Life in the Land of the Ice and Snow
Infiltrating Sweden one cinnamon bun at a time
It’s Halloween time again. I found these great costumes from the 70s for our kids to wear. Apparently, they are refusing on the grounds of: “We have no idea who Mr. Kotter or Donnie & Marie are.” Those are the saddest, lamest costumes ever. Ungrateful kids.
CNN, front page. It’s not a real person, though maybe now Linda Carter can take over the UN if she wants. Why doesn’t the UN just have the Justice League solve all our problems then? Is this our future, when one of the most powerful organizations in the world start naming fictional characters as ambassadors? … Read more
For the second time in a month, I’ve gotten a nasty eye infection. Yes, yes I know it’s my makeup and it’s all been thrown out now to make way for new, fresh, not-digsuting-bacteria-contaminated makeup. The eye infection causes my eyes to swell up, turn red and develop hideous bags that go into my cheeks. … Read more
Autumn is the time to put away the flip-flops and bring out the fall jackets. No more sunglasses for the next 9 months, they are replaced with scarves and gloves. I realized my gloves were missing and figured I lost them last year or they were taken by glove gnomes (cousins to sock-gnomes), but then … Read more
This headline was on CNN this weekend. “Boy sells enough lemonade to buy pony.” Does this kid only get to read and watch books and shows from the 1950s? This is great! Number 1: How quaint is it for a kid to sell lemonade these days? Number 2: How many kids ask for a pony? … Read more
Today I had a one-sided video interview scheduled for a customer service position with a billing invoice company. I spent 15 minutes on makeup and hair, 30 minutes researching the company and taking notes and 15 min going over my resume to get ready for questions about my qualifications and background. I set up an … Read more
I’m always applying for jobs to supplement my translating (it doesn’t pay the big bucks), and most of the time, especially with today’s technology, it takes me about one minute to copy and paste a letter and CV or just click a button on LinkedIn. However, there are still some companies who insist on having … Read more
You think maybe they had a falling out with their advertising illustrator?
I read an interesting article today on BBC news about the origin of “laugh tracks” for television shows. It’s an interesting read – http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20160926-where-does-canned-laughter-come-from-and-where-did-it-go All of my current favorite shows do not use canned laughter, as it hasn’t been popular for many years now, and I have to say that I’ve noticed how odd it … Read more
This article was in The Local. My question (besides why I never get to see these badgers and beavers that apparently walk all over town ) is, how did they know the cat was a hipster? Does it have very long fur and not bathe? Does it wear a 1940s hat? Is it a vegan?
I thought I’d start a new thing at home where I make a menu of what we will have for breakfast during the week. Normally the kids love sausage & bacon, but now for some reason, they say they aren’t hungry for it anymore. Oh well – more bacon for me!
I had a parallel world experience yesterday. I went to pick up my son after school. I walked into his section of classes. After looking everywhere, noting that they had done a little re-decorating since the morning, I couldn’t find him, so I asked a teacher. She mumbled something in Swedish, which I took to … Read more
This is the only story I felt was worth reading today on CNN. It was far more interesting than tennis injuries and political fighting. More of this please, CNN.
My youngest son got a tick in his head this weekend. It was removed by a camp doctor but unfortunately, the head broke off and is stuck. So my son has a tick head in his own head. He said, “It’s a good thing it’s not like that cartoon I watched where these creatures enter … Read more
I’ve been doing some translating work on beauty products this week and thought I would share with you how tricky it can be at times. This particular company has a translating system that already uses a program with a few mistakes I have to correct. Sometimes it’s close and sometimes I get things like this: … Read more
I’m not talking about Margret Thatcher or the Falklands War. I’m talking about THIS horrible show, watched by British children in the 1980s. A moment of silence please, for the victims of “Fingermouse.”
… insert decade here. I’m sure you’ve gotten one of these emails before, or seen a post on Facebook about how much better it was in the 1950s. “We didn’t have to wear seatbelts!” “Our kids could run and play in the neighborhood all day!” “Families ate dinner together!” “Kids listened to their parents!” Besides … Read more
One of my favorite Saturday Night Live sketches is “Theodoric of York: Medieval Barber” with Steve Martin. In this sketch, Theodoric gives his medical expertise to the people of his village, mostly involving bloodletting, which seems to be the cure for everything, including mass bleeding. But the part of the sketch that always stays with … Read more
