Sunday, July 28, 2013 at 9:30AM Posts up and running on the regular again soon, but by way of explanation, a placeholder photo from my new commute:
Monday, April 22, 2013 at 4:19AM So this past week was crazy for many people, in many ways, but in our immediate life here in Stockholm, we weren't faced with bombings or explosions of any sort: we just had to make a very last-minute move. I think that, in the end, we had about 48 hours notice that it wasn't going to be temporary. The entire thing was as painless as these things can be, we are now ensconsed in our new place, and despite the minor chaos, everyone's still alive and talking to everyone else.
That said, what I hadn't realized until we got here was how much happier this place would make our two cats. The entire reason for the move was major emergency work on the ancient plumbing in our old building, and for weeks prior to our evacuation, we'd been treated to noise-pollution levels of construction sounds and jackhammering, off and on, from about 7am until 4pm. We humans adjusted as best we could, though it was grating and we both currently work from home, but every morning the cats would freak out anew.
Being cats, they had no idea that the sound of the wall being torn down in the apartment next door was not an imminent threat. They'd get used to it gradually each day, and then, after a quiet evening, it would begin again. Fast forward to our new place, and despite moving usually being one of their least-favorite things in the world, they are absolutely thrilled. They are relaxed. They are acting normally in a way that I didn't realize hadn't been happening for the past month. And I'm fairly convinced that the eye infection one of them developed just before we moved was completely stress-related. (We are also more relaxed, even though we understood that the construction guys weren't out to attack us with their jackhammers.)
All this to say that watching my cats come back into themselves makes me think of the humans who are actually in a situation where loud noises are not only really aggrivating but actually indicative of something life threatening--Syria, Iraq, and, this past week, Boston. I think of children growing up in those circumstances, with no knowledge of what it means to sit quietly at home, knowing you are safe. I think of what it must be doing to their bodies and minds, and I hope that we can find a way to give them that space, and soon.
Wednesday, April 17, 2013 at 11:05PM There is nothing quite like living abroad to make me feel American. Every part of what that means is thrown into sharp contrast, whereas when living at home, the type of American that I am is what matters. In fact, from a distance, it seems almost laughable that people argue domestically about who is and is not a Real American, tm.
Something that does not even approach laughable: the sheer number of mornings I've woken here, in sleepy Stockholm, to news of another shooting. The question of whether it's actually been more frequent over the past year or whether it's finally gained a certain status in the national discourse is one for another time. There are certainly incidents that happened prior to March 2011--Virginia Tech comes to mind, as does Tuscon. But this past year brought Newtown. And it finally looked like we were about to have some movement on this peculiarly American issue.
But I guess not. I am fiercely proud of Gabby Giffords and her husband on this one. Her editorial in today's New York Times was the one bright spot in reading the news this morning--bright because even though Congress has clearly caved in the face of the NRA (the NRA?!? Seriously?? How did we get here?!?), she won't stop talking, as difficult as talking is for her these days. I am proud of my own senators from California. I am pleased that my president is speaking out on this one.
And that's about it. Everyone else in Congress, I've had it. I've absolutely had it. You make it so that I think twice about coming home.
Tuesday, April 16, 2013 at 6:45AM The weekend one at Hötorget, to be precise. I went with an eye for old Swedish books, and that's mostly what I found--with the notable exception of the 1926 Stanford yearbook, which was definitely odd. It's too big for my scanner, so I'll post portions of that one later on. I also came into a few Baedecker travel guides from the turn of the last century, filled with folded maps, and I'm going to have to figure out how best to scan them without hurting anything.
In the meantime, however, here are a few images of the books I brought home. I intended to cut them up, and maybe I still will...but several turned out to be far more interesting than I'd expected. So we'll see. I might have to go back for more.
#Stockholm, #books | in Curiosities Tuesday, April 16, 2013 at 6:01AM Apologies for the sudden absence. A hairline fracture sidelined me for a bit. I might have gotten a little too eager to bring my bike out in early spring, spurred on by the apparent success of the local Stockholmare in doing so. Didn't quite factor in the continued existence of occasional ice and slush.
That said, I'm healing! The orthopedist is so proud he told me to go away and not worry about coming back. I can't swim, do anything that might cause a fall (ie, running and biking) for six weeks, or do dishes. But I can, once again, type with both hands. And I can hold our cat down moderately well for his eye cream three times a day. So, progress.