Imaginary dinner guests
I was completely sure I had posted about this ages ago but when I went to check on my blog/homepage I couldn’t find that post so maybe I didn’t. So I thought I might do it now.
The idea comes from a really annoying, boring tv show that my mom watches every evening so I know the concept very well, though I wish I didn’t. In the show, a celebrity gets to ‘invite’ four dinner guests to an imaginary dinner party. They also talk about where they are supposed to be and what they’ll be serving. I won’t really go into that, because that’s not all that interesting to me. Actually, I will also forget about the exact number of guests, just mention whoever I can think of.
Here are my imaginary dinner guests:
1. Corinna (Early Greek poet). Scholars aren’t quite sure during what era this lady lived, one suggestion is that it was during Hellenistic times. It is sometimes said that she was such a success that she was able to buy herself ’emacipation’ – ie to become like a man, able to act on her own behalf, rather than being a ward of her father, brother or husband. Though I’m not much into poetry, I think she might be an interesting woman to talk to, always assuming I would have access to a ‘universal translator’ like in Star Trek.
2. Christine de Pizan, who was an Italian French late medieval author. She was widowed at the age of 25 with three children and had to turn to writing to support her family. According to some scholars she was an early feminist.
3. Edith Södergran – Finlandic-Swedish (Swedish-speaking Finlandic) poet. Sadly, she died at 31 and her work speaks of her fear of dying and her wish to live as intensely as possible in the few years she had.
4. Dorothy Parker. Perhaps she doesn’t need as much of an introduction as the former guests, but I’d like to mention what it is I find interesting about her. She was a success very early in life, unlike many other writers, but later life didn’t live up to her expectations so she died rather disillusioned. She was funny but quite sharp and is known to have said some really mean, and amusing things about other famous people.
5. George Bernard Shaw, because I find his work very interesting and there are many quotes from him that I find really thought provoking.
6. Hedvig Charlotta Nordenflycht. She was a poet, feminist and salon hostess. She was known as the first female writer in Sweden who was able to support herself from her writing. Unfortunately, some men couldn’t accept her success and would criticize her for the way she looked (apparently they thought she was too fat). Her personal life was generally unhappy, especially in love. Towards the end of her life she fell in love with a much younger man, and unfortunately that ended badly. He was also involved with her best friend. It seems Hedvig Charlotta tried to kill herself and died shortly afterwards, perhaps of pneumonia.
As it happens, all my choices of dinner guests are dead. That’s probably not a coincidence. I’d have to think some more if I wanted to ‘invite’ a bunch of currently living people, but I’m sure there are several I’d find just as interesting though perhaps for slightly different reasons. You get a different perspective on people you read about in the media, watch on tv or in movies or listen to them being interviewed or look at current photos of them.
Three places…
In a really annoying tv show on Swedish tv, that my mom keeps watching every evening, they let a celebrity come to the studio and talk about their favorite places to travel to. Though I hate this show, I thought I’d do a post about three favorite places I’ve been to and three more that I’d like to visit some day. Just because…
1. Estonia – I really like Estonia. Whenever I go there, I feel I have travelled a few years into the future. It’s clean, pretty, with nice, helpful people and plenty of interesting things to see. And they have so many wifi hotspots, which is always great for a tourist far away from home.
2. Jämtland (which is a region in the north of Sweden, well strictly speaking it’s in ‘centra’ Sweden about half way up our long country). I used to live here as a child, but I have also gone back there to visit (also as a child). It’s breathtakingly beautiful (just like my home region West Gothia, though in a different way). There’s interesting sightseeing, beautiful scenery and since I used to live there and at such a young age, I was very happy there. Just seeing the images makes me feel a little better.
3. France/Paris. Since I’m interested in history and some of the French culture it’s always fun to do all the sightseeing. I’d also like to see more of France, especially the northern half.
Three places I’d love to visit some day:
1. Bhutan. I’m really interested in Tibetan culture and Bhutanese culture, as far as I know, is very similar to Tibetan. There are plenty of interesting buildings and temples. The scenery is breattaking (but on a whole different level than in Jämtland). I also find the Bhuddist culture fascinating. As far as I can tell, this small country has succeeded in both keeping and holding on to their old customs and managed to enter the 21 century.
2. Sri Lanka. The scenery is (as far as I can tell) beautiful, the culture interesting and I believe most people speak at least some English. I have read that the hotels offer delicious breakfasts consisting entirely of fruit. Here too, there are plenty of interesting old buildings to visit.
3. Italy. Perhaps I don’t even need to go into details about this country. Most people have probably been here several times and find it boring by now. I haven’t been to Italy even once and I would still really like to go. This may sound like more of the same, but I think the scenery, especially in Tuscany and Umbria, is beautiful. Naturally, there are plenty of interesting history (and archaeology) to check out.
Five things you never get used to in Sweden
The Local’s northern Sweden reporter Paul Connolly truly loves his adopted home. But after three years of living in Scandinavia, he’s convinced there are at least five Swedish habits and traditions he will never come to terms with.
Read more here.
Hm. Maybe I’m secretly English? Or Irish (I’m thinking about the hair.)
About Conformity – sometimes you can have a hard time fitting in, because you’re less outgoing than the average Swede, not more. Being shy and not social seems to be a deadly sin in some circles.
My personal list (for a Swede living in Sweden):
1. The barbecues. Oh, the stench that fills the air everywhere people live.
2. The bicyclists riding their ridiculously expensive conversation pieces on the sidewalk/pavement ringing their annoying bells. Really? Don’t they know that when there’s no actual bicycle lane they’re supposed to go in the street, with the motor traffic. The sidewalk/pavement is actually for people walking.
3. Neighbors – watching, spying, judging. Need I say more?
4. The contrasts between the extremely well educated and/or the rich and on the other hand the uneducated and uncultured.
5. The enormous difference in service available between Stockholm and the rest of the country. You basically can’t get anything – culture, food, clothes etc of any quality outside the capital unless you can order online.
23 statements about me – meme
I found this meme on two Swedish book blogs.
My name is Camilla, but I often call myself MilliLinnea or Ilirwen.
At the moment, I’m a bit sick.
I’m good at spelling and proofreading, which is good, because that’s actually my job)
I don’t like cruelty to animals, neighbours, bicyclists, mean people in general.
I’m bad at being social (in real life, online it works a bit better).
I’m reading (at the moment – a Swedish historic non-fiction book about an eighteenth century lady, married to the king’s brother).
I like books, history, languages (and also historic tv-series).
I sing (not at all, because I don’t have a good singing voice).
I love my family, including the four-legged kids, and also practically all animals in the world.
I’m not particularly good at doing practical things, unfortunately.
I prefer tea to coffee (but love iced water), the countryside/the woods to urban areas (but like cities better than small towns, usually).
I like tasty vegetables like avocado, kale, zucchini, chocolate and home made bread.
I’m addicted to books, of course. 🙂
I’m wearing a blue long-sleeved t-shirt and blue sweatshirt pants.
I’m drinking – nothing at the moment, but I just had a big glass of ice cold water, because it’s hot outside.
I listen to older music, that is classical (especially baroque music) and a bit older pop and rock (80’s and 90’s).
I get angry at stupidity, especially at how extremely cocky stupid people are, it’s dangerous, see below.
I’m scared of everything bad that’s happening in the world today.
I wish for a better future, for my family and for others.
I’m embarrassingly bad at doing practical things, even pretty simple things, like ironing clothes.
I grew up in West Gothia, Sweden where I’d love to stay, but unfortunately, in a dreadful little town that I’d love to move away from.
I also found a few extras on one of the blogs, and I wanted to add those too.
I’m exceptionally good at – hm – I’m not sure if I am exceptionally good at anything, but like I mention above, I am pretty good at spelling, grammar, proofreading and editing text, and also languages, like English and French.
I like that I dream of big changes for the better, for myself and the world. That is, I dare to dream about getting a fresh start, when I’ve got a bit stuck in life.
Exploring a region in Second Life
The region I just visited is fascinating. It’s called Leka – Nordan om Jorden. Click the image below if you’d like to see more pics from there.
A Doctor Who fan fic
There was a fan fic contest on Wattpad. As usual, I was too slow and wasn’t confident enough to enter, but I did start writing a fic. Eventually, I finished it.
Here it is, if someone’s interested. There’s sort of a vegan/animal rights theme so I didn’t post it on my fan fiction site, but I suppose it fits in here.
iPhone 6+ (and 6)
I have had the chance to use both the iPhone 6 and the 6+. By now it’s old news, I know, but I would still like to say something about my impressions. Before the iPhone 6+ I had (and still have) an iPhone 4. I still love that one and I still use it.
As for the 6+ I love it too. I love the big screen, I love the great battery time. In all fairness, my old iPhone 4 still has good battery time. With the iPhone 6 + I might have managed to get by without any e-book readers, surf pads etc, except for one thing: despite the great battery time, I’d probably end up charging it every day. As it is, with normal phone use, it lasts about 5-6 days, just like my old iPhone. Like my old, old iPod Touch used to when it was new (but it’s still pretty good, only a bit small). Using e-book readers, cuts back on my phone battery use. Just don’t get me started on the great battery time of my e-book readers… 😉 (Unfortunately, my beloved Cybook Odyssey Frontlight doesn’t work right now, or rather it doesn’t work without me using the charger cable – not for charging, but to be able to turn it on. If it can’t be repaired, that’s what I’ll do, but I’m still hoping the little problem with the on/off button can be fixed.)
Unfortunately, the iPhone 6 that I’ve had my hands on, has always been trouble, since it was bought. Twice it’s been handed in for repairs (both times it pretty much died when it had to be charged.) That brings me to the other trouble with it – the dreadful battery time. I’ve read somewhere that people in general thinks of the iPhone 6 and 6+ as having better battery time than earlier phones. I don’t know about the 5 and 5s, because I haven’t had any experience with them, but I do know the iPhone 6 is a lot worse than the 4 and 4s. That’s also the impression I got when I read about the new iPhones. The 6+ has both a bigger screen and a better battery life, the 6 has a bigger screen, just not quite that big.
If the iPhone 6 had worked ok and had a better battery time, I’m not sure what my choice would have been. Maybe I would have settled for the 6, because I do have my e-book readers for reading and my computer for writing. I know there are ‘power banks’ that you can charge and take with you, but I’m afraid that such a poor battery will die soon and I’m not sure there would be any point.
Some people have complained about the size of the iPhone 6+. I don’t understand them at all. I find it easy to hold both new iPhones in my relatively small hand (one at a time, naturally, LOL). Sure, I need to use my other hand for the touch screen, but I did that with my older, smaller devices as well.
My conclusion: the iPhone 6 + is awesome. If you’re an Apple fan, who doesn’t want to use more than one mobile device, pick this one.
