Day 291: Three outings, two naps, one visit

A day chock full of stuff. In the morning, off I went to the opening of the Ruud van Empel exhibition at Fotografiska, including an interview with the photographer and breakfast. (Outstanding coffee, btw.) This began way before my usual wake up time and included a 2 kilometer walk in each direction, hence nap number one when I got home.

Then a one kilometer walk to meet a friend and her daughter for lunch at our favorite Mexican place...OK it's the only Mexican place...in Stockholm. More walking back to my place where we hung out and played a lot of peek-a-boo. When they left to go home, on came nap number two.

Woke up in time to go off to the Improvisation & Co. theater where I spent a good couple of hours laughing and enjoying the antics...and in English no less.

So, now I'm ready for nap number three...that I hope will last until morning ;-)

Day 290: Good day, sunshine

The sun is shining, it's a crisp springwinter day...springlike aromas in the air yet temperatures still close to the freezing point...and hocus pocus everything's just a bit brighter. Couple this with the resolution of a conflict among neighbors in our building and you've got what makes me happy today.

To celebrate, I am indulging in an oh-so-bad-for-you-but-tastes-sublime bag of chips and a glass of elderberry soda. And a movie.

Happy Friday everyone!

Day 289: Stockholm! Why?

This morning, I attended a workshop along with some 30 other non-Swedes sponsored by the City of Stockholm. The title of the workshop was the same as the title of this blog, and the purpose was to collect input from foreigners as to why they have chosen to settle in Stockholm, what we love about the city and ways in which we believe it could be made even more attractive to professionals and business people.

It was an interesting and stimulating few hours and I was struck by the decidedly positive vibe in the room. Over the years, I've experienced a great deal of bitching and moaning from folks who've moved here and, frankly, it's gotten tiresome. So it was refreshing to be in a room full of people whose basic attitude toward living here was positive. Not to say that they did not see much room for improvement, but even those suggestions were made with a positive tone.

It was a great way to start the day!

Day 288: Memories

The last of my relatives in my mother's generation died this afternoon...a wonderful, generous and steadfast man. He lived a long life, was 90+ years old, lived to see his grandchildren grow into fine young adults, and had the respect of everyone in our family.

It's hard to be sad for him...mostly I'm sad for his daughter (my cousin), his grandchildren and myself. I know we will all miss him. In thinking about him now, I find myself smiling at many fond memories. He visited my mother many times in NY...I can see them now, around her kitchen table, he playing solitaire, she meddling. And I visited him whenever I was in Israel where he often sat at the kitchen table playing solitaire. I remember, too, a much younger Tzvi standing guard at the bedroom door to ensure we youngsters went to sleep, when we would much rather have stayed up all night talking. Random memories. Lots of love.

May he rest in peace. And if there is an afterlife, I expect there is a big family reunion happening there tonight.

Me, my brother and Tzvi, Haifa, 2008

Day 287: Call Me Maybe

LOL! So a few weeks ago a FB friend posted a link to a YouTube video with the comment "What to do when you're bored in Afghanistan?!" The video shows U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan doing a lip sync version of Carly Rae Jepsen's Call Me Maybe. For some reason, for the past few days, that video and the song have been on my mind. Today, I decided I had to find it again and watch, if only to be able to let it go.

Could not find the link on my friend's wall. Went into YouTube and searched. At first, I had no luck because, as it turns out I was had the title wrong. When I finally figured that out, I got many hits. It turns out that this video is actually a cover of video that the Miami Dolphins Cheerleaders recorded. So it took me a while to find the one I'd previously seen.

In the meanwhile, I got to watch a number of different versions, including the Miami Dolphin Cheerleaders original which made me appreciate the version posted on FB even more. I found myself laughing...and also quite moved. These guys (actually in quite a number of the videos I watched) put themselves out there, were obviously having a great time doing it, and put quite a bit of thought into their versions. And from the wide spread of talent, it looked like everyone got to be in the video, sense of rhythm notwithstanding. Now that's democracy.

So, without further ado, here they are:

The Miami Dolphins Cheerleaders

The U.S. Army in Afghanistan

A combo video that compares the two

Day 286: A girly topic...

Sometimes, I wonder where ideas come from, especially practical solutions to everyday challenges. For example, what first made me think to use rubber gloves (you know, the yellow dish washing kind) as an aid in opening jars? Or the egg slicer to cut boiled potatoes into slices for home fries? Or creating a grocery list from a recipe using cut-and-paste into a calendar entry?

Today's idea was to test shaving my legs before going into the shower using the built-in-shave-gel razor I've owned for several years now on dry legs. How is it that it never occurred to me before that this should work perfectly (which it did btw)? And why did it occur to me today?

I have no answers to these questions. Still, I'm delighted to have done the experiment and made the discovery which will ensure clean shaven legs much more often in future. I am sure you are all delighted to know this too... ;-)

Day 285: Being prepared

Yesterday afternoon, a former colleague and friend who lives in Linköping called. She was in Stockholm attending a course and her dinner plans (as well as a place to spend the night) fell through. I was so happy she called and, of course, invited her to spend the night.

That's when I was so happy I'd had my recent cooking frenzy. Dinner was just a frozen plastic container away! Lovely evening with a lovely person AND good food. And there's more where that came from...in my excellent new plastic containers.

:-)