"When I saw you"

"When I saw you, that's when I knew I'd lose my mind over you" - that's how the chorus of Phil Spector-produced song performed by the Ronettes. In a clip on Youtube, Ronnie Spector says that the only song Phil Spector wrote on his own and gave to her was "When I saw you".
"And that's just how it became. He lost his mind. But not over me" - referring to their relationship and Phil's madness. Ronnie once said that if she didn't leave him, she would have died there.
"When I saw you" is a beautiful ballad. It's one of my favorites right now.

Just the other day I read in an old magazine that Estelle Bennett of the Ronettes had passed away sometime ago. Rest in peace.

National Geographic

I'm always looking forward to the next edition of National Geographic. This month's issue had some amazing photos. There was one shot from a helicopter, it featured a ship and a whale and lots of seagulls. The whale was huge and dead. The ship looked so small compared to the whale floating on it's back. Such impressive creatures. I knew they were big but THAT'S reallt big. I've been googling but I haven't found the picture yet. Just buy the mag, people!

Dreams of you and me

I had such a weird dream. I was in a food store with my mom. She was singing a new Lily Allen song and walking with the shopping cart, and there she was, Lily herself. She was opening boxes and putting things on shelves. And she smiled when she heard my mom sing her song and I thought it was embarrassing. It was weird.

Yesterday I was shopping some food in an almost empty store so I guess that's where the inspiration came from

Get well soon.

My boyfriend is in Thailand for a week. And I'm alone. It's far too easy to feel alone in this almost-100 square meter-apartment I tell you. And the fact that the height to the ceiling is quite large is a major selling point but it adds even more to the loneliness. It makes you feel a bit...small.
And it's so silent. It's the washing machine, and it's the sound from TV; Cops. And then of course it's me typing. But don't get me wrong. I love it, right now. If this was the case one year ago I would have been unhappy with it. But now, I enjoy it to the fullest.

But this isn't what I was going to blog about. Something in my family has happened and I'm saddened for that. It also helped to remind me about how my family is so important to me. Also reminding me about how life can change in the blink of an eye. So fast. I don't know what to do but thinking about those who it effects most. I don't think it really helps but it feels better. My dad wants us to go to church. I'm not a churchman, but I can hold back my atheist thoughts for a while if it helps. Get well soon.

Beijing sky getting clearer

China Central Televison (CCTV) reports that Beijing saw 24 "blue sky" days in January which is a record. In 1998 when the government started to take action against pollution there were only 100 clear days in a year. Last year it was 274. What a difference!

When I was in Beijing last time ('07) it was a big difference when compared to the trip in 2006 when I saw only one clear sky in one week. But when I was there they were trying out the Olympic restrictions where only some cars were allowed on the roads. It was perfect, almost no traffic jams. No more waiting for almost an hour in busy busy Beijing traffic.

Top model diva. Ehm?

I got a call today. It was from Stockholm. I assumed it was some sales man or something because they always call from an 08-number. So I answered, a bit tired and rude. It was a girl but I didn't hear what she said. And then I heard she said she was from Mikas. It's the modelling agency I've had some contact with. Not contract, contact. They call me up when they think they got a job for me, like that IKEA-thing and now it was some magazine, nothing glamourous. But they needed someone from Stockholm. And as you know, I'm not a stockholmer. But hey, I don't even know why I sent in pictures a year ago. I hate being seen. I hate having people look at me. I hate being in the spotlight. I hate looking at myself. I hate trying to look good. And now I'm on their website and it's among the ugliest. Euw. How can I do such nasty things to myself?

But I do have a good answer. I like challenging myself. There are lot of things I woulnd't have done if I didn't feel I need a good challenge.

All I know is there's something new this year

So a new year, a new semester, new things to do. This new course requires me to write an article about a researcher. There are about 2500 researchers at my university but damn they hard to get contact with. So I called twelve people, and got to talk to three.
One was a professor in psychology who needed therapy, because he was incredibly rude and mean. The second one was a professor in archeology, she didn't have time. After several calls to the third researcher, someone finally picked up the phone, a woman though it was supposed to be a man who'd researched about gender. "He's passed away", she said. I was a bit shocked. All I could say was ojdå, "oops". That's one thing you really shouldn't say when someone tells you that. And then I said I wasn't calling about something important and we hung up.

What do you say when someone you don't know tells you such things? I don't know. I don't even know if the woman knew the man well. Maybe he was a long time friend. Maybe she never even met him. The dead professor was about 40 maybe. It can happen so quick. His research will live on though, not so many people will be leaving that much behind. I hope I will leave at least something, when it's my turn.