Yay, it's another election coming up! (Hey, bear with me, I'm Swedish. Having the opportunity to participate in elections outside September every fourth year is still a novelty for me.) Which means funny test results for the shameless election geek that I am. And yes, nighteevee, I've already used my voting privilege, so don't worry. Although had I known it would be possible to actually vote in advance at my uni this last week, I wouldn't have had to walk through half the town to the library voting station the week before. Oh well.

( My political views according to the computers in some selected countries. Such as the ones where I can actually understand the questions asked. )

On a different, but actually somewhat similar topic, an excerpt of a morning conversation:
Me to my dad: "Is it some kind of holiday today since you don't get any morning newspaper?"
Dad: "Yes, it's Sweden's national day."
Me: "Oh..."

I know it is the D-day anniversary, and I know it is EU election day tomorrow. But remembering my own country's national day... Why should I do that?

This last week in pictures. Not because it was anything special really, but because I wanted to. OK, so the weather was nice, if that's an excuse for the photo spamming. Image heavy behind the cut, obviously.

( Random photo walk, mostly on walking distance from the uni campus in Linköping. (I.e. half the town. I like walking after all.) )

So. Last paper for the semester handed in, and classes ended yesterday, which I guess means the end of this university year. The odd thing is that I - for what I almost think is the first time in a way too long time - feel kind of sad to get a boring summer break. Funny that it should take that many years at uni before I got to feel like that. Many, many years and first now I get into a class where I get classmates that I actually like to interact with. It's weird. Think if it had been and felt like this back when I first started and really needed it. Oh well, better late than never I guess. Even if it is almost too late. Or in some aspect it is too late, since everyone else have their own circles, friends and families, which limits the interaction somewhat. But still, it has been fun. Really. This last uni year has been, well, interesting. Not happy, happy, happy exactly (hey, it's me, what do you expect), but at least different.

Sometimes I really hate my brain, just because of the left and right halves of it being both powerful. It's both a blessing and a curse I suppose, since I really need the right side of my brain's dreams, wonderful what-if scenarios and potential future images. Especially lately. Without those, I'd be doomed. And I'm also very much in need of my logical, rational left side. Without that, I would be insane.

I just love some of the imaginations and at least somewhat plausible ideas and potential scenarios that my mind is capable of rendering. Because since I apparently do have an equally strong left side brain as well, they are actually that - potentially possible. Not always likely though, but still not impossible. And I'm a sucker for those daydreams, I must shamefully admit that.

But even so, at the end of the day, it's always the logical, rational - and boring - left side that has the power to veto and point out the flaws and unlikeliness in the dream possibilities. And that is so irritating sometimes.

In short, I hate my mind for being essentially me; A wannabe dreamer that fails hard due to his masochistic tendencies to be so damn boringly realistic and responsible in the end.

Now, I'll better go and fight my parents' too fast-growing grass...

Granted, it wasn't exactly yesterday I wrote FmA ficlets - or drabble scenes or whatever it should be called.

Sort of based on inspiration from dzioo's post. In any case, she's the guilty one.

( Grey morning (Fullmetal Alchemist, rated All ages (G), no particular spoiler warnings I think) )

*stares in wonder* Panini has licensed Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood and shows it on a Youtube channel? With Swedish subtitles! We're not getting screwed and locked out as usual? That's definitely not something I had expected!

I have had surprisingly little to complain about over the Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood series this far. Even if I still think the first anime was a little more shiny for some reason, but that could just as well only be random rosy memories. And the voice changes that I really feared could make me react negatively haven't actually made me cringe very much at all. I do miss old Envy a little though. In any case I like that they seem to have decided to make the best of the opportunity and give us new scenes animated with no more overlap than absolutely necessary. Still, it does have a rather high speed in its storytelling, and I can only imagine how someone who hasn't read the manga must feel sometimes. But for me, I can hardly wait until we get into new manga storyline-land.

Since I'm in fanboy mode, something about the rest of my current anime spring season. Something new, something old. As usual for me:

Hetalia Axis Powers. It's hardly surprising that I find the anime shorts entertaining I suppose. The concept is so weird-cute and something only a Japanese could have come up with.

Shangri-La. Nothing really fantastic, but not that bad either this far. After reading about it, I just had to see what it was going to be about. Not really what I expected, but I guess I continue watching it for a while.

Full Metal Panic. Not a new one at all, I know. But it was something that had been on my "maybe watch someday" list for a looong time, and now there happened to be this combination of stumbling over it, and at the same time remembering that someone with usually very good taste seemed to have liked it, so... And this far I don't regret it. It is nice entertainment! Much better than the short synopses I once read made it sound.

Normally I don't post video links here - and normally I'm not watching the American Daily Show either. But I really do find this amusing in some quirky way, so...

( The Daily Show: The Stockholm Syndrome )

Now, I better go and try to do my taxes and declare that "excess of capital" (official term) they say I have.

It's spring in the air, for several days in a row! Wow.

Today's flattering moment - I bought stuff at Systembolaget (for eventual readers unfamiliar with the honoured Swedish institution, it's the state monopoly store for alcoholic beverages) and to my surprise I was asked to show an ID card; which was many years since I last had to do, I might add. I know people tend to underestimate my age somewhat, but do I really look that young now?

Anyway, I thanked the attendant for her flattering request and showed my ID, on which she responded "Åh, du är ju nästan halvvuxen." ("Oh, you're almost half-adult.") Not exactly the most expected statement, but somehow I really liked it! It's probably a very accurate description of me.

Finally the end of an unusually tough week for me, and very irritating because I didn't expected it to be so hard. But my mind sometimes seem to have a mind of its own and quite a sadistic one as well. Or maybe that's just another way to say that I'm a moron giving myself unnecessary trouble sometimes. I don't know.

What I do know is that I really need to try to lower my stress levels a little by now. Writing block when you need to produce papers to hand in does not make for a good combination. Neither does stress-induced headache. Or high levels of bluesy feelings... Actually, I'm not sure what is the cause and what is the effect of what any longer. Oh well, something got handed in at least.