01 November 2012

Dia de los muertos

No pumpkins, no trick or treat, but a colourful celebrations of those no longer with us.







09 October 2012

Colour shock

The past 20 years I've been longing for one. Maybe it's time to finally get one.


16 September 2012

39 years ago today



They could kill the man but not his music.

14 September 2012

Autmn has arrived


Today we got the first taste of the autumn winds and rains. Summer is definitely over.

12 September 2012

I'm always in favour of colour

I kind of think that I don't keep track of trends but it's not really true, because in some strange way I do, or rather, I tend to notice that what I like often happens to become trends. There's of course a sociological reason for that that I'm not going to delve in to here though.


So. Folklore. Colour. What's not to like? Well, I'm not alone. The flowers are bougainvillea btw. From Rock n Roll Bride.

07 September 2012

Re-use on a big scale: Germany

It doesn't sound very sexy, going to old Nato bases somewhere in Germany or steel works in Ruhr, but it's a lot better than it sounds.

Alter Flugplatz Bonames, Frankfurt





What do you do when an old airfield is abandoned? You turn it in to a park of course. Let nature take over and have something which attracts people, like keeping the old tarmac by the flight tower for people to roller-blade on and convert the buildings in to a restaurant. On a German tour this has to be one of the stops. Tower Café, located in the park in the old airfield buildings.

Duisburg Nord Landschaftspark, Ruhr




I think I could get lost here, as simple as that. The park has some interesting lightning too so a visit twice is probably in order, and I suspect that this time of the year is the best time to go. Landschaftspark Duisburg Nord on the web.

Once these are ticked off I'd slowly cruise the narrow roads down the Rhine Valley and work my way through the villages and wineries, eating and drinking for a week at least.


06 September 2012

Floats my boat!

I sort of had a little summer break there...




I think I'm in love. Oh wait, it's pretty much what I'm already trying to do at home!

Linky: Allt i Hemmet and Kurbits.nu/facebook

23 June 2012

Party planning


Simple and unpretentious.

Tents and sails to keep showers at bay.

Booth for fish and chips.

Sweets table; something like this minus the clocks and stars.

19 June 2012

A special kind of author

I read a lot, both paper books and net based literature. The kind of books I particularly like happen to be about historic events or people. The genre I like the least is the detective genre; I simply get bored. When ever I read fiction it tends to be classic authors or science fiction that I read.

A book that has meant a lot to me, in the meaning that it made me think and confirm that I wasn't alone with my thoughts, was the book "Albert Speer: His Battle with Truth" by Gitta Sereny. Sereny spent years working on that book, researching for ages, talking to not only Speer but everyone who had known him that was willing to speak - and surprisingly many were. Her writing was driven by the will to understand, not to paint a picture.

Some have apparently felt discomfort when reading this and her other books, probably because she shows just how similar those so called evil people are to the rest of us, and that you can understand why people make the decisions they make and how an individual is shaped by its family as well as the society around it. There are no evil people and it doesn't serve us to make demons out of these individuals, something which for some is difficult to resist. Vengeful feelings and hate are primal emotions, easy to give way to. It's a lot more difficult to do what Gitta Sereny did, try to understand.

Last Thursday she passed away in Camebridge, 91 years old. If you haven't read anything by her, do it now. The kind of thorough research writing she did is unusual and well worth attention.


02 June 2012

Life without a car

I don't own a car. I'm fortunate to live in a part of the country when it's not needed, but there are times when I would like to have some space on wheels for kids, groceries or equipment for outings. The classic solution in Denmark - and quite common these days here on the other side of the sound too - is a bike with a box. A while ago I started looking in to various brands and models and I keep coming back to the same manufacturer; Gamla Enskede Cyklar. The bikes are really nice and I can't help being charmed by their care for hedgehogs.

I always envisioned getting a three-wheeler but I have changed opinion lately. I have spoken to two-wheel owners and taken a closer look at the ones in the neighbourhood and they are pretty nifty. They are more manoeuvrable than the three-wheelers and since I only have one child that age it would definitely suffice.


There are two sizes but I would opt for the longer one to get that all important storage space. I also like the fact that the box on these bikes can be lacquered instead of having the plywood hidden under paint. I happen to like plywood.

Now I only need a job in winter so I can get one.


Doesn't it make you want to get one?

20 May 2012

I wanna grow something unruly

Remembering 9 months ago.


I'm not a Nashville fan, but this song went straight to my heart. Darling and I liked it so much we had it on our wedding last year.

13 May 2012

Etsy finds

Charming things I came across while surfing Etsy today...


Brilliant idea which would make me chuckle every morning, if I had one. KnotWorkshop.


Monty Python is always right. YellowBugBoutique.

Ah yes, Doctor Who for your Kindle. bowlerhatbudgie.

05 May 2012

No brand

I have been tinkering some more, thinking I should perhaps design a laptop sleeve as well when I get the skin. It could of course be used as a skin too.


This is a classic graphic design from a co-op grocery store chain, Konsum, and it's called blue-white (blåvitt in Swedish).  The font is (and was) Futura and colour is RGB 0 0 64, background white. Back in the days this was the symbol of no brand food in Sweden, decent and inexpensive. These days it's sadly gone.

04 May 2012

Dave, my mind is going.

Got to have a laptop skin. I didn't find any that I liked so I decided to make my own.


Yes, I'm a geek. A sci fi geek.

03 May 2012

New love of my life

Been absent again. I've got a new job and it kind of drains my energy and most of my time. On the other hand I have a brand new computer, a little 13.3" laptop, so I expect getting more written now when I can bring it with me everywhere.

I have couple of headaches though. I really need something to protect it with, a case of some sort. Problem is, most that I have found are... boring. Oh, I know it's just supposed to protect the laptop, but I want more than just function.


A nerdy case reminding everyone of ye olden days (and the media companies outcry to ban these devises to protect the copyright) would be cool. Unfortunately rumours has it that this one is a bit large for slim 13.3" laptops, so I don't think this is the one.


Another reminder of days gone by.This has to be a DIY project since the original designer no longer is selling it on Etsy.


I would probably forget my computer somewhere if I had it stuffed in a case looking like this, but I like it nevertheless.


It has won design prices, this Redmaloo felt case, but it's thoroughly impractical. With a few minor changes to it it'd become the perfect and most practical case anyone has ever seen. Go here for one solution. I think I'll have to DIY a case so I'll get what I want. I'm thinking pacman perhaps?

05 April 2012

As time passes

I have a thing for brick, preferably if it comes in the derelict form, especially in old abandoned industrial buildings. Stumbled over this site today. Below are my favs.






It's not just the bricks of course. This is a stark reminder of how short our time is and how quickly we disappear in to history. These pictures are painfully beautiful, with the kind of pain that comes when you realise life actually has an end. It takes a while to come to that understanding. Life slowly gets this bitter-sweet streak the older I get. I've lived half my life, maybe more, maybe less. Then I'm gone, slowly lost in time, just as these buildings will be eventually. It's sad, but I have accepted it and I think that's why I have developed a love for the old, no longer needed or wanted and soon forgotten.