Category Archives: Uncategorized

I must admit that I miss my sweetie, but she is having a good time in the countryside. I see a lot of dogs every day, and that is why I get reminded. Since I am grown up with dogs, I know a lot about them. I remember that we bought dogs, but we also had puppies on our own that I raised and trained. Hunting dogs. My father was not at home that much at that time. He traveled and payed visits to different companies. Sometimes people from his work stayed with us for a while, and I remember in particular an engineer from Belgium. I think his name was Ludo. My brother and I liked him a lot, and it was a little fun since he talked English. At that time I had just started to learn English and I only knew a few words.

It was his first time in Sweden and he enjoyed staying in the countryside. BBQ in the garden etc. When he left he wanted to say a few words to show that he had had a great time. He said “Thank you for your hospitality”. I got very surprised and asked my father in Swedish “Did he really think this was a hospital, I thought he liked to stay here”. My father laught, and his colleague laughed a lot when he understood why I looked puzzled. I learnt a new word.

I remember this very well since it was my first encounter with a person from another country. That was exciting, and it was also very interesting to learn about other countries than Sweden. We namned one of our puppies after him. Ludo. He later became a very skilled hunting dog.

Global warming has been known for a long time to be a threat to humanity. The science is clear. Climate change is real. Climate change is happening now.

Difficult challenges are ahead like the need for changes of lifestyle, production and consumption. And of course also to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to limit the global temperature increase, maybe mostly an industrial challenge. You can find some additional information on global warming on NASA (https://climate.nasa.gov).

The UN has worked for decades to find a global consensus. The Kyoto Protocol (1997) initiated the implementation of these objectives; to reduce the onset of global warming by reducing greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere. This protocol has later been elaborated on, and in 2015, a new landmark agreement was signed by a number of countries to intensify global actions against climate change. The Paris agreement (Accord de Paris). A political agreement on global actions.

However, almost two years ago, the United States decided to withdraw from the Paris agreement. From what I understand, President Trump criticised the Green Climate Fund. Moreover, Pope Francis, from his headquarters in Rome, implicitly criticised the United States from abandoning the agreement, since the USA is the only country out of 195 signatories to have withdrawn from the accord.

But what can local citizens do in daily life? Like you and me. My parents recently installed geothermal heating in their house. Geothermal energy is the heat from the earth. It’s clean and sustainable, and green house gas emissions have been reduced. A step in right direction. I hope.

This morning I saw some news on global heating, that is why I thought of climate change today. Right now I am a little tired since I have been on tough work out this afternoon. Relaxing and having some chocolate. Balance. Browsing the internet and found this documentary with Kylie Minogue. Many years ago. Chocolate, Chapter 37. Talking about global warming.

 https://youtu.be/i0G5kNZan5U

I never thought I would write poetry, but I have written some. This weekend it was rather fun to read a collection of Swedish poetry. To compare. However, my favourites are Shakespeare’s sonnets, and in particular sonnet no 18. Those are the most beautiful words in the world. Now I have started to refocus on writing my books. I was a bit tired of writing in December but now I have gained energy again. I miss the persons in my book. I got very attached to them.

Another way of expressing myself is through photography. To find various emotions. This evening I share a photo from my last day in Dubai a year ago when I walked in sunny weather by the river, waiting to catch my plane. It was a beautiful day.

Allegro (på svenska)

Jag spelar Haydn efter en svart dag
och känner en enkel värme i händerna.

Tangenterna vill. Milda hammare slår.
Klangen är grön, livlig och stilla.

Klangen säger att friheten finns
och att någon inte ger kejsaren skatt.

Jag kör ner händerna i mina haydnfickor
och härmar en som ser lugnt på världen.

Jag hissar haydnflaggan – det betyder:
»Vi ger oss inte. Men vill fred.«

Musiken är ett glashus på sluttningen
där stenarna flyger, stenarna rullar.

Och stenarna rullar tvärs igenom
men varje ruta förblir hel.

Allegro (in English)

I play Haydn after a black day
and feel an easy warmth in my hands.

The keys want. Gentle hammers strike.
The tone is green, lively and calm.

The tone says that freedom exists
and that someone didn’t give the emperor tax.

I guide my hands down into my Haydn pockets
and mimic one who sees peace in the world.

I lift the Haydn flag – it says:
“We don’t give up. But want peace.”

The music is a glasshouse on the hillside
where the stones fly, the stones roll.

And the stones roll straight through
but every window pane remains whole.

Poetry is beautiful. I have to be in a good mood to appreciate reading poetry. Last autumn I bought a collection with Swedish poetry. When I went to high school I learnt a few poems by heart. I liked “Jag längtar till landet som icke är…” by Södergran, since I am grown up in the country side. I was surprised when I found her poem in the book. I had forgotten those words.

Moreover, I found a poem by Tranströmer “Allegro” that I like. Previously, I wrote that poetry is very associated to music for me. Tranströmer played the piano, and there is some kind of rhythm in this poem that I like. And the combination of words is beautiful. So, please enjoy. I found an English translation. Contradictions are fascinating. It has been snowing like in terms of Allegro all day today, and it has not been a black day like the first line in this poem. No Adagio. Maybe musical terminology can describe the pace of life.

I work this weekend so I have a relaxing evening at home. It was a beautiful day today. Snow, sunshine and rather cold. These days are needed since it is so dark this time of the year. They are rare, and they make my life much brighter. Last time, I wrote that I have started to think about my next book. I will work on two books. Just like I did last time. But not poetry.

Poetry is very connected to music for me. That is, poetry is like music and vice versa. This evening I spent some time to find some music to share. Since I am very found of the piano I was very happy when I found this song with Alicia Keys. She has a beautiful voice, and she sings about New York. A city that is always busy. A city that never sleeps.

On the avenue
There ain’t never a curfew
Ladies work so hard
Such a melting pot
On the corner selling rock

Hopefully, this will give me inspiration to continue to write. Because that is what I need. Inspiration to write my next books.

Finally, life has in a way settled. I am talking about my writing. I have needed time to refocus. Recharge my batteries. Today I started to think about my next book. I like the characters in the book so much, and I will continue to write about them. This is my hobby, and of course I talk about my writing with friends and colleagues. Since my characters are very kind and lovable persons, I was suggested to have a mean character in my next book. A good idea. But difficult and challenging.

One of the world’s most famous speeches is from Martin Luther King Jr. I have a dream. At that time, in Washington 1963, he shared his vision for a just America. About work and freedom.

“I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.”

It is always good to have dreams. My dream and goal is to continue to write. To work for internet freedom. There are a lot of countries in the world where it is not evident to write freely. So, I am very happy to live in Sweden. Here we have freedom of speech.

I like to work at the pharmacy and write in my spare time. Sometimes it happens that customers in the pharmacy say that they are in the library by mistake. Pharmacy (apotek) and library (bibliotek) are rather similar words in Swedish. However, books are a very nice topic to talk about. Everybody has a book to recommend. A universal interest.