Hermanita

Tonight I had a long talk with my sister, and we sat laughing at memories, photos from family trips and old conversations we'd had. One of the funniest stories turned out to be when she had accidentally dropped a container of eyeshadow on my rug. Now, the eyeshadow was black powder, and the handmade rug was bought in Iran and had a cream-colored backdrop. It was like she had emptied the soot from an open fire place on it. She and her friend, both in the ages of 10-11, had tried to get the soot out in all the wrong ways, and by the time the shit hit the fan, they had pretty much made a worse mess out of it. I came home the day after and almost wrung her neck. Today, it's a hoot.

This memory also led to the conclusion that some things hadn't really changed. My sister told me, that when under pressure or stressed, she still becomes pretty much useless. I replied that it was good to know, and that in time of war, I might have to sacrifice her since she would be such a liability.

Sisterhood is obviously about honesty, humor and messing up. Who the Hell needs "ya-ya's" and Travelling Pants?

Yule-time Reading

We spent the Christmas at my aunts again this year. Food was great, company was nice, gifts were much appreciated. Weather was colder than I like, but then again I spent all my time eating and sleeping. I love holidays, it makes me catch up on everything that I haven't been getting enough of regularly, and the last weeks of the school term, that tends to be good food and rest.
I'll be spending the next five days in Stockholm with friends and family, doing some reading, studying, shopping... then it's back to Uppsala for New Years.

And, talking about reading, one of my christmas gifts was Nobel prize winner Mario Vargas Llosa's book The Bad Girl. It'll fit well into my goal of reading books by atleast five authors this year whos native tongue isn't Swedish or English. I will ofcourse read translations anyway, but it's the idea that counts. At the moment, the nominated books are:

1. The Master and Margarita - Mikhail Bulgakov
2. Love in the Time of Cholera - Gabriel García Márquez
3. The Wind-Up Bird Chronicles - Haruki Murakami
4. The Bad Girl - Mario Vargas Llosa

This leaves me with one empty spot. Two, if I decide that I should have only one author representing any language.
Recommendations are much welcomed.

Post - it.

I'm folding laundry. I thought this was so interesting a thing I share it with the interworld.

No, really. It's quarter to 8 in the morning. Since I'm up I might as well be useful. I'm folding laundry, and I'm making a big breakfast. After that, the plan of the day goes somewhat like this: say goodbye to neighbours that are going home for Christmas, study, eat lunch, take a short nap, study more, go to the gym, have tea with a friend, study more, sleep like the dead.

Soundtrack of the day: Neon Trees - Animal

Livskvalitet

Igår deltog jag i en undersökning som hålls ungefär vart tionde år av Statistiska Central Byrån.
Undersökningen handlar om svenskars livskvalitet och hälsa, och har gjorts de senaste decennierna. Blir man av slump utvald en gång, kommer man att kontaktas igen nästa gång undersökningen görs. Om man låter sina barn delta, så kommer även de att kontaktas nästa gång det är dags för undersökningen. Sist jag deltog var jag fjorton.

Igår dök det upp en kvinna, och efter nästan en och en halv timma hade jag svarat på tillräckligt många frågor för att den här kvinnan skulle veta mer om mig än en del av mina bekanta vet.
Det är tänkt att du ska svara på dessa standardiserade frågor med ett "ja" eller "nej". Ibland finns flera alternativ, men dessa är också i stort sett indelade i jakande och nekande svar, förutom om man svarar "Vet ej".

Det är frågor om ens sysselsättning, ens studier och jobb och boende. Ens bakgrund och föräldrars bakgrund. Om man bott utomlands, hur länge man arbetat, om man har fritidssysselsättningar, om man känner sig frisk och kry, om man har vänner och är lycklig.

I slutändan kom jag fram till att jag må ha ont i kroppen och känna mig trött, och kanske inte alltid veta vart jag är på väg, men jag är inte olycklig. Jag mår förhållandevist bra, har åstadkommit en del, misslyckats med en del annat, gått vidare från motgångar, uppskattat framgångar, lärt känna mycket människor på gott och ont, sett mig omkring lite i världen, drömt mycket större än jag haft möjligheter att uppfylla, gråtit mycket, skrattat ännu mer och lärt mig tycka om mig själv. Jag är glad. Och det är skönt att kunna gå in i nya året med den vetskapen.

Tron: Legacy

Just two days ago, I could listen to most of the Tron: Legacy soundtrack on Spotify. I didn't go through it all, but some of the tracks left me hoping for more, while many were great. I was a bit unsure as to what to think, since I usually love Daft Punk (they're the primary reason to why I even want to see the movie).
But then I went to bed, and after I woke up, Spotify had reduced the amount of songs to only four tracks! To hear all the songs, you obviously have to have Spotify Premium now.
I'm quite bitter about it.

But yesterday, my neighbour got his hands on it, and after a bit more of a listening through, I came to the conclusion that the soundtrack really is awesome (still have 2-3 tracks I'm not all that content with) and that Daft Punk as always are pure genius. Happiness!

Winter Weekends

I spent the weekend in Stockholm, celebrating a dear friends 30th birthday (and as it turned out, also her engagement!), and trying to study for an exam. I had great fun on Saturday, even though I wasn't able to keep myself on my schedualed food-routine (must stop making excuses, even though birthday parties and engagements mixed up with a house-warming party is a pretty big deal). It's good to see people I don't get to see much during the year, and I'm always reminded of how much I miss them. I'm also always just as reminded of how good it feels to have a comfortable couple of laughs and hugs with people who know you well, and whom you can share both amusing stories as well as comfortable silences with.

Sunday on the other hand mostly went to studying, reading up on old course literature and trying to make someting of it. I managed to finish the exam and send it in before deadline. Hopefully, it'll pass, and it'll be the last I see of it.
On the negative side, I spent an entire weekend home, but did not manage more than an hours film or less with my sister, as well as a late lunch on friday. We tried to hang out some and talk, but both had studies and plans. I don't think I even managed to time in a decent meal with my folks, but we had a couple of cups of tea together, and all in all it was pretty relaxing. For Christmas break, I'm gonna ask dad to teach me how to prepare and cook the Christmas ham the way he does, and I'm gonna try to catch up with my mom and see if we can get through a couple of episodes of In Treatment (which btw, is a awesome show. Gabriel Byrnes and Judi Dench are fabulous, and the fact that the entire dynamic of each episode almost solely focuses on a dialog between two people is simply masterful). She got the first season box-set for her birthday a couple of weeks ago, and I've really taken a liking to it, so we try to watch episodes together whenever I'm home.

Anyways, I got back to Uppsala this afternoon, after such delays I would have managed to take an entire roundabout trip between Stockholm-Uppsala in the time I had to wait alone. I came home, took a three hour long nap, then headed out to buy food for tonights dinner. We made sushi for 20 people, and it ended up with a cost of 20kr/head, which was great. It'll probably be the last time of the year I'll eat sushi. It's really healthy food and all, but I should try to follow my diet more strictly.

Tomorrow (later on today actually), the plan is to clean up my messy room, get some writing done for work, decide on the subject for this semesters final paper, start wrapping some gifts and go see Västgöta Nations advent concert in church downtown (musical preformances is one of the few reasons I ever set foot in church). I'm trying to get into the holliday spirit, which would lend a more charming glow to the incessant cold. I also feel like decorating. I've already decided on having a Christmas tree. Yes, I am aware that my home is just about 19 square meters, and already full of furniture. But there's no saying I can't have a small tree for my small room. And maybe I'll buy some tassel and lights while I'm at it.