Vlog Nine: I've Got 99 Problems But A Map Ain't One

Sunday Thoughts

Sunday is laundry and Downton Abbey day. This isn't a set-in-stone tradition or anything, but those two things usually always fall on Sunday. And I know this paragraph contains way too much excitement.

Wanna know something that is exciting?  I'm going to Budapest soon! In, like, eight days.  I think.

...I should probably check on the date for sure.

Also, I don't know what time my flight is.

Study abroad, kids.  It teaches you preparedness.

This week's agenda:

• Dark Shadows.  I can't remember the last time I was this excited for a movie.  (Titanic doesn't count.)  It's a combination of everything I love: Helena Bonham Carter, the seventies, Johnny Depp...
• Create a presentation for my pop culture class about some American piece of pop culture.  This field of options is far too broad.  I almost just want to go to class on Wednesday and wing it, but that might be a dumb idea. 
• ...other things?

Now it's time for people to get out of the kitchen so I can nuke my pizza in peace. 

Vlog Eight: RULES

April was a vlog-less month (a programming hiatus, shall we say), but it is now May and Titanic is most likely out of the theaters.  Still.  The concepts are the same.

Three episodes of No One Cares About Your Hair remain, and it's crunch time for our leading lady.  Will she meet, fall in love with, and marry a Scandinavian doctor in the next thirty days?  Will her plant survive the spring?  Will her neighbors form a coalition kill to her because 1:30 in the morning is an inopportune time to sing songs?  The answer to all but the last question is Probably not.  (The answer to the last question is an unadulterated YES.)  But keep your dials tuned to this station to find out.

(Also, the damask is back.)

Gotland Gazings

(What's a gazing? I don't know. It starts with G and made the alliteration happen. That's all that's important.)

We stayed in these. They were basically immovable trailers, but they were really new and really nice. 

Really really really vintage houses at the Bunge Museum.

I think that, once upon a time, my family lived here. This is backed up by mother's proclamation that she "feels like" our family resided in Gotland. Would've been handy to know of this feeling before I went there, but better late than never.  

....though who am I kidding? My family still kind of does live in this setting. 

The coastline at Fårö. Its Wikipedia page is here, and is worth a read. 

(Here is a good place to thank Wikipedia for its existence. It does a great job with explaining things I don't want to.) 

You bet this was taken with self-timer. 

Visby! Wanna know about it? Click this.

Don't wanna read that? Summary: well-preserved medieval things. Which you'll see if you continue scrolling.

I have pictures of pigeons from many places. Are there better things I could take pictures of? Yes. But pigeons have a special place in my heart. Wherever you go, there are pigeons. Just don't touch them. They're filthy. 

Crossing the Baltic Sea to the mainland. 

Ooooold Sweden

I'm spending the weekend on Gotland, an island in the Baltic Sea, in Visby. Visby is described by a highly reputable source (Wikipedia) as being "arguably the best-preserved medieval city in Scandinavia." I cannot wait (not sarcasm!).

Then I'll return, take a test, go to Budapest, and return to America.  With some time in-between.

Hej Doa, Old Damask.

When Google tells you your blog may have malware, it is indeed cause for concern. Then it is cause for you to delete your damask background that is the cause of the supposed malware.

It is also cause for you to run a complete security scan on your computer, juuuuust in case. 

...I loved that damask. Yet we persevere with this. 

How to Ensure You'll Have a Completely Unproductive Week (And It's Only Thursday!)

• On Sunday afternoon, drink three cups of really strong coffee.  Don't forget to load 'em up with sugar.  Fly higher than a kite 'til that evening.  Then get the strong urge to vomit.  This feeling won't go away for a long time.

• On Monday, go into town.  Return your library books and congratulate yourself on how responsible you are. 
• Drink more coffee when the waitress misunderstands your lunch order.  Feel your heart rate spike.

• Wake up Tuesday.  Be prepared to take on the day.  Then fall asleep again.
• Wake up three hours later. Oops.
• Reason that it's already afternoon, so the day is shot. 
• Shower.  
• Put on clothes. (Hey, these tights have a huge run in the leg. Wow, this dress is short.)
• Put on makeup. (Nothing says "learning" like purple eyeshadow!)
• Realize that you look like a streetwalker. 
• Streetwalk yourself to the library, which of course is closed, as May 1st is a Swedish public holiday.
• Observe public holiday by doing very little.

• Go to class on Wednesday. Wear a sweater.
• Decide your sweater is too hot.  It's too bulky.  The sleeves are too big.  Keep up this internal monologue 'til you cannot take it anymore and fling it into a corner of your room as soon as you return from class, vowing not to look at it ever again. 
• Lounge by the lake and try to get tan. 
• Okay.  Time to learn. 
• March into the library, steeled for reading and  Latin American paper-writing.  But first, have some more coffee and check Facebook.  You've worked hard.  You've earned it. 
• At long last, hunt for the book about Latin American globalization that you need to write said paper.  
• Discover this book is not in its ordained shelf spot.  Or anywhere else. 
• What?
• What?!?
• WHAAAAAAAT?!?!?!?!??!?!
• All right, calm down.  Breathe.  Course books are not allowed to be checked out.  It has to be somewhere.
• BUT WHERE? 
• Look everywhere.
• It isn't anywhere.
• Give up on that for the day (it's obviously not meant to happen right now) and decide to study for yet another political science course. 
• BUT WAIT. There is no one in the 3rd floor study room.  This makes it, of course, the opportune place to practice pirouetting.  Do so.

• On Thursday, drop your Latin American Social Movements & Whatnot course.  It is a beautiful feeling.