Idag var jag tillbaka i skola för min först lektion med Skandinavisk Två. Vad bra det känns att vara i skola igen. Och att prata svenska med de som lära sig! Så mycket enklare än med riktiga svenskar. Det finns en skillnad att pratande svenska med nån som inte är flytande i engelska också. Common ground. Idag måste vi bara berätta lite om vår själv och sen fick vi ett ord som vi behövde att prata om under två minuter. Svårare än det låter! Så, nu är jag motiverad med svenska igen och ska försöker att skriver mer här. Förstås, ska jag prata mycket svenska den här lördag… Catwoman shall go forth in her pvc and spout Swedish from her alcohol loosened mouth. Bea fyller år och vi ska fester hos henne och Jens, Heroes och Villans style!

Hubert and his bundle.

Been painting on canvas again after a summer of wood. It feels good. Fluid. Responsive.  Painting on  canvas is like jumping out of a window and landing on the stretched silk of a parachute. Painting of wood can be like jumping out of a window and landing on solid ground. Rather unforgiving. It is easier to play with error and describe sensation on something with suspension.  Swap your car for a gearless bicycle with a hard saddle and you’ll get the picture. I have been reading more about ‘art’ as a therapeutic activity and find it easier and easier to play, although so many of these pictures are still so uptight… but then again, they are a record of life, just as any written diary, and therefore it is no surprise to see impressions of what is still within.

Tobias in his natural habitat.

Something that always surprised me when I visited galleries is that the paintings I admired often contained far less paint that expected. The canvass is almost always visible at some point or another. I suspect that much of life is like this. We seek to improve by adding layers, increasing detail, clever tricks and complications. Sometimes when we strip down to the bare necessities beauty appears of it’s own accord. Simple naked truth. Tobias smiles and wiggles his toes in his sleep. Two unconscious habits, they make no difference, but bring a smile to the face of a friend. These are the qualities which make my life. He says he hopes to die a happy man. I hope so too… and if all else fails, at least let him die in his sleep where he at least appears to be so!

I always wonder where people go when they close their eyes.

And so to capoeira, where I shall practice atabaque in preparation for kulturnatt. It is drizzling and I feel cold, but I will breach the threshold in any case. It’s time to visit my surrogate family.

Trained like something possessed today.  Felt like I was going to pass out more than once. A combination of heat and poor nutrition. Drank too much after… still felt like I was going to pass out! Cursing the little buggers who took my bike, but all the same, walking is enjoyable. Teaching myself to breath in through my nose and out through the mouth…

***stop press***

Fat ass is chewing down her largest cricket to date.  The bugger had learned how to sing, and boy it’s making some weird crunching noises now!

***back to the story***

Dinner and another body builder documentary with TG. I’m not usually one to shout at the screen, but this stuff really gets me riled. I accept that for the first time in my life I am enjoying being a bit of a fitness freak. Sure, I do get some kind of satisfaction from seeing my strength and stamina grow, but I keep training to improve what I DO not how I LOOK. The sickest/saddest part is that most of these kids start at 17 or 18. I guess we all have strange relationships with the world in one way or another.

Had an email from Miss K this morning, it’s nice how a friend pops up when you need them! Methinks a trip to Germany is in order some time soon.

Me and Miss K

And a quick message to my dear Miss Amin… kämpa! Your thesis will not beat you. You are stronger than that!

Clover is back on form.

To my complete amazement I managed to pull hungover self out of bed, take a shower, feed myself and get my ass into town to train capoeira this morning. Further to this, it was actually great fun! Spent a large portion of the time standing on my hands, and a fair del playing minute long games with Jens and Nikki. After an hour I had completely forgotton about the elephant sitting on my eyebrows. Then off till Bäkby to purchase some more creepy crawlies to feed this currently hyperactive frog. Cooked and ate a delicious salmon and new potatoes lunch while reading some more Svensk HP. Laundered, swept, cleaned the bathroom and washed yesterdays dishes. Sorted out my month’s reciepts, drank tea, and browsed a few fun websites. Had an impromptue website planning msn meeting. Repeat the cook and eat part, and then did this for www.thescribbleproject.com.

What a difference a day makes.

Had an easy evening with the tattooed one last night. Sleep deprivation does neither of us well so despite plans of sewing machine experimentation very little got done aside from a (surprisingly) useful Swedish lesson about when you should say gott, god or goda about the food which you have just consumed. Today I woke feeling as refreshed as one can after a summer night and decided to get this scribbling malarkey started in earnest.

I have written the plan in both English and Swedish (although I am waiting kind correction ) created the facebook group and sent a selection of enquiring emails. VSS is go! Hopefully by this time next week I can start applying for some money and get this show on the road.

By mid afternoon my head had been eaten by svensk text so it was a welcome break to train.  We’re only capoeira-ing on a Tuesday in the holidays and a bout of lethargic flu kept me home last time. Funny how much you realise you miss something when you start again. A beautifully relaxed Angola work out with Rodde today. An hour of the most controlled capoeira I have ever played followed by a hour of miniature roda and hand punishing music. After 20 minutes of constant berimbau playing I was experiencing spasms in my pinkie finger. Pain is just weakness leaving the body… the atmosphere is worth it!

Came home and cooked a proper meal, finished my writings and chilled on the balcony. Crystallized ginger, dark chocolate, rooibos  tea, candle light, music and a sapphire sky. Life is good.

phewf! Är jag glad att fora veckan är klar! Det var jobbigt men jag lärade mycket. Jag måste lära mig att fråga när jag behöver mer hjälp!  Men allt gick bra i alla fall, jag  är bara så jävla trött! Capoeira festen var jätte populär och eventet gick enkelt. Nu har jag en grön cordão och Jens fick blå! Vad kult det var. Han visste inte att han skulle fick det och det finnas några som gråt. Början om KAOS var åskult. Jag har haft ingen tid att prata med TG ännu, men jag tror att det var mycket bra med dem som spelade också.

I am so tired I feel like a soggy jelly baby. Been trying to take it easy today, and think a little more Swedish, because everything has been in English this week. The fogies arrive in about and hour and a half. It’ll be the first time I have seen them since the end of September last year. I actually feel a little nervous!

Had our first capoeria event training this evening. I was surprised at my stamina, and a little less surprised at my mental weakness. Funny how this stuff really gets to me. Mestre Cobrinha Mansa (he’s the shizz apparently) held an angola class, which was a lot of fun, but difficult to get my head round. Iäm used to just training with people I know. Now there’s 40 of us, and this amazing Brazillian dude doing everything so fast I can’t get my eyes round it, let alone my mind! But at the end he had a really nice  talk.

“When you learned to walk, how many times did you fall over? Once? Twice? Three times? Did you decided, nah! That’s not for me. Did your parents say… well you fell over ten times, I’d stop trying if I were you? It is so easy to forget how it was when you were a child, and so easy to give up when you are an adult!”

I’ve framed all my pictures and written all of my notes for KAOS. My apartment is going to feel really empty tomorrow. Need to pick up more crickets for the frogs too.

Working on the ‘check in’ at 8:30 tomorrow morning. I better get myself to bed.

"dumb ass s.o.b. kept falling over, so I gave him a piece of my mind"

finger painting

After last weeks bout of insomnia I have now entered a phase of easy sleep at every opportunity (weird dreams about trans-gender doctors performing breast enhancements on themselves and naked pregnant nutritionists as well…) I have lost a succession of mornings. Sometimes I feel a little guilty but I am still reasonably efficient and it is light so late in the evening that my days rarely end before 11. Yesterday was well spent (despite some minor banking hiccoughs) with painting and socialising with Constance and TG. Broke a few more personal boundaries with some full body painting (forget the fingers, this is the real shit). Ended up with a headless Italian barbie doll with gigantic boobs and the legs of an Ethiopian marathon runner.  You can tell it’s really me! Sadly the print is on the back of Constance’s canvas so you’ll just have to check out the aftermath.

IPE and capoeira today. We had a festival of cakes to commiserate the change in the weather (from 28 degrees in the shade on Sunday to a measly 15 with rain today) and some booklet making. Friday afternoon shall comprise another extended fika/photoshoot/life story sharing affair. I also proposed my wish to organise a doodling club from the start of next term instead of becoming a fadder. A better use of my time methinks. I’m glad to say H was enthusiastic so the planning can commence.  Highly enjoyable training this evening as well. A small group, a interesting selection of music and a really good atmosphere. My singing fails to improve much, but it’s all about gusto. Took some coffee and conversation at Circus afterwards. Zarina proposed the theory that people need at least four hugs a day to feel happy.  Can’t hurt to try.

there's always something waiting to be done

Been trying to finish things off this week. It works and doesn’t work… mainly because there is always something esle to do. Been upptagen med capoeira säker den har veckan. Writing budgets, organising shopping lists, making posters and off to do a mega shop of dry good for our party tomorrow. Had a lot of fun at training this evening. Singing and doing some very poor attempts at samba… Impromptue partyfest möte hos Martha after training, with plenty of non-capoeira related conversation and strawberries.

Tomorrow I need to clean in preparation of the German invasion. I have a mass of laundry. Down to my last two pairs of knickers… something tells me I am picking up bad habits from people… but better to be the happy medium of GENERALLY keeping the place clean.

Frogs are looking well. Lilla Gubbe just enjoys sitting under the mesh in the corner I think. He hung out there all day but when I got home just now both of them were sitting on the glass. It took me ages to find them because I was loooking in the moss and on the ‘cliff’ and the daft buggers were right infront of me. You get a fantastic view of their bellies and feet. They breath ever so fast. Lovely little creatures.

Probably well past my bed time, so nighty night.

Jag har tränings värker idag! Tror att jag var kall i natten… eller jag gjorde något fell i träning igår. Det var en konstig träning. Highs and lows. Där var bara fyra om oss så det var inte vanlig. Vi övade många handstands och en utspel som heter Aú Giratória. Jätte häftigt men man behöver att ger över fruktan. It’s horrible to do it at speed! Efter övade oss en takedown som heter vingativa. As with all of the contact movements I feel like I am running into to a brick wall every time. I get so frustrated sometimes, but I feel too silly to let it out! Vi stannade på vår träning plats till kl halv elva i kvällen. Jens kom med en andra capoeira vän och de övade när jag gjorde lite mer med vår ny logo. Den här vara den mest popular idéer…

The most popular of all. The second two figures need a bit of tweaking but idea is there. I'm thinking of having the Cordao logo on the front chest and these three guys on the back of the t-shirt.

áu áu. It would be nice to use Swedish blue t-shirts for something like this.

Jag kommer att jobba lite mer med de idag. Jag vill också gå till ekocafé på Västerås Folkhögskolan i kvällen. Eftersom det är först om maj det är en röd dag med politisk protester etc. LindaLou ska prata på Djäknaberget och har hennes ekocafé. Jag vill gå och prova kaffe och ekologisk kladdakaka  jag tror.

Toodle pip.