90s fantastic

as you may have noticed, i've started a new blog next to this one. it's called 90s geeks - surviving in the future, and it's a music and culture blog. sergio jumped on the train and is also contributing material, which is awesome. please check it out. and if you feel you've got something to contribute, let me know and i'll let you get on board. thanks!

the record collection mixtapes pt 3

when i started this project back in march i knew it would be a somewhat neglected project, cos let's face it, i'm a bad blogger. i'm the kind of blogger that would never ever have any readers had it not been for rss feeds. i'm lazy, yes, but more than that i'm always having a hard time getting things out of my brain and onto paper, or onto screen as it is. i'm just not very prolific. i do have my moments, but mostly, i just can't seem to get much out of me.

that, and the fact that i don't really have the time.

so, 9 months after the last post in this series, here's the next. it's time for an album by one of my favorite bands, alice in chains. there's 5 of them in my collection and at first i thought i'd write a 5 times alice in chains post, but then 9 months went passed so that was probably a bad idea. thinking small here.



the album is facelift from 1990 and it's a good one over-all. not my favorite alice in chains album, but still one i've listened to a bit. the things i really love about the band isn't quite there yet on this album. the darker feel and the slightly heavier and slower sound that came with later productions. it's there a little, you can hear it on the song "confusion" and it's lurking behind a few of the other songs. what the album does have is layne staley and his fantastic voice and intensity. and lyrics. (and drug abuse, but that's another story.)

although alice in chains really is more of a heavy metal band than a grunge band - just listen to the intro guitar to "we die young", the opening track on this album, or to the fact that they have a lot of guitar solos - they're often bundled together with nirvana, soundgarden, pearl jam and the likes, which i guess has more to do with the fact that they were playing in seattle in the same time-period than their sound. not that i mind, i'm a big fan of grunge music, i just think it's a bit misleading.

"we die young" is, as mentioned, quite heavy metaly, as is "put you down" and "real thing". "man in the box" was the hit single of the album which i'm not sure as to why, i don't think it's their strongest. "bleed the freak" and "i can't remember" are much stronger and better songs. "i know something (about you)" is flirting with funk with a quite catchy result.

as for picking a track on this album. i'm torn. i want to pick "confusion" cos it sounds like the alice in chains i love and it's such a cheery little song;

i want to set you free, recognize my disease
love, sex, pain, confusion, suffering
you're there crying, i feel not a thing
drilling my way deeper in you head
sinking, draining, drowning, bleeding, dead

i also want to pick "it ain't like that" for the same reasons. at the same time, there's so much more to come of that alice in chains that it feels unfair not to pick a song more representative of facelife. so i'm picking "love, hate, love", a dark suggestive song riddled with dysfunction, so often a theme in layne staley's lyrics.

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cross-posted on 90s geeks - surviving in the future.

not dead, just busy

good thing you guys have google reader (i assume), cos otherwise NO ONE will read my blog. not that they should, considering i haven't blogged in FOUR MONTHS (sorry, can't stop yelling). do you still like me?

so who wants to hear about what i've been up to?

uh-oh. my baby just pooped, gotta go raise a stink.

a month

holy crap, it's been a month already! where did it go?

the new phase

meet Alvin, born 13 september. to think that he came out of me is mind-blowing even though i felt every second of it.

over it

great new video and song from dinosaur jr from their new soon to be released album farm. it seems to have leaked, but i haven't heard it yet. though according to madeleine, it's excellent.

seeing this video made me realize i'm not at all freaking out about growing old anymore. isn't that something :)

this pregnancy business

i'm not sure why i'm so reluctant to write about my current state since i'm quite happy about it. well, i'm not too happy about everything that keeps happening to my body because of it, but i'm happy that i am pregnant and what's going to be the end result, so to speak. i can hardly wait for the little one to come out and i have baby fever like crazy. i guess i'm a bit conflicted about how i'm going to see myself as not just me, but as someone's mother too. it's weird. i guess it'll take some time to adjust. don't get me wrong, i really wanted to get pregnant, i really want a kid, but it's hard too.

the little creature, also known as 'it' or 'the monster', is 25 weeks old now and has started moving A LOT. the sensation of having something moving inside you is odd. sometimes it just makes me happy, sometimes it's uncomfortable and sometimes it's disturbing. a pretty cool thing is that it sometimes moves as a respond to me tapping on the outside.

my body is more than ever before dictating my life. generally i'm sicker, more tired, more emotional and more inclined to avoid people than before. i also feel sick often, with the occasional throwing up for no reason (still!), i have started having sweaty palms for the first time in my life, i have crappy apatite and my hips hurt when i've walked too far, and with "too far" we're talking not that far at all. oh, and climbing stairs has become a problem.

i keep wondering, who are these women who describes their pregnancies as the best time of their lives or this wonderful experience that made them feel like real women (whatever that means)? cos, really, i already knew i was a woman before i got knocked up, and although i totally think it's worth it and that i will love the creature once it comes out, i can't really see all the wonderful about what i've described above. having to pee five hundred times a day and a few times during the night is not wonderful, getting contractions for climbing a staircase - however slowly i may add - is not wonderful, and so on and so forth.

as time passes, though, i've become more at ease with the fact that everything isn't as important as maybe i thought. i can't do and be everything, and that's ok.

counting weeks

i just had a thought. teachers and pregnant women must be the only ones actually seeing, and counting, time in weeks. as opposed, i guess, to days and months. need i more proof than the fact that i, the teacher, am the only one amongst my friends who always know which week it is? (it's the end of week 19 for those interested.)

now, being as it is that i'm currently both - a teacher and a pregnant woman that is - i realized i also have two counts going. one; that it's only 5½ weeks left until my lovely and long summer break, and two; that i tomorrow enter week 24 in this strange and mythical 40-week journey called pregnancy.

these are interesting times.

little plastic castle

some days ani difranco tells the story best.

in a coffee shop in a city
which is every coffee shop in every city
on a day which is every day
i picked up a magazine
which is every magazine
read a story, and then forgot it right away

they say goldfish have no memory
i guess their lives are much like mine
and the little plastic castle
is a surprise every time
and it's hard to say if they're happy
but they don't seem much to mind

from the shape of your shaved head
i recognized your silhouette
as you walked out of the sun and sat down
and the sight of your sleepy smile
eclipsed all the other people
as they paused to sneer at the two girls
from out of town

i said, look at you this morning
you are, by far, the cutest
but be careful getting coffee
i think these people wanna shoot us
or maybe there's some kinda local competition here
to see who can be the rudest

people talk
about my image
like i come in two dimensions
like lipstick is a sign of my declining mind
like what i happen to be wearing
the day that someone takes a picture
is my new statement for all of womankind

i wish they could see us now
in leather bras and rubber shorts
like some ridiculous new team uniform
for some ridiculous new sport
quick someone call the girl police
and file a report

in a coffee shop in a city
which is every coffee shop in every city
on a day which is every day

brain meltdown

damn, i can't think. or decide anything. have had my whole collection of mp3s on shuffle for the last week. deciding what to wear when yesterday's clothes smell too bad to use again is a horror. and i have a birthday gift to buy for tomorrow. agony.

please decide for me. yeah?

auntie jenny

as of saturday i am an aunt! this is the greatest thing, i'm so happy. and to think that my baby sister is a mom, it's crazy! but crazy wonderful. i have total baby fever. tonight i'm gonna meet this little guy for the first time and i can't wait!

lots of exclamation points here. :)

copies

someone else has my tattoo. at least it's not in the same place or the same font. but still! part of me is thrilled, part of me is annoyed. cos i'm a nerd like that.

here's the other



i found it here, at the science tattoo emporium. check out the other tattoos, there are a few really neat ones.

for those of you not familiar with math like this; it's called euler's identity, after swiss 18th century mathematician euler. in the linked article the following quote is found

In 1988, readers of the Mathematical Intelligencer voted [Euler's Identity] "the Most Beautiful Mathematical Formula Ever". In total, Euler was responsible for three of the top five formulae in that poll.

i chose to get it not because i'm a huge fan of mr mathematician here, but because, like the readers of that magazine, i think the formula itself encompasses what i love about mathematics, that something that looks and seems complicated essentially is very simple. it's a beautiful sentiment. here's mine



update: i found one more. here i was thinking i was original.

sugar, cream and almonds

i long for a semla.

what's going on?

my new look accompanied by the lyrics to the fabulous song "going blonde" by juliana hatfield. enjoy.

Na na na na na na / Baby baby baby / I don't want nothing / Means I want something / Millions of diamonds / Sparkling and shining / Singing stupid songs / I'm going blonde
Bleaching my brain / I dig the pain / Firing squad pointed at the sweet spot / I'm turning myself on / I'm going blonde
Never want to be forgotten / I'm speaking American / I need some attention / Tell you my problems / What's going on / I think I'm going blonde
Na na na na na na / Na na na na na na
Baby baby baby / Baby baby baby
Na na na na na na na na

my time in america pt 2,5

more pictures of food from my u.s. trip has been requested. enjoy!

dave made me dinner the first night. too bad most of the garlic wanted to stay in the pan :(

lunch at a vietnamese / chinese restaurant in downtown salt lake city. those things in the middle of the table there, they were sooo good! they had cream cheese in them and they were fried. mmmmmm.

arby's mozzarella cheese sticks in all their delicious glory

kate's butter nut squash soup. yum!

lunch at the mediterranean market & deli. i have eaten better paninis in my life but it was ok. the store did have arborio rice so they're forgiven

donuts!! (i was in america after all..)

this is NOT how mexican food looks and tastes in northern europe, but although this specific portion (in cedar city) wasn't my favorite, the one i ate in slc a few days later was really good! though i'm sorry to say, dave, i don't appreciate it like you do.

the salmon burger in las vegas

my time in america pt 2

it's a fact that i enjoy food a bit too much for my own good. good food. i'm not a fast food junkie, i'm a good food junkie. and i don't eat meat. so, with little more knowledge than your average european about american food culture (meat, fast food, large portions, obesity) i have to admit i worried a little bit about how i was going to be fed my two weeks over there.

let me tell you, the worrying was totally uncalled for. although they do seem to have more preservatives and salt in their pre-prepared food than here in sweden, pretty much everything i ate was enjoyable. here's a top 5 list, starting with a taste orgasm;

1. coffee milk shake and salmon burger at blt burgers in las vegas. this milkshake is to die for! now i totally get the conversation in pulp fiction about the $5 shake (although if i remember correctly, this shake was $6, but inflation hits even $5 shakes). the burger was also great.

yes! it was this good! i swear!

2. sweet potato cannelloni at the red rock in park city, utah. O. M. F. G!

3. dave's mom & husband's delicious salad with homegrown vegetables and japanese pears (i hope i'm getting this right, i was too busy enjoying it to really pay attention).

4. arby's mozzarella cheese sticks. i may not be a fast food junkie, but i am a cheese junkie, especially mozzarella.

5. the cheesecake factory's pumpkin cheesecake. i mean, just look at it!


honorary mention: kate's homemade butter nut squash soup was great! and it was my first encounter with butter nut squash, which is always exciting.

new template

sorry if i confuse someone but i'm so extremely tired of my template so i just had to replace it. this new one is not great, but at least it's not like the old one. i'll try and have it not be blue. we'll see.

maybe i can even force my sister to make me my very own soon. :)

UPDATE: that's better.

more japanese

there's now one more post on pretending to be japanese from yours truly.

today i'm recuperating from life. or, am trying to. my head is pounding. i don't know who i've pissed off but i swear i have a headache almost everyday now! it sucks. i hate pills.

awesomeness

yo, you need to get over to pretending to be japanese and read my first blog post there. i'm all excited! it's about the jesus and mary chain. go!

counting down for christmas

sunday i put up my christmas decorations, lit the first candle according to tradition and now i'm having my first glass of julmust for the season and despite the raining outside i feel peaceful and happy in anticipation. i'm hoping it will snow soon.