Thoughts on a Quiet Morning

A Summary of No Consequence

I woke up this morning to a light so bright I couldn't open my eyes.



After an over-indulgent shower I made a vegetarian breakfast omelette, quite filling. Read some of C.S. Lewis' The Great Divorce. Now I'm in the deserted common room, thinking of what to do. Considering I have another week without class, I've got to come up with something. We're supposed to be working on our final project, a short documentary; as my group did the principle photography yesterday, there's very little to do until we get access to the editing room.

Our subject is the Poetry Slam that took place at Cafe Tufans yesterday afternoon. After filming the slam (the three of us all filmed different poets-hopefully our visual styles will retain some individuality when they are cut together!) we are going to do some short interviews with the poets. We want to capture the sights, sounds, and feelings of the Växjö art scene. Let's hope it turns out the way we want!

Want

11:11. Oh boy.....so much for wishes.

The Rainy City

Here on the other side of the world
we get lost on rainy days
We find home in each new city
The streets become our maze
and I always look for you at the end
and you always avert your gaze
and I keep moving on

Wearing the same clothes every day
got a crumpled map stowed away
And every night we dance under the lights
and hope we can find our way
back to where it all began.

Soggy boots on cobbled stone
The sun's the brightest it's ever been
but when it sets we're unsure
if we'll ever be together again
so for what it's worth, we make it last
and when it comes to an end
We'll know that it was everything we needed

(Chorus)

Even if we have nothing to do
I'd love doing nothing with you

Promenade

Berlin. What an amazing city. Filled with history, culture, and art, Berlin may be the most amazing city I have ever been to. This past week, Sara, Nicole and I, as well as The Spanish and Jorge the lone Mexican spent 5 days there.
Our World Is Grey
We went to two nightclubs as well as a smoky jazz club fashioned out of an old church (were I was able to do some improve playing). We spent a whole day walking around the Eastern section of the city center, attempting to take it all in. There is such a history and gravity to this place. Old cathedrals and government buildings riddled with patched up bullet holes and reconstructed frames. Memorials to the fallen soldiers of WWII, the Jews that perished in the Holocaust, the Communist solders that died, the brave souls that died attempting to cross from East to West Berlin. More even than that.

Glass And The Ghost Children
Berlin also has an underground movement that greatly appealed to me. Art, music, and fashion collide in the seedy galleries of East Berlin. Rastafarian street painters and anarchist poets. Spray-paint revolutionaries and feminist expressionists. The lure of the avant garde. Coupled with the seemingly never-ending nightlife, Berlin seems to me a melting pot of youth from every ethnic and ideological background. I could easily be talked in to living there for a few months....

Through art, history, and cheap alcohol, this trip introduced me to many new friends and allowed me to grow closer with old ones. I will never forget my time there, and I can only hope to return someday in the future.

I've Been Everywhere, Man, I've Been Everywhere

I've been to so many places.

Gothenburg

Gothenburg has the appeal of a big city while mixing it with an old-world charm. It's an old seafaring citiy on the western coast. Lots of grand statues as well as nice malls and restaurants. Me and the girls and Ben spent the day there walking around and taking pictures with the statues and looking at old buildings.


Kalmar

I spent Valentine's Day in Kalmar with the girls. Located on the far eastern coast of Sweden, Kalmer is a very old town, as small if not smaller than Växjö. Lots of very old buildings, including a castle! Of course the castle was closed when we were there, which was really dissapointing, because we arranged the trip around the assumption that the castle would be open (it's a long story). So we wound up with a couple of hours to kill so we walked until it was just too cold and we held up in a pub until or train came. A pretty good day.

Distraction

Process

Writing a paper on Scandinavian film is a complex process. Here's a step by step guide to help guide you through.

1. Write a paragraph.
2. Make a snack.
3. Go downstairs, watch the girls play Super Nintendo.
4. Come back upstairs.
5. Get a glass of water.
6. Check facebook.
7. Check blog. If bored enough, write a blog.
8. Start over.

As you can imagine, it's slow going....

Circuits of Fever


-5 today, Celsius. Snow falling. Footprints on a frozen lake. Ice fishers sit on icy stools and wait for bites. Children skate the ice behind our building in the mornings: slipping, gliding, not even 3 feet tall.

Spanish dinner tonight. Paella and Spanish omelets. Spaniards love to cook, and we have 4 on the floor. Lucky me.

All The Small Things

So I woke up this morning to one of the best surprises I've ever had. A video posted on my facebook wall proclaimed the impossible : Blink-182 are back together.

This is the band that basically sum up my entire teenage experience. Their lyrics and music always seemed to fit in perfectly with what I was feeling at any given moment. Their radio-friendly (some would say "commercialized", but they would be wrong) brand of pop-punk was the soundtrack to my generation. My connection to their lyrics is hard t express in words, but suffice to say that much of who I am today comes from the steady diet of Mark and Tom's lyrics I digested when I was younger. Love, lust, anger, frustration, angst, and good times with friends, their music had it all. Teenage therapy in audio form. They effectively broke up in 2004, right as I had just started to understand (and obsess over) their music, but drummer Travis Barker's recent brush with death has brought them back together, both as friends and as musicians.

While I love Tom's newest band, the epic Angles and Airwaves, and I hope that they will continue to put out great records, I am utterly elated that Blink-182 are a band again. I will pay however much I have to to see them live, since I never got to do that while they were together.

Essential Songs : Dammit, The Rock Show, Story of a Lonely Guy, Adam's Song, All The Small Things, What Went Wrong

Made For Each Other

Over The Pond

I am convinced that some things in life are made for each other.

I have already been quoted as making that statement referring to Salinger, The Album Leaf, and dimly lit European apartments, and I meant that. I could simplify that even more to just The Album Leaf and Europe. Something just clicks here. I was thinking about this as I was pedaling around the back streets of Växjö today (tonight?). Their music seemed to fit so well with the Victorian style buildings, the cobblestone pathways, and old houses covered with vines a la Madeline.



I stopped beside of the old church that towers over the rest of the city. One of the great iron doors was open, so I slipped inside only to find the sanctuary was full. On the stage, the youth orchestra was performing assorted classics. I stayed long enough to catch the last 3 songs, much to my delight. The violins swirled as the violas and cellos bubbled underneath, with the conductor stirred the brew like a medieval witch. A beautiful and powerful spectacle. The 20-something girl I sat with in the very back row cried at one point.

By the time I left it was completely dark, and all the street lamps were lit, bathing me in a yellow glow as I biked back to my apartment.

The Last Man On Earth

At midnight, I sit in the common room, alone. Almost the whole floor is empty (trips, club) and I’m entertaining myself with old Vincent Price movies and Smashing Pumpkins music videos. A dinner of green beans, toast, and half a can of ravioli. I don’t expect anyone home for a few hours. I’m completely isolated, and I don’t mind.