Kitsch revealed

Now wait just a minute! I promised that I would show the contents concealed by this mysterious wrapping a month ago, but then completely forgot to fulfill my obligation. Shame on me!

Ok, here goes: The first golden frame brought some feminine beauty to my bedroom.

Hey, I told you it was depressing! But I honestly like the eerie vibe it is projecting.

The second print added to the maritime theme I've got going on in my kitchen/living room.

Fun fact: on the back of it is written “Udskibning fra Saltholmen, 1880”. Got to keep that Scandinavian heritage alive!

Alright folks, that's all from today's episode of Antiques Roadshow. Stay safe and don't play with fire! (Or guns.) Cheerio!

Stop and smell the flowers

Walking to work gets nicer and nicer, but takes longer and longer... Happy Friday everyone!

Memorabilia

When experiments fail, shipments are delayed, plans backfire, and instruments break down, I sit down at my desk resting my eyes on a small selection of keepsakes. My mind wanders for a few minutes, and then I get back to work again.

Where young people go to retire

If you like a good snigger but haven't discovered the TV series Portlandia yet I highly recommend a quick peek, for instance on SVT Play. And if you feel like burying yourself in flannel, facial hair, homebrewed beer, and moderately overpriced locally produced eco-friendly holistic (somewhat dented) artisan sourdough bread, well then you should do what David and I did last Sunday: jump in the car and take a day trip to Portland, Oregon.

Never mind my satirical tone; although I only spent about five hours in this hipster haven it was certainly enough to realize that I would love to go back for further exploration, preferably in the summer.

During our short stay David and I managed to enjoy a hearty brunch, do some tax-free shopping, walk along the waterfront to the Saturday (sic) market and browse around for a while before going to Voodoo Doughnut.

I am by no means a devoted donut consumer, but David assured me that if I ever should indulge in a deep-fried, calorie-packed sugar bomb extraordinaire this was the time and the place. I wasn't difficult; we bought ourselves some coffee and entered the winding line that lead to the store. The queue actually started under the pink sign below, then went all the way to the left and finally back to the entrance again. And that was just to get inside... A popular place, to say the least.

Standing in line has positive side effects, though; this photo was taken by a gentleman from California who was in town for a quick business trip. A really nice fellow who gave us his card and promised us a guided tour of San Fransisco, should we go there.

Once inside, David decided to surprise his colleagues with a Monday treat and bought a whole box of goodies. (Kiss ass!)

For me, the multitude of forms and flavors was completely overwhelming and I panicked slightly when it was my time to order. David indulged in a Bacon Maple Bar (um... yes, that's bacon and maple frosting) and I ended up randomly picking an Old Dirty Bastard, with chocolate frosting, crushed Oreos and peanut butter (the messy one to the right of the bacon bar).

My verdict? Not that bad. No, actually: it was really good. But I sure didn't need any dinner when I eventually got home to Seattle... Calling it "filling" would be an understatement.

All in all, it was a lovely little trip! Hope I get to go back soon.

"We were just gone for a few minutes."
"A few minutes is like a few months in dog years."

New perspectives

Seattle is a pretty bicyclist friendly city with a variety of long and short routes and trails for its sporty citizens to explore. Sadly, my two-wheeled adventures have long been limited to a couple of quick excursions to the grocery store - until last weekend, that is. On Saturday, Isaac gave me a guided bike tour in the fair spring weather from Fremont to Alki Beach, and showed me a side of the city I had never seen before. Loved it!

The beautiful Seattle skyline seen from the West.

The beach may be man-made, but the blue sky is all natural. March or June? Hard to tell from this photo.

We didn't spot any whales but aircraft carriers are also big (and scary).

To my great delight, Mt Rainier emerged from the haze and honored us with its presence on our way back. Honestly, everytime I catch a glimpse of this massive stratovolcano my heart skips a beat. It's just such a powerful backdrop.

Seattle redesigned

Isaac and I spent a couple of hours at the Museum of History and Industry today, where an interesting question on a wall got some equally interesting answers on yellow post-it notes.

Q: How would you redesign the city?

This answer is cute and sad at the same time.

This one is also cute but slightly more disturbing.

And the final one? Um. Yeah... No.

Mighty oaks from little acorns grow

One is hungry and the other is improving her babysitter skills. Hit that bottle, Cian! Be big and strong.

Dreaming in black and white

December 2012. Photo by Isaac Price.

Every woman to her taste

Before we hit the road to Canada, Anton, Patrik, and I met up with some friends at the HopScotch Beer & Scotch Festival in Fremont. As many of you know, neither beer nor whiskey are among my favorites but luckily there was plenty of wine and hard cider for me to try instead.

As a fun bonus, a photo booth was set up in a corner where people could choose from a number of accessories and get their picture taken and printed as a souvenir. Naturally, we had to try it out.

On the lower right I'm posing with an extremely well-clad guy who taught me how to taste scotch properly (despite my initial objections) and I can honestly say that it wasn't bad. Not bad at all, actually. (I must have been under kilt influence. Holy cow, how I love kilts!)

White as the driven snow

Our trip to Whistler was just grand, in every aspect. Nice village, terrific slopes, lovely people and excellent timing in terms of weather; it snowed when we drove up to B.C. and more snow fell in the afternoons and nights during our stay, filling the mountains with precious powder.

Anton and Patrik were practically in a state of euphoria after a couple of rides in untouched terrain, but for me the feeling was twofold. I don't have a lot of previous experience from snowboarding in deep powder, and consequently ended up being half-buried in the white fluffiness time and time again. Even more problematic were the steep slopes where large amounts of loose snow made turning difficult (or more or less impossible) for me. The result: quite a few unintentional somersaults and goggles filled with tears, not from pain but from frustration and anger. All this pristine snow, and I couldn't handle it! However, I eventually got the hang of it and enjoyed a few rides in the backcountry that must be considered being the best of my life, so far.

Anyway, less talk, more pictures! Let's start out with me and Patrik being blinded by sunshine and snow at the top of the Whistler Village gondola.

The beauty of the mountains can hardly be translated into two-dimensional images, but I made a few brave attempts. Taking photos is always a good way of killing time while riding chairlifts.

Anton getting ready for some action.

Lots and lots of nearly untouched snow...

...made Patrik a very happy guy.

The conditions sometimes changed very rapidly from sunshine and clear skies to milky mist. At times, the visibility was so impaired by fog that it became hard to tell up from down, skies from slope. It sure made some of the rides more adventurous than expected, judging from their assigned levels of difficulty.

But when the clouds passed, the view was truly stunning.

I really hope I get to go back to Whistler, or at least to Canada, sometime. The people there were just lovely! This sign sums it up quite nicely. (We were obviously not in the French Alps.)