FYI: New blog

Spittin' in my native tongue a since a while back.

http://oxwall.se

26th of November - ..and a star was born!

8:59 AM was the magic moment when my beautiful little daughter Klara Månstråle was — literally — lifted out to see this world as we know it. It was marvelous. I got to cut the umbilical cord, an old Swedish tradition. My daughter was now real, the sound of her baby scream made it clear to me. She weighted 1765 grams, and reached 42 centimeters from top to toe. Just incredible.

Now, there's just so much more to this. But due to some unclarity circulating around us, I'm still too anxious to spell my heart. Time will tell what the next move will be.

However..

Since we'll be stuck at the NICU for at least another week, I haven't had a chance on dragging the DSC photos we've taken over to my laptop (I forgot the darn cable). This snapshot (taken with a [VGA/640x480] phone lens) will definitely pass though.



Isn't she just wonderful?

Loveshots!

I'm happy to announce these images of my unborn baby.

29th of May

The summer hadn't even started yet.

28th of July

In the middle of the summer.
Baby has grown a lot since the last time.

31th of October

You can see the babyfoot clearly now, with toes and everything.

14th of November

An astonishing profile image.

21th of November

Another profile image, a so called close-up.

Lunch

Soup and a piece of bread with sausage.

Busy days!

It's been a lot lately. Helping my fiancé moving in to her new apartment. Lots of furniture to be assembled. Also, I've made my first masonry drill work (incl. wall plugging) ever. I feel like such a hardware expert. Even bought myself a cordless drill. Brrrrrrrrmmm... I'm also pleased to announce a few snapshots.

The great - full tower - fridge, holding its first item.

Assembling the kitchen furniture (table w. chairs).


Kitchen set complete.


Assembling the television bench.



Preliminary living room setup.

Form One isn't to be forgotten!

As I wrote earlier, Timbuktu released his new album ten days ago. Anyhow, also thge Swedish emcee Form One (previously known as Formula One) dropped a new full length album - Behind Blue Eyes - on the very same day.

I will definitely buy my own copy, very soon. Anyways, already this autumn Form One decided to make a pre-release available for free through Kingsize Magazine. I've made the image below a direct hotlink to the .zip archive. So, grab it and listen.

The show must go on

It's been two days since I went to my grandmother's funeral. The ceremony was being held flawless. It's the first time that I actually sit on the front row during a funeral. Felt kind of strange. However, my beloved grandmother reached a remarkable age, and will always be remembered.

Actually, I did videotape big parts of the ceremony. I had thought about doing this for quite some time, but I wasn't really sure. I asked my fiancé for guidance regarding standard ethics and suchlike. At first, she was like: "Say what?? Filming a funeral? It's really not something people want to look back at."

Made sense when I thought closer about it. Really wicked idea. But still, I couldn't drop it entirely. So, I brought the DV camera with me when I made the over-day trip up north. Then I asked my closest relatives for their opinion. No one was really sure about anything such as "standard ethics" on this. However, we very shortly came to the conclusion that it really didn't matter what people thought. We did it because we wanted to. Besides, the decision about right or wrong regarding this is really up to us. So, I did shoot it on tape, for the archive of history to come. Today, I feel that I would probably never have forgiven myself if I hadn't been filming. The result turned out great. Now, I will make the final cut out of the footage, and then screen DVD/VHS copies for relatives. Marvelous!

Today, Thursday, me and my fiancé laid our signatures on the piece of paper closing the issue of paternity. A day worth remembering.

New album with Timbkutu!

Swedish rapper Jason Diaktee a.k.a. Timbuktu new album had its release today. In stores now, in other words. Go buy it!



www.jujurecords.com/

Tic tac whooh!

First of all, I have to say I'm pleased to see that Barack Obama was elected to be the 44th American president. Some people believe that it's just a vision, but I honestly do believe that this is man we all have been waiting for. It's my honest belief that this is what you could call the savior of USA. Change isn't made over night, but eventually the nation will move against a more humane society. We'll just have to wait and see.

I'm also relieved that the other candidate was pushed out, because to be he was nothing but an old man out for war, and a steady flow of gasoline. To me, it's real logical that this is not the way of making a great difference in the 21th century. A war strategic with good chances on winning a game of Risk? Definitely. The answer on today's big issues? I very much doubt it.

So, first thing I had to do when I woke up this morning was to check the status. When it stood clear that Barack Obama was the champion, I was truly relieved. I had a silent breakfast and enjoyed every piece of it.



Yesterday? We bought icecream with cloudberry preserve, and snacks and fruit. Then we kept track on a group of adventurers who were climbing Mount Everest. It seemed rough on the lungs, but with an amazing view. I wonder if I will ever climb mountains. Maybe, who knows.

Autumn photos

Finally, I've managed to upload my photos to some sort of gallery.

Kingsize Magazine No. 5 / 2008.

In stores now!

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Sorry, I haven't got much else to say. Things are moving, slowly. Next week my fiancé will be moving in to her new wonderful apartment. Also my grandmother's funeral is scheduled next week. This Friday the first snow fell, and a big cloud of misery hit me. I really hate snow. There's nothing cool about it. I'm to much of a coward to ride snowboard, or even snowmobile, so it's really nothing in it for me. Of course, the following day (Saturday) the degrees fell rapidly. Saturday evening the thermometer showed about -8° C. We had pizza, which actually did cheer us up! :-)

Rocky No. 7 / 2008

Out now!

More baby clothes!

Today we went downtown for some shopping. Found a nice little store that seemed to have just about everything.



This is what we ended up with.

Clip frames and a nice chicken dinner

A couple of days ago me and my beloved fiancé took a stroll down to a 2nd hand boutique not far away from me. The purpose was to find some decent furniture for my computer, but there wasn't any. Instead, I got interested in the art section. In my hallway, there has been two small hooks (for paintings and such) ever since I moved in. It's about time I hang something there. So, finally we agreed on two 21x29,3cm (A4 size) clip frames, which is really just a piece of glass on top of a wood board, making it really easy to change the content.

The current motif was Christian images. They were cheap, so it was a bargain without further hesitation. I hung them up as soon as we got home. It turned out nice, except that my fiancé thought they were a bit up high. I'm quite tall, so I didn't mind. However, after some reconsideration I found that the clip board was in fact hanging a bit up high. Besides, it felt like the distance between those two hooks was ..too much! I needed another clip frame. Where could I get it? So, today I found one. They're really cheap, and looks nice. A practical way of decorating walls, really.



I spent the evening on fixing the align on the wool string that the frames would hang on. It was easier said than done, really. I think I spent more than half an hour on this project. Anyways, turned out marvelous.

---

Later on this evening, my fiancé made a nice dinner with chicken, rice and vegetables.

How I fixed my first bicycle flat

It's been about a week since she left, and she still hasn't come back. I guess its about time to let go and move on. So, what's been up lately? Yesterday bad luck hit me. I was on my way to make the fresh bicycle trip (approx. 10 kilometers back and forth) to Willy's supermarket up at Ersboda. However, I decided to start by visiting the ATM machine up at Ålidhem C, just to assure myself of a decent account status. So, I did. Then, just when I got up on the long bicycle path leading me, I felt that nasty repeated sound under my two-wheel vehicle. A flat, of course. What tire? The rear tire. Oh my god, didn't I change it just this summer? When I get this feeling, I always dream about a miracle where it's just the valve. It never is. Gash.

The thing is, when it comes to fixing flats - I never pass. I've tried pulling this stunt about 10-15 times over the years. First time I couldn't have been more than twelve years old. Fixing a bike flat seemed like a piece of cake, especially when you were into the subculture of dirty BMX bikes. Anyways, it didn't ever work nicely. Those little patches always slipped - and so did the air. I got mad every time I failed on this. Then it went around two years, and I tried again. Every time I made the attempt - I failed. Last time now was around 2006, it was during the winter, I was heading to a friend when the sudden flat hit me. Stupid sharp pieces of ice, can you belive it? Anyways. I walked a couple of kilometers, and then that evening was ruined just 'cuz of a stupid flat. I couldn't get the fixing project out of my head. One thing lead to another, and twelve hours later a DUI made another friend of mine loose his drivers license. How? He gave me a lift to the gas station, just so that I could buy the third(?!) package of tube patches. Oh my gosh, how incredibly mindless, every piece of it.

Anyways,
I thought it was about time I gave it a try. I'm so sick of always leavinog the simple project of swapping tube to the local bike store, paying hundreds of crowns just for labor. It should be easy, really. So, this time I felt it was just about time I showed my best. I walked downtown and entered the bike store where I've done most of my business last year. I told them about how I used to take the backside of a spoon/knife/fork to get the last stretched piece of tire in place, always ending up with a [re]punctured new (or patched) tube inside. So, I asked them if there was any certain tools for this? The man threw a zip-lock bag of plastic sticks on the desk, and asked for 95 SEK for the tools and a brand new tube. So, now I was heading home, filled with excitement. Presuppose I would actually pull this one off, then I would have saved at least 100 SEK.

I removed the whole rear wheel and took it up. I made a workshop out of my toilette shower. About twenty minutes later, voila! The new tube, inside the old tire, pumped up, without any further mishaps. Incredible! I was so happy. I must say those plastic pieces made it real simple. I will never leave my bicycle to the shop for easy fixes like this one, not ever again. My next step now will be to use those tube patches. Hopefully, I will be able to fix the punctured tube, having a spare one just out of the blue. I'm the ruler! :-)

Everything comes to an end.

I'd planned my next blog post to be a collage with autumn photos which I've snapped lately. However, things doesn't always work out as they are planned. It was 2.33 PM yesterday I received a phone call from my mother. I must say, she was excellent in the way she delivered the announcement. A short greeting. Then, without further notice, "Your grandmother passed away at almost exactly 1.10 PM". About one hour and twenty minutes ago, in other words. This was it. I can not say I haven't seen it coming. I've been preparing myself for this day for a long time. The last year has been very rough on her, to say the least. The COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease) that she has suffered from has de facto only one possible exit road. My grandmother reached the honorable age of 92. May she rest in peace, as she will always be remembered with grace.

It's getting colder.

Yep, it's definitely not those hot summertimes anymore. Today when I got out I [for the first time this season] saw frost on my bike saddle and handlebars. When I went on the road, I also saw frost lying on the grass fields around me. I better be careful, I told myself. I still remember the experience i had like five years ago, being really(!) close to a possible lethal accident. It was the first real icy day of fall, and I was going down a hill, where at it's bottom I was about to cross a busy road. The lights were red, but the only car in the visible(!) lane was blinking to make a left, so I thought it was safe to cross. Then, only meters before the crossroads, I see this other car, sneaking up from the inner lane, not(!) preparing to turn left. I hit the foot brakes, but I (of course) only slide. He sees me, and makes a sudden left right into the lamppost. Pang! By this time, I've stopped. I'm in the middle of the driving lane, stunned, even paralyzed. His car front is mashed in by the form of a "V". I just stand there, unable to move. Then the driver throws up his door, I hear him taking of his seatbelt. He comes out. "Hey, are you ok?", he asks me. I just stand there, first unable to speak a word.

However, this is a moment that I will never forget. When come thinking about it, this man may well have saved my life by making the impulse decision he made. He could have just ran on over me, and it still wouldn't have been his fault. It was me, being foolish, not paying proper attention to neither the road conditions nor the red light. Gosh. Things like this really makes you wonder.

However, back to today. Like I said, it's cold. Now (a little past 11 AM) it's probably a bit warmer. I'm planing on taking a walk down to Microshop to look on some hardware accessories, later on of course. So, a brand new Monday. A clean shave and a happy smile. Well, as you may have noticed if you've compared my last two posts, it's a lot of up and downs. Mood swings, you may call it. Understandable though, when you look at it rational. It's a lot(!) right now. I mean, really, a lot. All the pieces will fall in place, eventually.

So, I've been watching some TV series. Like I may have said, I've watched 'Kyle XY' since they first aired it on Swedish television, around spring last year. However, now I've watched all aired episodes. To the end of Season 2, this is. However, I must say I start feeling a bit ridiculous about the whole show. It feels like a real teenager thing, with a possible target group at the age of 13-15, something like that. However, since I've started watching it, I just can not seem to make a sudden stop.

Anyways, I've also finished the second season of British TV series 'Skins', which is really great, definitely a series that everyone should watch. To make a clean cut, I paste the plot summary from IMDb.



The Dawson Bros claim the series represents the everyday lives of adolescents: Skins revolves around the lives of a group of 16–19 year-old friends who live in Bristol and attend the fictional Roundview Sixth Form College. Each episode has a self-contained theme and focuses on a different character, although several story arcs span different episodes. Accompanying the episode title at the beginning of each episode is a short montage of that episode's central character. The show's co-creator Bryan Elsley said that as Series 2 ends with the cast going off to university, it will not be possible to keep on following them in the future, and the show will operate in two year arcs with new casts.

http://www.e4.com/skins/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skins_tv

Wee, soon time for another moving in..

My beloved fiancé is moving. Up until just now she's had a four-waller in a real central location (approx. 100 meters to Vasaplan; the crosspoint for all inner-city buses). It's been fine, with a smooth 100/100mbit connection, a minute of walking to reach city square. Well, the only thing is the size. 25 square meters, tops! I don't have the exact measurements in numbers, but it definitely feels cramped. Now, it's only a matter of weeks till she's moving in to her new apartment, which is definitely more of family-size. A two room w. kitchen apartment on 70 square meters. Where at? Check this out, only about 100 footsteps from my flat. Yeah, after rough consideration we've decided that it's best that we continue having two places - at least for now. However, we have a minute between our apartments, leaving us with over 100 square meters of space, when you add it up. It couldn't get any better. I take the liberty of posting the blueprint over her new apartment, on which she of course have scribbled down a possible way of placing furniture.

A shoutout!

Hiya.

Now I'm just hoping for this message to reach out to the target group. As friends may have noticed, I'm not taking any phone calls at the time being. I'm having a lot on my mind right now, the reason is simple as that. So, no hard feelings, it's absolutely nothing personal about it, just me; choosing the opportunity of having some "downtime", reflecting over those great things lying ahead.

So, absolutely no hard feelings guys. I'll hook up to you when the moment's right. Oh, in the meantime, why don't you follow Christoffer's nice example, leaving your commission (or a simple "Hiya!") on my voice mail. My recorded message may give real rubbish vibes, but I'm actually going through my messages every day. So, I hope y'all are having the best of time.

Caio now!

OpenOffice 3.0 - finally!

Gosh. First the launch date was set to 31th of September. I usually forget these sort of things. But this time I actually held myself up to date. At the given date, the date following the message "Preliminary release date for OpenOffice3 is currently..." had changed. Now it was the 7th of October. Aaah. Anyways, nothing more to do, but to wait. So, the 7th was the day of our flight, so I hadn't time to check it out then. However, the following day I of course see that the date is once again pushed forward. 13th of October. Aaawergh! So, yesterday I missed out on checking, being pretty sure about another postpone, anyways. Today, however, I thought I'd do best in checking the site out. Strangely, I cannot get through. Page errors. It then struck me. This is it. Page overload, of course. The release is a fact. Now, around half an hour later, I finally get in to their international site; to receive this message:

Apologies - our website is struggling to cope with the unprecedented
demand for the new release 3.0 of OpenOffice.org. The technical teams are
trying to come up with a solution.

Thank you for your patience.

However, they provide me with fully functional download links to the Win32 installer. Just great. So, I'm currently downloading it. Can't wait to see if there's any major updates in the appearance.