The man sings..

Buying the tickets was one of those spur of the moment things... I'd heard him on the radio but never quite got around to buying the music - not even after I had the tickets on the shelf.

And so on a chilly March evening months later I was in Globen filing into Hovet to see.... James Blunt.
No preconceptions, no hype... Nice. I like it that way - not least when it turns out to be really GOOD. Good music - great voice and an impressive multimedia show alongside... all the more impressive as it was mixed live from two cameras by the stage.

And absolute best for me was 'No Bravery' - a song based on his time in Kosovo, played with video footage from the conflict in the background...

Moving, as good art should be.

Moving the view..

Life has this habit of going on as usual... most of the time...
but just of late it's been anything but.

After four years living out in Kallhäll watching the ducks dabble and the sun setting over Mälaren it is time for a move. Not without reservations, I've decided to up sticks and head for the big city. After wrestling with just what and where and how much, hours spent surfing on Hemnet, and several frantic days running between viewings it is finally settled. I'm moving...

And compared to England things move scarily fast. Exchanging contracts? Weeks of due diligence by two different solicitors? No... Three hours from bid accepted to wet ink on the paper.

So home, once I've sold this one and unpacked the removals truck, will be in Hornstull on Södermalm - an airy (albeit smaller) apartment on a quiet sidestreet by Högalids Park. Shops round the corner, both bus and underground more or less on the doorstep... and just a few minutes to most of my usual haunts.

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...not to mention the island of Långholmen just a short walk away for when I feel like watching the those ducks dabble and the sun setting over Mälaren.

The Earth moved...

Sometimes the improbable becomes a reality and it shows how out of touch I am with life in England that it was not until I rang home to mum that I heard that Britain had been hit by the largest earthquake recorded there in over twenty years… and that Market Rasen – where mum lives – was at the epicentre.

Fortunately, at 5.2 on the Richter scale, it’s not a major cause of panic & mayhem – but it is big enough to be felt across the country – and when you wake up in the middle of the night with the house shaking you don’t actually know how big this is…
But, as you can see below there are actually quite a lot of earthquakes around if you know where to look...


Seven days: Image by United States Geological Survey

Re-cycled

There are those that have.. and those that don't, and today I just jumped from one side to the other. After twenty years as a motorist today I'm back to shanks' pony -my humble bicycle, bus and train

Since I moved here my car has been an indulgent luxury - and being right hand drive a momento of that different life in England. But as the car has got older I've used it less and less and it's been more a liability than an asset.

So it's goodbye to the car
...and road tax, and insurance, and parking fees, and service, inspections and repairs. And hello to a new car(e)-free me :-)

Far from the madding crowd?

I've started thinking about moving... No that's not quite right - I've been thinking for some time. Thinking has moved on and now I'm looking at what a move to the city might mean.

Home right now is bright, spacious and well planned in a beautiful area right by the waterfront - at a price that buys very little in town. But... I seem to spend a big slice of my day on the train and not so very much sat enjoying the view. So being 'nearer the pulse' has an increasing attraction. Which is how I came to spend my sunday going round town looking at apartments - a loft conversion in old Södermalm, a basement flat near Stureplan, and fantastic views from high above Medborgarplatsen (with sky high monthly charges).

First taste says that hitting the right place might take a while....