Friday 5: With A Capital T

What kind of trouble are you getting yourself into?

I've been really bad at time management this summer. I'm on some long-term projects that don't have immediate deadlines, but nonetheless I should be further along than I am. I guess, if I were to be fair to myself, I would point out that I'm using this low period to invest in some professional development (aka reading up on translation theory).

There's an old saw about how work expands or contracts to fit the amount of time you have, and I'm finding that to be the case. I'm only as efficient as my workload is heavy.


What was your most recent car trouble?

Ages ago because Stockholm is a walkable, car-optional city!


What’s a rhyming phrase (such as “work jerk” or “poo shoe”) to describe something causing you problems lately?

Sun fun. As in, I want to have too much of it.


What’s something that needs loosening or unsticking?

I've straight up body checked the automatic doors at Gullmarsplan in between the bus stops and the subway station multiple times because they open so slooooooooooooowly.


What’s your favorite board game involving rolling dice?

I don't know if Munchkin counts, since it's a card game and not a board game. If not, then Settlers of Catan.

What I Read: Rien où poser sa tête (Nowhere to Lay One's Head)

If you're not subscribed to Asymptote's newsletter or following their blog, you're missing out. Their staff are like magical book sprites who leave little gifts of international literature in your RSS feed or email inbox. Rien où poser sa tête was one of those little gifts.

Image courtesy Gallimard

Of course, Nowhere to Lay One's Head turned up in Asymptote thanks to Brigitte Manion's review of the English translation. But since I have a passing familiarity with French, and really should practice a little now and then to keep it up, I opted to read the French original rather than the English or Swedish translations.

As a student, I had a hard time connecting with the books we read about Nazi Germany and the Holocaust. Fortunately I'm not a psychopath and so I can understand, on an intellectual level, why these books are important. I could then, too. I just resented them for not being better, considering the topic matter. (No, I'm not going to name them, because then I'll get a bunch of HOW COULD YOU NOT LIKE XXXXX in the comments. :P) Now that we're apparently willing to give Nazis the benefit of the doubt, I've been wondering lately: what do I think students should read instead of what I read in school?

I'd argue that Rien où poser sa tête is a good candidate. Trying to convey the horror of what happened through the concentration camps can be a bit much to take in. (Not that it should be forgotten, either.) It's so horrible as to be unreal, unfathomable. But because Frenkel's memoirs handle the slow agony of daily life under the Nazi regime, with rations and visa applications and constant upheaval (including children ripped away from their parents, I wonder if that sounds familiar at all?), it becomes easier to understand how these things were able to come to pass, and how they could easily come to pass again and how they already are again holy fucking shit.

Nowhere to Lay One's Head was saved from obscurity thanks to an incredible stroke of luck. I think we need to take advantage of that luck and get this in front of all of the eyeballs we can. Out of all of the books you're going to see reviewed on blogs and YouTube and wherever else this year, please make Nowhere to Lay One's Head the book you actually follow up on. Get it on Amazon, ask your library to order it, whatever. It's my birthday tomorrow; consider it your birthday present to me.

Plus ça change...

Talky Tuesday: Walking (Running) (Cycling) (Swimming) to Mordor

Around Christmas of 2013, soon after I moved to Sweden, I decided to incentivize working out on our exercise bike by cycling to Mordor. Except I hated that bike so much (the seat was way too hard and absolute murder on my ass) that I started to find excuses to do anything except go on it. Why wreck my ass when I could take a nice walk in the sunshine instead?

And then I made my fourth attempt at running and C25K, because maybe I was grown up enough to like running. And I was. And so I ended up biking, walking, running, and even a little bit of swimming/water jogging (yes, really!) with Sam and Frodo, all the way from the Shire to Mt. Doom. It took them six months; it took me four and a half years.

(I finished right after my 101 in 1001 list ended. I don't remember the exact date, but I remember that much.)

On the plus side, I got to keep all of my fingers!

One of the tasks on my next 101 in 1001 (which I'll be starting soon) will be to run the long trek back to the Shire. First stop, Minas Tirith for Aragorn's coronation!

I was also half expecting to have some Big Feelings about doing this thing, about committing to an exercise plan for hundreds of miles who knows how many hours, but honestly sitting here thinking about it is mostly underwhelming.

I suppose it's been overshadowed by something that feels like a much bigger accomplishment, namely the fact that I ran a 5K. And a 10K, even! My typical run is now around five kilometers, three days a week. Once the pollen subsides and the weather cools down, I'll see if I can push it a little further.

The second week I started running again this year (after taking it easy during the winter), or maybe the third, I felt awesome and ended up running a 10K, just to see if I could. (I could.) I haven't hit that sweet spot again, but the knowledge that I'm capable of it is reassuring.

Both of those things are bigger deals to me than escorting imaginary hobbits across an imaginary landscape, I have to admit. So I haven't been as excited about making it to Mordor as I would otherwise be. But still, I'd like to thank Sam and Frodo and the rest of the Fellowship for inspiring me to get out there and do the thing, back when not much else could inspire me.

U da real MVPs

Friday 5: Esprit

Photo by Steve Richey on Unsplash

What’s your spirit animal?

I'm going to back away from that specific terminology because I'm not even remotely Native American (no, not even 1/64th Cherokee Princess). But as for an animal I relate to, black bears spring to mind. I just want to nose around the forest and eat fruit and berries all day (and as I get older, my "fur coat" only seems to get thicker and darker, sigh...). But I'm not nearly as dangerous as an actual black bear when provoked.

It's my birthday soon, which makes me a Cancer in the Western zodiac. According to the stereotype, Cancers have a hard, tough shell to protect their squishy and vulnerable insides. That sounds about right.


What’s your spirit tree?

I can't relate to any tree specifically, but my mortal enemy tree is pine trees. I have a pine (and fir) allergy, which means I'm allergic to Christmas and pesto sauce. Are there other trees that hate pine trees?

Given my stature, I'm not even really tree-like at all. I'm much more of a shrub. I'll go with juniper, I guess. We had a bunch of juniper bushes lining our driveway for years. Teacher Dad was actually planting them when Lawyer Mom went into labor with me.  (Lawyer Mom: "My water just broke, we're having this baby." Teacher Dad: "Make some sandwiches while I finish getting this one in the ground and then we'll go to the hospital.") Those plants are no longer with us, but there are still a couple juniper shrubs (bushes?)  elsewhere on their property, and they remind me of home.


What’s your spirit food or beverage?

"Bullsky," or equal parts Red Bull and whisky (the cheapest bottom shelf stuff you can find). This is not an actual cocktail you can (or should) order anywhere, or any kind of actual "thing" except with a couple members of my trivia team in the US. But it's an oddball, low-class combination with a distinct flavor that's not for everyone. Just like me!



What’s your spirit weather phenomenon?

Clear skies, bright sun, 28 *C temperatures, a touch of humidity. I'm a wilting tropical orchid.


What’s your spirit passenger vehicle?

I am absolutely an off-brand knock off Mini Cooper.

What I Read: 2023

I'm planning on doing a buddy read of Ulysses this year, and much as I love and patronize libraries, some books are impossible to read unless you own them and have access to them at your leisure. (How many times did I try reading a library copy of The Second Sex, for example?) I spent the afternoon in town browsing The English Bookshop, and while I ended up having to special order Ulysses from their Uppsala store, the chance to browse the random selection led to me finding books I wouldn't have otherwise. 2023: A Trilogy was one of them.

A boy I had a crush on in high school thought the Illuminatus! trilogy was one of the best books ever written and so I devoted a summer to trying to read it. I made it halfway through and never finished, but it was enough that even years later I can recognize the countercultural significance of things like 23, 17, and fnords.

This is important because 2023 is full of Illuminatus! references (mixed in with nods to pop music and other literature). If I hadn't been able to call back to those particular references, I might well have been too lost to appreciate the book.

It's a fun read if you're either in the know or thirsty for meta, slightly experimental satirical science fiction. If you're not, then you're probably going to enjoy it as much as Jake Arnott.

Talky Tuesday: Citizenship

Sweet baby Christ, has it really been over a month since anything except a Friday 5 went up here?

Guess so. Trying to figure out time management so I can spin approximately five? six? different plates is not working out.

Anyway, let's dive back into What's Going On In Katherine's Life with a peak at the citizenship ceremony I attended back on Nationaldagen!

Nationaldagen in Sweden is much more low-key than the American equivalent. It mostly just seems like an excuse to have a red day when the weather's nice.

Except.

For immigrants it means that you get invited to Blå hallen at Stadshuset for speeches and music.



The music at the American version would be a bunch of old standards: some Sousa, maybe "God Bless America" or "America the Beautiful" or something similar, and of course the national anthem. Sweden opts for a selection from a musical written by half of ABBA and a schlager hit from 1979's Melodifestivalen (in addition, of course, to "Du gamla du fria"). This is a kind of patriotism I can get behind!

Fika (one (1) kanelbulle and one (1) tiny cup of coffee or lingonberry juice) came after the speeches and the music, up in the "Golden Hall," so called because every single inch of wall and ceiling space is covered in gold (gold-colored anyway) Medieval-style mosaics. I couldn't get many good pictures, but this is the best one:



As in, the best picture I got and but also as in, features one of my favorite figures from Swedish history, Drottning Kristina. She was a bug-eyed weirdo super-smart lesbian (?) with wild hair who spoke eight languages, never married and after a couple years of ruling as queen regent, converted to Catholicism and peaced out to Vatican city, abdicating the throne to her cousin. A royal fit for pride month!

Here's some from Wikipedia that are much better:





They had organ music for the post-ceremony fika. I didn't pay too much attention to it until we were on our way out, when something about the tune struck me as familiar. It hit me and Lord Xenu at the same moment and we looked at each other. He was the first to say it:

"Isn't this...'I Will Survive'?"

Yes, the renowned Swedish diva Gloria Gaynor!

On the way out I got an envelope with free tickets to Skansen and a gift bag from the economics and law student union that had some brochures and a basil plant. There's no way I'll ever be a member of the economics and law student union, but the fresh basil was lovely in the salad I made for dinner later that week.

Part of me was anxious the whole time; it's an election year here in Sweden and everyone's real upset about immigration, so it would have been a whole room full of sitting ducks for some kind of giant terrorist THING to make some kind of point or other, and security was essentially non-existent. But a bunch of cops and metal detectors would have ruined the atmosphere. Dålig stämning. That would be very un-Swedish. I guess it's very un-Swedish (and very American) of me to think that way. Sigh.

Some things take a little getting used to.

Friday 5: Espirit

Photo by Steve Richey on Unsplash 

What’s your spirit animal?

I'm going to back away from that specific terminology because I'm not even remotely Native American (no, not even 1/64th Cherokee Princess). But as for an animal I relate to, black bears spring to mind. I just want to nose around the forest and eat fruit and berries all day (and as I get older, my "fur coat" only seems to get thicker and darker, sigh...). But I'm not nearly as dangerous as an actual black bear when provoked.

It's my birthday at the end of this month, which makes me a Cancer in the Western zodiac. According to the stereotype, Cancers have a hard, tough shell to protect their squishy and vulnerable insides. That sounds about right.


What’s your spirit tree?

I can't relate to any tree specifically, but my mortal enemy tree is pine trees. I have a pine (and fir) allergy, which means I'm allergic to Christmas and pesto sauce. Are there other trees that hate pine trees?

Given my stature, I'm not even really tree-like at all. I'm much more of a shrub. I'll go with juniper, I guess. We had a bunch of juniper bushes lining our driveway for years. My dad was actually planting them when my mom went into labor with me.  (Mom: "My water just broke, we're having this baby." Dad: "Make some sandwiches while I finish getting this one in the ground and then we'll go to the hospital.") Those plants are no longer with us, but there are still a couple juniper shrubs (bushes?)  elsewhere on their property, and they remind me of home.


What’s your spirit food or beverage?

"Bullsky," or equal parts Red Bull and whisky (the cheapest bottom shelf stuff you can find). This is not an actual cocktail you can (or should) order anywhere, or any kind of actual "thing" except with a couple members of my trivia team in the US. But it's an oddball, low-class combination with a distinct flavor that's not for everyone. Just like me!


What’s your spirit weather phenomenon?

Clear skies, bright sun, 28 *C temperatures, a touch of humidity. I'm a wilting tropical orchid.


What’s your spirit passenger vehicle?

I am absolutely an off-brand knock off Mini Cooper.

Friday 5: Break of Day

Photo by Matt Artz on Unsplash

When did you last break something made of glass?

Years ago. I had a whiskey glass from the tour I took of the Jameson distillery when I visited during spring break in 2008. It survived decorating my college dorm, but when I came home it slipped out of my hand and didn't survive its meeting with the concrete garage floor.

The friend I had visited in Dublin gifted me his later to make up for it. Friendship goals!

When did you last break something ceramic?

I don't know that I ever have, actually.

When did you last break something electronic?

After really good luck with smartphones for years, I finally dropped and cracked the screen on my smartphone last year.

When did you last break a non-traffic-related law?

I've definitely had more than my allotted amount of liquids on a flight.

When did you last break a promise?

I promised one of my students I would bring Dixit around for our next lesson and then didn't. I'm not usually that forgetful...!

Friday 5: How About a Knuckle Sandwich?

When did you last punch someone?  Alternate question: When did someone last punch you?

I suspect it was when I was drunk. Drunk Katherine gets a little punchy. (Not seriously. Just friendly shoulder jabs.) I suspect the people I drink with aren't inclined to return the sentiment because they're not into hitting women, which is an admirable sentiment.

How many of those frequent (whatever) stampcards/punchcards do you have, and which are you most likely to fill and redeem?

I have one to Details, a bra and lingerie store in Stockholm. I cheap out on everything else I wear, almost, but I will plunk down good money for a bra and you better believe that I'll take any discount I can get on those purchases.

I also have one for SF Bokhandeln, but I rarely spend enough on one purchase to warrant a stamp, and the resulting discount isn't really that much, so trying to fill it up would be a false economy. (Especially since any given card expires after a year.) The English Bookshop offers a slightly better deal (and I tend to buy more books there anyway) and the card never expires, so I actually fill it up now and then.

When have you had a really good fruit punch?

Does the smoothie I'm drinking right now count? Supercharged black tea (read as: I let it steep for hours, and then chill) plus mango plus bananas. When you need that caffeine hit but it's too hot for warm drinks!

What are your thoughts on boxing?

At this point, it seems more humane (and like the participants are taking a more informed risk) than in other public and popularly sanctioned sports in the US (what up, football).

When do you usually punch in and punch out?

Freelancers are never not working or thinking about work. Or maybe that's just me.

Friday 5: Who Put the Pomp in the Pomp Bah Pomp Bah Pomp?

Image courtesy Caleb Woods from Unsplash.

What’s something you remember about your high school graduation?

That it happened, mainly.


If you were asked to speak at a commencement ceremony this year, what would be the theme of your message?

Live deliberately. Do the things you want to do; want to do the things you do.


What items in your possession are marked with the name or logo of your high school or college?

Well, my college diploma is in a drawer in the kitchen, and the school cane is boxed up and ready to ship from my parents' house. (My alma mater is a bit odd in that, in addition to being presented with a diploma, you also get a wooden ornamental cane upon graduating. I have no idea why.) I don't have any school spirit clothing or tchotchkes, otherwise.


What do you expect will be your next rite of passage?

Completing KPU at Stockholms universitet? Turning 40?


What’s a good movie with a graduation scene, or a good movie with a graduation theme?

I have no idea if it's in the movie, but Enid and Becky's attitude towards graduation in the original graphic novel version of Ghost World mirrored my own.