well well well...

this was lunch. for dinner we had a piece of pig.

This is one of my favorite things to eat.
There is a mix of herbs,
and there is kimchi.
Underneath there is rice,
and a fried egg. Sesame oil.
Very tasty.

oh candice

It was ugly, that's all.

And it will be on
Go Fug Yourself.

WHAT just happened?

Stephen was robbed.

remember 1983?

I was watching The Last Samurai just now and I recognized the actor in the beige coat there, to the left of Mr. Cruise. His name is Timothy Spall, it turns out. I never knew that, even though I have known his face for a really long time.

Dan points out that he was in Harry Potter. He says that was his best work. I am not so sure. Auf Wiedersehen, Pet, that's all I am saying.
Now that was good TV. Seven out of work English builders working in Germany, living together in a hut. It was sad and sweet and very funny. I googled a bit and someone said this series was the reason TV was invented. Be that as it may, this guy is good.

that's some old ivy there (or maybe it's not even ivy? what do I know)

When I was growing up I was always fascinated by images from American university campuses. There was something about the lawns and the walkways that was very attractive to me.

I am not sure I feel the same way anymore. Sometimes pretty campuses turn into protected (and protective) bubbles in ways that universities in more urban settings never will.

San Jose State University has a campus, lawns, and walkways. But it's also placed smack in the middle of downtown San Jose. Homeless people wander in off the streets. You hear sirens, and traffic. It's more Crash, than Proust.

the $9.95 lunch special

Before.After.
Hatcho, Franklin Mall, Santa Clara, CA.
Pretty much the best food ever.
Especially when they have mackerel.

little miss sunshine

This family, with the addition of a surly teenager,
is on their way to a pageant where the girl
is going to compete for the 'Little Miss Sunshine' title.

My colleague Mike asks for everyone's favorite movie.
I am indecisive, and could never commit to only one.
Right now, though, Little Miss Sunshine is my favorite.

And somewhere in there you learn why Marcel Proust
would have wanted you to suffer through high school.
It makes you glad you did.

is that the moment you loose hope? but if you loose hope, who's going to feed your children?

Someone told me a story today about how her dad had been a gambler and a womanizer. At one point he had gambled and lost her mother's, his wife's, only pair of shoes. He came home and asked his wife to take off her shoes so he could give them to the new owner. So she took off her shoes and gave them to her husband. Then she hid her bare feet.

just look at that ceiling

I was in this building today.
It's an old hospital that has been
renovated and turned into offices.
Someone worked hard on that ceiling.
It's really pretty.

Wait a minute.
Rinse, please.

"the original autodidact"

If someone tells you
Doris Lessing is "difficult",
don't believe them.
Just read her books.
Start with Martha Quest.

Best writer ever.

beating the drum

So people are upset Gunther Grass was a member of the SS as a teenager in Germany in 1945. I do not understand why that is so upsetting. Clearly he was influenced by propaganda, as were thousands of others. We all like to think we would have been the one to do the right thing, in Nazi Germany, or in the segregated South. But if that was true, if every good moral person always did the right thing, then the world would be better by now. We would have done away with racism, war, and simple every day harassment.

The truth is that very few people are willing to stick out their necks for someone else. Be it a neighbor, someone in your workplace, or even in your own family.

None of us know who we would have been in Nazi Germany. So let me ask you this: who are you now?

you can't really go wrong when you fry a banana

This one has rhum,
brown sugar,
coffee and
butter
on it.

And that white thing
in the middle
is vanilla ice cream.

so here's a question for you

Which super power would you chose?
Invisibility, or the ability to fly?

(You can only pick one, and you would
be the only person with that power
in the entire world.)

Then listen to this episode of
This American Life.

if nothing else, I could work on that 45 degree angle

Someone sent us 500 photos from their wedding. They were very pretty. But there seems to be a trend right now to tilt your camera for no apparent reason. In those photos it looked like glasses, happy couple, bridesmaids, groomsmen, moms and dads, were all sliding off somewhere. Like this:
That's not their wedding, of course, it's what's in front of my face right now. But you get the idea.

Other news: I applied for two jobs today. Americans cross their fingers, Swedish people hold their thumbs (thumbs tucked into palms, fingers folded tightly on top), and kick each other's butts for good luck. Take your pick. Make it work.

platanus, platan

Los Gatos platanus, with bicycle.
Sycamore, cyclamore.

wouldn't fit there now, unfortunately

I was on the floor today because my back is still not good.
And I remembered how much fun it is to play under a table
with a long table cloth
when you are little.

it's been more than a decade.

I never thought this day would come.
I helped create a survey.

Hej Karin!

I'm going to bed early.

Found it under a pile of
old newspapers and bills.

It's supposed to sit next to the phone book.
Oh, wait. I don't have a phonebook anymore.

yep. that's a japanese maple. back from the dead.

I've killed most things in the garden.
This is what remains.

acdc

So CNN anchor Anderson Cooper
was on Oprah last week.
It was a lovefest of
unprecedented
proportions.
Anderson talked about his work
as a "feeling journalist", and
about his brother's suicide.

Anderson's mom is Gloria Vanderbilt.
She seemed to be an interesting woman.

another kitchen

Another girl who looks like she belongs.

grattis ulrika!

more from the stage mom

-It's very easy to motivate a 4-year old.
(Small girl is crying.)
- I hate to say this, but I bribe her.
(Small girl is crying.)

showbiz moms and dads

Desperate mom to her tiny, whining, beauty queen:
YOU ARE FOUR YEARS OLD, ACT LIKE IT!

mckenzie

Today I watched Ellen.
That's a great show.
One woman won a new start
to her life. (They gave her
a fastfood restaurant).
That's why she's crying
right there.

Betty White was on too
and now I am scanning
the channels for reruns
of The Golden Girls.
Sometimes I think that
was the funniest show
ever.
Other news:
Big thank you to Lena B.
for great advice about
exercises for back pain.
(Click on the picture.)
And then there is
the war,
the president,
Heathrow Airport,
and CNN.

it's all about the angles

You can't really tell of course, but I am
resting the jumpy leg and watching Oprah.
Oprah was cooking,
introducing the family behind
the Dove ice cream bar,
the makers of Crayola crayons,
her personal favorite white t-shirt,
and three generations of
the Massoni design family.
I also watched two episodes of Law And Order,
and some of the never ending Project Runway re-runs.
Tomorrow Oprah has Anderson Cooper on,
and tonight there is actually a new
Project Runway episode on Bravo.

I figure I'll just be here,
waiting for some fresh ice cream.

ryggskott

Back pain.
Hurts.

in any case they bought it by the yard

President Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice held a press conference from Bush's ranch in Crawford, Texas today. If you saw the images on TV you could see that the venue had a very high ceiling and that blue fabric covered a lot of wall space.

So I am just wondering if they hung those official looking curtains in the barn?

tonight on 'wife swap'

In tonight's episode of Wife Swap the guy on the right got his butt kicked by the woman on the left. She made him keep his own wife's schedule for a week, and he barely made it. He cleaned, cooked, typed, bitched.
And then he took his kids to school for the first time, cried, and thanked his house guest for making him change.
One improved, brave, redneck.
One interesting reality TV show.

The woman? Upon her return, her own husband challenged her to work on her temper. She seemed to be doing so-so.

the descent

This is one scary movie.

dressing

Lately (well, twice) I've been making salad dressing starting with one finely chopped clove of very fresh garlic, mashed with a tablespoon of brown sugar. And then on with the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt, and pepper. Tastes good.

cake

Kathy said her cake had
structural problems,
but it sure tasted great.
It had olive oil and lemon,
according to a
South Italian recipe.

some people have time to kill

Kathy asked for a puzzle.
I picked one to go with
her profession.

el teatro campesino

Went to San Juan Bautista to see a show
with El Teatro Campesino.
It was a little bit like going back
to the 1970's in Sweden.
Singing, dancing, and social commentary.
Which I appreciate.

that's an unleavened brownie there

In an emergency you can use
matzo meal for brownies.
They come out a little crunchier,
but that only makes them seem
health-foodier, if anything.
In an emergency you can have
pancakes, milkshake and coffee
for dinner.

And hadn't it been for the bacon there
it would have been kosher too.

karindagen

August 2 is my Name Day.
My first name is Karin.

August 2 is a good day for cake
because even in Sweden there are
fresh berries to be had.

A Prostestant country like
Sweden may have the days
of the year named for non-saints,
but I have learned that it is really
only in Finland and Sweden that
those days are celebrated.

puzzle

Click to waste some time.
And again.