The Linas Alsenas Blog

The DOMA Project

2010-12-17T10:26:00.005+01:00

This week I contributed a short essay about my life with Jan in Sweden to The DOMA Project, a campaign focused on changing US immigration policy with regard to binational LGBT couples. Click here to read my personal story and those of others - and please share them. The more people become aware of the unfairness of US policy, the sooner it will be corrected.

Impressive impasto

2010-10-18T09:19:00.005+02:00

So Jan and I were taking a lovely Sunday walk around town, and we walked past a gallery that I usually don't particularly like.

But it currently has a show that literally stopped my in my tracks - we had to go in to get a closer look. Here's one example from the gallery's website:

Or this one:

But what you can't really tell from these images is that you have to get right up to it, like this:

Crazy, amazingly controlled impasto! Robert Terry is the artist, an American who lives and works in New York (*sigh*).

And I'm such a sucker for fall scenes.

I took a few of my own pictures with my cell phone, but I lost the darn cord that lets you upload pics to the computer...so, yeah. Maybe I'll update this post later, if I ever resolve that issue.

Anyway, truly stunning artwork, and if I had 10,000-some bucks lying around, I would totally be tempted to buy. So Stockholmers: get thee to Lars Bohman Gallery (before November 5th).

Fireside gchat

2010-10-17T23:31:00.007+02:00

So, remember how I recently directed y'all to a new blog by Francis Strand?

Well, he honored me with inclusion into the site - an IM interview about Gay America. It's fun and short, in line with the rest of the site's content.

Good times!

Extra, extra!

2010-10-17T23:23:00.003+02:00

Today's Guardian includes an article on homophobia in which Yours Truly is quoted, and Gay America gets a mention. Read it here!

Cult figures

2010-10-10T22:01:00.007+02:00

My good friend Francis Strand has a terrific new blog, full of fascinating nuggets of queer trivia.

Check it out!

Graffiti in Norway

2010-10-05T17:24:00.004+02:00

Jan and I recently visited our close friends in Oslo, who are expecting a baby on Christmas Day (a girl!).

A few hours before leaving, I slapped up a quick mural on the recently-painted baby room's wall...

Bombs Away!

2010-07-28T14:23:00.006+02:00

A friend forwarded me this adorable photo...

...and my immediate reaction was: OMG! That's Jack!

See?

Although I wasn't aware of it at the time that I came up with the cover, this phenomenon has a name: "photobombing." Like for everything these days, there's a website for it, and I'm particularly impressed that it's got celebrity practitioners like Michael Cera and Will Ferrell.

Spotted!

2010-01-13T15:08:00.003+01:00

Allow me to boast about one more, small moment of awesomeness...

Take a good look at this page from a Swedish interiors magazine:

Notice anything familiar? (Of course not. No worries. But I did!) Let's take a closer look:

My calendar!

One of my more enjoyable freelance illustration projects of late was the KFUM/KFUK (Swedish scouting organization) 2008 calendar, a fundraiser that's been distributed in the same format since the 1940s. (So many Swedes have fond childhood associations with this calendar, like being chosen among classmates to affix the color illustration stamp onto the next month.) I have a couple of images from that project in my online portfolio, here and here.

I guess you never know where your work will pop up!

Here's the cover of the magazine:

Peanut Quiz

2010-01-12T12:05:00.001+01:00

I received another moment of awesomeness in the mailbox recently that I'd love to share*: a letter from Holland, a Peanut fan in Florida.

Check it out.

She even included a fabulous self-portrait:

But the real treat is this three-page quiz to test reading comprehension (and beyond!):

*with special thanks to my talented friend Kate, who earned an A+ on the quiz

Happiness is...

2009-12-14T20:06:00.006+01:00

Living far off in Sweden, I sometimes question whether my work has any impact at all. But then there are days like today.

From Edson, in Alberta, Canada:

Wildwood School's annual Christmas concert will be held on Dec. 17 at 7 p.m. The whole school performance is based on a story entitled Mrs. Claus Takes a Vacation, and will prove to be a world-wide performance with stops in Hawaii, Australia, Louisiana, Ontario, and of course the Holy Land.

It's just...unspeakably gratifying.

Picture Book Economics

2009-12-05T22:00:00.002+01:00

Here's an interesting piece by an agent about picture books, and the difficult economics involved...

The Great Pumpkin

2009-11-03T15:50:00.006+01:00

Well, it's definitely November. There's been so little actual sunlight, my skin is becoming translucent. No, not the deathly pale skin that seems to be all the rage. More like Mr. Goodbody.

But Halloween went pretty well this year--every year, it's apparent my favorite holiday is becoming bigger and bigger here in Stockholm. There were costume parties all over, and pumpkin sales were brisk. Speaking of which, here is how the selection of pumpkins looked at my local grocery store:

Let's zoom in on the price sticker on the misshapen, top pumpkin, shall we?

Yup, you're seeing it correctly. 1000 kronor. Which is equivalent to about $140. For that freaky, not particularly large pumpkin?! Needless to say, as someone who grew up in Ohio with a pumpkin farm just up the road, I was horrified. I was going to boycott buying one out of principle, but then we found a more reasonably priced, smaller pumpkin at another grocery store on the way out to the country house, so I caved. Jan carved it, and I realized that other than sugar overdose, the pumpkin is the most essential ingredient for making an authentic Halloween. Clearly, my almost-namesake was onto something.

Object of Jealous Rage: Rene Engström

2009-10-20T15:39:00.003+02:00

At dinner on Friday, a friend recommended I check out Rene Engström's Anders Loves Maria--about which, as usual, it seems I'm the last person to know. So of course I spent all afternoon yesterday reading all of it. So, so great! And how much do I love that she experiments throughout with different styles, like this one? Just...awesomeness. And so much work!

Of course, my friend recommended the strip because it takes place in Stockholm. The main characters have an apartment in Gamla Stan, as Jan and I did until a year ago, and it's such a treat to recognize the streets they walk. Reading the comics, I felt so relieved to totally participate in something artistic and cultural taking place in Stockholm--in English, that is. Of course, there are plenty of ways to get local Stockholm culture in Swedish, but I find it much harder to connect with it. (Comic strips in Swedish are often totally incomprehensible to me, even if I understand every word. Just as with picture books here, it seems that the shorter the artwork, the harder it is to "get" in a foreign culture.) I got a little bit of a "connect" watching the first Stieg Larsson movie, but that didn't have as many Stockholm city scenes as I'd hoped, and the serial killer storyline seemed so completely outlandish and un-Swedish, it wasn't delivering the recognition goods for me.

But Rene Engström's strip really got my brain spinning, thinking about the importance of artwork--especially the power of stories--in establishing an emotional sense of place. I've been thinking a lot about the idea of "place" in different ways ever since high school, and especially since moving here from New York almost five years ago. There's something about Sweden which seems so *blank* to me, which is really frustrating and hard to articulate. Have I just been too isolated from the cultural and artistic life all around me, to really see what Stockholm *is*? Can I create my own cultural and artistic work to help myself frame Stockholm in more emotional terms?

Am I making any sense?

*sigh*

But go check out Anders Loves Maria, though I suppose I should be all prudish-American and warn that it does contain sex and nudity...

Going Once...Going Twice...

2009-10-05T14:17:00.009+02:00

It's really autumnal in Sweden right now--crisp air, changing leaves, the whole bit. So Jan and I spent the weekend out at the country house, and it's a lucky thing, too:

We had forgotten, but Sunday was the auction date for the farm estate at the end of our road. Tragically, the farmer had killed himself on Midsummer's Eve, and he apparently didn't have any heirs. We didn't really know the man, we had only ordered firewood from him once, but we saw how carefully he had cared for his extensive property--which at this point has become mostly a parking lot for island-dwellers who take the ferry nearby.

In any case, and despite a sudden cold, this was my chance to see a Swedish country auction in action. I have seen and participated in auctions in Sweden before--Metropol and Kronofogden, for example--but never one like this. Many of the people there were our neighbors, so in my cough-drop-addled state, it was hard to decide if this was a disturbing moment of long-awaited scavenging, or a comforting attempt to have the farmer's heirloom possessions spread as locally as possible.

His various buildings were like museums--barely anything had changed in at least fifty years, from the looks of things. Yet it was all tidily cared for--even the antique toys had their original boxes, in mint condition. The spread of objects constituted a revealing, deeply personal look at the farmer's life, his family, the past. Especially in the context of his suicide--and having almost no information about him--it was both fascinating and depressing to think of what the preservation of objects around him might have meant to him. Were they long-cherished memories of a longed-for era, or oppressive reminders of an inescapable past?

In any case, my morbid musings didn't stop *us* from pillaging his misfortune...

At least the objects will remind Jan and me of him, whatever that's worth...

We've All Got Baggage

2009-09-15T11:30:00.003+02:00

My sister was in town for my wedding recently, and I went to pick her up at Central Station. While waiting for her, I couldn't help but admire the illustration on this safety sign:

Watch out, Don Draper! An oddly misshapen hand is after your latest presentation! (Inspired by The Fugitive, perhaps?)

But then I noticed another sign nearby, apparently geared toward Asian (Chinese?) tourists:

Why is it so fugly? And what's with the yellow (!) giantess hand with Flo-Jo nails? Come on, Swedish police, surely you can come up with something better.

Books on Display

2009-09-15T11:16:00.003+02:00

Passing through Sturegallerian a few weeks ago, I came upon this store, just outside the entrance toward Stureplan:

Yup, that pillar is made of books.

I'm of two minds on this--on one hand, it's sort of sad to see books emasculated and relegated to the status of "clothing-store decorative element".

(Okay, I don't *know* that they have damaged the books in creating this pillar, but I'm guessing they've probably stuck a rod or two into the column, or glued the books together somehow, to keep it all safe for shoppers.)

On the other hand, knowing how many books are destroyed ("pulped") all the time in warehouses when they don't sell fast enough, I'm not so bothered by the idea. I guess they might as well be repurposed for something like this, and heck, having books on display in public spaces is fundamentally positive, no?

Counterproductive Ads: Pigeon Fingers

2009-08-18T15:50:00.005+02:00

I see so many wrong ads around the city, I figured I'd start pointing out Ads That Need Not Exist.

Well, here's one I saw yesterday at Fältöversten:

Really? Creepy hand-pigeons are good for selling luxury watches?

*rinsing my eyes with bleach*

Momondo: The Underground Art Scene

2009-08-17T14:19:00.003+02:00

Just FYI, another piece of mine has just gone up on Momondo, this time about subway art.

(Oh, and I think I forgot to mention this one about Stockholm's urban beaches, too...)

Like Sands Through the Hourglass...

2009-08-14T14:06:00.006+02:00

I love this YouTube clip of Kseniya Simonova's sand-art performance on the Ukrainian version of "America's Got Talent" because it collapses so many aspects of the picture-book process into a live, short segment. Not only do we see the creation of the artwork (and how amazing is it that she can create the desired facial expressions with a mere flick of the wrist?), but the artist must think about structuring her series of images in a deliberate design. And she effectively tells her story about Ukraine's experience of WWII, clearly moving her audience--yet another aspect of the process that we get to witness, all within 8 and a half minutes.

Enjoy:

Object of Jealous Rage: Sophie Blackall

2009-08-07T10:42:00.003+02:00

I've harbored a continuous jealous rage over Ms. Blackall's books since Ruby's Wish--I mean, simply check out the Complete Awesomeness of the cover:

But now Publishers Weekly tells me that she has a mind-blowingly genius blog illustrating real "Missed Connections" posts from Craigslist?

*Excuse me while I stomp around my studio, fists raised, cursing the fact that I didn't think of doing that first.*

Ahem.

But seriously? How gorgeous are those paintings?

Also, please join me in checking out her gorgeous website--and feeling completely worthless in comparison.

What I Did Over the Summer

2009-08-06T13:50:00.008+02:00

Okay, so here's (largely) why I've been MIA for the past couple months:

The Big Day is approaching, and we're getting close to being ready...

But as I heard someone say somewhere at some point, "Excuses are lies for when you don't try."

Life in Sweden: Secretive Suffrage

2009-06-10T13:41:00.007+02:00

On Sunday I reached a happy milestone as a new citizen--I voted for the first time in Sweden!

EU parliamentary elections were held, albeit with a disappointing turnout continent-wide. The process was similar to how I've experienced it in New York, except that you use little sheets of paper, a different sheet of paper for each different party. Here's the slip of paper for the Moderate Party (conservatives):

I've found political culture here to be superdifferent from the US, where people are very vocal and public about what parties and political issues they support. Here, it seems to be the height of rudeness to ask whom people are voting for, and you certainly don't see any bumper stickers around town.

So if you don't want other people to know how you're voting, you take a whole bunch of different slips from different parties. Then you go to an unsteady privacy tent-thingee where you mark your vote on the party of your choice, put it in an envelope they provide you, and hand it in.

Easy peasy.

Momondo: Swedish National Romantic Architecture

2009-05-27T15:09:00.004+02:00

My latest momondo.com contribution has just been published, please check it out! This time, it's a sampling of some of the most intimidating buildings in Stockholm, all borne out of nationalistic sentiments, long ago...

Also, be sure to drop by Monica Wellington's blog, where she has a roundup of recently-published books by those of us who have taken her fabulous class at the School of Visual Arts (both GAY AMERICA and BOB are listed).

Sprucing Up

2009-05-18T11:37:00.004+02:00

This weekend, Jan and I were out at the house, pouring concrete for our patio-type-area in the back, when I made an earth-shattering, two-part discovery (that will undoubtedly prove that I'm anything but the sharpest tool in the shed).

Did you know that spruce trees have blooms that look like this:

Okay, I know that in the photo it looks like that could be a regular cone, but it's so not, it's bright red. Kinda magenta-ish.

I will freely admit that I did not know that spruces bloom like that. And yes, I am turning thirty years old this summer.

BUT, also, did you know that if you shake the blooming branch, it's like a pollen bomb? Good times were had, Linas walking around tapping random branches to make gymnosperm clouds.

Like I said, good times.

Life in Sweden: The Cavalry Arrives

2009-05-18T11:03:00.003+02:00

Okay, so I'm going out from the apartment/studio to grab some lunch, and lo and behold:

Sweden has been invaded by Kaiser Wilhelms!

As uniforms go, you have to admit these are pretty lame (sorry, Jonas!). But at least it's just the cavalry that mosies around this neighborhood--downtown, they're constantly closing down traffic for the martial marching band. When I see them, it always makes me feel like getting a hot dog--I mean, it's halftime, right?

Momondo: Patricia

2009-04-29T15:28:00.006+02:00

I've been lucky/cursed with a whole deluge of freelance work these past couple weeks, so I'm still struggling to get back to this blog. Of course, in just a day I'll be heading off to southern France for a wedding (congratulations, Delphine and Sige!!). After that, I'll be enjoying a whole week in Barcelona. I canNOT wait--it's been so long since I've been to Spain (not counting the Canaries, um, illogically), and I've never been to this part of it before. Bert and Francisco will be going with us, and they know their way around town, so it'll be my favorite kind of trip: the kind that requires no planning or effort on my part.

Meanwhile (and speaking of Bert and Frasse), I am pleased to direct you all to one of the several freelance pieces I've been working on: Momondo just posted my latest contribution, "Dancin' till Dawn on the Booze Cruise". It's about Patricia, naturally. Enjoy!

Ready to Engage

2009-04-20T00:06:00.004+02:00

Sorry, I've been a bit MIA this past week, it's been a crazy-busy time for me--new contracts, a load of freelance work, more potential gigs, the works. It almost makes me long for my doldrums of 2008.

Almost, but not quite.

And can you believe the past month's developments for marriage equality?! From the first day of this month with Sweden's announcement, then Iowa, then the nail-biter in Vermont, and now the media buzz about New York--and did you see Frank Rich's piece in The New York Times? Goodness, to think it's only the 19th.

Has public opinion shifted so radically, so quickly? (It's about time Pres. Obama embraced the issue, his lame position on this is so beneath him.)

*ahem*

Well, it must be in the air. You knew this moment would come, it's been inevitable since the start:

So hear ye, hear ye! As of this weekend, Jan and I are now officially engaged to marry.

*cue orchestral swoon*

Lost in the Amazon

2009-04-13T20:45:00.003+02:00

So, have you heard about the whole Amazon hubbub? The whole thing is odd and disturbing.

And it turns out that Gay America is part of it, too!

Fame!

2009-04-02T13:40:00.008+02:00

One of the perks of being a Very Famous Person (*snort!*) is that every once in a while, the mailman brings you a packet full of Awesomeness.

Behold:

All the way from the library at Lincoln Heights Elementary School in Spokane, Washington come these amazing illustrations and letters about Peanut. Was I nearly as talented as they are? (Am I now?)

Reading through them, I am reminded of the incredible visit I enjoyed at Reilly Elementary in Austin, Texas back on Halloween of last year:

The kids there made me feel like a celebrity. (After all, this was for the "Reading Rock Stars" program run by the Texas Book Festival.) From the snacks waiting for me and fellow author Elizabeth Singer Hunt in the "green room" to the huge reproductions of images from my book (thanks to dedicated parents), I was given the full red-carpet treatment.

And one of the best parts of the trip was getting my copy of Peanut Goes to Reilly, an absolute masterpiece.

I will treasure it always, right next to the new letters from Lincoln Heights Elementary.

So it's on days like this (as opposed to, say, when I'm doing my taxes) that I realize I truly do have the best job in the whole world.

I'd Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus*

2009-04-02T11:10:00.004+02:00

So I was all excited yesterday because I looked out my studio's window...

...and it appeared that two pigeons were occupying a preexisting nest in the tree below! How fun! Just think: a bird's-eye view (sorry, couldn't resist) of little eggs hatching, tiny peeping chicks, the first clumsy attempts at flight...!

Back in New York, I used to dislike pigeons (the whole "flying rats" thing), but I have to say, parrot ownership has totally melted my heart toward all members of the bird family.

But there are no pigeons there today. Maybe they foreclosed on their mortgage, too?

* For those who missed the reference, buy this book. Immediately.

Momondo: Stockholm's Sexiest Statues

2009-03-31T11:32:00.006+02:00

My next piece for momondo.com was just published: "The 7 Sexiest Statues in Stockholm."

I'd say it's NSFW, but it's...all out in public!

Dear Friends at Kulturhuset

2009-03-30T19:34:00.014+02:00

When I saw the subway poster for the current "Dear Friends" exhibition, I was floored: more proof that it's a small, small world.

(This isn't the subway poster, but it's close.)

You see, when I first got an editorial assistant job at Abrams in 2002, Dear Friends had just been published, and it was one of our most popular gay-interest books.

I've always been fascinated by this book--basically, a collection of images (daguerrotypes, photographs, etc.) from the turn of the 20th century showing men in incredibly affectionate poses. So it's not a gay book, exactly. (But it is, really.) It's fascinating to think how quickly culture changes, that we really don't have a good way of understanding what these images mean.

When my friends David and Eli got married, I used one of those daguerrotype images as inspiration for the wedding gift I painted:

Later, when I was putting together Gay America, I was superpsyched to have the opportunity to share a few of the images that haunted me:

(Go on, get out your copy, they're on pages 12 and 13.)

(And also this image of Walt Whitman with his "friend" Pete Doyle, from page 18.)

I didn't realize that the collection was ever even displayed as an exhibition, and the fact that it followed me here to Sweden makes me very happy indeed. Plus it was so gratifying to see Stockholmers there, all fascinated by these intricate, curious little windows into a history we may never fully understand.

And if you go to the exhibition--and you should--don't forget to go see Loretta's creepy children upstairs!

At the very least, you can bring your own dear friends to simply enjoy the view from her exhibit.

Swedish Optimism

2009-03-27T19:00:00.003+01:00

It's snowing outside.

Hard.

What Shamelessly Boring People Do

2009-03-23T10:14:00.007+01:00

It had been a few weeks since Jan and I were last able to go our little house in Stockholm's archipelago, so we were jonesin' to get back there this weekend. Plus, with spring becoming more and more palpable*, I was getting stressed out: we had bought birdhouses, but we still hadn't put them up!

Fear not, Jan to the rescue:

We were really psyched the next day because there was a nuthatch that kept checking them out, hopefully scouting his/her new nesting site...

Plus, I'm really hoping that bats move into the bat house we put up last year (photo from July):

Our friend the roe deer came by, as usual, with his strange, fuzzy antlers.

Also, we'll soon be getting new, improved power lines, so we had to figure out exactly where we want the new pole--the existing location is a total eyesore.

It was nice to see a woodpecker trying to get rid of one of the old ones (I hear ya, buddy).

We just got a new camera recently, so we were playing around with it. (But you guessed that already, didn't you?)

Mostly, we just chilled. Here's us taking in the view of our little valley while listening to public radio podcasts:

And Jan napped on The Most Comfortable Couch In The Universe.

I love it there.

* What? I'm choosing to ignore the snow outside. If it doesn't get the attention it wants, it will go away.

Life in Sweden: Plucky Decor

2009-03-20T16:48:00.005+01:00

The first day of spring, and apparently it's snowing in New York. Well it isn't snowing here in Stockholm (though it was yesterday, a bit), but today I did get reminded that it's almost Easter:

Because nothing says Easter like...

Day-glo-dyed feathers tied to sticks!

Yeah.

This, friends, is Sweden's odd contribution to Easter decor. Jan explained that you're supposed to put the sticks in water, so you get sproutage when Easter rolls around. The first time I saw them, I thought they were hilariously stupid.

Okay, I still think they're hilariously stupid.

At Last: Author Copies!

2009-03-19T15:28:00.004+01:00

The DHL man finally successfully delivered the package I've been waiting weeks to get: my "author copies" of Hello My Name Is Bob!

(btw, I hate hate hate DHL--they have yet to deliver a package to me correctly in Sweden--but the man was nice enough.)

For a variety of reasons, it took me a bit longer than usual to get my copies of the book--and I'm so, so, so thrilled to have them in my grubby little hands. (I accidentally left my one advance copy of the book at my mom's house in November, so Swedish friends were starting to doubt the very existence of the book...)

But they're here, and they're fabulous--if I do say so myself. I recently found out that The Bulletin of the Center of Children's Books agrees: they gave Bob a nice review in their March 2009 issue,* although they repeatedly called me "Salenas" instead of "Alsenas".

*Sorry, they don't seem to post their reviews online, so I don't have a link.

Momondo: Tunnelgatan

2009-03-19T11:13:00.004+01:00

I've started blogging about Stockholm for travel website momondo.com, and my first entry (about Stockholm's groovy Tunnelgatan, below) was just published here.

Enjoy!

Life in Sweden: Blackouts

2009-03-17T14:53:00.004+01:00

At our last apartment in Gamla Stan (Stockholm's Old Town), I spent way too much time wondering why certain windows were covered and painted over in buildings across the street:

I mean, why block out what appear to be preexisting windows at this latitude, where sunlight is more precious than first-borns? (Er--so I've heard.) Especially in Gamla Stan, which isn't exactly full of wide streets? Especially at street level?

In the age of triple-glazing, the heat-escaping R-factor of the building shouldn't be a huge consideration. And yet whenever the facades are renewed every few years, they don't reinstall real windows. Why?

And yet, it's not an uncommon phenomenon here:

But what particularly I love about this last example, located in Östermalm, is that there is no apparent logic to where the fake windows are placed. Like, why didn't they paint a couple of windows up here:

Especially considering the attention to detail they showed here:

???

Enlisted

2009-03-11T14:11:00.007+01:00

**bragging alert** **bragging alert** **bragging alert**

I've been superpleased by how Gay America has been recognized lately on a bunch of lists.

Let's review, shall we?

First, it got listed on Kirkus Reviews' Best Young Adult Books of 2008.

Then it got onto the 2009 Rainbow List organized by the American Library Association's Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgendered Round Table and Social Responsibilities Round Table.

Then it got listed on the New York Public Library's Stuff for the Teen Age 2009, "the multi-format, multimedia, targeted, and teen-tested update" to their Books of the Teen Age annual list.

Then it made an appearance on CCBC Choices 2009, the annual best-of-the-year list of the august Cooperative Children's Book Center, a library of the School of Education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

And finally, I just found out that it's been named one of three finalists for the Randy Shilts Award for Gay Nonfiction, presented by the Publishing Triangle.

I so want that.

Huzzah, Gay America!!

Spring Forward

2009-03-10T15:22:00.007+01:00

*cue chirping of birds*

It's spring (almost)! Yup, as those wacky Stateside Americans turned their clocks this weekend, we in Sweden were enjoying a sustained period of balmy weather (I think it got up to 3 degrees! Yes, Celsius.).

Well, Jan and I got into the vernal spirit and started some seeds for our balcony garden this summer--now that we'll actually have a balcony this summer.

Let's see: we got some balcony-specific tomatoes.

And we got some cucumbers for pickling. And radishes. And lettuce.

And...chocolate tomatoes.

Um, and...we got some tiny fake cucumbers.

"Jungle cucumbers", anyone? Actually, I like the common names in English that Wikipedia gives them: "mouse melon", "Mexican miniature watermelon", "cucamelon", and "Mexican sour cucumber".

Then this morning we woke up....

...to this.

*cue shaking of fist at sky*

Object of Jealous Rage: Loretta Lux

2009-03-06T13:52:00.009+01:00

I just got back from a spontaneous visit to Kulturhuset smack in the middle of Stockholm, and I am jumping up and down, redfaced with fists clenched, in a jealous rage.

Okay, it wasn't totally spontaneous, I knew I wanted to see the Loretta Lux exhibition at some point because I had seen an ad for the show in the local Östermalm paper using this image. Even in its grainy, reprinted state, I couldn't stop trying to get Jan to agree with me that the photo is soooo hauntingly beautiful/disturbing. It is, right? Right?

And it doesn't disappoint in real life.

But the whole exhibit was full of similarly awesome/creepy images. Like this one.

And this one.

And this one, which made me realize this wasn't my first encounter with Ms. Lux's work--I had ripped this very image from some other blog to throw into my "Miscellaneous Images" folder a few years ago, something I pretty much never do. But her images just grab you, ya know?

Yeah, see, that's kind of the "problem" with the show. Or maybe the "problem" with effective art: after seeing so many of these images with their hyper-melancholic mood, you couldn't help but leave feeling very...unsettled. And not really in a good way. Like in a "that was so cool but ew, I feel kind of dirty and creeped out for looking at all these kids as hyperaesthetic objects" kind of way. As it wears off, yes, you start to appreciate the fact that art has induced such a feeling, but that's small comfort just as you leave. If twenty minutes makes me feel that way, I can only imagine what a nutjob Loretta Lux must be by now, since she says in a video commentary that she spends about three months on each image.*

Also, Stockholmers, as you run off to see this show, don't forget to pause on the third floor to see Ville Lenkkeri's photo exhibit of scenes from an abandoned Russian mining operation on Svalbard. I was lucky enough to go to Svalbard in July, and seeing these desolate-yet-beautiful images really brought me back there. Scenes of decaying abandonment are not uncommon there, actually, since anything that predates 1944 (er, don't quote me on that) is protected by the state** as the island's "cultural heritage".

*a statement which strikes me as mathematically impossible, considering the number of images in the show

**it's not really governed by a state, actually--an international agreement made in 1920 (er, don't quote me on that) allows Norway to "administer" the island. So everything there is decided by the Governor, leading to hilarious news stories in Longyearbyn's paper that all eventually defer to whatever Sysselmannen says.

Life in Sweden: Subway Art II

2009-02-27T18:09:00.008+01:00

As promised, here are some pics from the wacky Kungsträdgården subway stop (I went on the blue line to get out to Kista, so I figured I'd take advantage of the opportunity). This one is from the entrance at street level:

There was a sign there with the artist's statement, and apparently a lot of the architectural details used in the installation here were recovered from buildings from around the Stockholm area.

The highlight of the station is this walkway to the platform, where architectural artifacts are strewn about in the pit below, with (fake) ivy and moss creeping over them.

Oh, and lampposts with neon swirls in them.

Good times.

Four years. Oy.

2009-02-23T17:21:00.004+01:00

So Friday marked the four-year anniversary of my life here in Sweden.

Yikes.

That's a toddler. An Olympic cycle, a presidential term. That's high school, or a college education. And most disturbing, that's as long as I lived in New York City after college. Technically, I'm more of a Stockholmer than I am a New Yorker.

Completely coincidentally (and randomly), I'm going to be giving a presentation this week for a relocation company to American clients about the challenges of moving to Sweden. So, naturally, I've been thinking a lot about my experience here. When I moved here, I didn't have a clue what to expect.

Like, not even a mental picture of what it would look like.

At the airport, the passport control guy kept flipping through my passport, wondering when I had previously visited. After all, I did have a residency visa. "Never!" I cheerfully replied. "Hope I like it!"

I didn't know anyone in Sweden except Jan and his family, I didn't speak Swedish, and I didn't know where to begin creating a life. I had just quit my supersocial job as an editor, I had left my supersocial life in New York City, and I was now working for myself at home, in a country known (I now realize) for its lack of sociability.

The change was a shock, to say the least. In many ways, Stockholm does seem a lot like New York, and it's easy to believe that my transition should have been an easy one. But Stockholm is really, really not like New York--in good ways and in bad. The differences are often hard to identify, and they're just as hard to articulate after you've absorbed them.

In another weird coincidence, this week also marks the end of my time at the ÖÖS studio space I've been renting for more than two years.

Jan and his dad helped me move my stuff back to our apartment yesterday, where I'll be working now that we have a spare room. So it's hard not to feel that today I'm back to where I was four years ago: sitting in my apartment, looking out the window at a courtyard, thinking about my life as I work.

But it doesn't take long to realize that I'm in a completely different place today.

This journey hasn't been an easy one, that's for sure. (Here's a vital tip: never think about where you've ended up in life on an empty stomach.) And I'm definitely not done with the trip. But at least now I can understand the world around me and navigate it, and I have more of the tools I need for building a life and enjoying it. It's gratifying to know that I can pass on some of the wisdom I've earned the hard way, wisdom that I wish I had four years ago.

And as much as I don't always feel like one, I am a Swede now.

Dancin' on the Tracks

2009-02-16T15:52:00.008+01:00

I wanted to add to my earlier post about warning signs.

This is a part of the sticker you find on all the doors to the subway cars in Stockholm:

I think it's supposed to tell you to *not* get your arm caught in the subway door (?!), but the body language of the dude doesn't seem particularly negative to me. To me, it looks like he's shuffling off to Buffalo--they should add little motion lines to indicate jazz hands.

And then right above it is this hilarious image:

Um, hilarious because I'm apparently still eleven. (Lesson: Don't tiptoe over Peeping Toms?)

Object of Jealous Rage: Mattias Adolfsson

2009-02-10T14:08:00.004+01:00

Why didn't I do this?!

Current Obsession: African Violets

2009-02-07T15:32:00.000+01:00

We were at the grocery store last week, where I ended up lingering in the small houseplant section (this is nothing new for me, even from when I was in high school). They had a small selection of foliage plants (three for 100 kronor!), and as tempted as I was, I was too nervous about buying something very poisonous. (One of the options was Dieffenbachia, also known as "Dumb Cane"--or, hilariously, "Mother-in-law Plant"--because it can cause your throat to swell if you consume it. I don't want to think about what would happen to a little guy like Oliver, a bird who'll chomp up anything--vegetal or otherwise--he can get his beak on...) So I decided to hold off until I did the requisite research--but I couldn't resist taking an African Violet from the next cart, just because it looks so damn healthy:

(Except that missing leaf, natch.)

My mother used to have an African Violet in our kitchen window when I was a kid, but I remember that hers wasn't as perpetual a bloomer as they're known to be--it just sort of hung out, in a drab way, a clump of dark, fuzzy leaves waiting to die in a mug. (I don't blame the plant, by the way.) So I wasn't that into African Violets for a long time, although I knew that they tend to have a cult following (especially here--no other plant had its own fan club representin' at a gardening trade show Jan and I went to last year at Stockholmsmässan).

Somehow African Violets always seemed too common, a starter plant that's unironically grannyish. The mother of one my childhood friends had a kitchen bookshelf dedicated to three or four African Violets, complete with a pebble tray and a grow light (a huge amount of attention, to my twelve-year-old mind), and I couldn't understand the appeal. They might as well be cacti, they're so...static. I mean, there's no fragrance, no fruit, they're available everywhere--what's the point?

Well, what a difference the years have made. When I brought my grocery store flower home, I was thrilled. It looked great! Big flowers, in February! And it doesn't even take up a lot of space! Plus, it's totally bird-safe, and unlike most flowering houseplants, it doesn't seem to require a huge amount of sunlight (a limited resource in our apartment).

Later on in the week, I stopped by my all-time favorite store in Stockholm, a gardening-supply store called Weibull's right near the intersection of Sveavägen and Kungsgatan. Since it's right in the center of the city, the store's selection is heavily weighted toward indoor houseplants (awww, yeah), and every time I go in there, it's a revelation. So many varieties! So many colors! So many latin names I can never keep straight! And they all look amazing, these glistening tropical plants that are uniformly robust and flawless.

Of course, I never end up buying anything when I go because I get completely overwhelmed--buying something seems like a slippery slope, a gateway drug. (Plus I'm not rock-solid on which plants might be dangerous for Oliver.) So I tend to think of my visits as a form of houseplant tourism, to go and breathe the oxygen-rich, humidified air and see if I really fall in love with any one plant--and then go home to read about it online and realize why I can't provide the right growing conditions for it (oh, for bright, direct-sunlight window! Think of the fragrant gardenias I could stock up on!).

But on my visit this week, the plants I was most impressed by were the African Violets that were on sale (only 25 kronor each!). The range of varieties were more than you ever really see (unless, *cough*, you're the kind of person who spends hours looking at the gallery on this site). A sign said they were "locally grown", which I guess is to point out a smaller carbon cost? Or maybe Swedes are famous for their varieties? Hard to say. It's not like they're native or anything.

Even though I already had the grocery store African Violet, I couldn't bring myself to buy more. (It takes a lot for me to buy something. Don't ask.) But I did go back on Friday, specifically to buy the plants, because I saw in the paper that they were advertising the African Violets for this week's sale. (Hey, I'm cheap--that was reason enough.) So I went in, agonized over exactly which plants to get, then finally settled on two:

But I also knew I wanted the miniature ones, too, so I got the two varieties they offered:

And I validated my fears about gateway drugs by buying a mimosa pudica, the "Sensitive Plant", because they are so cool. (I had seen them at Weibull's before and thought about buying them, but needed a few weeks to think about spending the 29 kronor, apparently.) Also African Violets = crack.

Then I brought all the plants home and realized the cashier had slaughtered a significant amount of leafage from one of the miniatures in the wrapping process:

But whatever, I love them all.

So I'm slowly becoming the old woman I aspire to be, after all.

In the Mood

2009-02-06T14:20:00.000+01:00

When I moved to Sweden just about four years ago, I was excited that I would finally be able to work for myself on my own projects. Since I would no longer be an editor, I imagined that I would be much more motivated during the days; after all, I would more directly benefit from all the work, it would all come right back to me.

I mean, think of all that time! I could work a few hours in the morning, then go for an refreshing walk or grab lunch with a friend, then be reenergized and reinspired for a productive afternoon. I'd have manuscripts pouring out of me, promotional materials flooding art directors all over the world, agents knocking down my door, trying to get a cut of the action... And what a fabulous lifestyle--I could sleep in! Go see matinee movies on a whim!

Needless to say, I quickly learned that working by yourself on creative projects is definitely not what it's cracked up to be--at least, not in my case. I now know that I get most of my energy and motivation from palpable external influences: clear deadlines, a boss's expectations, coworkers with whom I immediately get competitive.

I also totally underestimated The Power of Procrastination. It can be very easy to rationalize a break here and there...and there...and there... Oh, and ask me about anything that's been covered by The New York Times in the last four years--I'll tell you all about it! The Huffington Post? Ditto. New York public radio? I have Brian Lehrer's voice etched into my very being. If I don't know the latest minor commentary on the latest blip on the 24-hour news cycle, how will the world continue to revolve? I mean, come on, it takes work to be an informed citizen!

So, motivating myself to work every day--forcing myself, really--has been very difficult for me over the past few years, and I'm constantly thinking about ways to create the "ideal environment" that will inspire and sustain productivity. That was one of the reasons we got Oliver, the parrot--so I wouldn't feel so isolated working from home. Didn't quite do the trick, though--he hasn't learned how to say "Get to work, bitch!" yet. So, I started working outside the apartment in a rented studio space with other creative types, and that has been a godsend. (Oliver, of course, has been a godsend, too--but for wholly different reasons.)

In light of all this, I found the recent New York Times article about people losing weight because of bets very interesting to think about (see, the daily scouring of the Old Gray Lady is a good thing!). Could this be the right strategy to make sure I actually produce work for self-imposed deadlines? The article points out that people were most likely to reach their goals on StickK.com if their money would go to a charity they actively disliked, a "foe or anti-charity". I could see that working really well for me--you can bet your little patootey that I would produce the Sistine Chapel in ten seconds flat before having a nickel sent to the Knights of Columbus, for example.

Of course, there are tools available that have been developed for writers in exactly my situation--Dr. Wicked's Write or Die, for example, is a website which provides a text box with preset parameters for you to type in. As soon as you start to slack off, the punishments can range from blasting you with unpleasant music (although *I* would have no problem listening to Hanson!) to actually deleting your work.

The time-pressure aspect of that strategy brings a whiff of nostalgia for me--one of my many dubious claims to fame was winning the regional title for a Power of the Pen competition in seventh grade. (Or was it eighth?) Looking back, it didn't strike me as particularly hard to whip up a short story in forty minutes. Where, oh where, did that skill go?

Ultimately, I'm not sure there is a perfect solution for me. I think it comes down to something similar to Jane Yolen's BIC ("Butt In Chair") method. (And hey, whatever Jane Yolen has been doing to motivate herself must work really, really well. That lady is productive like nobody's business!)

So, when I'm between contracted projects and their associated deadlines, I just gotta keep the self-imposed deadlines coming. I've been holding writing workshops with two Stockholm friends for a while now, and we recently realized we need to meet more frequently (weekly). It was pretty clear that all three of us basically only wrote the day of the workshop anyway, so now we're acknowledging our weakness and working around it.

But yesterday I heard a great tip: a friend was given a package of chocolate liqueurs by another writer with the instruction to eat one--just one!--before beginning a writing session. Apparently the combination of a stimulant (sugar) and a relaxant (booze) creates the perfect conditions for a productive session.

I'm down with that.

Oh, and do I even need to point out that I have managed to spend most of the afternoon on this post?

Life in Sweden - Subway Art

2009-02-02T18:27:00.000+01:00

Normally with public art in Stockholm, I have pretty low expectations. Take this hideosity from our local subway stop:

No, that is not graffiti done by some deranged person. That was actually designed to be there (gouged into the wall) by a professional. And I get to stare at it every day.

But on Sunday, we went to dinner at our friends' place in a suburb of Stockholm, and I was reminded of how fun the artwork is at the Solna Centrum stop. Check this out:

The White House!! It's towering menacingly over little Swedish cottages!

...Yeah, I dunno what it all means. Probably something anti-American, though it's hard to say definitively. There's also a military helicopter to the left, and a scene with soldiers planting a flag on the horizon to the right, à la Iwo Jima, but the lighting wasn't very good. It's all in a display case:

Jan claimed that the cottages are supposed to represent protesters. I'm all for artwork that gives you something to ponder as you wait for the train...

...kind of like this, also at the same station:

Yup, giant plastic (resin?) moose. On the left, there's a dilapidated shack with a sign for Konsum, a grocery chain. (?!) As a friend pointed out, it's particularly impressive that the graffiti isn't limited to the outside of the case--that's some pretty determined tagging right there.

There's a similarly wacky subway stop at Kungsträdgården, I'll take some pics the next time I'm there (which is admittedly almost never)...'

Hello My Name is CURRENTLY IN STORES

2009-02-02T13:30:00.000+01:00

Bob and Jack have finally been released into the wide, wide world.

Good luck, little bears. Sell like crazy, okay?

Somewhere Over the Rainbow List

2009-01-31T18:40:00.001+01:00

A much more exciting development from the ALA conference (um, in The World According to Linas, nowhere else): Gay America was selected for the Rainbow List ("A recommended list of books dealing GLBTQ themes and topics for children and teens through age 18, under the auspices of the American Library Association's Gay Lesbian Bisexual Transgender Round Table (GLBTRT) and Social Responsibilities Round Table (SRRT)")!!

Yay Gay America!

Bring On the Tickertape!

2009-01-26T17:26:00.000+01:00

Today is a very big day in American children's book publishing: the Youth Media Award winners were just announced at the American Library Association (ALA) Mid-Winter Conference in Denver.

Beth Krommes won the Caldecott for The House in the Night, a book I hadn't seen or heard of before:

To judge a book by its cover (!), though--didn't the almost-black-and-white Kitten's First Full Moon win the award not long ago? But again, I haven't actually seen this one in person yet.

Neil Gaiman won the Newbery Award for The Graveyard Book, which seems--without having read the book myself!--to answer Anita Silvey's earlier complaints about Newbery winners lacking kid appeal.

Then again, I will admit to a small part of me that thinks it's somewhat of a wasted opportunity for helping a book by someone not-huge-like-Gaiman, that could have really used the attendant publicity that a Newbery generates...

But honestly and sincerely, kudos to them, as well as to the winners of the various other honors announced today!

Achtung, Baby

2009-01-25T11:52:00.000+01:00

I really love warning signs that include pictures. I think it's because they go beyond just issuing safety alerts--like many a Victorian-era picture book, they go ahead and tell a story about an unfortunate someone who just didn't listen (at least in my mind). Take this sign near our house in the archipelago, where the road becomes a quay when you reach the water:

I feel like it should have a soundtrack somehow--"bam bam BAMMMM!" (Or maybe Debbie Downer's "wah-wahhhhh"...)

One of my all-time favorite examples of these signs is located in the elevator of our friends' apartment building. We went over there for a lovely dinner party last night, and I realized that because they're moving in a couple months, I had to be sure to take a photo (sorry, it's a little fuzzy):

Yup, I'm sold. No taking tall, wheeled containers into the elevator.

An Interesting Disparity

2009-01-23T16:57:00.001+01:00

Not sure what valid conclusions can be drawn, but...

In the US this week:

"In the poll, released Thursday by the nonpartisan Pew Research Center, global warming came in last among 20 voter concerns; it trailed issues like addressing moral decline and decreasing the influence of lobbyists. Only 30 percent of the voters deemed global warming to be "a top priority," compared with 35 percent in 2008."

versus in Sweden this week:

"Swedish voters placed a high priority on climate issues with 65 percent responding that this was the most important election issue, the highest in the EU."

Yes We Can

2009-01-22T12:49:00.002+01:00

Okay, I couldn't not do anything to commemorate this amazing week...

...although Jack and Bob are pretty off-message, aren't they?

(thanks to obamiconme)

Life in Sweden - Madeline in Day-Glo

2009-01-21T16:37:00.000+01:00

On my way to the studio: Stockholm kids on some kind of a field trip from dagis (daycare), in proper formation: buddy system, flourescent vests, rope attachments, optimized adult shepherding positions.

It reminds me of Ludwig Bemelmans:

Welcome!

2009-01-20T16:52:00.000+01:00

Hello!

*gulp*

Oh, don't give me that look. A personal blog? Why?! Like there aren't enough personal blogs in the world that no one reads?

Who. Honestly. Cares.

Wellll...maybe somebody. Or not. In any case, I figure this is a good way to keep a "diary" for myself, as well as an easy way to share updates on my expat life for people I know and love back in the States.

Hopefully, though, this will be of some interest to people I don't already know, especially people who have found their way here because of shared interests (i.e., children's books--especially mine!, current events, the struggle for lgbtq equality, the overlap between nature and urban life, design, parrots, etc.--yeah yeah I know the list is random and wide-ranging. Whatever, I'm human.) Y'all don't have to read everything, that's what preview windows in feed readers are for.

*sticks out tongue*

Anyway, I imagine this thing will mutate and evolve as time goes by. Or go extinct--hard to say.

Um...enjoy!