Anyway, heard there’s patch to fix that flaw, apparently hidden somewhere on Ipanema beach.
In Rio.

Well, what can I do? Better go get it.
Talk soon.

After a few days on a northern retreat in “personal development” and a birthday later, those spontaneous words from a dear friend of mine today pretty much confirmed my current state of mind.
A lot of things have been processed the last couple of days up there in Dalarna, however pretentious it may sound, and with that said, a lot of things have been re-evaluated. I can gladly say that I came out of it all with a lot more self esteem, and a helluvalot better knowledge about myself and what I truly feel. It’s truly amazing to see people in their “purest form”, with all the facades thrown away, and to see how they evolve with the right guiding in a warm and loving context.
I could write about this experience for screen lengths, about insights and truths, but I’ll leave it at that, and just summarize it as something you need to experience to understand, and something I wish everyone would do.

Anyway, to add up to all that, I’ve received the best birthday gifts possible during yesterday and today:

• I’ve booked and confirmed a few weeks vacation to visit my favourite blonde in rio around March. Including the Amazones. More to come about this later…
• One of my dearest friends have decided to move to the Capital of Scandinavia in a very close future, and just let me know about it. Same here, more later…

…and all honour to those two things, but what really made my week:

• I was yesterday asked to become the godfather of Albin.
  Geeze Louise.
  After having recovered from the tears of joy shared with my asking sister at the moment, I of course said yes, and spent the following night on updating myself on my current responsibilities, as I’m already under the oath of office for my dear cousin’s daughter.
  After a while of remembering research though, realizing that it’s all about being a good role model and “keeping track” of the little one, I could sit back with an encouraged and extremely proud smile. I’m going to be the best Godfather there is, once again, and we’re not talking mafia style.

So all and all, I’d call it a good start of my personal year.

Damn, it feels good to be back.

A year of expectations.
A year of turn-arounds.
A year of experiences.

I’m not gonna turn this into a pretentious “what have we learned, children” moment, but can just state the fact a lot of things have went by that will definitely influence one in the future, even though we may not know exactly how.

I’ve been travelling (gotta keep up the “nomad” part).
I’ve searched for, and found, a base in the capital of Scandinavia, Stockholm.
I’ve had a great relationship.
I’ve become an uncle.

To then finish it all in the company of 69 other great people on the west coast, in a fashionable venue with an impressive dinner, energetic dancefloor and tasty Champagne, was just smashin’. And no pretentious new years resolutions either, I’m still not all done with my last one; “less talk – more action”.
I’ll keep that one another year, and see what it may bring.

All I know is that 2010 will, and has to, definitely constitute a change in this chap’s life, things are on the verge here.
One thing is certain; I’ve never been so secure in knowing so little about my future the coming year.
I’ve realized, once again, that my friends are near – geographically or not.

Thanks for this one, people.
Let’s make next one even better.

Well well, of course you can always trust my Gothenburg partner in arms to deliver.
And boy, has he delivered. At least plan wise, now it’s up to us to carry it out.

On the train bound for the Other Side as we speak. A bit heavily headed after yesterdays not at all surprisingly entertaining dinner with Liz, that turned into a fully qualified rum’n’must gathering with some more friends, and also turned my place’s kitchen into a battlefield. Well, well, that’s why they invented strong coffee, aspirin and piano jazz the day after, right?

It was a good warmup, definitely.
This will be good, expect a report

Have a mega ending of this one, folks!
I most definitely will!

Champs Elysée, I’ll pass – Avenyn, here I come!

Thought I’d mention a few words about what I actually do nowadays, haven’t really had time to put in words before. Been working too much..

So, after almost two years with helping people gambling as much of their money away in the most efficient manor possible to my employer, I thought that improvement was needed – My carma account was running dry.
So this concept, which until not that long ago, was a bit of a taboo, is now my profession – online dating.
Just before this summer, I was approached by the two guys behind shakemyworld.com, a online dating site that saw daylight about a year ago, and they needed someone who could take care of the tech as they were now taking the next step in the expanding the business.
“Interesting” said Bull.
“Exciting” said Bill.

So yes, I sit day in and day out and trying to ensure that active singles in Sweden (for now..) find true love in their lives. And in a less “white-lily-in-the-button-hole-of-my-jacket-meeting-outside-a-cafe” way, but more “meeting-over-a-beer-at-an-afterwork-with-a-few-mates”.
Somewhat more relaxed, more of a online community.
You also quickly realize the predicament in the business model when it comes to our target audience – a satisfied customer to us, is in that moment is a lost customer, when leaving us, you follow?

Certainly, days are tough here every now and then, but if not a quick game against a colleague in the tabletennis room can, then what can ease up your day more than an email to the support box from a customer saying
“Hey, Shake. You can shut down my account now, I’ve found the love of my life thanks to you. What would I have done without you? Many hugs to the world’s best dating site by Lisa82.” (fully fictious name, of course)
Of course you respond with a smile and a “Good luck with love!”. Cynically enough though, we can bet our Monday afternoon cinnamon buns that Lisa, statistically based, will return to us within a period of a few months..
So we just pause her account.

Who knows; one day, when I least expect it, I might just be struck myself by that feeling.
But until then, let’s just say that my flickering vague bitterness towards love and what I do during the days is a good match these days.

Speaking of work – soon time for it again after a swell weekend with friends, interesting relational developments (unfortunately not with me directly involved..), a good run through this place’s wine storage, and the first Lussekatter for the season. And to top it off, a refreshing sleep in a Sunday weather out of this world!
Hoping for a good week, over and out.

She’s right.
A part of me wishes she wasn’t.
That feeling of always being inadequate, always feeling that more could be done “if I only had the time..” is a feeling I’ve grown accustomed to, it has acted as a driving force quite often, and I’ve grown tired of it lately. I’ve long since lived by the words “what doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger”, and that may still be so, but for this ranger, it changes here.
With the risk of sounding pretentious, living is now, not something you work for day in and day out to enjoy when you’ve “grown up”, and then all of a sudden realizing you missed it. If that’s the case, I don’t want to grow up.
I want to try out new things. I still want to make mistakes, and learn from them, but the most important thing is; I don’t want to miss out on the opportunities on making those mistakes.

Of course, it’s a matter of priorities when it all comes around, making your time table “add up”, and maybe that means I just haven’t got enough important things to prioritize in between? What ever it is, something needs to change.
And some things will change.
Quite soon.

With the events of the last couple of weeks, I guess I just bought myself some time.
Some quality summer time to spend with the people I care of, not thinking to much about what times the second half of the year has in its hidings.
Cause whatever it is, it’s time well worth exploring.
And I’ll tell you more about it later.

Anyway, here are some more imagery.
http://blog.creatom.se/images/south-africa-2009/

[See image gallery at wordsofanomad.com] The meaning of the two phrases “mella” and “hakuna matata” does resemble eachother significantly, that stands clear after two weeks in a country (and another continent for that matter) where sun and nature reigns (reigning together with a dysfunctional government that is up for a rerun as we speak, but that’s a different story further down..)
However hectic my last couple of weeks has been, and however messed up my flight down there became, that place was just what I needed in change of environment and relaxation, with just enough activities along the road, literally, and with a really good travel companion. It makes me realize once again, that I’ve got quite a low threshold to relax in the moment, there and then, and feel quite comfortable with setting down in new environments, if just only or a night or two before rolling on down the highway towards new beaches and guesthouses. In other words, my nomadic nerve is still there, feels good to confirm that once in a while.
Especially in a country where I feel the people’s attitude in so many ways resemble the one bared by a former Mediterranean home country of mine. Just with a bit more structure.

Anyway, my major impressions after some time in this country of wide, white smiles are the following:
+ The scenery. Location, location, location!
+ The climate. A tad windy, but temperature wise just my kind of place.
+ Prices. Living life is cheap. And I’m not talking only the shot trays.
+ The scenery. Again.

– Crime. Fortunately, we never saw any of it, but the atmosphere and general feeling for it somewhat uncomfortable
– Isolation. They’re clearly an island on a continent, at least the white population (80% of the country’s 23M voting people).

It is with a greater, and more enlightened interest than three weeks ago I’ll follow the voting down there today.
I’ve seen some parts of the place, I’ve heard some of the people’s voices and I can say that the place is truly fascinating, in many ways. Politically though, it’s facing some great challenges to come, challenges that makes you hope the upcoming governing party is a bit more proactive and less mella’istic than dear Timon and Pumba.

For the thank you’s:
Johanna and Peter: Your hospitality shall never be forgotten. Hope to repay with a trip up Stadshustornet and a summer’s day on Fredhäll. We all have to work with what we have..
Josef: Thanks for the company, inspiration and good talks, you’re a bloody good guy! Now let’s take a glass of juice..

[See image gallery at wordsofanomad.com] One speaks about “The Great Five” when it comes to safaris, which originates what the Brits came down here to hunt (still baffles me how much that remains from that time, with the servants serving afternoon tea on with linen cloths from the safari jeep when out on the morning game run): Lion, Buffalo, Elephant, Leopard and Rhino.
We saw three of them, and as for the rest of them, the leopard apparently is never sighted in this park since it’s so extremely nervous and also nocturnal, and for the elephant, I can’t really see how we could have missed them? Ok, it’s a 22k hectares big reserve, but still: how does a herd of 30 elephants hide from not only ours, but also from the trained eye of our tracer, Caesar?
[See image gallery at wordsofanomad.com] And yes, being a tracer, he did what they do in all the movies – jumped down from his sighting post on the front of the open Landrover, stuck his finger in a pile of buffalo dung, tasted it, looked mysteriously in the distant, finally pointing south west with the words “they were here 3 hrs ago, headed that direction. let’s go.”
Classic. Makes you feel like in Jurassic Park.
So we’ve now chilled out at our private lodge since yesterday lunch, which could might as well be the honeymoon suite at any respectable wilderness hotel, enjoyed our private pool and minute instant room service, a nightly 4h game run yesterday in the reserve, being out in the night seeing the cheetah take down and feasting on a prey (wicked), and ended up having champagne dinner with a senior group of four here, celebrating Joan and Michaels 50th anniversary.
Quite entertaining, and quite aristocratic, I must say.

The last day here in South Africa for us boys started at 6 AM with a private morning game run with Caesar and the driver Doc, who after a while tracked down a herd of lions, who all of a sudden just appeared from the bushes, quite interested in who we were.
[See image gallery at wordsofanomad.com] Extraordinary feeling to see these animals in this way. I’ll never go to Kolmården again.
Also some kudus, springbocks, white and black rhinos, hyenas, jackals and a looot of warthogs. Both near and in a distant.
Thank God for my Nikon 200mm lens (once again – pictures will appear as soon as I can access an Internet line faster than my fax).
Time for lunch on the deck now, overlooking the reserve, and then start the trip towards home sweet home via Port Elizabeth, Cape town and Amsterdam. Let’s hope things move more smoothly this way.

Long time since I felt this rested.