Shadow J76ß

Election special

2009-06-06T11:54:59Z

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.

So to sum these fun tests up, I'm left/green in Germany, green in Finland, conservative/liberal in Sweden, and whatever I feel for in Denmark. While I should apparently not vote for conservatives in Germany, and greens or left in Sweden.

Political right-left scales makes such sense, no? Or you could just say that Swedish politics are weird I suppose. Welcome to the land in the mirror-world.

(And no, I didn't vote in accordance to my #1 Swedish result.)

Germany:

http://event.faz.net/wom/euro/main_app.php
(SPD = social democrats, Die Linke = left/ex-communist, Grüne = green)

Sweden:

http://www.dn.se/fordjupning/europa2009/vad-ska-du-rosta-pa-i-eu-valet-1.869858
(Kristdemokraterna = christian democrats, Folkpartiet = liberal, centerpartiet = liberal, socialdemokraterna = social democrats (yeah, you probably figured that last one out yourself))

Finland:

http://special.hbl.fi/valmaskin/
(De Gröna = green, Vänsterförbundet = left)

And Denmark:

http://www.dr.dk/Nyheder/Temaer/2009/Europa/Stemmesedlen/Stemmesedlen.htm&start=testdineholdninger
(Radikale venstre = centre, socialdemokraterne = social democrats, Venstre = liberal, Det konservative folkeparti = conservative)

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?

Photo time

2009-06-05T11:36:33Z

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.

Look! Birds! For the record, we're just right outside the uni campus here.

We're an urbanised, modern country. But it is never far from the farmer roots.

Dandelion fields.

(Early) summer at the uni.

Uni public art and landscape.

Random uni view. It's "our" department's houses in the background by the way. The ponds and park are much nicer in May than in field sampling days in November.

The things you can do with some buckets of paint. Until last autumn, this charming late 70s-early 80s building used to be rust red.

City scene, but this time from Norrköping. I was waiting for the bus.

Summer in the city... Back in Linköping, by the way. Just to make things clear, I live in a city with 130 000 inhabitants. And this is actually between the city center and the uni campus.

Sheep shot.

Constructed heritage. The Linköping way of modernisation - move the old city buildings to a reservation. Can be contrasted with the twin city Norrköping way - tear them down and wait 30 years to rebuild the empty plots.

Sakura. Or something.

If I remember correctly, this lane is called "rose walk" or something...

...which is an interesting name, indeed.

Linköping Castle.

And the cathedral.

Glass pyramid. "You shall not throw stones when in glass pyramids." Or something. If nothing else, the café management will probably throw you out if you try.

Concrete chairs. Of a better model than the famous Swedish artsy one I think. But then, these are just (somewhat functional) park decorations, not famous art.

Summer's coming

2009-06-04T21:39:29Z

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.

According to one of those tests, both sides of my brain are equally powerful...

2009-05-24T10:20:20Z

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...

Older, wiser, and writing..? Not a logical combination, maybe

2009-05-22T12:41:13Z

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

He had known that this day would come. It was inevitable after all. Still, he had hoped that it would be a long time until it actually occurred.

Riza glanced over at her superior officer where he sat behind his desk, hands together, thinking. Apparently worried over something, and it irked her a little that she couldn’t tell what it was about. Now when she thought of it, he had been unusually thoughtful ever since she had first picked him up in the morning outside his apartment. Whatever it was, it must have been something that came to his mind between yesterday evening and the morning.

She took the risk of taking another glance at him.

If he had noticed her concerned looks, he didn’t show it. Most likely he hadn’t. That kind of perception wasn’t exactly his strong side.

He swivelled in the chair, turning his back to the room. Seemingly looking out through the window behind his desk. Like he looked at something that wasn’t there. Adjusting the position of the chair slightly, and tilting his head toward the window. She wondered what he could see in that position. Especially since the rainy grey weather in combination with the season made for a dark morning outside.

Riza returned her attention to the paperwork at hand. Some standard reports, a number of requisitions. She raised an eyebrow over a forwarded invoice, trying to imagine what Edward Elric needed 200 balloons, a dart board, two bottles of red and black ink, and a subscription to Mechanics Monthly for. But in the end it wasn’t her problem, so she simply put the invoice on top of the heap that needed the commanding officer’s signature. With a little luck that one would at least get a reaction out of the subdued man.

Walking over to his desk she made a deliberate effort of making her steps sound, but even so, he didn’t turn his attention – and his chair – back to her until she had placed the batch of papers on his desk in a more loudly fashion that was really needed. Startled, he lowered his hand, but not fast enough to make her miss to notice the movement.

That’s when she understood. And in one fluid movement, making it look like nothing more than a soft bow forward to organise the papers on the desk a little, she moved closer to him.

“You know, there is a certain distinguished look to a man with a touch of grey in his hair, brigadier-general,” she stated in a low, confidant voice. “Signals maturity and authority.” She gave him a soft, reassuring smile and was rewarded by the slightest change in his posture. A change that probably was too small for anyone else than her to notice. He wouldn’t lay the troublesome thoughts to rest that easily, of course. For that to happen, she would have to keep working on it for a while to come. When the stubborn man got a fix idea like that, it wouldn’t be discarded that easily. She knew that. But at least she had identified the problem. And hopefully managed to make Roy Mustang’s morning a little less grey.

Huh? This is highly unexpected!

2009-05-17T18:01:56Z

*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!

Fanboy mode on

2009-05-05T16:00:20Z

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.

Oh, Sweden, thou wonderous place on earth...

2009-04-25T10:15:46Z

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 With Jon Stewart

M - Th 11p / 10c

The Stockholm Syndrome

thedailyshow.com

Daily Show
Full Episodes

Economic Crisis

Political Humor

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

M - Th 11p / 10c

The Stockholm Syndrome Pt. 2

thedailyshow.com

Daily Show
Full Episodes

Economic Crisis

Political Humor

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

Me, the half-adult

2009-04-03T21:43:22Z

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.

Mood recession

2009-03-27T22:56:42Z

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.

Normal levels of stress = relative calm

2009-03-15T17:58:00Z

After a couple of weeks being stressed to pieces, it has been nice to actually have had a weekend that allowed me to get my stress levels back to normal. (I.e. not gone, just less extreme. That's me.)

Anyway, some of the random stuff I've been able to notice during my moments of trying to calm down:

V for Vendetta turned out to be a much better movie than I had expected.

Quantum of Solace turned out to be just as I expected. That is, a somewhat decent action movie which gets a lower rating in my mind than it should have got had they not called it a Bond movie. Because there isn't really much Bond left in it I fear, so why insist on calling it that?

Bleach - yes, we're in manga territory now - and more recently the probably less known Skip Beat! apparently have started being published in Swedish translation now, something I've totally missed. As late as a month or so ago I concluded that the local manga wave seemed to have slowed down to a lull after a brief overview of the bookstores. Guess that's what happens when you're more geared toward the English language market than the Swedish one. What's more interesting than the actual title - since I had a look at Bleach years ago but didn't found it interesting enough back then, and now 33+ volumes of a shonen series feel too much to go for - is the fact that it seems we actually have started to get a wider group of translators here. That's nice. Maybe. Because I haven't actually read their translations, so I shouldn't say too much.

Oh, and I have discovered that when it comes to doing nature science computer models, I suck at understanding the math formulas used, but I am somewhat better (not exactly good though, "better" is a relative thing) at understanding it when swapping to the computer syntax version of the models. Which - unfortunately - is the exact opposite of what the instructions assume that you should do.

Man who gets amused over weird things

2009-03-01T11:02:21Z

Making screenshot posts isn't my usual thing, but why not?

And I know, I shouldn't be as ridiculously amused over these as I am. My humor is SO bad sometimes.

The flawless, enlightened men of tomorrow and their progressive views...

Of course, the old-fashioned humankind seem to have it too. Or maybe it is just that the men and women of tomorrow bring forth the best in them?

I especially like her face in the next-to-last panel there.

One of the more amusing episodes in a while I think, partially thanks to this. Which probably says something about me... And given the ending, I'm not sure my reaction was what the script writers intended, really.

It's all about me

2009-02-22T12:57:19Z

Meme task from dzioo and such a good excuse for me to talk.

Comment to this post and I will give you 5 subjects/things I associate you with. Then post this in your LJ and elaborate on the subjects given. (You may also comment without committing to doing something of your own, I'm nice today.)

Cagalli
My number one fictional character love, if someone has missed that by now. Why, I don't exactly know, but it was one of those love-at-first-sight things [which I only have for fictional characters, obviously]. It is probably as simple as a case of her embodying a number of qualities I like in a female - assertive, intelligent, stubborn, and with a will and agenda of her own, but also with a hidden softer side. [And I wonder why I'm still single in real life... Tsk...] Oh, and good-looking maybe is part of it too, I suppose. While at the same time being realistically enough made to be believable with her uncertainty, doubt and low moments. In short a well-rounded character with a personality, and that's not all that common. The only thing I refuse to accept as canon is the bridal scene, which is so out of character that I get irritated. But then, GSD is what it is. In many ways.

politics
Yes, I AM interested in politics, but probably in a somewhat more detached way than most people. Maybe it's a result of my education, maybe it's more of a personality thing, but I like to study politics, much like a physician finds an interest in studying diseases. The perfect political system doesn't exist, since all political ideologies are flawed in different ways, and most political parties put their ideology and their own interests first and "being a servant of the people" far beyond that. Yes, I know, I'm cynical.

This view can be a problem in that I can't subscribe to any specific political leaning - even if I guess the most accurate label would be "centrist". My overall political doctrine is that any political party staying in power on its own for too long is a bad thing, because then they get the opportunity to realise the more extreme parts of their agendas. Change is good, as long as it is a change between reasonable alternatives (i.e. centre-right or centre-left, extreme ideologies who don't care even about the basic human rights, torture people, go for excessive nationalism, or behaves randomly weird should never rise to power. Even I have my limits.). This is also why I loathe bloc politics, because they limit the possible constellations.

fanfiction
I am kind of split when it comes to fanfiction. On one hand, I can understand the idea. I have after all been writing it every now and then. It's nice to get these ready-made characters and try to make stories that fit them. But I would never write long fanfiction stories, simply because it's not my characters and I can never own or actually do anything more purposeful with such texts. Short writings can be fun, but I can't really think of wasting time and energy on creating long stories that essentially never can be mine. I can of course use pre-made characters and universes as inspiration and starting points for own stories, but that's a different thing. Then the major characters will be mine in any case. But writing things which are totally my own is even better. But also much harder, and compared to fanfics there is even less of an audience for it.

As for reading fanfiction, I must admit I rarely do it nowadays. I love reading things written by friends or at least people I can somehow relate to (like friends' friends), but random fanfics found on the net, not so often. Because it takes time, and to be honest most of the things aren't so interesting when you don't know the author behind it. With friends' writings it's different, because you care about the person behind the writing, and the texts get an additional dimension. (Sounds pretentious, I know, but it's hard to explain.)

shadow
Not sure what to write here. I guess Dzioo's referring to my habit of using the word to describe myself, so I'll talk about that. It's a thing that in its current incarnation stems from around late 2003-early 2004, but in its essence it's much older than that. I have always been the quiet, non-obtrusive one who have managed to be around without being really noticed. I'm illusive and really hard to get close to, just like the shadow. I listen much more than I talk, I gather information much more than I share it. Standing in the shadows. Or being a shadow. Because on the other hand, some probably would say that once you manage to get my liking and trust (not easy), I'm also faithful as a shadow. [Am I making myself sound very creepy here? In that case, that's not the point. I'm not dangerous, I promise.]

In other words, I would have made an excellent Swiss banker, knowing a lot but telling little. Safe and secure, but you have to get into my well-guarded personal space and get my trust to have any use of that.

shyness
This one is closely connected to the shadow part, and maybe even more connected to the trusting part. And there's no point in denying the obvious, I AM shy. Period. But unlike the shadow part, the shyness is something I don't always like all that much. Luckily, it's a shyness mostly working on the personal plane; if it's simply work or other official, non-personal matters it's not that bad (unless it involves phones, I hate conducting official business over phones, because it's so prone to error - real life meeting or some form of text based interaction for me, thanks), because I don't have to let those people close to the real me. The real drawback is instead that I'm slow in making friends, which is something I suffer from every now and then.

Why do my ramblings always turn out feeling so dull and serious compared to others when they do this? Oh well, I suppose it's a personality thing...

Night thoughts

2009-02-02T23:15:29Z

Life is like a four-dimensional game of chess. Now if I only could remember how the pieces are to be moved...

Okay, it's been a long day, I'm in devious mode, and I probably ought to go to bed now.

Bored. Or procrastinating. Or both.

2009-02-02T15:52:24Z

Somewhat bored. So what's better than letting my brain in free gear. Meme taken from schrogwr2. Very random first-that-popped-into-my-mind answers. See it as a free glimpse of how my mind works. Or not works.

Rules: It's harder than it looks! Copy to your own note, erase my answers, enter yours, and tag 10 people. Use the first letter of your name to answer each of the following questions. They have to be real . . . nothing made up! If the person before you had the same first initial, you must use different answers. You cannot use any word twice and you can't use your name for the boy/girl name question.

1. What is your name: Johan
2. A four letter word: Juli (Or July if English is your preferred language.)
3. A boy's name: Jesper
4. A girl's name: Johanna
5. An occupation: Journalist
6. A color: Jaune (Hey, no one specified a language.)
7. Something you wear: Jeans
9. A food: Janssons frestelse (Not tasty.)
10. Something found in the bathroom: Jordgubbssmaksatta... mmm, no, maybe not...
11. A place: Jelling (In Denmark if someone wonders.)
12. A reason for being late: Job
13. Something you shout: Jaaaa!
14. A movie title: Jumanji
15. Something you drink: Juice
16. A musical group: Josie and the Pussycats
17. An animal: Jaguar
18. A street name: Järngatan
19. A type of car: Jeep
20. The title of a song: Jajauma ni sasenaide

What to say? My "first association" skill is a weird thing. And with the exception of the bathroom one, and the song title which I had to look up to be sure of the spelling, this wasn't that hard, actually. (Ok, so I ended up using four languages, so sue me. That's how my brain works after all.)

Träumereien

2009-01-24T13:16:44Z

It's January for sure. Lousy weather (2°C, rainy and windy), I'm tired, unmotivated to do the many things I should do, and mostly just longing for better times. Probably that's why my brain tries its best to recompensate by providing me with wonderful dreams for once. The kind that almost could be true and when you against your will wake up, you're left with that bittersweet feeling - grateful for the much needed solace it provided, but hating that in the end it was just a dream.

Yes, I have no idea why this qualified as a post either.

Happy New Year

2008-12-31T18:08:02Z

Time for another year to end, and as has been usual lately I have problems making up my mind if it's been a good or a bad year. Anyway, happy new year to all of you!

Best anime: Slayers Revolution. Sure, it's a lightweight entertainment show, but it's so nice to see them again.

Best month: October. This is an utterly strange answer for being me, I know.

Best political event: Waking up to the news of Nov. 5. OK, so I'm way too cynical to expect the coming of the saviour like some seem to be, but hey, for a while we can at least pretend they will be almost like a normal developed country.

Best book: Spelaren Christian Günther by Henrik Arnstad. [Biography of the Swedish Foreign Minister during WW2.]

Best music: Baccano! soundtrack. (Could probably have been "best anime" as well.)

Best real life irony: The "markets should be free" people suddenly screaming for mommy government to come bail them out. (The downside: they'll never learn from their mistakes, will they?)

Best manga: Fullmetal Alchemist. Again.

Best tea: Green, pure.

Best pets: Cats. Yes, no change there.

Best politician (this answer shall not be seen as binding): Angela Merkel.

Best html tag: <small>. At least for LJ and similar use.

Best currency in stash: Euro. If only I had had more of it in stock before the local crowns started to behave as a lead weight in water...

Best coffee: Cappuccino.

Best question: "So who am I?" (Me asking a friend.)

Best friends: All of them.

Also, a while ago, a surprise small package from Japan turned up, courtesy of spherehunter who I am greatly indebted to now!

I could have gotten an Asuka in a nice aerobics outfit...
...but what I got in the candy-with-a-surprise box was something else:

Actually, I kind of like how it turned out too. It's fitting, if in a somewhat other way I suppose. [Stop laughing now, S-chan.]

Oh, it's December...

2008-12-07T19:26:25Z

This has been the first weekend in at least one month that I actually have felt somewhat free. "Free" of course being a relative thing. "Not incredibly stressed" is probably a more exact description. Oh well. And no matter which it is still a case of dark November having passed over into equally dark December and all I really want to do is sleep.

Some 14 days ago now, I was waiting for the bus to Linköping and having nothing better to do, it resulted in these three random photos of Norrköping, Sweden. This is NOT how it looks now, and I'm not sure if that's good or bad, really.

Linköping University, Norrköping. Personally, I prefer the "real" campus in Linköping. Bigger, better, and "mine".

Random street scene.

Matthew's Church in snow.

The right-wing left-winger

2008-10-31T21:05:16Z

I'm actually kind of surprised how busy my autumn has been this far. Oh well, I suppose I at least shouldn't complain about that. (Of course, it had been better if my current busy-ness (business? So that's where the word comes from...) had had more to do with income generation and less with studies... But I guess you can't get everything.) It could also be better if my soon to be two week old cold had decided to stop tormenting my respiratory system soon. But that's nothing unusual either.

And, since it's election times again (no, not ours but that omnipresent country on the other side of the Atlantic), I should present the test result from the link presented by maaya1x2 a now long time ago.

You are a
Social Liberal
(63% permissive)

and an...
Economic Liberal
(18% permissive)

You are best described as a:

Socialist

You exhibit a very well-developed sense of Right and Wrong and believe in economic fairness. loc: (49, -119)
modscore: (11, 38)
raw: (1535)

Link: The Politics Test on OkCupid.com: Free Online Dating
Also : The OkCupid Dating Persona Test

As usual, with my European eyes I want to point out that it is a huge feat to be designated as both a "social liberal" and a "socialist" in the same test. Oh, America, how I love you...

My political statement of the day (okay, so yesterday actually, but still)

2008-09-20T15:37:28Z

Because the headline caught my eye by succeeding in having that humourous cynical wit I so love.

Call me a liberal, a leftist, or even an anti-capitalist if you want - for once I don't mind -, but this doesn't really has anything to do with any of that; my total approval of this editorial is entirely based on - what do they call it - oh yes, common sense. Or fundamental ethical principles, maybe.

Plus, it has Michael Eisner's name in it.

I wonder how many posts I have with the word "random" in them?

2008-09-11T18:33:21Z

Random test & meme results dump time again. Also known as "I have things I should be doing, but those are boring".

Number 1. Found at dzioo's, and it makes me wonder a little exactly what kind of weird mood I was in yesterday night when I took it:

You are The Moon

Hope, expectation, Bright promises.

The Moon is a card of magic and mystery - when prominent you know that nothing is as it seems, particularly when it concerns relationships. All logic is thrown out the window.

The Moon is all about visions and illusions, madness, genius and poetry. This is a card that has to do with sleep, and so with both dreams and nightmares. It is a scary card in that it warns that there might be hidden enemies, tricks and falsehoods. But it should also be remembered that this is a card of great creativity, of powerful magic, primal feelings and intuition. You may be going through a time of emotional and mental trial; if you have any past mental problems, you must be vigilant in taking your medication but avoid drugs or alcohol, as abuse of either will cause them irreparable damage. This time however, can also result in great creativity, psychic powers, visions and insight. You can and should trust your intuition.

What Tarot Card are You?
Take the Test to Find Out.

Number 2. Courtesy of maaya1x2:

I kind of like this one...

Olympic pictures

2008-08-13T09:28:18Z

Cycling is my new favourite sport in the olympics, and no, I don't care very much for the actual sport, but last Sunday when I happened to catch it on TV I noticed that it provided some nice footage of the northeast Chinese landscape. A landscape that looks pretty nice in all its lush, mountainous and semi-exotic style. So that's why I now favours it, even if I sometimes get a little irritated when they focus too much on the competitors. I want to see sweeping road footage from a distance please, not closeups of the cyclists. In fact, today when the commentators kept babbling about the silver medalist - who happened to be a Swede, but who cares, I have no more relation to him than to the Swiss who got the gold - I muted the TV for a while since it disturbed my landscape studies...

Random observation of yesterday

2008-08-10T10:55:27Z

I suppose there's something highly ironic in the fact that the two persons my niece and nephew find the most entertaining and likeable ones also happens to be the two notoriously single persons around (also known as my sister's long-time friend and I).

Japanese culture ramble. Sort of.

2008-07-26T13:14:47Z

One of the sites in my bookmark list for my global news sweeps is the Mainichi Daily News one. But it must have been a while since I last was there, because I hadn't spotted their big "Forgive us" splash page until today. It seems like they have had quite a stir-up over "inappropriate content" and "bad journalistic behaviour" over there, something that kind of intrigues both the professional and the hobbyist in me.

In short it's about the English-language Mainichi Daily News carrying the WaiWai column which presented translated articles from diverse Japanese magazines and newspapers, and the selection seem to have been somewhat, well, raunchy, more often than not. All run by what appears to be a single, bilingual editor without much overseeing, who in hindsight seem to have been hired mostly due to the fact that he was bilingual and not so much due to his journalistic skills and copyright ethics. And it seems it took quite some years for the higher-ups to actually notice that their English language version had this sleaziness built in. But when they did, the result is intriguing in all its thoroughness. A very public apology and public declarations of what they think went wrong. I can't help but think that that in itself is a very Japanese response. And one that I personally like.

(Yes, I've read the WaiWai column occasionally, and yes, it wasn't exactly hard news in it. And I did on occasion wonder a little why a seemingly serious news site chose to have such a yellow press, or if you want - J-otaku blog-like -, part too. But in any case I supposed it was meant to be that way. What can I say, I'm a hardened web veteran and educated to be critical of facts in all kind of communications; sleaze and pseudo-news aren't exactly a new thing for me to see. For better or worse. And the Japanese culture student in me is kind of proud of the fact that I apparently know enough to be able to separate the real Japan from the wacky otaku-Japan that's presented there. Never mind that that same knowledge apparently made me totally unaware of the probably relevant fear the newspaper staff had that people outside Japan actually could see those stories as images of true Japanese culture.)

Fluff scene #n

2008-07-25T07:35:21Z

Short and very fluffy. As usual. If you can speak of "usual" with my level of drabble posting... Maybe it ought to be higher. Or again, maybe not, since there might be such a thing as too much sugary fluff.

Tropical Night

The tropical night was warm, but not at all unpleasant. Athrun leaned back where he sat, for a moment closing his eyes to just listen. He could hear the rustle in the curtains when the soft breeze found its way in through the half-opened windows. In the distance was the faint sound of water rolling on to the sandy beach.

The upper floor living room was only lit up by a single lamp in a corner, making for a kaleidoscope image of long shadows playing over the roof and walls. He had been watching them lazily for some time while he was thinking, before moving on to listening to the sounds of the night instead.

He heard her footsteps before she entered the room. She on the other hand, apparently didn’t notice his presence until she was right in front of where he sat.

“You’re still here?” Her hands in a reflex move tried to find a robe that wasn’t there. She obviously hadn’t expected him to be around. The fact that she had taken to sleep in only her underwear wasn’t very surprising given the night temperatures.

“I’m assigned as your bodyguard, am I not?” he answered, wanting to bite off his tongue as soon as he had uttered the sentence. She knew very well that he was not on duty right now. And she wasn’t stupid. Far from it.

“I couldn’t sleep,” Cagalli said, as if she felt a need to explain herself. “So I was going for some herbal tea.”

“I can get it for you,” he offered. Once more wanting to maul his tongue, this time for allowing him to say such cheesy things.

However, she produced a small nod that he chose to interpret as acceptance of her offer.

When he returned, she had found her morning robe. He was a little ashamed of the fact that the simple observation made him feel somewhat disappointed.

He handed her the steaming cup and half expected her to disappear back into her room. She hadn’t been expecting company after all, and he was painfully aware that he wasn’t supposed to be around.

Even so, she gave him a smile and sat down on the couch, making it clear that he should sit down too.

“It’s kind of cute you know. You guarding my bedroom door like that. Even on your time off.”

There. She said it. And he wasn’t the slightest surprised that she pointed it out. That was her, after all.

“You’re a good bodyguard,” she continued when he didn’t say anything. “Very loyal.” Without warning she let herself fall sideways down on the couch, landing with her head in his lap. Smiling. “I like that.”

The move surprised Athrun, and he wished he knew if it was due to pure fatigue on her part, or if she really meant something more by it. It was obvious that Cagalli was tired, he could see that in her eyes, and in the way she talked. That kind of straightforwardness was unusual for her.

“I know,” he said, his voice so low it was barely audible. Again a very stupid thing to say, he thought. But hopefully she hadn’t heard it. There were so many other things he could have said. Some because they had sounded so much better. Some because he wanted to say them. So why didn’t he? Athrun had no good answer on that. Maybe it too was a way of trying to protect her. From him.

She dozed off with her head still in his lap. He softly stroked his fingers over her soft golden hair, watching the pretty face of the young woman now sleeping peacefully.

No matter what would happen, he was lucky having someone like her around. Very lucky.