up, and the prospect of going out with him doesn't appeal to me at all. Thumbs down, and it's a no no for me. Bye bye! From now on he shall be known as Wimpy Boy instead.

I am looking forward to tonight's dancing. I am not good at dancing at all,(I haven't really done any dancing in that sense) but it just seems so fun! I mangaged to persuade 5 other people from work to come along too, which is super cool! Nice to look at some nice bums anyway, if nothing else.

Yesterday, I got a phonecall from my colleague / neighbour Theresia who wanted to have a drink or two so I spent a few hours at her place.

Universal Marimekko Syndrome (UMS)

I've been thinking about it alot lately. What's that?, I hear you ask.
Well, I have this hypothesis that people who lead unhappy lives quite often end up with what I've suitably named the Universal Marimekko Syndrome.

People around me are completely obsessed by interior design and buy tons and tons of decorating magazines. DIY programmes on television are more popular than ever, and people find themselves stuck with morgages they cannot afford to pay. I, too, found myself in that same trap whilst in the house with my ex. I admit. I really have no idea what happened, in retrospect. I found myself watching the programmes, buying the magazines, thinking about exactly what colour code I needed on which wall that was to be painted, so it would fit perfectly together.

As if to make up something that wasn't there. Maybe I tried to paint up a happy picture for others to look at, as if trying to prove something to myself and others. Everyone must have Marimekko on the wall and on the kitchen table. You now must buy retro style wall paper by Boråstapeter. How about one of those... whatsitcalledagain... oh yeah, FatBoy bean bags?? Only SEK 2000. Tempted?

If your answer is "yes", I say you are stuck in the trap and got a serious case of UMS. Beware! Your life may prove not to be as happy and cheerful as you are trying to show off to others when hysterically tidying your house for the guests whilst placing your perfectly ironed marimekko table cloth on your designer table.

Advice: Go back to basics. Find out what you used to enjoy. I now have a great stereo, the Berså plates, and ONLY things that I want because I feel good with them around me. Not things that I want to show off to others in order to create an illusion of happiness, when it's not there.

Have a good think, then GET RID OF THE BLOODY MARIMEKKO, get down to business with your loved one (or if you are single like me, find some hot person and snog a bit)and tell them and other people how much you love them and care about them. Spend time in real life with your real life friends. Make sure you make close friends that will be there for you no matter what. GET RID OF THE MARIMEKKO and start living your life today.

We will all die one day. I beg to differ, but I do not want my coffin covered with a marimekko flag. Neither do I wish for those attending the ceremony to sit on Fatboy bean bags. None of those things mean anything. Trust me. I'll go for the Berså pattern on the coffin instead. Oh the irony.

In the country!

Spent the weekend with my old friends Naemi and Magnus. For those of you who don't know, Naemi and I met around 1995 when we both took French in Folkuniversitetet. Our teacher was a weird character called Laurent Mauvais. Mauvais as in "bad". He was quite a bad teacher, so Naemi and myself spent more time at home playing and singing and dancing and drinking gin and tonic than studying French. Those were the good old days!
Magnus and I met in my hometown, Oskarshamn around 1992 I would think. We used to have alot of fun together way back when!
The two of them met for the first time in Malmö in my apartment, and now they have fled citylife for the quieter countryside town of Lessebo. They live there with their two adorable sons Hannes and Anton.
On the way home today, I got a flat tyre and Magnus came and helped me change it. Had to happen at some point I guess. Tomorrow I will change to winter tyres.

In Real Life?

In the future, what exactly will define the difference between different kinds of friendship? Thinking back on my social life 10 years ago, I spent alot of time with musicians, playing music together, doing what I loved doing. Then you had your true friends - friends you could call any time night or day to talk, if you needed it. Aquaintances was never a big thing for me. That, to me, also seems like a way of bragging to others how many friends you have, without actually maintaining the friendship itself. We all have aquaintances. But what I think most people want, are true, good, close friends.
Today, of course, there is the Facebook phenomenon. I signed up, being curious of the idea, but find it a waste of time sometimes. The idea of sharing a video on someone's FunWall is appealing of course, because that's what friends do. The problem occurs when you receive 10 posts from the same person (in my case, a person whom I haven't even talked to for twenty years). Those 10 posts are being mass-distributed to all the people on your friends list. You get so many of those things that it doesn't appeal anymore. The result? You have wasted an hour doing it. Instead one could have gone for a walk in the beautiful park. Or, god forbid, MET one of the friends on your list IRL!
Read an interesting article about Facebook in Swedish here.

Out of here, off to see some IRL friends now.