it's a wacky world

Me thinks things are starting to imitate the events in 'The Day after Tomorrow' (fab movie with a cool library and Mr Gyllenhaal being all brave and cute and, you know, a new ice age) just a bit too much for comfort. I've just experienced what was to me a completely new weather phenomena - not hail, not rain, but like slushy snow bits falling in chunks, crunching slightly underfoot and making the ground very, very slippery and me very wet just walking back from Sainsbury's (roughly 100m, and yes, I had an umbrella). That and the snow in China and yes, you get the picture (if you've seen that picture).

So. I've had a pretty shitty time since the last time I blogged. Fell ill, and though I guess this was exactly the kind of virus I wished for for like, 2 months before xmas (devastating enough that you had to be at home but not neccessarily be in bed and in between fever spells feeling OK) I was so annoyed and so bored, even with the European figure skating championship (which I stopped watching by Friday, because oh my god that got old quick seeing the whole qualifying round with the not-so-good skaters for 3h before you got to the impressive parts). Also, I felt so energetic and was doing so good, and then wham! sick, and now I'm still tired and haven't really got those energy levels back at all. Oh well, at least I am up and mobile in time for A and E's arrival tomorrow, which will be fun when it arrives (but right now I'm kinda cranky).

Oh yeah, and they discovered a late night crack cafe/armory on our street, and then I've watched one too many documentary about all the crime in my borough (which although it has dropped in some statistics still outshines the rest of London and the UK) and yeah. Can someone pls hire me to work remotely with something geeky, allowing me to flee this wacky civilization and hide in a hut in remote Norway or something? Dude. It's not cool.

Anyway. I will stop now before inflicting any more of my dark thoughts on anyone else.

Toodles.

figure skating and yerba brava...

...is pretty much all on my mind right now (excluding work things, which will surely be fairly boring to anyone but me so shall not be discussed further here). I managed to find one cumbia villera CD on Amazon (a music style I discovered at a party at L's and her husband's place once when in Barca - no longer last year btw, eek - which I recently came to think of) and I am a woman obsessed. It means gangsta cumbia, and I'm not sure it's exactly like the one I heard at that party but it has enough off the, eh, 'oil drums/xylophones and keyboards on speed' that I'm satisfied. I play it all the time (in between Kent), and the songs are just running through my head and you almost want to get up from your desk and start shaking it.

But I shall refrain.

Also, the European figure skating championships are on in Zagreb, and I was really upset yesterday as I though I wouldn't be able to see it. But alas! I found it in the tableu for Eurosport, and it kicks off tonight at 22.30.

I love figure skating, I have favourite couples (Anissina and Peizirat of course, sadly retired from competitions) and well, from the female's I tend to go for the underdog (ie anyone who can beat Butyrskaya's rein) and from the males, well, I admit I am a fan of Plushenko despite the obvious cliché, but his Biellman's are just so cool... Anyway, sadly he is also retired now (all though he has promised to come back for next season) so I guess I shall have to find new favourites until the World Championships in March!

Kent

...or whoever in the band writes the songs, is a musical genius. I realize most people caught on years ago, but it was one of those crazes I resisted but have now realized I was wrong, wrong, wrong to do so, and would it be very stupid to order all their albums from over here to catch up on the 10 years I've missed? Hmm.

I am not buying the one album they've done in English though. Their lyrics just manages to transform the harsh and cold language that is Swedish into something dark and twisting and sad and beautiful although could it possibly be better than the actual music? Surely that's not possible.

Hmm.

smooth sailing

So... My detox is going suspiciously well (not counting last weekend, or well, champagne-Friday and the hangover that wouldn't end, which was still not that disastrous from a calory perspective). I feel pretty good as well, full of energy, no problems getting up in the mornings, even with the rather dismal weather (although it is slightly annoying because I don't enjoy going on walks in pouring rain at lunchtime, it makes for a rather unpleasant experience back at the desk for another 5h being you know, soggy).

I had a great weekend really. Despite the hangover I had made plans since ages ago to see my friend's band Wilful Missing, which was at an event/pub place near London Bridge, and I had the best time ever! I met up with R and K and went for dinner first and then headed over, and although we timed it for my friend's band they'd changed slots so we ended up seeing The Leaves as well. They were so great! The Leaves were more uptempo, and they had a banjo! and it was just - great. WM was more low key but still really good, throwing in lots of other instruments (I mean, they have a cello player! how cool is that??) and their singer was just so impressive - I could have imagined any of the songs played on the radio or tv. Sadly I wont see any of them again probably, as Wilful Missing are based in Bradford and The Leaves will be on hiatus for at least a year I think. Oh well, the music just made me really happy and with my trusty ER25's I didn't have single problem with the noise, which was just such a relief. There was actually less of an effect than when I listen to CDs at home, which is just slightly odd.

Otherwise not much new under the sun. My third flatmate is back, so the flat actually feels like someone else lives in it now, and it is kind of nice to have a girl there too. My other flatmate was off on holiday last week as well, so I was all on my lonesome for a whole week, which was slightly creepy.

Oh well. Had better get back to work, I've overshot my lunch break with at least half an hour already. I made it to Oxford Street and back in 37 mins though (walking one way, tube the other) which must surely be some kind of record given that one of my two errands involved Primark. Anyway, toodles!

I'm baaack...

...in the UK, at work, with a post! Not that we don't have internet at home in Sweden, but I sure as hell wasn't gonna waste time online with only 10 days to spend in the middle of the forest with family and friends. But now I'm at work so... I can!
Haha no really, my new desk has got the back facing to the world, the corridor and more specifically right next to someone's screen so my facebook-ing time is going down, which is probably a good thing. However, I'm now on my lunch break so I'm chancing it.

Xmas was good, ate too much, not enough snow, walked a lot in the forest in the mud. It was very quiet, the only experiences of note was seeing Arn, a much desputed Swedish movie about medieval times (which was actually quite good because I expected it to be shit), and.... Hmm.

It did snow, like, the last 5h I was home, so that was great. Ate enough salmon to maintain omega 3 levels for at least 6 months (this is estimation is not based on science).

Oh and speaking of fish, I lost out on two whole days of cuddling with Linus because when running loose he decided to roll around in fish guts used as a boar trap. Despite vigourous and repeated shampooing he still gave off wafts of fish guts if you got within 3 feet of him my last two days. Almost worth it for the look on dad's face when I told him (but not really, cause I don't know when I'll next go home and Linus's so cuddly its ridicilous).

I think that's about it. Happy New Year! and all that. I'm trying to detox at the moment - not from alcohol, although I drank more than ever that meant I had like, 6 glasses of wine in 10 days maybe - but from all the chocolate, and well. I really got to get a grip. At the moment it's fine, chocolate doesn't actually tempt me at the moment, I just go 'guh'.

Things to look forward to: A and E visiting me the first weekend of February, which will be fab!! Can't wait. Someone told me yesterday that the 23rd of January is like, the most depressing day of the year, but it won't be for me! Anyway, I really have to get back to work, although with a new position to go with the new year it's a lot of training and not so much actual work. But there is always coding to be done! so I shall get to it.