The stranger to the left

Latest UK gossip is of course revolving around the Glastonbury festival. The female celebrities seem to be united in their preference for hot pants and boots. The Kate specific addition is tights ripped in a random (not) fashion. And here with Mr New Boyfriend. He is famous and will be more famous as a result of his girlfriend choice. But what about the guy to the left? He is now a tabloid anonymous with his picture in every single magazine. The unwanted wannabe look where possible upsides must be none.

After work on the beach

A normal summer afternoon in a coast town outside Gothenburg.

Monday night treat

Favourite noodle soup place in the relaxed part of town. Two beers and a big plate of Miso Ramen and life feels so much better. Human simplicity when you need it.

Life in the fairy tale

Wariness, sorrow and fear. An empty hollow waiting to be filled with something, anything. A long-cherished hope. The naive desire to be the fairy tale and rest in the assurance of 'then they lived happily every after'.

In the fairy tale only the villain die. In the fairy tale love conquers all. And in the fairy tale things are either good or bad, right or wrong. The complexity of conditions, history and future expectations are left out. Or hidden between the lines for the storyteller's own interpretation.

Life

We lost her in body but never in mind and spirit. The weekend when I observed from distance inhabited by unease similar to the unsettling feeling surfacing just before the season changes. You don't realise it is happening until the new season is a fact.

Gratitude for what was, inexplicability for what is and surrender for what can be.

The Swedish culinary art

Herring and snaps. Whatever the occasion for celebration is, we seem to fall back on the same traditional food. Add potatoes and any kind of pork meet, be it sausages, ham or meatballs and it's a done deal. The Swedish smörgåsbord where vegetables shine with their absence and where family recipes are all about pickling. And then the excessive intake of coffee and biscuits, all homemade of course. The whole concept around 'fika' reaches its peak during the holidays like there is no tomorrow. You probably have to be Swedish to really appreciate the magnitude of this culinary experience.

Obsessed by the weather

Our intranet is being upgraded. One of the new features is a weather application whereby you can see the weather in all our office locations. Apparently a must for any decent and award winning intranet. The given icebreaker to kick off a productive conference call or video conference.

The recurring tabloid headlines every year: 'This is where the sun will be!', 'Weather forecast for the next two weeks' are currently wallpapering all the newspaper stands.

And I just found out that there is a new Swedish magazine dedicated to nothing but the weather.

We are obsessed by the weather. Our lives and happiness are dependant on the weather. Imagine the difference in life if weather wasn't an issue. Ah, that's right. Then we would be like the Aussies.

Having lunch with elephants

The almost forgotten summer lunch. A small team of eight became a smaller team of five when we faced the reality of sick leaves, resignations and parental leaves. Had we waited for another couple of weeks we would probably have shrunk even more. Somehow that doesn't seem to be a problem for anyone. A bizarre lunch where the elephants surrounded the table and we all politely ignored them.

Time to land

Some of the best methods for reflection include (in no particular order) hot baths, ironing and pedicure. Tonight I did it all and now one of two feet seems to be grounded which is helpful for the onward journey.

Freudian slip

Finishing off work today
Boss: 'Bye bye everybody, take care now.'
Me: 'Have a great Midsummer weekend and holiday!'
Boss: 'Ehrm.. well, I think we will meet again before that. We have our team lunch tomorrow, followed by your appraisal meeting.'
Me: 'Oh... yes... All of a sudden I thought it was Thursday...'

That's how much I look forward to the lunch and the second appraisal meeting of the year.

Forming, storming, norming, performing

The phases of group development according to Bruce Tuckmuan. The inevitable order to get a team to function. And right now I'm moving between the forming and storming phase in this new team of two. Still uncertain when or if the performing phase is in the cards.

And while the storming phase is going on there are anticipations to live up to in other team constellations where you would have thought the storming phase was resolved long time ago. Facing the consequences of sharing some but not all, now but not earlier, the reality of unmet expectations and different norms became painfully obvious.

Royal wedding and weekend

She said yes, he said yes, blessed by the church, the people and the sun. And now we have a new prince.

He said I'm here. I said great. He said let's meet again. I said yes. He said then I'm coming to you. I said yes. And that's where we are right now.

Short and sweet

A sweet aftertaste from a delicious evening. Precious so precious. Still two feet on the ground. Steps that are ever so light.

Indulging in leadership

I don't believe in gurus, but I'm still very excited about today's seminar with Stephen Covey. 'The seven habits of highly effective people' - the best leadership book I've read so far. Prepping for a day of glorious learning, inspiration and rubbing shoulders with all the other fans, including two of my close girlfriends. The adult version of a school trip.

A day in the suburb

First a home visit to a colleague on parental leave. Business meeting at the kitchen table accompanied by an eighteen month old and some bribes from the posh city bakery. Then management meeting in the local office in the same suburb - no coincidence. Finally dinner with the same management team, still in the same suburb.

Consequently I've had my doze of suburban life for quite a while. Finally back in the city and can breathe normally. I don't know what I was thinking when I played with the idea (admittingly not for very long) of accepting a job outside the city. I'm clearly not in that phase yet - professionally nor personally.

Emergency beautician appointment

Just like that, Monday morning, I realised that eyelashes and brows were in desperate need of tint. What to do? Well, help is not far away but appointments are exclusive. I managed to negotiate a twenty minutes slot. In the middle of a business meeting. Then what to do? Make my excuses and cancel the business meeting. Naturally.

My Spider-Man nephew

My youngest nephew is in love with his wellies. He wants to wear them all the time and doesn't see the reason why you have to take them off indoors. Preferably the left wellie on the right foot and the other way around. But then again, who would want to take off their wellies when they are part of your Spider-Man gear?

Housewife in the country house

Two chicken pies, twentyfive breadbuns and thirty jam biscuits (fifteen for internal use only as they burned the one minute I turned my back on them). That's what I call a productive weekend. Now the House of Angels is ready for guests times many.

Surreal reality

A cold summer evening but warm at heart. Four women coming together for reasons we find surreal and cruel. Accepting life, knowing that you have to be true to yourself; be authentic and stay with your personal convictions. We are different but share the same hope. For me there is only one way forward. And I'm certain that we will meet when the fight is won. We will look back at this evening and think that, yes, it was surreal. And yes, this is real. Now we are where we should be.

Live jazz in Stockholm

Not the trendy Missy-Elliott-version at the jazz festival, but real hard core jazz. Four men absorbed in the longest improvised jazz jams in a crowded, hot venue and an audience following the tunes and rhythms in a well measured act.

This is not my normal hang out and perhaps one of the reasons it felt very refreshing. Even though we ran out of air and humidity exceeded hundred percent.

A result of making a new friend who shared one of her favourite spots in Stockholm. An evening that started with champagne and a VIP invitation to a new lingerie boutique, followed by dinner and discussions about our common profession and finally a dash of jazz to close the evening.

Prime time and fashion

Eventually everybody surrenders to their prime time. The time when you were at the top of the top and in the front of the front.

For example, born in the sixties, you surrender to the late nineties. Always a bit too well matched (pink top AND pink trousers) and one too many accessories (big belt AND big earrings). It worked in the nineties.

People born in the seventies? Well, we are at our prime time right now, so I guess that means we will always have too much black, be a wee bit too blond and probably continue wearing jeans just a little bit too tight. But it works now, doesn't it?!

One of those spontaneous evenings

It started with the following text at 5pm:
'Hi, may be a little bit random, but do you have time to meet up for a drink after work. I'm there in fifteen minutes.'
Followed by the answer:
'Yeeeees!'

Gone are all the musts, have tos and shoulds and in no time I'm caught in a warmhearted hug from Charming J. We haven't seen each other for over six months, but there is no need for an icebreaker and there is definitely no sign of guilt or bad feelings for not having been in touch earlier. It is just one of those magic evenings full of joy, energy and laughing.

We end up in trendy new place in a relaxed part of town. A couple of glasses of rosé, the classic Cesar salad but more importantly the conversations including:
- Sex life as a crisproll (!!)
- Queuing for Sunday afternoon drinking and dancing (yes, I have written about this before)
- Being offered drinks by a sheikh through his bodyguard (first hand experience at one of our usual nightclub joints - in London... some years ago now...)
- The sad art of how some people consume their friends (sadly, also first hand experience)

A lovely summer evening out which filled me with sparks!

Time to move to iPhone 4?

Video calling is no longer a dream, it's a reality only a tap away. Not sure if that is the feature that makes me run to the shop. I rather like not being seen when on the phone. Rather not reveal what I do at the same time as I'm of course fully engaged in the conversation...
But the pure joy of holding a design masterpiece in my hand will no doubt make me continue my Applefication.

Happy lunch hour

May be I should change career and become a personal shopper. Must say my brother-in-law looked pretty cool (even cooler than before) after an hour's intensive shopping at The Department Store.

It was a great teamwork with a very open minded and positive brother-in-law, who happily tried on everything that I brought to the dressing room, a mum slash mother-in-law who run back and forth to get the right sizes. Trousers - tick, jeans - tick, shirts - tick...

This is the birthday treat one gets in our family if one is lucky : )!

Spending the day with my youngest goddaughter

'What colour is your bike helmet?'

A very relevant question from my soon four year old goddaughter. Shame on me when I lied and said blue. I couldn't face her with the fact that her godmother is so old-fashioned that she still doesn't wear one.

In any case it was the wrong answer. The right answer was pink. And to score some extras, the bike helmet should also be decorated with Hello Kitty.

Invisible ink

First we learn the letters. One at a time. From the letters we learn to form words. The words grow into sentences. Now we can read. And the more we read, the more we understand the endless possibilities of what is not there. Sometimes the meaning is in between the words, in the pause between sentences. What is not being said is sometimes the strongest message of them all.

Celebrating modern Sweden

Remind us again, why did we pick June 6 as our National Day?
Answer: In honour of the election of King Gustav Vasa in 1523, which is the milestone that marks the foundation of modern Sweden.

I'm not sure what was so modern about Gustav Vasa, but that probably says more about my poor history skills than Gustav. Anyway, Gustav was long dead before this Swedish National pastry entered the bakeries in 1994 (I'm doing some research here), but I'm sure it's a best seller at Café Gateau today.

House of Angels

How did I end up in front of 'Änglagård' last night? Or 'House of Angels' I believe is the correct translation for this Swedish movie set in the the countryside, crammed with Swedish summer sceneries and small town complex.

I could have been at my own House of Angels and then I would have woken up to birdsong, flowers and coffee in the garden.

Something went wrong.

Happy to be old enough

Following tradition, graduation in Stockholm means going around town on a lorry platform, spraying water and champagne (well, cava), singing (or rather screaming) and dancing (jumping up and down as that is the only move the crowded lorry platform will allow).

I'm not synical, I'm just very happy that this is something that I don't have to do again. Happy to be old enough not to be expected on a lorry platform. What never seems to be old enough though is the music that is played on the lorry platform. More or less exactly the same music that was played twenty (!!) years ago when I graduated. Teenagers today obviously agree that some things were better in the old days.

And now I feel like an old lady making statements about today's youngsters...

Transport design

This is probably one of my favourite logotypes. Simple and clear. Classic shape and classic colours.

Craving the London Underground is a clear sign that I'm not spending enough time in London. If I was, I would not be hallucinating of the underground; the one think I was happy to escape.

In love with Mac

Bringing your personal Mac to the office to work more efficiently. And for the work satisfaction and general well-being. That is pure Mac love. And also conviction to be heard.

Ignoring IT policy (as long as you don't need any support they don't seem to be too bothered), one of my colleagues is making a loud statement about his preferences. He was the one who got me to switch to Mac a year ago. Now he is trying to macify our whole office environment. I wouldn't be surprised if he succeeds.

Optional allergy relief

The alternative treatment for hay fever: red wine and dark chocolate. Full of antihistamines! Much nicer than anything you get from the local pharmacy. It really works!

Courage and belief

'All circumstances can be changed in a moment, and all illness can be healed. The Divine is not limited by human time, space, or physical concerns.' (Carolyn Myss, Anatomy of the Spirit).

I picked up a book, opened it randomly and came to the page with the above citation. More than a coincidence. Free to choose how to interpret the message. Still from within. And I know. Just when I needed it. It's all out there for anyone who can stop, listen and have the courage to believe.