End of show, summery.

The course that I’ve been teaching at Chalmers is over. The fifth year students are finishing their masters projects and there’s some running around and mild panic regarding the final exabition, but for all intents and purposes the course itself is over.

It’s tempting to attempt a summery of things that were experienced and lessons learned, but I refrain from doing one giant monster post on the subject and instead maybe shower you with the golden sparks of detail.

For example: Architect Carl-Johan can be seen below, pointing in the general direction of something visionary and awesome. He joined me and Ana two weeks ago in doing the final critique of the projects. He’s brother of the artist formely known as Andreas-in-Gothenburg, with whom he shares laughter and a mischievous wink.

Chirping, running, drinking, working.

The past couple of days I’ve learned a few things.

For one thing, Gothenburg really likes Bruce Springsteen. The local tabloid had a prop plane doing slow rounds over the city, encouraging the Boss with improper punctuation and a sad whiny sound. I’m sure he was overwhelmed.

Flygplan med banderoll om Bruce Springsteen

Utanför Stearin i Göteborg, askfat

I’ve spent a month back home now, and much of the momentum that I had regarding a documentary project about architecture has been spent on stupid details (like the new look of this blog) and I have yet to book an interview. The coming week should be a make-or-break time to get started and get something on tape. Once I have that, I’ll start looking for financing and such.

Much of the time I feel as though I’m on vacation but ought to work anyway. It’s the constant annoyance of being a free agent: You’re not really free. Ever. Never ever.

Röda sten i motljus

Tallkottar

I’ve been “running” four weeks now. Every two days I pull on sweatpants, plug in some headphones and go wheeze among normal people. It’s getting better, and I’m moving up to level three on the C25K scale, meaning that I’ll be running for a full 3 minutes next. “What is the world coming to” you might ask yourself, and I would answer “asthma and the end of times.”

My impulse control is still bad by anyone’s standard but my own, but smoking is down to sort of ten sticks per day and I no longer suck on that inhaler like a pup on a teat of life.

Petters ögon - come hither

Ballong eyes

Two other smaller things that came to my attention was that although drinking is a nice pastime, I ought to find something besides that. Like drawing, or sailing, or maybe furthering my career as the worlds greatest person ev4r!

If you go out drinking with people who work in bars, it is safe to assume that they have a built in gene that allows them to not get as drunk as you, so don’t try to keep up. I went with Petter to a bar owned by an old friend of his and ended up at a concert at Pustervik. We were discussing how women on stage are very successful at looking awesome (compared to the same woman in grocers) so we were fawning a bit. One g&t too many later I was stumbling home, coming just short of having to drag myself along a wall.

Suggestions for hobbies other than drinking? I mean, it’s not as if I have an abundance of money or health here, nor is it helping me to look better or getting laid, and the routine is getting a bit routiny.

Konsert på Pustervik, 4 juli 2008

Kvitto från Delerium

Pär i motljus i Stockholm

Anna is going with Hanna to Israel tomorrow, and as soon as I’ve set her up with a Twitter feed I’ll post it here. I’ve been trying not to engage in all these web 2.0 projects too much since they are devourers of time, but let’s see if Twitter can’t be useful for something. My own feed is in the column on your right, ladies and gentlemen, and you are welcome to follow or @ or whatever it is that the kids do. I decided to try after listening to You Look Nice Today, which is a very relaxed and excellent podcast (except the latest live episode, a rather meh affair) which apparently came about after the producers were twittering all the time.

If you haven’t seen it, it’s time for you to waste at least fifteen minutes here: Twittervision.

While working on this project of mine – yes a specific blog for it is coming up shortly – I’m starting to look for job. Preferably freelance or part-time, in whatever area that I might be good at. If you have suggestions or think that I can do something that needs to be done, give me a shout. I need to pull in approx 7000 SEK a month to stay afloat and am really terrible at this whole marketing myself crap. I need someone to give me money and then point at the ground and hand me a shovel.

Gänget går längst gatan

2008, the year of ****

I seldom listen to song lyrics – often it’s just a line that is coherent enough for me to focus on, and of course Tom Waits filters in somewhere whenever he’s gently crooning – but I might be missing out. Anna is all Morrissey Morrissey Morrissey ooh listen to the lyrics and I can’t really empathise with that, but she sent me a song of LCD Soundsystem, All my friends, and it has some really good lines.

Especially fitting since I’m in Stockholm doing something that doesn’t really resemble anything you might call living.

Oh, if the trip and the plan come apart in your hand
You look contorted on yourself your ridiculous prop
You forgot what you meant when you read what you said
And you always knew you were tired, but then
Where are your friends tonight?

Yes, well, ok. I’m in good health, and except that I worry about people in Poland, I’m fucking peachy. Peachy but bored. I just hope that I won’t regret being “bored.” Last time I did we got 2007.

I am writing my essay and my eyes are bleeding

Once I had set up the disposition of my MFA essay I though everything else would just be a case of filling in the gaps. Now I’m two days away from deadline with the essay in a mess, staring up at me with it’s small dead eyes, mocking me for the hubris I’ve displayed, taunting my futile efforts at being clever and rationally correct.

At the moment I have a hard time focusing. And I’m listening to “Don’t fear the reaper” to cheer me up. Bleh! Bleh I tells you! I’m being a whiny bitch, someone bring me soup!

Disposition of essay:


Introduction to essay
Short background

Work one: Flagburning
-Intention
-Production
-End result
-References
-Process analysis

Work two: Virtual Photography
-Intention
-Production
-End result
-References
-Process analysis

Work three: Lockpicking 101
-Intention
-Production
-End result
-References
-Process analysis

Analysis of my artistic practice:
Product.
-Failure thereof.
Project.
-Failure thereof.
Process
-An ongoing failure to perform.

From product to project
From project to process

Prole

Starting tomorrow, I’m getting up early morn to earn me some. I’ll try to video blog the experience. It took me an hour and a half to make the banner, so now I’m comitted. Like, photoshop comitted. Now I have to print a map to the place and then go home and sleep. It’s not even six yet, and I already have to get ready for bed.

As the saying goes: It’s a dirty job, but some poor fuck has no choice but to do it

Odd search terms

Went to a one hour long interview for a two week job restocking a store. I guess they want to be sure who they pool out to whom, but I see a competing workpool company doing this all through video, youtube style, and cutting down on personel and office space.

I check the stats of this site quite often, and for the umnpht time I bring you “search features that have brough people here“. I took a few out in the middle, but it’s the last three that are interesting:

1 4 11.76% appropriate christmas
16 1 2.94% drunken christmas songs
17 1 2.94% favorite christmas tunes
18 1 2.94% foto possy
19 1 2.94% highlands bird and pet clinic renton
20 1 2.94% japan social networking

Seriously, highlands bird and pet clinic renton? I’m doubting the effectiveness of Webalizer. Have to use the Google analysis tool instead, even though it’s not as fun.

Then I took a test which proved once and for all that I’m destined to be alone and sooner or later kill people silently. Maybe this is what I should have brought to the work interview?

You scored as Special Ops.
Special ops. You’re sneaky, tactful, and a loner. You prefer to do your jobs alone, working where you don’t come into contact with people. But everyonce in a while you hit it big and are noticed and given fame. Your given the more sensitive problems. You get things done, and do what has to be done.

“VULCAN NECK PINCH!!!”
“owww…….(slump)”

Special Ops
100%
Combat Infantry
81%
Medic
63%
Support Gunner
56%
Artillery/Armor
56%
Engineer
56%
Civilian
50%
Officer
31%

Which soldier type are you?
created with QuizFarm.com

It’s like running. Only it’s not.

Ok, a short rundown of the past week. In a very condensed fashion, because I gotta get out of here in a bit due to stuff.

* The MFA essay is going slower than molasses. Sweet, sweet molasses, but molasses non-the-less.

* I’ve been helping daddy-o out by spreading the awareness of his car catalogue far and wide through the tubes that make up the Internet. In the process I’ve stumbled upon some horrendous Internet pages I haven’t seen since Mosaic 1.2 back in -95, and I’ve noticed that some people don’t bother to show any contact info. It’s actually an interesting concept; Creating a very personal site and then hiding yourself from view. Then again, since I’m actually trying to get in touch with these people it’s annoying.

* Going for a job interview tomorrow regarding a two week stint at a warehouse. I’m so enthusiastic that I can hardly contain my joy and radiant happiness.

* Meeting up with Ann-Charlotte Glasberg tomorrow, who is the person who’s handling the essay thingy. And there’s this unnerving sense of shame at not having written more than the two-and-a-half pages of feces that I’ve put to print. I’ve been told that a man always has to be ready to perform, and it’s depressing. (although I might be taking that saying out of it’s proper context)

* There were some suggestion about a punk concert tomorrow evening? And beer? Neat!

* Christmas is coming. Here’s the upside of having divorced parents and a fractioned family: I don’t have to get gifts to everybody. Yay. The amount of IOU’s that I’ve given as a present over the years is ridiculous, and if I once get called on those I’m gonna be their bitch for three months and would prolly be required to quit smoking (mom actually has asked me for such an IOU).

Now I have to finish sending off a few emails, and then home to heat something. tea most likely. And watch Sopranos. There’s been a lot of that lately (Anna got hooked).