Decided not go to up to Stockholm today. While I am feeling better today, I really do need to rest up, and the weekend didn’t do me much good. Flying up tomorrow instead.

I’ve got a hectic period ahead of me. Lots of work, the Ashen Sky translation (back at it, finally), events, and a conference appearance at WordCamp Oslo early March. More where that came from, it’s that kind of year, it would seem. I don’t mind, better busy than bored.

Going shopping on a Saturday in the town where you went to school as a kid is horrible. I recognized, and promptly dodged, a handful old teachers and classmates, looking to avoid the obligatory small talk and follow-ups. Some are akin to me, you can see the brief panic in their eyes as the recognition hits, and then the tension flies when they realize you don’t fancy playing the social game either. That I don’t mind, that moment of connection has given me more than most social encounters of this kind ever has.

I’m not much for people, which isn’t exactly true. I am. People are interesting, they make up most of my stories. I’m just not a fan of forced social encounters, they lack substance and talking for the sake of talking isn’t something I enhjoy. So I avoid these encounters as much as possible, by not going shopping on a Saturday. But hey, I was out of whisky, so what’re you going to do?

Early Saturday mornings often mean that I put on a Bob Dylan record. Currently it’s Blonde on Blonde, which has some great songs. My favorite Dylan album is Highway 61 Revisited, but that’s more of an evening listen to me. My music mood is like that, some albums has a built-in timestamp as to when they’re okay to listen to. Obviously I’ll break that rule every now and then, but still. I rarely start the day listening to Rob Zombie’s Hellbilly Deluxe, if you know what I mean.

Listening to Blonde on Blonde, I wonder why this is a morning record. After all, it’s not easy to handle that harmonica before coffee…

Sick days, or sick days? You decide whichever of those means what.

Half of the office is down for the count, and I’m feeling it too. To top things off, I’m out of coffee so now I have to enter the world to get me some, otherwise the world might actually end.

Fun times. Fun times indeed.

Spent most of last night looking for my things in my own apartment. Which is to say, the few belongings – such as chargers, books, Kindles, that sort of things – that I happen to have in the apartment I’m renting in Stockholm. The apartment is being put up for sale, and the real estate agent had sent out a photographer. Said person had redecorated a bit, styled a bit, as they do, and moved quite a few things around. Dirtied up a bit too, but hey, whatever. Got to do your job, right?

What the photographer had neglected to do was put everything back in place. Not even making an effort to do so, just literally closing the door on his or her mess. Because it was a mess, and things were crammed into cabinets and drawers, with very little regard for other people’s property.

Now, I do hope the photos turn out great, giving my landlady a shot at selling the apartment. The market for that in Stockholm is harsh at the moment. However, the photographer, that person should get a stern talking-to, because this wasn’t professional whatsoever. If I stepped out on the street right now and threw a rock, I’d probably hit a photographer. In other words, there are ample of reasons to be professional. As there always is.

Chaotic days. People are calling in sick, and I can’t say I’m feeling energized at the moment. Knowing my immune system, that feeling will be gone tomorrow. Or maybe I just jinxed it, because that’s how it works, right?

Writing’s sliding again. Too much work, too many meetings with too many drinks. Anyway, onwards I guess. If you fail, try again. Yesterday is gone, there’s today, and if you fuck that up, there’s always tomorrow. What other way to live is there, really?

Meeting turned into whisky, and then mead and dinner at a viking restaurant (!) in Stockholm Old Town. That was an unexpected ending to a Monday where I had literally no energy whatsoever. The spontaneous things with friends are always fun, but an evening like that takes its toll. I had things to do last night, now I’ll have to squeeze them in today, a day that’s already jam-packed. Worth it.

Better get to it then. Dress warm, it’s a freezing day in Stockholm, and possibly where you are too.

This morning really felt like the Monday cliché. It’s been a long time since I was this tired in the morning. Granted, I didn’t actually get much sleep last night, but still. Usually I can shake that feeling, but today, not so much. Driving to the airport was a chore, even.

Heading back to Stockholm today, will be there all week. Looking forward to it, lots to get done. Be safe, and I’ll see you on the flipside.

Outside, the snow is whirling down, but not settling. Whatever white cover that was still there when I went to bed, it’s all but gone now. The sea is broken by waves for as long as I can see, but it’s moving in the wrong direction. This wind is uncommon, not its strength – we get a lot of that down here, you get used to it – but its direction.

It’s never the same, the sea. A new vista every day.

Enjoy your Sunday. Mine’s all work, just as yesterday was. It’s that kind of week.

I’m back in the house for the weekend, and last night ended the way it almost always does when I’m here: with whisky and vinyl. I miss my records when I’m in Stockholm, and a decent system to play them on obviously. It’s one of those things I’ve yet to invest in up there. I don’t want to own too many things since I don’t know how long I’ll be in this particular living setup, so I haven’t even picked up a decent wireless speaker. It’s just the iPad or, more often, a couple of headphones. A sorry excuse for a music listening environment, I know. Sound should travel through the air.

Today isn’t the day of rest I was hoping for, unfortunately. There’s just too much work to be done. At least I get to do it with a view.

The snow has taken hold of the northern parts of Sweden. I’m watching it fall to the ground outside my window. My bag is packed, I’m southbound this afternoon, for a weekend in the house before it’s back to Stockholm again. Hopefully there aren’t too many delays, but flights have a tendency of sliding out of their time slots if connected airports are having problems, and I bet they will. Not much I can do about that though, except keep my devices charged and use whatever downtime I have for something productive or rewarding. Possibly both.

It’s been two weeks since I was last in the house. I wonder if Paazu remembers me?

I started my new project today. Feels weird not talking about it, I wonder how long that’ll hold… It’s in Swedish though, exclusively, so not much for this space anyway.

The photo below is from last night, and perfectly sums up the night that followed. Exhausted today.

Speaking of the importance of sleep yesterday obviously made me fail miserably in that department. Well, perhaps not miserably, but I am running on a few hours too little today. It’s fine, as long as I’ll get a decent night’s sleep tonight. But it never fails, does it?

As of today I’ve been doing this journal thing for 31 days straight, all of January. All year, come to think of it, although that’s not much of an accomplishment. I’ve learned a few things, which I’ll outline in a proper piece at a later date. Suffice to say, it’s a nice experiment and a good way for me to start the day. I’ll keep doing these for as long as it’s beneficial for me. Not so sure what it gives you, dear reader, but that’s not really my concern for once.

I’ve got my coffee, strong and black, and short of an hour before I need to head out. That’s ample time to work on the Ashen Sky translation. By the time I step out the door, I should be halfway through this thing. Better get started then.

Sleeping well, and enough, is important. There’s plenty of research to back that up, and I believe it’s one of those universal truths. How much sleep you need, what constitutes as “sleeping well”, is individual though. We touched that subject last night, when I had dinner with a good friend and his new girlfriend. She’s like me, she sees sleep as something that steals your time, your opportunities, your life. Which is obviously not the case, said life would be flatlining in every possible way up until the end if we didn’t sleep.

I’ve been struggling with sleep all my life. I don’t need much to feel good and rested, but with age I’ve come to realize that I always need a touch more than I think. It adds up, the neglected hours of sleep. Dampens the spirit.

I hope you slept well, and that you’ll sleep tight tonight. Have a wonderful Tuesday.

I’m happy to say that I have some people I trust implicitly. I mean truly completely, people that I can tell anything, talk to about anything, and it’s okay. Most of the time that’s just something that’s good to know, but there are moments in your life when you really need to be sure that the conversation will stay private. Or that you won’t be judged, dismissed, or whatever it is that’s the problem at that particular time.

I’ve come to realize that not all people are as lucky as I am in that area, which is sad, but not surprising. Perhaps we’ve always been private creatures, especially us Scandinavians, with our inner coldness towards anything resembling feelings? I wouldn’t know. I’m just happy I’ve got friends I can trust. I hope you do to.

I’m filing this under things I thought about in the shower this morning. Let’s make this a great week, folks.