Tjena!!
This is the third installment in the serial tragi-comedy of my exploits, fumblings, conquests and defeats in the Old World. The theme here is all things triadic, and I will drive this into the ground...at least for today. Three is of course the square root of nine, and I think nine was a holy number for the Pythagoreans...three is a holy number in a more contemporary religious sect.
The three-part tale of my travels suffered from a bit of a "sophomore slump." The sequel, Anomie in Laconia, will go down in History with such greats as "Hot Shots: Part Deaux," and "Rambo II." The only thing profound to emerge from that series was the very prescient nod to Anomie, this even before I could possibly know that I was moving to the very point, spatio-temporally, where Western Civilization can be said to begin its rapid and current decline.
This series will devote considerably more energy to philosophy since the bulk of the experience it ranges over will be my return to the mountain-top to meet with the eagle. Its no doubt that my descent was premature. I will also make keen and cutting observations of Swedish society of course. Make no mistake, I will spare no artistic expense on detailing the current state of all things toiletry in Sweden. I will almost certainly chronicle the immense amount of conformity in Scandinavia, while secretly relishing in ever orderly second.
Why, some may ask, have I chosen now to begin my chronicles of Sverige? Today, my friends and comrades, marks the very day when I got an apartment in Stockholm. By the pictures it looks very very cool. I get my own room and its half the price of my current abode. I have one and maybe two "flatmates." I am not really sure on this to be honest with you...I talked to the girl who owns the place last night and she is my age and seems very nice. I tried my best to speak my newly founded language, I call it "primitive tri-Nordea."
In primitive tri-Nordea I speak a blend of Swedish, Danish and Norwegian...I butcher all three simultaneously. Primitive tri-Nordea is difficult to convey without my actual presence since it really relies heavily on gesturing, expression, etc...in this sense it is closest to Danish, which I have mentioned is not really a spoken language in the modern sense. The Danes generally gesture and make word-like sounds to comfort the rest of the speaking-world, but Danish communication is largely subtle and subtextual. Primitive tri-Nordea is spoken solely in the present tense, and all verb conjugation is normal, there are no "special verbs"...if something like this is encountered then I import an English word or talk my way around it. The girl I spoke to speaks English and Swedish at least, but she could use some work on her primitive tri-Nordea...so I am only guessing that there is another flatmate cause I think there are three rooms.
The apartment is actually about 15-20 minutes by bus outside of the city center of Stockholm. She was trying to explain to me how Stockholm is laid out...something called "suburbs" surround the urban center. As an American, I am only mildly acquainted with the notion of a "suburb." I am trying to imagine that I will be living in the countryside where my nearest neighbor will be a farmer some 20 miles down the road...I will wave to him everyday as I bicycle into town to carry out the day's activities...maybe I will stop and talk to him about what the clouds might suggest about the coming weather that afternoon...his name will be Sven of course, and he will be just shy of 200 years old (who ever accused me of Romanticism!).
I am not sure if I will ever take stock of the time I spent in Babylon, I probably won't...there were good moments, few and far between. I hope to never return...I liked the Reading Room, I liked the Tate, I liked Westminster Abbey, I liked the way that the Parliament looked at night, I liked the fox I saw run across the street one night, I liked Angel, I liked several bookstores, Cambridge was great...I had some good moments with some good friends.
I may not post again until I actually physically move to Sweden, which is April 5th...("isverigenu"= "i Sverige nu" and that means "in Sweden now")
OH YEAH!!! I almost forgot...the girl who owns the place in Sweden...for now we will call her "Svenska Flicka," has a couple cats. I am very stoked about that! We had a stray in San Diego that came to be a bit of a community cat in my building, Mussolini was his name, there is nothing more pleasant than coming home to a pet...unless you can also come home to a human being that likes you as much as the pet does, but I am convinced this prospect is a myth our species uses to keep selling people on marriage. So cats...should be good.
This is the third installment in the serial tragi-comedy of my exploits, fumblings, conquests and defeats in the Old World. The theme here is all things triadic, and I will drive this into the ground...at least for today. Three is of course the square root of nine, and I think nine was a holy number for the Pythagoreans...three is a holy number in a more contemporary religious sect.
The three-part tale of my travels suffered from a bit of a "sophomore slump." The sequel, Anomie in Laconia, will go down in History with such greats as "Hot Shots: Part Deaux," and "Rambo II." The only thing profound to emerge from that series was the very prescient nod to Anomie, this even before I could possibly know that I was moving to the very point, spatio-temporally, where Western Civilization can be said to begin its rapid and current decline.
This series will devote considerably more energy to philosophy since the bulk of the experience it ranges over will be my return to the mountain-top to meet with the eagle. Its no doubt that my descent was premature. I will also make keen and cutting observations of Swedish society of course. Make no mistake, I will spare no artistic expense on detailing the current state of all things toiletry in Sweden. I will almost certainly chronicle the immense amount of conformity in Scandinavia, while secretly relishing in ever orderly second.
Why, some may ask, have I chosen now to begin my chronicles of Sverige? Today, my friends and comrades, marks the very day when I got an apartment in Stockholm. By the pictures it looks very very cool. I get my own room and its half the price of my current abode. I have one and maybe two "flatmates." I am not really sure on this to be honest with you...I talked to the girl who owns the place last night and she is my age and seems very nice. I tried my best to speak my newly founded language, I call it "primitive tri-Nordea."
In primitive tri-Nordea I speak a blend of Swedish, Danish and Norwegian...I butcher all three simultaneously. Primitive tri-Nordea is difficult to convey without my actual presence since it really relies heavily on gesturing, expression, etc...in this sense it is closest to Danish, which I have mentioned is not really a spoken language in the modern sense. The Danes generally gesture and make word-like sounds to comfort the rest of the speaking-world, but Danish communication is largely subtle and subtextual. Primitive tri-Nordea is spoken solely in the present tense, and all verb conjugation is normal, there are no "special verbs"...if something like this is encountered then I import an English word or talk my way around it. The girl I spoke to speaks English and Swedish at least, but she could use some work on her primitive tri-Nordea...so I am only guessing that there is another flatmate cause I think there are three rooms.
The apartment is actually about 15-20 minutes by bus outside of the city center of Stockholm. She was trying to explain to me how Stockholm is laid out...something called "suburbs" surround the urban center. As an American, I am only mildly acquainted with the notion of a "suburb." I am trying to imagine that I will be living in the countryside where my nearest neighbor will be a farmer some 20 miles down the road...I will wave to him everyday as I bicycle into town to carry out the day's activities...maybe I will stop and talk to him about what the clouds might suggest about the coming weather that afternoon...his name will be Sven of course, and he will be just shy of 200 years old (who ever accused me of Romanticism!).
I am not sure if I will ever take stock of the time I spent in Babylon, I probably won't...there were good moments, few and far between. I hope to never return...I liked the Reading Room, I liked the Tate, I liked Westminster Abbey, I liked the way that the Parliament looked at night, I liked the fox I saw run across the street one night, I liked Angel, I liked several bookstores, Cambridge was great...I had some good moments with some good friends.
I may not post again until I actually physically move to Sweden, which is April 5th...("isverigenu"= "i Sverige nu" and that means "in Sweden now")
OH YEAH!!! I almost forgot...the girl who owns the place in Sweden...for now we will call her "Svenska Flicka," has a couple cats. I am very stoked about that! We had a stray in San Diego that came to be a bit of a community cat in my building, Mussolini was his name, there is nothing more pleasant than coming home to a pet...unless you can also come home to a human being that likes you as much as the pet does, but I am convinced this prospect is a myth our species uses to keep selling people on marriage. So cats...should be good.
posted by Lenin | 3:23 em
1 Comments:
GREETINGS!
I like the new look of the blog, its easy on the eyes and suites your exploits as a world(ly) traveler. I disagree about RAMBO II, however. Do you know how many Vietcong and Soviets he killed in that movie? It was alot. He even hid himself in a mud embankment to rid of a single Red! How can you not like that? Im still working on the Cash stuff. Oh, and your car, the only entity who has seen more of SD other than you or myself (as far as Im concerned), is is finally saying farewell. A big guy named Clayton (probably with a Texas accent, some scruffy overalls, and a sidekick named Bob) will be by to pick up the MR2 later today.
Sounds good for you in Sweden! Say hi to Sven.
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