May 18, 2012

The List #3

So, I thought maybe it was time for the next installment of The List. Originally, it was "Describe your relationship with your parents", but I think that, for me, it is a private matter which I don't want to discuss with the entire internet. Those of you who know me already know my parents also, so you don't need to read about it here. Also, I said in the beginning of this list that I would swap some of the topics, so I'm swapping this one with "Describe your relationship with your friends" instead.


1. List 20 random facts about yourself.
2. Describe 3 legitimate fears you have and explain how they became fears.
3. Describe your relationship with your parents friends.
4. List 10 things you would tell your 16 year-old self, if you could.
5. What are the 5 things that make you most happy right now?
6. What is the hardest thing you have ever experienced?
7. What is your dream job, and why?
8. What are 5 passions you have?
9. List 10 people who have influenced you and describe how.
10. Describe your most embarrasing moment.
11. Describe 10 pet peeves you have.
12. Describe a typical day in your current life.
13. Describe 5 weaknesses you have.
14. Describe 5 strengths you have.
15. If you were an animal, what would you be and why?
16. What are your 5 greatest accomplishments?
17. What is the thing you most wish you were great at?
18. What has been the most difficult thing you have had to forgive?
19. If you could live anywhere, where would it be and why?
20. Describe 3 significant memories from your childhood.
21. If you could have one superpower, what would it be and what would you do with it first?
22. Where do you see yourself in 5 years? 10 years? 15 years?
23. List your top 5 hobbies and why you love them.
24. Describe your family dynamic of your childhood vs. your family dynamic now.
25. If you could have dinner with anyone in history, who would it be and what would you eat?
26. What popular notion do you think the world has most wrong?
27. What is your favorite part of your body and why?
28. What is your love language?
29. What do you think people misundertand most about you?
30. List 10 things you would hope to be remembered for.



So, yes, my friends.
I've always been the kind of person who has a few very dear friends, some less dear friends and some acquaintances. As I've gotten older some of my friends have changed, some have become less dear and some I've lost forever. However, I've also gained new friends, which is just awesome.

My two very best friends are Elizabeth and Mellgren. We've been friends since I was 15 (which means it's been 9 years, crikey!), and we met when we all started the Swedish equivalent of high school. We quickly became friends, since it was a boarding school and we hung out more or less all day, every day.  After three years of school together, we went our separate ways, we moved here and there, met boyfriends and studied/worked in various places. We were still very good friends though and today I live with Elizabeth and her fiancé in Göteborg (Gothenburg), while Mellgren lives in Skåne (the southernmost part of Sweden) with her boyfriend. I am to be the maid of honour at Elizabeth's wedding, and it feels so very grown up ;)
Elizabeth and Mellgren are my Evil bitches, they are strong, caring, funny, awesome, fantastic, beautiful, and I love them so <3

Some other dear old friends of mine are Lina, Pär, Elsa and Magnus. They (and I too, of course) are what we call 'Folket' - 'The People'. We attended school together, grades 7-9, and were really good friends then, and even better friends now. Lina convinced me to apply to the same high school as her, we were both accepted, and we had three awesome years there with lots of new friends (e.g. Elizabeth and Mellgren). For me, those three years were the best years of my life (so far, at least ;)).

Anyway, Lina is one of my closest friends, and people still mix up our names (I mean, seriously, is it THAT difficult to remember which one is Lina and which one is Linn? Seriously people!). Maybe that's a sign that we hang out too much? Nah, screw that! :)
Lina brightens my days with her happy personality, her constant singing and her wonderful laugh (she laughs A LOT). She opened my eyes/ears to the beautiful music of Ted Gärdestad (check out his music if you haven't already!) and she is just a never-ending source of joy, energy and happiness. She is a hell of a woman, and honestly, I don't think any man is her match!

Pär is...a piece of work ;) He has been my friend since I was 13 years old (as has Lina, Elsa and Magnus), and a better friend than Pär is hard to find. He has some trouble with communication sometimes (you know it's true, Pär), but he is always there for you, he is always sweet (and a bit evil at the same time), he always cares, and he always has something kind to say. He is a magnificent hugger and he will eat almost anything. I remember one day when he came to my home with three or four big bottles of soda, a HUGE bag of nacho chips and a few bags of marshmallows. We sat in the kitchen and roasted marshmallows on tea lights and stuffed ourselves with nachos. Pär also tried to eat a few sardines he found in our fridge (I have no idea why we even had sardines because ew, gross), but yeah...gross. It was a good day :)

Elsa is beautiful, kind, funny and she is one of those people who just believes in you. Whenever I start doubting myself or think depressing thoughts about myself, she tells me such nice things and makes me understand that, if nothing else, I always have her support. Sadly, I don't get to see her very often, since she has been studying law in Skåne the last four years, but I know that she's always there if I need her. Elsa and Magnus are part of Folket, so they're essential for our group! Magnus is funny, sweet, musically and vocally talented and can always entertain us with a performance of some kind. If he isn't singing and/or playing something he's telling some funny story which makes Lina laugh so hard she can't breathe (that happens a lot).
I love Folket, and they are so dear to me. I hope we will be friends the rest of our lives.

Some more recent, but none the less good, friends of mine are Anna and Vanessa. I met them in 2009 at university, when we studied English together. They are almost complete opposites of each other (apart from both of them being a bit disorganized, hehe), but oh, how I do enjoy both of them immensely! Anna is a very animated, joyfull, and "sometimes" loud person, who loves a good discussion, Shakespeare, wine, chocolate, cars, and anything British really. I am sort of educating her in the ways of nerdiness and we have so much fun together. I talk to Anna almost every day and together we are The Dudettes, more awesome than you can ever hope to be! ;)

Vanessa is my lovely Brazilian beauty, and she is one of the smartest people I have ever met. At first I barely had the guts to talk to her, because I thought she was too smart and distant to want to concern herself with me, but when our class went to Brighton for two weeks in the fall of 2009, we really bonded and became good friends. She is so supportive of everything I do, she is so kind and she always has time for me and my ridiculous problems. She is married to a Swede, Magnus, and together they have a super cute baby boy, Joakim, of whom I recently became the proud godmother (or madrinha, in Portuguese!).
If I hadn't befriended Anna and Vanessa I surely would have had a miserable time at university! I am so very grateful and thankful for their friendship and I love them to bits!

Last, but not least, in this list are my cousins Sandra and Ella. They are not so much my cousins as they are my little sisters. I'm older than they are, so I actually remember both of them being born and have thusly known them their entire lives. We are very close, much closer than I think most people are when it concerns their cousins, and I wouldn't have it any other way. They drive me nuts sometimes, but deep, deep, DEEP down inside I love the little buggers ;)

I have many more friends and I appreciate all of them SO MUCH, but I can't write about all of them, that would take forever :P So to all of my friends, both close and not as close, I want to say thank you for being part of my life, I enjoy all of you and I cherish your friendship a lot.
I also want to dedicate this song to all of my friends, because I think it is a beautiful, happy, lovely song.


They were sitting 
They were sitting on the strawberry swing 
Every moment was so precious 

Now the sky could be blue 
I don't mind 
Without you it's a waste of time 

Could be blue, 
Could be grey 
Without you I’m just miles away 

Could be blue 
I don’t mind 
Without you it’s a waste of time

May 14, 2012

A dream

I have had something on my mind the whole day that I just feel I need to write about, so I'll do it here. This morning as I was sleeping soundly in my wonderful bed (seriously, I love my bed!) I was having a weird dream (as usual for me, most of my dreams are completely screwed up, but I'm sure that's normal. Right? Please, say that it is.). First I was dreaming about a lovely person who sadly isn't really a part of my life anymore. Maybe he could be again, I don't know. But he is indeed a lovely person and I was having a wonderful time dreaming about him.

Then the dream changed. I was having a completely ridiculous argument with an old couple about a cat (I told you, weird dreams), and as I was walking away to ride the elevator down and go outside, my cell phone rang. It was another person who also is not a part of my life anymore. But in the dream I didn't realize he was calling me, so I didn't answer (metaphor for what happened irl perhaps? :P). When I got down to the ground floor and the elevator doors opened, I saw him standing outside the glass door. I pretended not to see him and made a huge fuss about getting my bags out of the elevator, putting on my jacket and such. When there was nothing else I could possibly do to postpone going outside I stood there, in my dream, back towards the door and thought "How can I get out of this uncomfortable situation? I don't want to go outside and talk to him.". And do you know what happened? I woke up. My dreams can be awesome that way sometimes; when they're too uncomfortable, I can just wake up. Unfortunately, the feeling of discomfort hasn't left me yet, and it annoys me.
The whole last part of the dream annoys me because you're supposed to dream about the things you've been thinking about that day, and I certainly had not been thinking about this fellow. (I hadn't been thinking about that first fellow either, but I really like him, so it didn't bother me at all to dream about him ;)) The thing that bugs me is why I dreamt about fellow #2. I don't know why!!! I haven't exactly been feeling bad about us not being part of each other's lives anymore, so what gives, Universe? Why are you doing this to me?!
Please give me more dreams about fellow #1 instead.

Yes


Nerdgasm





Get it? Game of Clones! Mihihi ^^


The List #2

The List...hmm... So far I've written about item #1 on the list, so let's move on to item #2.

1. List 20 random facts about yourself.
2. Describe 3 legitimate fears you have and explain how they became fears.
3. Describe your relationship with your parents.
4. List 10 things you would tell your 16 year-old self, if you could.
5. What are the 5 things that make you most happy right now?
6. What is the hardest thing you have ever experienced?
7. What is your dream job, and why?
8. What are 5 passions you have?
9. List 10 people who have influenced you and describe how.
10. Describe your most embarrasing moment.
11. Describe 10 pet peeves you have.
12. Describe a typical day in your current life.
13. Describe 5 weaknesses you have.
14. Describe 5 strengths you have.
15. If you were an animal, what would you be and why?
16. What are your 5 greatest accomplishments?
17. What is the thing you most wish you were great at?
18. What has been the most difficult thing you have had to forgive?
19. If you could live anywhere, where would it be and why?
20. Describe 3 significant memories from your childhood.
21. If you could have one superpower, what would it be and what would you do with it first?
22. Where do you see yourself in 5 years? 10 years? 15 years?
23. List your top 5 hobbies and why you love them.
24. Describe your family dynamic of your childhood vs. your family dynamic now.
25. If you could have dinner with anyone in history, who would it be and what would you eat?
26. What popular notion do you think the world has most wrong?
27. What is your favorite part of your body and why?
28. What is your love language?
29. What do you think people misundertand most about you?
30. List 10 things you would hope to be remembered for.


Describe 3 legitimate fears you have and explain how they became fears. Okay...hmm... Normally, I say that I don't really have fears the same way many other people do. I'm not afraid of spiders, snakes, insects (although, some of them can be pretty disgusting) or heights. I'm definitely not afraid of heights, I actually really enjoy them! I love climbing, always have, and some of my life dreams include heights; such as bungee jumping, skydiving and going for a ride in a hot air balloon. My friend Alex thinks I am insane (he is very scared of heights), but we all know that I am completely normal and sane, right? ;)
Anyway, fears.

Fear #1 - I am, to some extent, afraid of the dark. Or rather, what possibly lurks in the dark. Since this is a human instinct, I don't feel too bad or sissy about it, because it is normal to be scared of predators that could be hidden in the dark. But no, I'm not very scared of it. It just makes me uncomfortable in certain situations. Interestingly enough, I'm more afraid of the dark in the countryside/forest than I am of the dark in the city. My stepfather thinks I am weird in that respect, but I don't know... I think it has to do with the isolation vs. the many other people that could help in a scary situation. There's safety in numbers, as they say.

 It's a lot scarier here at home, where my mother and stepfather live.
Complete isolation. *shudders*


Fear #2 - I guess I will have to go with...the fear of being left alone. And I mean completely alone. Like, if the world ended and everyone died except for me. Something dramatic like that. Because I know that no matter how sad and pathetic your life may be, you can always get friends, as long as there are other people alive. If that doesn't work, you can always get a cat. Like this one. She's annoying me right this instant actually, but she does help keep the loneliness at bay sometimes.


Fear #3 - It's hard coming up with three fears, since I am so fierce and fearless! (hmm, yeah right :P) I think my third fear will have to be the fear of being a complete failure. You know, fucking up my life completely, never amounting to anything, being generally sucky. I'm afraid of that almost every day. The cure is to not think about it too much and try to focus on the things that you're actually good at. Also, do things you enjoy, hang out with friends a lot, it helps SO much!

Well, yeah... I think that will have to do. Anyone wanna go bungee jumping and/or skydiving with me?! :D

May 2, 2012

Sex skäl till varför lärare INTE ska ha högre lön


I read this a while ago at Östersunds-Posten's website and think it is really good. More people should read it. It is in Swedish though, since Ö-P is a Swedish newspaper, but that isn't my problem, since I speak and read Swedish like a native (wonder why... :P).
Anyway, it is "Six reasons why teachers should NOT have a higher salary"
1. Läraryrket är kvinnodominerat. I Sverige har vi en lång tradition av att ge kvinnor lägre lön. Det är viktigt att hålla fast vid seder och bruk. Varför ska just lärare bryta mot detta?
2. Liksom prästerskapet drivs lärare av ädlare syften än en världslig lön i kronor och ören. Deras gärningar är ett kall, en mission som ger en inre tillfredsställelse och är den grund varpå samhället vilar. Vad skulle hända om lärarna plötsligt blev karriärister och började räkna pengar om nätterna i stället för att skriva åtgärdsprogram?
3. Även lärarna måste ta sitt samhällsansvar. Om de ska ha högre lön vill alla andra också ha. Ett logiskt resonemang eftersom ingen vill ligga lägre än en lärarlön. Akta så att inte krisen kommer och tar dig.
4. Drömmen om att lämna korp-hockeyn och lira puck mot riktiga ishockeyspelare är något som brinner i varje östersundares hjärta. Hur ska den drömmen kunna slå in om alla kommunens pengar ska gå till lärarnas löner? Arenor är inte billiga att bygga.
5. Lärarnas huvudsyssla är inte längre undervisning eller uppfostran. De ägnar mer tid åt administration än åt eleverna. Sådant bör inte premieras. Byråkrater och pärmkramare har vi tillräckligt av i vårt land.
6. I lärarnas yrke ingår ett visst mått av kunskapsförmedling. Kunskap är tråkigt, jobbigt och något man bara plockar fram vid prov. I ett land där en smartphone är var mans egendom är kunskap av mindre betydelse. Det du inte kan googla är inte värt att veta. Lägg hellre extra lön på telefontillverkare.
Visst är det bekymmersamt att ingen längre vill bli lärare och att lärare hoppar av, men i ett land som är i ekonomisk balans gör det inget att medborgarna är analfabeter.
Skrivbordspedagogen

Anna goes nerd

Speaking of Game of Thrones, I just have to share my dear friend Anna's reactions to the finale of season 1, because it is absolutely brilliant. And spot on. It's half in Swedish, half in English, because that's how we roll. Love it!


  • "fan vad weird!
  • och awesome!!!!
  • han dör ju
  • och så är det massa ockult
  • och
  • eld
  • och drakar
  • fucking weird!
  • och arya och han som har typ arvsrätt på tronen är på väg till jon som är på väg nån annanstans. soooooooooo fucking weird!
  • but awesome!!!
  • did i mention awesome?
  • ...
  • and weird"