A little update

I suppose it’s time for a little update about what I’ve been doing lately.

First the bad news: I’ve spent the last couple of days more or less in bed, sleeping, trying to get rid of the worst cold I can remember having at least for the past ten years or so. Ugh. I’m getting better now (except for the dreaded cough), fortunately, because I have plans for the next couple of days, but more about that later.

All this summer I’ve been indulging in a bit of shopping. Mostly clothes, but also a backpack that I really love. Not that I really needed it but still…

I’ve probably mentioned this before a couple of times, but we also spent at least the early part of the summer trying to get workers up to our cottage in the woods, to get us indoor plumbing and a few other things that needing doing. Apparently they were all on vacation… So we missed our chance to spend the summer in the countryside. Sob. It would have been alright, if I’d only been happy living here, but as most of you know, I’m not. Oh, well… Maybe our luck will change this year.

Anyway, last week, my mom and I went to an outdoor musical show. It’s a sort of ‘preview’ of the Gothenburg Opera House’s program for the autumn/fall. There were hundreds of people. I had no idea this town had so many music lovers. At least people who love this type of music.

There was a bit of Benjamin Britten, which I, quite surprisingly, liked a lot better than I had expected (normally, I’m a fan of much older music). I also loved the Gluck pieces, especially Dance of the Blessed Spirits. Finally, I also liked a piece by one of our Swedish composers, Alice Tegnér, mostly known for her children’s songs, but this was a different kind of work. I didn’t expect to find it very cheerful because it was named for Goethe, but it was.

There was also a little preview of a Swedish opera about a notorious con artist who made people believe she was a diplomat and scientist, related to the Rockefeller family and the Japanese emperor… In reality she was a Swedish hairdresser, with a lot of imagination. Too modern for me, too much jazz, but interesting all the same.