iki and her dreams

I wouldn't call the British weather bad. I wouldn't even name it crappy. It's simply MISERABLE.

I got to the lab, soaking wet after another rainfall, and started the day by spilling part of my control sample in the ice box. Decided to continue anyway, at least I'll see if the protocol works even though I won't be able to quantify anything. But twelve hours later I'm still in the lab, fighting the blot from hell. Which means that I missed the French cinema night, the beer with my colleagues, and most important, I didn't have time to buy breakfast for tomorrow. And when I finally managed to finish and went home, of course it started raining again. Considering how much it's been raining during the day when I've been safely inside the lab, it's hard to believe that there could be any more rain clouds. But apparently there were plenty of them, or they just happened to localise above my way home, either way I was completely drenched when I got home. I hope my mp3player (thanks CHP) survived, it's such good company.

But amazingly, I'm still happy. It's like those things don't affect me. I'm simply not stressed any more. I'm not sure why, whether it is simply due to being away or if it is something in particular I'm away from, but I have another two and a half months to figure that out. Either way, I'm approaching the relaxed state of mind I had a couple of years ago.

Now I'll go explore the fridge and find something dinner-ish. Saknar er därhemma <3

First, I want to recommend this video, a 13 min documentary of what is currently going on inside Swedish pig farms. If you seriously believe that Sweden is an animal welfare country of if you don't yet know the life of a pig before it ends up on your plate, just watch it. It's not nice, but the truth isn't always nice. Do you choose the red or the blue pill? :)

Ett liv som gris from Djurrättsalliansen on Vimeo.

And my applause to the great people who have spent more than two years documenting this. It is not one case scenarios...



I'm currently sitting in the kitchen with Shadow in my lap, and he's so excited about all the attention he gets that he is drizzling on the computer. Sweet cats, how boring life would be without you.

I spent the weekend in London and Brighton with my favourite (and only) sister. As expected, it was quite different from the previous weekend in these two cities, with Claes. We met at a hostel halfway between Heathrow and central London, and as I got there some ten minutes before Karin, I was literally dragged into the hostel pub by a nice man who then spent the night buying drinks for my sister and me. I'm still not sure what was in it for him, but we didn't mind.

The next morning we got up in a reasonable time and went to Trafalgar Square to see the environment exhibition there. Huge tree trunks from dead rainforest trees are on display to remind people to act not to save the environment. Some of those trees are taller than the Nelson's Column at the square! Amazing. We walked around for a while and took the required touristy pictures, and then headed for the next touristy place - Camden. Of course :) I don't quite know when I'll use the wonderful black dress I bought, but I just couldn't resist it. Wacken maybe. Next time you go to Camden, don't forget to visit the health food store just opposite the underground station, they have a great variety of tofu, soysages, soyghurt etc.


Apart from Camden, we also experienced something typically British there - heavy rain. My umbrella got thrashed by the wind in a particularly stormy rain two weeks ago but my intelligent sister had brought one. Good for me. We were constantly surprised by how much time we still had left before the train back to Brighton, but eventually we went to Victoria to get in time for Katie's flat warming party, which was really nice. People here are so sweet and welcoming.

Yesterday Marcel brought his copy of Vegetarian Brighton to work, so I can find new places to eat. But since I didn't have that Sunday morning (noonish) when Karin and I went into town, we went to an old favourite - wai kika moo kau, where I had lunch with Sascha some weeks ago. We also explored North Laine, however without finding the beads store I've visited before - I really have to get a new map. Although Brighton is small, I can't always find things I've seen before. When we went down to the seafront and walked towards the pier, we got caought in another rain storm. That will probably be my sister's lasting memory of Brighton, and it is true. I think it's been raining more or less every day since I got here. But today I managed to get home in a short break between the rains - those are the small things in life that makes me happy. Actually I'm not feeling that well today, I've had a serious headache all the day and every time I bend forward to get something I feel like I'm about to faint. And it seems like this text is getting more and more confused as well, my thoughts are jumping around...

Anyway, I'm looking forward to a weekend in Brighton + London with Alex, and then I'll give you the third version of these cities, my new homes.

Take care. Don't forget the pigs.

I've just spent a great weekend in London with Claes, and I'm looking forward to a weekend in London + Brighton with Karin in a couple of days, and then another such weekend with Alex. It will be interesting to see the different sides of the cities depending on my company. London with Claes included sleeping late in the morning (in a hotel room decorated with pink, yellow, and brown - welcome back to the early 80s), endless discussions about trivial and important issues, fetisch shops, clubbing, buffet at a Chinese vegan restaurant, and Greenwich Market. It was great :) Lets see what the upcoming London trips will be like. I'm sure they will be different, but still great as well.
Brighton with Claes only lasted for a couple of hours, but he did have time to see my very, very pink room. I'm so used to it now that I couldn't understand why he started laughing when I opened the door. I'll probably miss pink when I go back to Stockholm. There's loads of pink stuff in the lab as well, such as pink nitril gloves.

Claes and I share a weird sense of humour. This yellow warning sign was soo appropriate :)
Förra veckan präglades mest av oro för mormor, men jag är glad att höra att hon verkar vara på bättringsvägen. Det är svårt att vara här och inte kunna göra någonting alls. Men folk på labbet är snälla och förstående. Vi var på bio en kväll, och jag gick och simmade - det är bra att göra något som distraherar.
Jag tycker jag hållit en låg profil på jobbet för att inte få en stämpel på mig direkt, men jag har tydligen inte lyckats dölja mitt engagemang i världsfrågor. Yari är aktiv i Amnesty så vi har pratat en del. Och nu är AnnSofie är tillbaks på labbet efter två veckors semester, jag träffade henne för första gången igår. Det var naturligtvis Yari som presenterade oss för varandra. AnnSofie har jobbat på Sea Shepherd en månad, innan de skulle ut på en kampanj. Hon verkar bra. Jag trivs mer och mer här. Det är svårt att säga om det är för att det faktiskt är så fantastiskt bra, eller om det bara är spännande för att det är nytt och det fortfarande finns mycket att upptäcka.

Guy Fawkes night the other day was a crazy experience. We got off the train in Lewes, a small town close to Brighton, and the first thing we saw was a parade of people with torches. We found a nice spot outside a pub and watched several parades with people dressed like indians, like aristocrats in the 1700th century, like prisoners, like zombies... mainly people in striped clothes, referring to Guy Fawkes. Every group was a separate bonfire society, and apparently they spend the whole year planning what to do for the next Guy Fawkes night. Everyone had torches, some carried burning crosses, and lots of people had firecrackers - I was glad I had brought ear plugs. It wasn't like anything I've ever seen. But after a while it got cold, so we went inside the pub, cosily painted in red with dark wooden parts. We never went to see the bonfires, though - we stayed in the pub and then went to the train station to be sure to get home. All roads were closed at 5pm, my supervisor lives in Lewes and had to leave at lunch to be sure to get home, and there are no extra trains despite the invasion of 100 000 - 150 000 visitors. The Lewes Bonfire Society discourages people from visiting the town, and I can see why. But I'm glad we got there :) Here's some pictures...Happy Bonfire Night visitors: Phil (Australia), Claudia (Austria), Hanna (Austria), and Sarah (Italy), all nice colleagues at the Genome Damage and Stability Centre.

The parade is approaching...

... and the whole town participates...

...in amazing costumes!



Firecrackers are for kids...


... just blow up the whole thing! It's Bonfire Night!


However, apparently not everyone went to Lewes. When Phil got home, someone had broken into his appartment and stolen his computer and other valuables. Awful.

I had brunch with Sascha today, she's going to India next week and I'll miss her! It's been nice to talk to someone outside work, someone who cares about the world and questions society. Tonight I'm seeing Katie and Yari for a movie night. We watched Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind earlier this week, I loved it. Tonight's movie is Children of Men. I'm responsible for movies, Yari cooks, and Katie drives people home - perfect division of labor. It's fun watching Katie and Yari interact, they've only known each other for a couple of months but they act as if they're married. They're both great. And I have a good excuse for watching all the classical movies I haven't seen yet.

I was supposed to see Sarah (same Sarah as I went to Lewes with) yesterday, her boyfriend is here visiting but she didn't hear her phone so they went home before I got into town. So I explored Brighton by night.. Those who know me have probably noticed I'm not exceptionally fond of the gender based society we live in, but I must admit, going out alone is a lot more fun for women. There will always be someone talking to you, and since I hardly know anyone here, I appreciate that.. I ended up at Hector's House where a band from Bristol was playing. Not my favourite music, but they were still good and everyone was dancing. I hooked up with a Scottish guy and danced all night. He was a good dancer, maybe I should have asked for his number if I want to go out dancing again, but then again, I'll prefer better music next time :) Both Phil and Ewan at work likes metal, that's a positive surprise.

I just got home from work, after a day that's been way too long.. I woke up with a hangover, I've only had bad results, I didn't have time for lunch until 2 o'clock, I had to work for twelve hours, and by the time I was finished, beer hour was over.. So I headed for the bus, to go to my local rock pub and have a beer there, but the rain was pouring down and I'd forgotten my umbrella at home so I was soaking wet before I reached the bus shelter. I gave up the beer idea and went home, now I'll just find some dinner and watch blade runner, and that's it for tonight.

I love Brighton, I love England, but I'm currently not that impressed by the weather.

And I don't even have any chocolate here! Nor any breakfast for tomorrow.. That's bad planning. But bonfires night yesterday was great! I'll write about that tomorrow, when I'm a bit happier :)

Have a nice weekend everyone <3

Igår när jag kom hem möttes jag av en svansviftande Lottie som försökte smita ut, hon gör så ibland för att få upptäcka världen utan koppel, men eftersom hon har svårt att hitta hem är det ingen bra idé så jag hann fånga in henne och lekte lite inomhus. Lagade middag (quinoasallad med sparris och favabönor, min lokala asiatiska butik har fantastiska grönsaker), och tillbringade en kväll framför datorn, som så många andra kvällar här.. Men trots att jag har med jongleringsbollar för händelselösa kvällar, har jag inte haft tillräckligt tråkigt än för att lära mig jonglera :)
Imorse kunde jag inte hitta min nyckel. Det är en ensam, liten nyckel, så jag har ibland haft svårt att hitta den tidigare när den försvunnit i något hörn i väskan eller om jag lagt den i jackfickan av misstag, men imorse fanns den verkligen ingenstans. När jag letat igenom väskan och kläderna jag hade igår flera gånger fortsatte jag leta igenom soffan (hittade lite pengar och en tändare som garanterat inte är min), påsen med smutstvätt, skrivbordet (bra att det blev städat), sängen, soppåsen (okej, jag var desperat vid det laget)... men den fanns ingenstans. Det närmaste jag kunde komma en nyckel var nånting hårt och litet som rörde sig i botten av soffan, nära en reva i tyget under en kudde, men det gick inte att nå det och det kändes mest som pengar, men det kunde vara ett mynt och den runda delen på en nyckel. Vid det laget var jag rejält uppskärrad, jag visste ju att jag låst upp dörren kvällen innan så nyckeln måste finnas någonstans inne i huset men samtidigt fanns den ju inte. Det är illa nog att slarva bort sin egen nyckel, värre att slarva bort någon annans.. I panik fortsatte jag leta igenom huset, trappan, badrummet, köket, kylskåpet (okej, jag var mer än desperat..), men ingenstans fanns nyckeln. Jag kollade även i dörren, ifall jag glömt den i på utsidan, men ingen nyckel. Efter att ha vänt upp och ner på huset i en och en halv timme insåg jag att det var lönlöst, skickade ett uppgivet och ursäktande sms till min landlady och förklarade läget, och gick till jobbet. Dörren låser sig automatiskt så det var låst tills Sarah kom hem.

Dagen har präglats av den bekanta känslan 'jag måste lösa det här, men det går inte, det är inte möjligt'. Det är en känsla jag burit med mig hela sommaren och våren, och som jag blivit väldigt van vid. Den försvann delvis när jag fick ett sms tillbaka av Sarah efter några timmar: 'den satt i dörren, jag hittade den när jag kom tillbaka efter min joggingtur imorse innan du gick upp, den ligger på byrån i hallen' - och jag slappnade av, lättad, men blandat med uppgivenhet - kunde hon inte nämnt det imorse, vi pratade i tio minuter innan hon åkte till sin morgonföreläsning... Men den är återfunnen och ligger i min väska igen, det är det viktiga. Magkrampen har fortfarande inte gett med sig, men fungerar just nu mest som en påminnelse av hur jag mådde hela våren och sommaren. Visst har jag känt att det varit avstressande att vara här, men det var inte förrän jag kom tillbaka till samma stresskänsla som jag fullt insåg hur bra mått av att komma bort från allt. Dagens största lärdom är att jag behöver stanna i Brighton ett tag.

Ytterligare en bra sak med Brighton är att jag har hittat en ny sorts sojamjölkchoklad. Fanns i smakerna naturell och apelsin. Goda var de också :)

Today is the World Vegan Day, and I have celebrated it by eating a burger and carrot cake at the Red Veg café. The burger was great with lots of mayo, and the cake was lovely.. Fat and sugar :) The guys working there were nice too, they hadn't heard of the world vegan day but considered every day to be a vegetarian day. However, I wish I had been at Norrmalmstorg, with the world's greatest people <3

I also found a new area in Brighton that I haven't visited before. Although primarily a standard shopping area, it included three chocolate stores on the same street, and a small shop with all kinds of dragons.

Anyway, I have an English number now, so let me know if you want it. If you feel some urgent need to speak to me, text me and I'll swap to my Swedish one so that I pay.

Local Halloween: eight (!) spiderwebs on the garbage bin outside my house


På torsdag är det Bonfire Night, även känt som Guy Fawkes Night. Traditionen kommer från 1605, när Guy Fawkes och några andra katoliker försökte spränga parlamentshuset i luften (med 2500kg krut! det hade blivit en rejäl smäll..) för att bli av med den protestantiske kungen och möjliggöra en mer katolskvänlig styrelse i landet. Dock varnade gruppen katolska parlamentsledamöter innan, och informationen spreds, så gruppen greps och avrättades. Bonfire Night är alltså något slags firande för att folk inte dog, utom de som avrättades såklart.. Men det verkar också vara en slags fortsättning på den keltiska skördefestival som fanns långt innan, med stora bål, ungefär som på valborg. Dock med skillnaden att en docka som ska symbolisera Guy Fawkes bränns på bålet. Mest en anledning att fira kanske.

Här i Brightonområdet firas Bonfire Night främst i Lewes dit alla gator stängs av innan, men ryktet säger att tågen ska gå. Firandet i Lewes är ett av de största i England så jag ska verkligen försöka ta mig dit. Att det är så stort i Lewes beror på att sjutton protestantiska martyrer brändes levande på en gata där i mitten av 1500-talet. Till minne av det bärs sjutton stora brinnande kors genom Lewes under Bonfire Night. Dessutom verkar det vara parader och annat. Jag får berätta efter nästa helg, när jag upplevt det.. Den egentliga kvällen är på torsdag, men det ska tydligen vara mycket fyrverkerier och smällare även nästa helg, och det var en hel del redan den här helgen - tydligen byggs det upp inför Bonfire Night och eskalerar dagarna däromkring. Det var en hel del smällare igår, och Lottie (hunden jag bor med) var skärrad, så jag lät henne vara hos mig på mitt rum. Annars brukar jag inte släppa in varken hunden eller katterna där, men Sarah (landladyn) var inte hemma, så Lottie var lugnare hos mig. Katterna verkar ha blivit avundsjuka för idag hade de på något sätt lyckats få upp min dörr och låg på sängen och såg lyckliga ut. De gillade inte alls att bli utburna. Men jag vill gärna ha mitt rum fritt från katthår, och mitt skrivbord orört...