I’m Italian tonight

A bit of a silly quiz before heading off to bed.

Your Inner European is Italian!

Passionate and colorful. You show the world what culture really is.

Anniversary with a quote

The London Daily Photo is celebrating its 1st anniversary with one of my old favourite quotes.

When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life;
for there is in London all that life can afford.
~ Dr Samuel Johnson ~

Happy anniversary London Daily Photo! Here's to many more years of blogging and photos from the most fabulous city in the world.

Female vs. male

I had lunch with one of my favourite colleagues last week. A very wise and bright man, who has been in the IT business for the last 15-20 years and in the company for the last 10 years.

Somehow we got talking about women working in the male dominated jobs (IT) and (the few) women who become top executives. Having spent almost 10 years in IT departments I told him as a woman you adapt a special style, a male style, without thinking about it. The problem is when you leave the male dominated world you still act this way, and now the men become afraid of you. Just because you somewhat act like a man… But in this world a woman shouldn’t act like this. That’s when you get called Iron Lady or Ice Queen. Becoming a top executive you have to adapt a similar attitude.

My colleague, seeing it from a male perspective and being a bit older and wiser, had a much better explanation. You women worry too much and think too much. It’s in your genes. Everything you do have to be perfect. You, your job, your family and the balance in between. Stop listen to that voice inside your head and don’t look at your shortcomings. Men never do! You are all so very smart and bright, but you don't let yourself believe that.

This article from Wall Street Journal says more or less the same as my colleague. Looks like he very much knows the female psyche. Or he’s just a very wise and experienced man, and the reason why I like him so much.

The word "balance" should be banished from women's vocabularies, said Carol Bartz, executive chairman of the board of Autodesk. "Balance equals perfection, which none of us are, so I think we just have to get over it, otherwise [women] spend all their time being guilty," which causes stress and limits their goals.
…
Getting to the top requires setting goals and persevering -- along with a willingness to seek stretch assignments that challenge and yield broader experiences, said Laura Desmond, CEO of Starcom MediaVeset/the Americas.

That is how men advance. And, like their male counterparts, women must learn to stop listing their shortcomings when an opportunity arises, and to give themselves time to learn a new job.

The world in 2007

- Don’t bet against the internet says Eric Schmidt, Chairman and CEO of Google, in an article for The Economist's The World in 2007:

But what’s surprising is that so many companies are still betting against the net, trying to solve today’s problems with yesterday’s solutions. The past few years have taught us that business models based on controlling consumers or content don’t work. Betting against the net is foolish because you’re betting against human ingenuity and creativity.

Very wise words. There is no stop to human ingenuity and creativity, so instead of wondering about the customer or the content embrace the fact that today the customer is part of the content. Go with the flow rather than against the flow. A win-win situation just waiting to be discovered.

Via Open

Old and new world

On Wednesday it was time for another wine testing. This time comparing wines from the old and new world. Two Pinot Noirs and two Cabernets. Very similar, but also very different. To make things simple. Old world wines are for wine cellar storage and new world wines are for drink right now.

Lynmar Russian River Pinot Noir 2003
Californian Pinot Noir. Red purplish colour with a strong smell of red berries. The taste is quite fruity as well, with some hints of old hay and leaves.

Aloxe-Corton 2002
French Pinot Noir from Bourgogne. Raspberry coloured with a spicy smell that disappears quickly. Strong taste of oak casks with a hint of vanilla. Would be even better after a couple of years in a wine cellar.

Château Cantemerle 2002
French Cabernet from Bordeaux. Dark red colour close to dark bricks. Smells a lot like plums and dark berries. Oak taste along with herbs and some chocolate. Would be even better after a couple of years in a wine cellar.

Chakana Estate Selection 2004
Argentinean Cabernet. Dark red colour close to blue. Fruity and spicy smell with some raisins. Taste of oak with plums, dark berries and some chocolate.

Those were the days

A 20 years or so old travel advert from Thomas Cook. Look at those happy faces and the monitor. Things have certainly changed…

Health check

It was time for the annual health check at work this morning. As always dreading the worse I was sure I was going to get told that I weighed too much and needed to lose weight. Too my surprise it was almost the other way around.

My blood sugar was low (almost too low), my cholesterol was low and my blood pressure was low. I never thought I would hear a nurse say that that I should go home and have candy and crisps, but this one did. When it came to my weight it was of course I who said something. But I’m still in the healthy range and thinking that I do weights twice a week I had nothing to worry about. BMI doesn’t tell the full story if you’re healthy or not.

Needless to say I almost skipped out of the doctor’s office feeling quite proud of myself. I’m not doing that bad after all.

This is good!

I’m a big fan of country music after having lived in Texas. Here in Sweden country music isn’t very big, and just by saying you like country music people sometimes assume you’re a bit weird. But for me it’s the other way around. Country music makes me happy and reminds me of the simpler things in life. Of course it also reminds me very much of Texas, cowboys, rodeos, honky-tonks, wide open spaces and long drives.

Both Vince Gill and Alison Krauss have been favourites of mine for a long. Here they really show how good country music/bluegrass really is. Enjoy!

Please make it stop

It has now rained for more than 36 hours straight. It just keeps coming and coming and coming and coming. Ugh! According the meteorologists is very likely that we won’t see any sun or lighter skies until some time next week. So please send me some sunshine, brighter and warmer weather. Or if the rain continues, a boat will probably be handy as well.

Retail therapy

When the going gets tough, the tough gets shopping is a saying that very much applies to me. November is the worse month of the year and to cheer myself up I went shopping on Saturday. I had to get a present to the christening of cousin’s baby girl, so I did have a reason. For Frida I found a lovely book with HC Andersen stories. A book from the bookworm of course, but the HC Andersen stories is classics that every child should hear when they are little. I remember my grandma reading the Ugly duckling and the Emperor’s new cloths to me over and over again.

For a long, long time I’ve been on the hunt for the perfect classic black pump that one can wear with both trousers and skirt. In December, right before Christmas, as part of a central introduction in the company I’m going to work onboard. Handling our customers face to face so to speak. I’ll be wearing a uniform and should have some sort of nice black shoe along with it. So I really need to find some shoes.

Having the feet of Minnie Mouse or Daisy Duck (wide) I always have a hard time finding shoes that’s not too tight. And this time I’m suppose to stand and walk around in them for 8-9 hours. Eeek! I usually go to Ecco and Dr Sholl’s and even though they sound very boring the do have very nice shoes and comfortable shoes. On Saturday I ended up at Dr Sholl’s where I found the perfect “flight attendant shoes”. A basic black pump with a little bit of heel, gel insoles and very soft and wide. I just knew they were right for me the minute I tired them on. I’ve been walking around with them at home all weekend to see how they would feel, but still they are just very soft and comfortable.

Next to Dr Sholl’s is my favourite shirt store The Shirt Factory. Many of my male friends kept saying that they had lovely shirts and a couple of years ago they started with shirts for women too. Tailored with a classic cut and perfect to wear under a suit. This time I was only going to look, but ended up buying a white and light brown/beige pinstripe shirt with French cuffs and cuff knots. Back home I tried it on with my dark brown tweed suite and it looked marvellous. Yeah!

I was also just going to look at the music/DVD-store, but there I found the complete season 1 and 2 of Sex and The City on sale. A barging and temptation I couldn’t resist. So what I did the rest of Saturday is quite easy to figure out. I watched SATC, had some wine and popcorn and just relaxed on the sofa. The rain was pouring outside (as it has for the last couple of weeks) and it was really windy, but inside I was in NYC having a fabulous time.

The fine art of delivery

My Red iPod finally arrived today. And when I say finally I mean thank god it’s here and I don’t have to bather with UPS any longer. Apparently delivering a parcel is a very fine art.

When I got home from work on Thursday there was a note saying that UPS had tried to deliver a parcel to me, but since I wasn’t home they would try the same time (around 11:30) the next day. Living in a block of flats with really no neighbours being at home during the day I decided to work from home on Friday. Besides UPS said they would come before noon so I could go into the office in the afternoon. I find it quite pleasant to work from home. I get to do a lot without a ringing phone or getting interrupted with someone just passing by.

By 11:30 I started to listen for someone at the door. I even turned down the radio so I really should be to hear the UPS guy. The clock turned 12 and 12:30. No delivery. I made a quick lunch and continued working and waiting. By 2 I started to be annoyed. Another hour later I was getting very irritated. By 4 I was plain mad and called UPS wondering where my parcel was. But they couldn’t say since the last delivery is by 5. By 5:05 I called again and talked to very nice man. According to him my parcel should have been delivered, but since I hadn’t received any a supervisor from my area would call me.

An hour and a half later a supervisor called telling me, without listing to my side of the story, that I hadn’t been home at 11:45 and the parcel had gone back to UPS. And by the way if I weren’t home on Monday the parcel would go back to the sender. Instead of yelling which I really would have liked to do, I used a very stern and angry voice telling him that I had been home all day and I could not have missed the delivery. But the supervisor did not give up. Now the code downstairs was wrong so the delivery guy couldn’t get in. Very strange since he got in the day before… The delivery guy had also left me another note. I had not received another note nor had I missed someone at the door. I live in a two-room apartment, not a mansion.

I’m not very good at arguing, so just to get to an end of things I asked what time they could deliver on Monday. Some time during the day was not the answer I wanted to hear, but got. You just have to be able to say around what time I kept saying. No can’t do said the supervisor. Oh yes you can! If it was possible to say when you would come around the next day then you can say a time on Monday as well. Could you be home after 2 o’clock said the supervisor, probably wishing he were having a drink instead of arguing with one angry woman on a Friday night.

Today I left the office by noon to really be on the safe side and by 3 my new little red music machine arrived. Ahh, life is good!

Not only for kids

I’ve always liked milk and still as a grown up woman I try to have at least one glass a day. It is good for you after all. A special treat as a child was getting chocolate milk. Mum was quite old fashioned when it came to food and drinks, but my next-door friend had an American mum. A mum who gave all her five children and me things like chocolate milk, pan pizza, popcorn, burger and fries, ketchup, peanut butter, brownies long before it was part of the Swedish food culture. Thanks Mrs S!

And now it actually looks like that chocolate milk wasn’t that bad after all.

A group of scientists recently discovered that one of the most effective drinks to help athletes recover after exercise is the same thing moms across America have been giving their kids for years. A simple glass of chocolate milk

"My way of explaining it is, there's really nothing magic about the powder in a can that you mix with water," cycling coach Scott Saifer said of the carbohydrate drink. "It's water, carbs, proteins, maybe minerals and electrolytes. What's in chocolate milk? The same thing. There's no reason it shouldn't be as good for recovery as a carb drink."

Since I don’t like those fluid-replacement drinks like Gatorade (not that I really need them after my workouts) this couldn’t sound any better. Milk, chocolate together and it is good for you.

Wine and chocolate

Earlier this week I went to a wine and chocolate testing with my friend Jessica. We both love wine and chocolate so the both of them together could only be fantastic.

We tried five different kinds of chocolates together with five different wines. Instead of thinking about how the wines taste, smell etc we thought about how well the wine and chocolate mixed together. The chocolates we got were white chocolate, a brownie, dark chocolate, dark chocolate with orange rinds and a truffle with saffron and chilli.

Amarone della Valpolicella
I’m not very found of this kind of red wine from Italy. Too strong and spicy for my taste. But with white chocolate it became quite pleasant. Also with the dark chocolate with orange rind the taste became pretty smooth.

Moscatel de Setúbal 1997
Quite a sweet dessert wine from Portugal. Most chocolates went very well the wine, but the absolutely best one was the dark chocolate with orange rind. Together they tasted like a very smooth Cointreau. One of my favourite after dinner drinks.

Brown Brothers Liqueur Muscat
Dark brown dessert wine from Australia. I had no idea that the Aussies made dessert wines, and very a good one. All chocolates besides the white one went very well with this wine. Turned out to be my favourite from the whole tasting so yesterday I actually bought a bottle.

Cossart Gordon Madeira Malmsey 10 years old
Madeira from Portugal is never wrong, but together with the white chocolate it actually tasted sour. The result of being aged 10 years on oak barrels.

Clément Rhum Vieux
Rum from Martinique, where the alcohol just took over not no matter what chocolate I tried. Apparently the French rum isn’t as sweet at the Jamaican or Cuban ones, and is an acquired taste. The taste reminded my a lot of whisky, something that I’m slowly getting to like, so maybe I’ll like this in a 10 years or so. That’s how long it’s taken me like mild whisky...

TomKat’s wedding

Like so many others I’ve been hearing and reading about the TomKat wedding for weeks. Or is it months?! Anyhow reading about this very lavish affair I also started to wonder if all this glitz and glamour will make you happier. If I get married, I will of course have all the best things my bank account allows, but somewhere, at least in my mind, there is a limit where lavish things won’t make thing better or yourself happier. Or maybe I’m just jealous?! Of course I would like to get married in Rome and stay at the Hassler Hotel. But the rest… I just don’t know, but then I’m a not a Hollywood mega star. Maybe ones perspective change having millions and millions in the bank…

Quote of the day

The first sign of a nervous breakdown is when you start thinking your work is terrible important.

~ Milo Bloom ~

Then half the world is on the verge of a nervous breakdown…

Sexiest man alive

My all time favourite George Clooney was named People’s Sexiest man alive earlier this week. It’s the second time the man with salt and pepper hair and dark velvet eyes has been given this honourable title. Only he and Brad Pitt have been named Sexiest man alive twice.

With his classic looks, humble attitude and social activism there is no doubt why. He personifies all those things a woman dreams about in a man. Since it’s very unlikely that any of us will meet this man of our dreams (I don’t even know I would like to. It would take away some of the male air and desire) we need pictures like this to rest our eyes on and and go "Aaah". What a man!

November darkness

The rain, cold and darkness of November have once again hit me. I’m actually surprised that half of November has already gone. Usually ir hits me a lot earlier. Guess I just haven’t had the time to notice it getting colder, darker and wetter outside. But now I have, and all I want to do is sleep, eat carbs and hide under a blanket until March or so. Two more weeks until Advent and all the lights coming out. Then there is only four more four weeks until winter solstice and the days getting longer again.

Also as usual I’m not really looking forward to the holidays. With only adults around on Christmas Eve some of that childish, carefree and jolly feeling is lost. We eat and sit around just because we have to. Everybody is just waiting for the day to end so they can go home. Christmas Day is spent in peaceful bliss eating leftovers, reading and watching telly and by Boxing Day everyone is very ready to hit the shops for the after Christmas sale.

Some people have even started to talk about New Year’s Eve and I’m just keeping quiet. You just don’t say that you haven’t spent NYE with anybody since the Millennium Eve. It hurts from time to time of course, but on the other hand I don’t need to worry about what to wear or how to get home in the wee hours of the morning. This year I’ve played with the idea of going away, but I would still be alone. So it’s much better to just stay home, have some wine, read and maybe even go to bed before midnight to get over with it. The next day when everybody is tired and hungover I will wake up bright and early to a new year.

Icons of England

We all think about different things when we think about England. For me it’s the double-decker bus, tea and Big Ben. And the countryside and the Queen and the pillar box. My list could just go on and on being the anglophile I am.

Last week Yorkshire pudding, the stiff upper lip, the Tube map and Winnie the Pooh was added to the latest list of Icons of England voted for by the public. By the end of the year the government's online Icons project plans to expand the list to 100. The last added icons in pictures.

Fast thumbs

A student from Singapore broke the Guinness World Record for the shortest time needed to type a 160-character SMS message on Sunday.

"I'll try for 39 seconds next year," said Ang, adding that the trick to speedy text messaging was to use a mobile phone with larger keys on the dial pad.

I’m very impressed since it still takes me forever to type a message. The keys are just too small or maybe it’s just me. I use my phone for talking. Not for playing games, sending texts, taking photos etc even though I have all those things built in, but no. I’m such a bore…

Still growing

Last week David Sifry at Technorati presented the latest State of the Blogosphere report, and it looks like the blogsphere is still growing strong.

• Technorati is now tracking more than 57 Million blogs.
• Spam-, splog- and sping-fighting efforts at Technorati are paying dividends in terms of the reduction of garbage in our indexes, even if it does seem to impact overall growth rates.
• Today, the blogosphere is doubling in size approximately every 230 days.
• About 100,000 new weblogs were created each day, again down slightly quarter-over-quarter but probably due in part to spam fighting efforts.
• About 4% of new splogs get past Technorati's filters, even if it is only for a few hours or days.
• There is a strong correlation between the aging and post frequency of blogs and their authority and Technorati ranking.
• The globalization of the blogosphere continues. Our data appears to show both English and Spanish languages are a more universal blog language than the other two most dominant language, Japanese and Chinese, which seem to be more regionally localized.
• Coincident with a rise in blog posts about escalating Middle East tensions throughout the summer and fall, Farsi has moved into the top 10 languages of the blogosphere, indicating that blogging continues to play a critical role in debates about the important issues of our times.

CouchSurfing

Want to go travelling, but don’t have the money to stay in posh hotel? Or do want to meet new people while you travelling? Then CouchSurfing is the site for you. There you can either find a place to stay, a couch or new friends to hang out with.

We help to create a better world by opening our homes, our hearts and our lives. We open our minds and welcome the knowledge cultural exchange makes available. We create deep and meaningful connections that cross oceans, continents and cultures. CouchSurfing changes not only the way we travel, but how we relate to the world!

The idea sounds very nice, travelling the world relying on the kindness of strangers, and the occasional acquaintance, for accommodation, but somehow I feel like that I’m done with that sort of travel arrangements. (Eek, does that mean I’ve become a really grown up now?) But if I were still into backpacking I would definitely try it. One can never have to many friends and couches over the globe.

Via TravelWeekly

Goofing-off time

Did you get some goofing-off time today? I did, even though I was stuck in meetings most of the days. But after those meetings, I really needed some mindless surfing... I usually feel a little bit ashamed doing it. Especially since everybody walking by my computer can see what I’m doing. But on the flip side I work with the Internet so I need to be updated on the latest things... Scott Baradell at Marketing Profs Daily Fix has found other reasons why we should be goofing off.

Bits of Web flotsam to remind us that the big project we're working on is (shhh, don't tell anyone) not actually brain surgery.

This kind of goofing off is good for your mental health -- and, I would argue, your career as well.

In the image-making professions, reading is leading

All three very good reasons, with number one is my favourite. No matter how important your task or project is getting a bit of perspective on things help. Remember the old saying can’t see the forest for all the trees?! Well, by goofing off for a couple of minutes you will... So here’s to all of us goofing off out there – Do it with a clear conscience. It’s good for you!

YouTube flattening?!

If you like conspiracy theories here's one for you. Seems like the traffic to YouTube started to flattening out right around October 9… The same day Google bought the company.

It could just be a coincidence. Analyzing small changes in web traffic is always hard. But it could also be that the young people don’t like having "their" space bought up by big corporations. Or that when Google took over they removed all copyrighted videos. And really who wants to look at goofy home videos in the long run?

Veterans Day

Seeing this beautiful picture at London Daily Photo made me wonder how it would feel like living in a country that have been or is at war. Understand me right now. I do not wish Sweden going into war and honestly I don’t wish that other countries had to do it either. Sweden hasn’t been at war since the mid/late 18th century and obviously we don’t have a tradition remembering those we lost. Last year I was in Paris at Armistice Day, as they call it, and seeing how President Chirac paid tribute with at wreath at Arc de Triomphe, I was wondering the same thing. My French colleagues tried to explain, and so have both British and American friends, but I can fathom what I would be like. Something that can only comes from enduring something so horrible as war.

Never less Veterans Day, Armistice Day and Remembrance Day is good day remembering those who did fought and being thankful that Sweden as a country has managed to not be part of a war for the last 250 years.

Thank you Norway!

In Sweden we do love our brothers in Norway. The union between our countries was dissolute over 100 years ago, but still we fight like real siblings… Reading Kristine Lowe's post made just me laugh out loud. I guess we Swedes are slightly wacky. Especially thinking about the first article - believing that astrology is science. Maybe it's time to move to Norway…

Only in Sweden
Where else can you read these two headlines on the same day: "One in four Swedes think astrology is a science" and "Drunken elk terrorises schoolkids"... it has to be Sweden of course. That lovely, but slightly wacky place across the border from my current whereabouts.

Nuts and fruit

With the killer workouts set up by my PT waiting for the bus afterwards has been close to torture. Next to the bus stop is a 7 Eleven and being tired, worn out and hungry I just want to rush in there and buy whatever is available. Apple, water and a muesli bar really don’t do the trick anymore.

A friend of mine told me to make my own mix of nuts and dried fruits and just bring the right amount to get me home without caving in for some chocolate or other candy. So yesterday it was time to test if it really was going to work, and it did. OK, I felt abut like a parrot standing at bus stop chewing on nuts, seeds and dried fruit, but it filled me up very quickly and I could easily shower and take it slow/relax before making dinner. Looks like I will become one of those nuts that eat nuts just because it’s healthy...

It’s out

On Wednesday the new booking dialogue for the Internet was finally launched at work. To many people’s surprise including myself the whole launch went very good without any major glitches. The first booking came 10 minutes later and they’ve been coming since then. Knock on wood…

Looking back I don’t think the launch wouldn’t had been that successful without all the work from my team. They really gave it all and worked late night after night to get it out in time. Well done guys! You’re awesome!

Quote of the day

Every day you may make progress. Every step may be fruitful. Yet there will stretch out before you an ever-lengthening, ever-ascending, ever-improving path. You know you will never get to the end of the journey. But this, so far from discouraging, only adds to the joy and glory of the climb.

~Sir Winston Churchill~

Good old WC was right. It is the journey that makes it all worthwhile.

How did we survive?

Received this in the mail the other day. A bit provoking yes, but in my opinion quite true. Reading the text it seems like a miracle that we all survived…

To all the kids who were born the 1930's 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's !!!

First, we survived being born to mothers who did the following while they were pregnant. Moms took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can, and didn't get tested for diabetes.

Then after that trauma, we were put to sleep on our tummies in baby cribs covered with bright colored lead-based paints. We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets, not to mention, the risks we took hitchhiking.

As infants & children, we rode in cars without car seats, booster seats, seat belts or air bags.

Riding in the back of a pick up on a warm day was always a special treat. We drank water from the garden hose and NOT from a bottle. We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and NO ONE actually died from this. We ate cupcakes, white bread and real butter and drank koolade made with sugar, but we weren't overweight because

WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING!

We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on. No one was able to reach us all day. And we were O.K.

We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem.

We did not have Playstation, Nintendo, X-box, video games, DVDs, CDs,surround sound, 150+ channels on cable, cell phones, internet, chat rooms, personal computers...

WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them!

We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no lawsuits from these accidents.

We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever.

We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays, made up games with sticks and tennis balls and, although we were told it would happen, we did not put out very many eyes.

We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just walked in and talked to them!

Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment, and all the teams DID NOT win & get a trophy! Imagine that!

The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law!

These generations have produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever!

The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas. We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned HOW TO DEAL WITH IT ALL.

Who is who in Web 2.0

The Guardian’s Weekend Magazine was devoted to Web 2.0 last weekend. Featuring interviews with the founders of Wikipedia, Blogger, Bebo, Digg, Del.icio.us, Craigslist, Flickr and many more. Well worth reading if you want to know who is who in the world of Web 2.0.

It’s just business

I don’t know how many times I have heard the phrase "It’s just business". Every single time I wonder is it really? Seth Godin is on to something with the following thoughts:

Anyone who is willing to lie to you, cheat you or treat you with disrespect because it's just business is doing more damage to herself than to you.

Work takes too much time and too much emotion for it to be just work. As far as I'm concerned, I don't want to spend time or money with anyone who has this particular attitude disfunction.

Harvey Nicks in Istanbul

The upmarket department store Harvey Nichols opened its first store in Turkey earlier this month.

Harvey Nichols has launched its first Turkish store amid the rapidly growing fashion market in Istanbul, quietly opening its doors earlier this month in the new state-of-the-art luxury shopping mall, Kanyon. The store is the fifth extension outside the UK, after the exclusive stores in Riyadh, Hong Kong, Dublin and Dubai.

Also check out website for the shopping mall Kanyon which has a stewardess directing you around the site and an iPod menu so you can choose your music whilst you browse.

Art to see before you die

Jonathan Jones at the Guardian art blog has complied a list of 20 works of art to see before you die. I’ve only seen 5 of the masterpieces so I better start travelling… My favourite is probably The School of Athens by Raphael at the Vatican Palace in Rome.

Jan van Eyck, The Madonna of Chancellor Rolin
Musée du Louvre, Paris

Caravaggio, The Burial of St. Lucy
Museo di Palazzo Bellomo, Syracuse, Sicily

Rembrandt, Aristotle with a Bust of Homer
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

San Rock Art,
South African National Museum, Cape Town

Paul Cézanne, Mont Sainte-Victoire from Les Lauves
Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow

Michelangelo, Moses
Church of San Pietro in Vincoli, Rome

Leonardo da Vinci, The Adoration of the Magi
Uffizi Gallery, Florence

Mark Rothko, The Rothko Chapel
Houston, Texas

Vermeer, View of Delft
Mauritshuis, The Hague

Matthias Grünewald, The Isenheim Altarpiece
Musée Unterlinden, Colmar, France

Hans Holbein, The Dead Christ
Kunstmuseum, Basel

Velázquez, Las Meninas
Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid

Funerary Mask of Tutankhamun
Egyptian Museum, Cairo

Jackson Pollock, One: Number 31
Museum of Modern Art, New York

Masaccio, The Expulsion of Adam and Eve from Paradise
Brancacci Chapel, Santa Maria del Carmine, Florence

Pablo Picasso, Guernica
Reina Sofia Museum, Madrid

Titian, Danaë
Museo Nazionale di Capodimonte, Naples

Raphael, The School of Athens
Stanza della Signatura, Vatican Palace, Rome

Parthenon Sculptures
British Museum, London

Henri Matisse, The Dance
Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia

Slideshow of all the works of art. How many have you seen?

And then there was a blog

For almost two years now I’ve been reading Katy Regan’s column "And then there were three" in Marie Claire. A fun and personal column about how life can literarily change over one night.

Approximately three years ago now – it really is that long - I was aimlessly rattling along, experiencing what may have been, in retrospect, a late twenties crisis (no boyfriend, too much binge drinking). But anyway, things were to reach a far greater crisis point than I could ever have predicted when one drunken no-strings shag with best friend Egg, resulted in one particular egg being fertilised and approximately nine months later, a son, Fergus, who is now almost two.

The last column was in this month’s issue of the magazine where she officially took the plunge into to the blogsphere with her own blog The state she's in. It’s no masterpiece of blog and in my opinion it doesn’t have to be. I still know that many, many readers including myself will come there and read about what's next in Katy Regan’s life.

You wanna bet?

At Wedding betting you can bet on how long newlyweds will stay together by just looking at their picture. Bizarre, ridiculous, corny or just silly? I don’t know, but I don’t think I would put up my own picture there no matter how happy and in love I was. But we are all different. Judge by yourself.

An innocent car

Brian Micklethwait found this car out side Sainsbury’s last week. Turned out the car belonged to Innocent drinks which makes some of the most delicious drinks around. Every time in the UK I just have to have the yogurt, vanilla bean and honey thickie and the strawberry banana smoothie. An excellent way to start the day and get a lot of fruits in as well.

After surfing around the site it actually looks like they will be coming to Sweden in 2007. Yeah! I need to keep my eyes open.

Free speech online

Most of us take for granted that we can write and say whatever we like to when blogging. But still in many countries this is not the case. Blogs are deleted. Chat rooms are monitored. Search engines are restricted etc. People are sent to prison just for posting are sharing information.

Amnesty International and The Observer just launched The Irrepressible campaign to shed light on this very alarming situation. Freedom of speech is one of the most fundamental things in a society (and in a democracy). No government should have the right so tell people what to think and write.

Freedom of expression is a fundamental human right. It is one of the most precious of all rights. We should fight to protect it.

Soooo sore

On Wednesday I had my third PT session at the health club and today I’m soooo sore. I started feeling sore yesterday, but today it’s really bad. Especially my glutes. I didn’t even think I had some muscles deep down in there, but I do obviously…

My PT really changed attitude this session. From have been pretty laid back, easy and cheerful he more or less kicked my butt this time. Do that, do this. Add more weights, add more reps and after 45 minutes my body was totally worn out. I do like it though, but the price afterwards is being sore, stiff and tired. I slept like a log on Wednesday night.

The next session is in three weeks, and by then I should have added 10 kilos at each machine. I winced a bit when he told me, but his reply was very clear: "You said you wanted to get toned again. This is the way to do!" I know he’s right and it’s only me who can do it, so I guess I will do it. I will become one toned and fit woman again.

Pancakes

I made pancakes for breakfast or I guess one could say brunch today. They turned out very, very nice. I haven’t done pancakes in I don’t know how long, so I had to look up the recipe. A recipe written by grandma in her very old-fashioned and graceful style. I got it when I moved away from home so I could at least cook something decent (her words). Sweet old grandma! I also had bacon, fresh orange juice, melon and coffee (not at the same time). Very nice!

I love to sit at my kitchen table and look at the view whiel eating. This time of the year it’s usually dark both in the morning and in the evening so I don’t see much. But today the sun was shining, the sky was blue and I could see far, far away. Another one of life’s little pleasure. It’s those little things that do it.

Three-day weekend

Never did I think having a day off would make me this happy, but I am. Since Saturday is a holiday the office closes at noon tomorrow. Being able to work from home in the morning I will only check my email and finish a Power Point presentation before having more or less three days to do whatever I feel like. Right now I’m planning on reading a lot, do some nice cooking and read some more. Also of course, to sleep late and take a nap in the afternoon without feeling guilty. One of life’s little pleasures.

Snow

I almost screamed this morning when opening the blinds. Everything outside was covered in snow. I really shouldn’t be surprised since the weathermen have been talking about it for the last two days, but still. Maybe if you ignore the thoughts it won’t happen… Well, it didn’t work…

So I just had to dig out the heavy coat, boats, hat and gloves before going to work. Very depressing! The snow didn’t go away until April this year and now it’s back. It’s going to be another long and cold winter. Anybody want to switch places with me?

Have some curry

I really like curry dishes and when I’m in the UK I like to go to Indian restaurants to get “the real stuff”. A study published in American Journal of Epidemiology now also shows that is good for you to eat curry.

A diet containing curry may help protect the aging brain, according a study of elderly Asians in which increased curry consumption was associated with better cognitive performance on standard tests.

Curcumin, found in the curry spice turmeric, possesses potent antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties.
…
Curry is used widely by people in India and "interestingly," the prevalence of Alzheimer's disease among India's elderly ranks is fourfold less than that seen in the United States.

I really found it interesting that India has so few people suffering from Alzheimer’s disease compared to the US. When it comes to health issues it seem like we in the Western world somehow misses out things that comes natural in both eating and lifestyle. We need to learn to be a lot more like the Asians.