feeling enormous

Well, it has nothing much to do with Stockholm except my own experience, but finishing up my 37th week of pregnancy I'm feeling like a manatee out of water with a speed boat injury.

Actually, some mornings I feel ballerinaeque. By afternoon and evening I am nearly a fixed obstacle.

Sleeping is challenging between not being able to breath and my limbs going numb.

Actually, as a Stockholm experience I can report that I managed to fall off my bike. It was nearly in slow motion and my bike was nearly stationary. I had prepared myself for the rush of worried on-lookers panicked by the fall of the pregnant lady.

Never happened. Two non-Swedes walked nonchalantly by. One Swedish man did eye me with concern though it didn't keep him from his beginning motions of getting on the bus that had just arrived.

I guess I was relieved. Or should I have been indignant that no one seemed to care?

worlds colliding

There's an episode of Seinfeld where George's worlds collide. We all have them; the professional world, the family nebula, a variety of social spheres and perhaps some secret dwarf planets.

Beyond the reaches of the mysteries of the secret worlds, our collection of friends, family and acquaintances usually know of each of the existences, or don't really care. Most often they have no true desire to interact.

Being an English speaker in Stockholm is a bit like living in a microcosm. And if they say that we are all just seven degrees separated from everyone one else on this planet, I would say the degrees of separation in Stockholm is maximum three.

Tonight's Ampersand event, "What editors want", reminded me of how closely linked so many of us expatriot professionals working with English really are.

I would explain all the connections from the 30 odd people at the event, but I have realized that it would read more like the boring bits of the bible where a long list of who begat whom is listed. Most of the people I knew from one angle I also knew from a second angle. Also many of the people I knew had some sort of connection to a few other people I knew from something relatively unrelated.

I think I need a fourth dimension to accurately depict the inter-locking weave of who was who and how whom knew whom.

Many of my worlds collided this evening. Unlike George, I found it fabulous.

inspiration...or lack thereof

Francis Strand from How to learn Swedish in 1000 Difficult Lessons chastised me this evening for neglecting my blog.

He's absolutely right. I've been bad. Wow, January 7 was my last entry. Slackard is definitely appropriate.

The positive thing is that I've been formally spanked and it's just what I needed.

Thanks Francis.