Yearly Archive: 2006

22
Mar
2006

NOT A TOP TEN LIST

Some Things I Love About Sweden: 1. that tarragon is dragon in Swedish 2. Men who can wallpaper AND change diapers AND knit AND fix the car 3. Pettson & Findus 4. barnbidrag and föräldrarledighet* 5. Rebecka, Marie and Cajsa Stina 6. The pretty, pretty money 7. Rapeseed in bloom 8. Carl Larsson 9. Mazariner, lyxbiskvi and vaniljhjärta 10. that television and films are subtitled, not dubbed 11. Moose! Hey! If I bring 4 friends on a moose safari, I get to go for free! Who’s with me?? Tell me something YOU love about Sweden! *governmental dependent subsidies and parental...

21
Mar
2006

FOU RIRE

I used to wonder how people could stand it in the States, working all those crazy hours. Today I worked a 12-hour day and it wasn’t the first one this month. It wasn’t even the third one. And the scary part was that I had to tear myself away. I wanted to stay and keep working, keep getting things done, and only the knowledge that working straight through for a week wouldn’t even get all the things done that I have to get done prevented me from staying longer. That doesn’t make any sense, but I plead half-full bucket of...

20
Mar
2006

MEDIC!

I’m at the whiny stage of the cold now. It’s like the 5 stages of grief only with a bucketful of phlegm in my head. Denial: What’s that? a tickle in the back of my throat? It’s nothing. I am not getting sick. No matter that 2 of my colleagues have been swarming with germs in and out of my office, I WILL NOT GET SICK. Anger: Stupid %$#^%@! coworkers and their stupid $^#&$*!~ germs!! Bargaining: If I pop 2 Tylenol now, I’ll be fine, I’m sure. I’ll just go to sleep a little earlier, and do my walk tomorrow....

19
Mar
2006

THE WHOLE HEAD IS SICK AND THE WHOLE HEART FAINT

I’ve been sick as the proverbial dog all day. I slept most of the afternoon, but it hasn’t done anything to shake this headcold which has liquified my brain and replaced it with bucketfuls of phlegm. Ew. I’m so grossed out by the thought of bucketfuls of phlegm I can hardly stand myself. That wouldn’t even make a good name for a band. Being as how I haven’t been able to do more than drag my weary carcass from bed to sofa to bed, book in hand (did you doubt it? Sick as a dog, but I can still read—I...

18
Mar
2006

IF THE SUN DON’T KNOW, AIN’T NOBODY KNOWS

How do you live in a head that’s divided? I used to know who I was, I used to step firmly, moving forward, arms swinging freely. There might have been obstacles in my path but they were of no moment. I passed them easily, dodging blithely, skipping past, taking them in stride. That person that I was, she’s still there somewhere inside, but she stumbles now, hands forward to feel the way, patting each obstacle thoroughly, wondering if the best way past is over or under or around. I stand with empty hands, with empty mind. Everything has already been...

16
Mar
2006

PUTTING WORDS TOGETHER WELL

The lovely Squeetleynn* over at Sprigs (which my fingers insisted on typing as ‘spring’ 3x) has been inspiring me and her readers with some wondrous word-art of the loveliest kind: poetry. She didn’t know I have a passion for it, which makes me think that particular love of mine hasn’t come through very clearly here in my journal. What kind of poetry you like is so personal, or to put it another way, one person’s poetry is another man’s poison. I think perhaps it’s a little bit like sharing song lyrics. Even though YOU can hear the song in your...

15
Mar
2006

HOW TO MAKE ME HAPPY

Finally give in after a YEAR of handwritten suggestions in the suggestion box, e-mails, chats with the powers-that-be, and outright begging extremely unsubtle hints, and provide sushi catered in to the cafeteria at work. Yippee skippy! The sushi joint put the little fridge in the cafeteria yesterday and this morning they came and filled it at 9 a.m. with approximately 40 box lunches…by 10 a.m. they were ALL GONE, nabbed up by slavering sushi-fiends in every department. And yes, I was one of them. 🙂 I went down and ate my sushi at lunchtime and it was SOOOO GOOD. And...

13
Mar
2006

AT LEAST I’LL LIVE LONGER THAN 3-4 DAYS AND NOT BE EATEN BY A BIRD

The inside of my elbow joints hurt when I straighten my arms. Is it: a) a sign of too much online journaling b) a sign of too much web-surfing c) a sign of too much work on the computer (yes, I do actually do work at the computer) d) a sign of rain e) a sign of aging f) a sign of stress g) all of the above h) tennis elbow. shut up! It could happen. I have my work laptop set up on the dining room table and I am flitting (yes! flit! flutter!) back and forth between the...

12
Mar
2006

SPRING WHEN THE WORLD IS MUD

The moon a dusty thumbprint in the sky, we follow the blue around the village. Snow is melting all around, but hanging on, hugging the ground. The edges are sun-eaten, lacey, dripping. There are ravens and rooks everywhere, as if this were a battlefield or an old Norse myth. Hugin and Munin, thought and memory. I look sideways at their sharp stabbity beaks and surprisingly small heads for such large birds. They perch atop trees, fenceposts, power lines. Another bird, silent and white, rises above a house as we walk. At first I think it is a seagull because of...

11
Mar
2006

BET YOU WISH I’D JUST POST PHOTOS INSTEAD

Melodifestival thoughts: Sandra Dahlberg was robbed. It’s weird to think that an entire country of over 9 million people are all sitting in their living rooms watching the same program on TV. And they announced that an American broadcasting company has bought the rights to the Eurovision concept, so soon all the entire U.S. of A. will be glassy-eyed with song contest fever, too. Any takers that Carola sweeps the whole thing this year? One for the WTF files: A 9th grade art teacher in New York was suspended and may be fired from his 25-year long teaching career for...

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