spring is here

"if americans knew what swedes receive for their taxes, we would probably riot"

A story about what Americans and Europeans get in return for their taxes, from New American Media.

I've been looking for this - thanks random twitter person

The Barry Gibbs Talkshow:

quote of the day

Adults are always asking little kids what they want to be when they grow up because they're looking for ideas.  -- Paula Poundstone

thank YOU, kelli

Today's funniest status update:

DC --> London = FAIL. Thanks a lot selfish volcano.

from new internet friends

Click here to see some really good iphone photography, chosen by Mauro Bellabeni. (To my amazement he included one of my photos. I feel totally unworthy.)

una donna, finalmente

The people behind an Italian website focusing on iphone photography are nice enough to showcase my work. I'm honored! Click here to take a look. It's especially cool that I'm the first woman featured in their series.

funky yellow flower growing on a tree

dan has a jacket that is as teal as the sky

more like spring for every day

to age in style

I saw The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo the other day. It's a good movie. I liked the book a lot when I read it, and the film more or less tells the same story.

A young woman disappeared in the mid 1960s, and a journalist is asked to solve the mystery some 40 years later.

The movie is Swedish, with subtitles in English.

I've lived in the US for 15 years, and it is always great to see Swedish people, cars, streets, houses, scenery, and choices. Makes me feel at home.

At one point the main character sets out to interview a woman in another town. Does he jump in his BMW? His Volvo? No, he goes on the bus, and from the bus stop to her house he walks along a snowy country road.

I recognized most of the actors, but some of them confused me. I couldn't figure out why, until I did some math in my head.

Some characters in the movie were supposed to have been teenagers in the mid-1960s, and the story takes place 40 years later. That means they are in their 50s when we meet them.

The reason I got confused was that Swedish casting directors had actually gone ahead and cast men and women in their 50s, to play characters in their 50s.

There were three actresses in the film I couldn't place. They looked vaguely familiar, but no names popped into my head.

When the closing credits listed Ewa Fröling (b. 1952), Marika Lagerkrantz (b. 1954), and Lena Endre (b. 1955), all very well known Swedish actors, I had to think to be able to link the names to the faces I had just seen.

Not only did these three women play characters close to their own age. They also looked their own age, because (I have to assume) they haven't had the plastic surgery that is common in Hollywood.

Had these three beautiful women been American actors, they would have looked closer to how I remember them: the 35-year-old versions of themselves.

jaime escalante

A story about a real teacher.

going back to my roots

Yeah, I went back to being brunette. It's been a while. When I look in the mirror I see 1995. But that's OK, because when I look at my feet I see 1995 too. (Hello, Doc Marten.)

I'll be platinum again when I'm old enough for my hair to be all grey.

sad, but true

Someone needed 54 cents to bypass the long line and get the pre-paid envelope she needed at the pick-up only window at the post office yesterday. But she only had a dollar.

It took about 5 seconds for the people standing next to her in line to come up with 54 cents.

That may sound like the normal thing to do, but it's not certain it would have happened in Sweden.

It's true that in a country where everybody is taken care of (comparatively speaking), people's willingness to reach out to others has suffered. They'd rather pay taxes, and have the state help.