Chocolate

As I've said before I haven't eaten any candy or snacks or such in a long time. Today I heard someone talk about a certain type of chocolate pralines. That made me almost drool and really, really want some chocolate. It's going to be hard for a few years to stay away from all kinds of snacks...
One advantage I have at the moment is that since I'm unemployed I can't afford buying any snacks.

Friday...

So it's Friday again. Nothing to do but sit at home. Actually even if I had something to do I probably wouldn't. So damn tired today. Haven't slept well in a few days. I'm feeling kind of like this photo that I took a few years ago. Empty and a bit foggy with some light shining through. Maybe tomorrow I can do something fun.

Driving lessons

As I've said a few times already I'm taking driving lessons. So far I've only had four. At first I was a bit scared of driving on the road with other cars around me, but now I'm already getting more comfortable with it. That does actually make me a bit scared. What if I'm relaxing too much?
Oh well, I guess I will get over it before it's time to actually get the license. With a bit of luck that will be before Midsummer. It kind of depends on how many driving lessons I can get before all the kids start picking them because school is out for the summer...

Läckö Castle

The photo was taken in the summer of 2011
click to enlarge

A few hours drive North from here is Sweden's largest lake Vänern. On a peninsula there you can find this castle. There has been a castle in some form on this location since the late 13th century. I'm not sure when the current castle was built, but I assume it was somewhere around the 16th or 17th century.
If you're ever near the Southern shores of Lake Vänern or the town of Lidköping it's worth paying a visit to this castle.

Train tracks in the mist

Last year I took a photography class. One of the assignments we had was to take photos around sunrise. So one August morning I got up at 4am and took a walk. Unfortunately it was foggy that morning so I couldn't see the sunrise at all. I did however get this photo of the train tracks disappearing into the mist.

Too many books. If that's possible.

I'm currently trying to pack all my books, CDs, DVDs and VHS tapes in boxes in case I get a job so I can actually move somewhere. Some of it, like the VHS tapes, I will probably never unpack ever again. Anyhow, I have a lot of books. A LOT of books. Maybe even too many. If that is possible. I've packed three boxes already and it doesn't even make a difference in my bookcases.
It's really hard to find boxes that you can pack especially CDs and DVDs in. I've managed to find boxes and pack almost all my DVDs so far, but less than half my CDs.
The day after I move my back is going to hurt so bad from carrying all those boxes... Maybe I shouldn't worry about it until after I get a job. Before that I won't be able to move anyways.
Hm... Maybe I should give some of the books away. Or try to sell them. At least the ones I will never open again.

Weird dream

Last week I had a weird dream just before I woke up. I think it might have something to do with my weight loss. Either way here is what happened:
I had a dream that I was eating a LOT of candy and cookies. I woke up and felt sick, like you do feel when you actually do eat a lot of candy, and thought "Damn, I shouldn't have eaten all that. How am I going to work that extra weight off now?" Then I realised I still hadn't eaten any candy for months and it was only a dream. Just like that I wasn't feeling sick anymore.

Photos from London (part 3)

Click here for Part 1, Part 2

The third and last time I've been in London was the same trip as when I was in Edinburgh in 2010. So it was with my friend Olívia and her mother. We arrived in London the day before the volcano on Iceland erupted so that was a bit of luck. We took almost 300 photos during the 10 days we were there so I had to pick just a few to show here.

The glass ceiling of the great court at The British Museum

Parthenon at The British Museum

The London Eye (with a missing pod)

A blue door, but not THE blue door in Notting Hill

A Squirrel in Kensington Gardens

A bird bathing in the round pond in Kensington Gardens

Olívia and a raven inside the Tower of London

A space suit at the Science Museum

An aeroplane at the Science Museum

The stage of The Phantom of the Opera. Just after I took
This photo they told us we weren't allowed to take photos.

Photos from London (part 2)

Click here for part 1, part 3

My second time in London was just a weekend. Didn't have much time to take photos but here are some of the ones I did take.

The London Eye

St. Stephen's Tower

Westminster Abbey

Rogerio and Marcos trying to read a map

The Brazilian bank in London

Photos from London (part 1)

Click here for part 2, part 3
My first time in London was back in December 2004-January 2005. I visited some of my Brazilian friends who used to live there back then. These are some of the photos I took (or that was taken with my camera) during those days.

Piccadilly Circus. The first thing I saw
in London when I arrived.

St. Stephen's Tower

Me (in sunglasses), Katia and
Rogerio in a phone box.
Photo by: Marcos Cerutti

Rogerio a guard and Marcos
at that horse guard place on
Whitehall.

Marcos, the late Jon Nödtveidt, Katia,
Jon's girlfriend and Rogerio.
We were on our way to an In Flames concert
in Hammersmith when Marcos saw Jon
(from the band Dissection) at the bus stop.

Marcos shows what he thinks of
Sainsbury's.

Me standing on London Bridge with
Tower Bridge in the background.
Photo by: Marcos Cerutti

Tower Bridge

Houses of Parliament on New Year's Eve.

Polish girl (Ana I think her name was),
Rogerio, Me and Marcos at the
Marlborough Head on New Year's Eve.
Photo by: Katia Schmidt

Tjolöholm Castle

Tjolöholm Castle is a castle/manor located by the ocean approximately 10km South of where I live. It's a beautiful building both inside and outside and there's a church built in the same style there as well. Not to mention the beautiful gatehouse. If you ever come to my neighbourhood, please go visit this place!

Side facing the ocean - click to see larger

Side facing away from ocean - click to see larger

View towards the ocean - click to see larger

Tjolöholm's church - click to see larger

The gatehouse - click to see larger

Statue that used to be inside
a mausoleum but now is inside
a glass box.
"Stay calm and don't blink!"

The little house on the mountain

I took this photo when I was walking to the unemployment office today. It's the old water tower in my hometown. 179 steps (according to the information sign below the steps but I haven't counted them myself) to the top. It was built in 1897 and the building itself isn't very big. Only like 2-3 square metres or so. The water was/is(?) inside the mountain from what I remember from school.
If you go all the way up there you get a great view of the town and can see all the way to the ocean. The problem is that, as you can see, there's nothing to hold onto while going up/down the steps. The old handrail was broken in several places so they removed the whole thing a few years ago and haven't put a new one up... yet. Maybe they never will.
Maybe I'll make a follow-up post on this one in the summer when there's actually leaves on the trees.

Edit: Took some photos of it again today.

The Hunger Games Trilogy

There has been a lot of talk about Suzanne Collins' The Hunger Games lately (mostly because of the movie that I haven't seen yet). As a result I decided to check if the books are as good as everyone says. I know I shouldn't trust the masses on what's good and not *cough* Twilight *cough*, but this book series seemed very interesting.

I started reading the first book (The Hunger Games) on Friday evening. Saturday afternoon I started reading the second book (Catching Fire) and yesterday afternoon I started reading the last book (Mockingjay). I can safely say that I haven't been that caught up in a book series for a long time. I just couldn't put the books down until I had finished them.
In my opinion the first book is the best and the last book is the least good. Still the last book is good enough to keep me wanting to go on until the end.
It really catches you and makes you feel like you're actually inside the head of the main character (Katniss). It also has a lot of similarities with present day society. A few rich people live in excess and the majority of the people (i.e. poor/middle class) has to fight every day to stay alive.
I will definitely recommend this series to anyone!
As I mentioned I haven't seen the movie yet. If it's half as good as the book, then it's probably worth every penny.