Walpurgis night

The eve of May Day is a special time in Gothenburg when the town celebrates Walpurgis Night. This afternoon I went to an outdoor concert at the Garden Association when various university music groups performed and this evening we go to a

colleaguue's apartment to watch the parade from her balcony. It is bound to be nosiy! I won't be able to add a photo because I am losing my internet connection in a short while - I hope to be able to post while I am in Amsterdam and Russia over the next couple of weeks, but I can't promise photos.

Royal Wedding Day in Gothenburg

Ulla had an early meeting, so I stayed at the apartment to negotiate with the electricians who came to deal with the air conditioning(!) Then off to lunch with the other Visiting Professors and their sponors. By now I was late for a seminar at the Institute for Entrepreneurshp and Innovation so I hitched a ride with the campus mailman. Browine points forattending the seminar - the Vice Dean who hired me was there. Afterwards a leisurely walk along Vasagatan back to the apartment. Evening activities were dinner outside at an Asian restaurant followed by a performance of Cirkor, the Swedish contemporary circus. Different.

And no, I did not join a thrd of the planet watching THE wedding!

But I did watch THE video!

Business & Design Lab activity

We were up early to catch the 8AM train to Stockholm; three hours of civilized travel in a first class seat with breakfast and wifi provided. A short walk brought us to the Swedish Industrial Design offices (my first on-ground, or more correctly, on-the sixth-floor, visit to SVID) for a meeting between graduating students in the master’s program in business and design and senior managers of design consultancies in Stockholm. It was for informational purposes and networking rather than as a recruiting event. The presentations were in Swedish, but of course everyone there could speak English so I was able to meet some of the CEOs and students (No photos of the event)

Mid-afternoon, with duty behind us, we walked through the city to the Modern Museum.

Saw some modern sculpture (?) and a Karl Schwitters painting that took me back to my drawing class.

Then the journey in reverse, arriving back in the flat in Gothenburg just before 10 PM – just as the light was finally leaving the sky. I’d better head to bed because it will be getting light again around 4 AM.

The Opponant

...is tired tonight. Jetlag has caught up with me. I had a full day at the office

and at the seminar at HDK ("hor-di-co")

about 20 people were there (here are the tutors and candidate).

Katarina (the candidate) and I (one of two opponants) were both happy when it was over.

Getting back in the habit

Of the daily (most days) blog. I'll pick up from yesterday -- and arriving on the island of Ockero for a family lunch in the garden,

followed by a walk to the nearby "touchpoints", talking all the way.

At sunset Ulla and I returned to her flat in Gothenburg (via foot, bus, ferry, bus and taxi, together with my luggage for six weeks in Europe).

Today I organized my stuff so I can work in the apartment, and made a quick visit to my university office to pick up snail-mail and connect to the University network.

Later Vicktor (see posts from last May and Spetember - he's now a student at Halmsted U) came and put up bookshelves,

while Ulla supervised and prepared dinner.

Tonight, but not yet tonight on us/"tummy time", I am tired. Tomorrow is a work day when I "oppose" the Licenciate thesis (half-way to a PhD dissertation) of one of the Business & Design Lab students. I have no idea what I am really supposed to do, so it should be an interesting experience. I promise to tell you about it.

And now on the island of Ockero, near Gothenburg, Sweden

Heading northeast tomorrow

To Burlington, Logan, London. Landvetter, Ockero. Posts once I am there. (see picture on Facebook)

Gone!

Someone picked the flowers! There is no one living the the house where the bulbs had been planted so some passerby decided to enjoy them elsewhere.

And more today ...

Just too busy

dealing with "stuff" to reflect and blog. Hopefully tomorrow. In the meantime, signs of spring progress (check photo of same flowers in previous post made last Thursday)

Thursday - (Re)Findng the touchpoints

I ws very glad not to get into the car today! Instead I had a quiet day dealing with administrivia and working at not panicing at all I should do in the coming week.

I was pleased to see that Open Way beach has not changed in my

absence and there are clear signs that spring is on its way.

Tomorrow I will resume routines of the Connecticut office!

Highlights

Saturday, April 9: Left Siesta Key 0930 AM heading north.

GPS estimated direct route of 1355 miles for 19:59 hours of driving.

Sunday: Detour to visit a former Sacred Heart University colleague, now living in Ashville, NC.Drove 100 miles of the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Monday: Detour to visit Thomas Jefferson at his home in Charlottesville, SC.

Tuesday: Detour for Jack to relive ordinance training, followed by overnight with his friend of 57 years (and his wife).

Wednesday, April 13: Arrived at Lord's Point 1340.

Actual driving distance 1723 miles in 31:26 hours.

and so to the end

of our time in Florida. Last night was my last drawing class (there's one more for everyone else) and time to review "focus on ..." and "next, think of ..." with the instructor. The in-class exercise was wicked complex -- two dancing skeletons amid a mass of bottles and glasses. (we studenst lamented that the bottles were empty.) I had to resort to just tackling parts of the composition of and making my drawing very small. But that was a breakthrough of sorts -- a composition isn't necessarily the whole scene.

Now my sketch-book/journal is up-to-date; I'm taking a few tools north with me, and the rest are packed away.

I've completed my other academic work according to plan, the "New Perspectives in Design Management" book is published (finally), I've started my proceedings editing task for EAM-I, and I have an interesting summer conference schedule ahead.

Already I've forgotten the angst of the kitcehn remodel - probably because everything is functioning perfectly. Even the chili apron is at home in its new spot.

Judging from all the comments I've received on my "blues" Facebook posting, most readers know I am mostly packed. Now to return the internet box and head north first thing tomorrow mornng ... looking forward to seeing friends along the way and back in Connecticut.

Not sure when I will next post.

Local sights

Took time out from packing and cleaning to walk up to Point o'Rocks. The Mansion must be finished, although there are still contractors signs and trucks outside (it has been in process for at least 4 years). Note the green "grass" between the paving -- it never needs cutting!

The beach was as busy as I have ever seen it -- it's very hot. I'm almost glad to be going north.

Temperature update

We walked to the public beach this morning before the sun was too hot in search of an April data point for the Gulf water temperature. But no one was there! No chalk board with vital statistics for all to see.The lifeguard station looked as lonely as I'm starting to feel.

(It was 9:45 AM and the guards arrive at 10)

Excitement

I've been bitten by a FIRE ant! The creature looks like a regular ant but the bite is ugly -- and I have a ring of them around my ankle. I must have got them when I walked through the grass on the way back from the beach yesterday. I noticed red bumps with puss centers round my ankle during the evening, and by today there were itching furiously. Time to Google to discover the cause - and remedies -- such as Worcestshire sauce. I settled for a good soap and water scrub followed by cortisone cream. They look and feel better this evening.

Such mladies haven't disturbed my producitivity. The Nordes position paper on designer idenities is ready for its final read before sending, and I've made good headway on techniques for "working in the gutter" in my graphic novel. My "book room" is tidy and ready to ship north -- although perhaps not as great an accomplishment as Jack's "deep cleaning" regimen. I'd better not let my drawing class hear about that - when I showed "gesture studies" of Jack loading the dishwasher other class members were flabergasted that my husband 'did dishes"!

Poor nomad behaviors and other frustrations

Today did not go well at all. For one thing I checked on the "stuff" that needs to go north with me at the end of this week - what a terrible nomad I am! Why do I cart so much around with me? I must do better next time!

I had a great idea for how to improve my use of "gutters" in my graphic novel after a colleague chided me for not taking them into account. But I couldn't make it work -- then I remembered the sensation was just like starting my "art comic" process. In that case I thought I would never be able to do it - but finally I learned how to do it to a satisfactory point. ... And stayed there without pushing myself any further. So thank you for the critique, MJ, ... assuming that one day I will be able to deal with the situation appropriately.

Not even my drawing proatuce went according to plan. I purchased some ink and a brush to work in a more "free-flowing" way, but I couldn't get the consistency of the ink right, or maybe the brush was too stiff, or maybe the folds I was trying to draw were too"foldy", or ...

And it's only Monday.

Preparations are underway

For my drawing class restrospective. How have I learned? What have I learned? What have I achieved? I'll take you on a guided tour of teh exhibit once it is hung in the gallery (of our condominium).

Stranger and stranger

Maybe because it's all fools day I seems to be immersed in strange happenings. For one, I finally remembered to search online for the name of a tree with bright yellow flowers that blossom before the leaves appear. It's called a Silver Trumpet Tree -- I get the trumpet part --but silver?

You'll never guess what I am doing looking through a peep-hole in this

photo -- NO! it's not what you might think I'm looking at! I'm at the latest exhibition, Voyeur, of the S-aRt-Q artist's group where my drawing instructor is a member. This year each artist had an "installation" viewed through a peep-hole. The whole exhibit was in a garage-space and consisted of a wall with about eight peepholes- one for each artist's work. One appeared to be goldfish swimming, another was a white line that grew and faded, and my instructor had a 60 second video made from 3000 still photos. Strange.

Perhaps not so strange has been finally settling down to work on the bibliography for my graphic novel. I'm being very disicplined and making sure that entries (with abstracts and URL links) are all in Endnote. Maybe it just feels strange to do this sort of "drudge-work."