You know how there are songs that stick in your mind? I'm finding them a little now and then... today, I stumbled upon one while waiting for some take away food, playing softly in the speakers there... Coming home, I just had to find it.

I'm collecting these songs in one of the static pages... just go to the static tab on top of this page, I'm sure you'll find them.

Unlike last week, there was some real snow today. Actually, the day started with rain, and Anna and I were joking that something was wrong, it was supposed to be winter, but all we got was the typical weather of the fall...

An hour later, we started noticing that there were some snow flakes in the rain, and they were growing in number... then in size, and we found ourselves having what we asked for. Apparently someone listened?

So now we have this layer, some 5-10 centimeters of snow, and it seems to want to stick around for a little bit.

Maybe, just maybe we will have a white Christmas after all this year.

Snow is late this year, but some actually fell the night before yesterday. Not much, mind, just a little bit, like a tease of sorts, and a fall in temperature...

Of course, this is the kind of temperature fall that comes with a cold. Not more than the usual, and just as annoying as usual. Went out for groseries yesterday (oh, I payed for it, I was exhausted when I got back home), and took the time to take this picture (well, really a bunch of them, this is the one I like best).

... a little more than a month ago. He passed away quickly, it seems, from a heart attack, only 42 years old.

I remember him as kind, warm and true to his word... and ever present, at least at Stacken which was our common base. mho was how we usually reffered to him.

I was at the funeral last thursday, together we 20ish other Stacken members, as well as the following memorial. Many memories were shared, and there was some beautiful songs sung, lead by mho's father (who looks so very much like his son!). Emotions were high at times.

At the end of the memorial, we all got to choose one item from a collection of things (books and music) that mho cherished. It felt a bit unusual, but nice... it's like those objects reinforced the memories. I picket a book by Heinlein...

A number of us went on in the evening, for dinner and beer. We raised one for mho.

Rest well wherever you are, my friend. You will be remembered.

Today, the apple front page simply has an image of Steve Jobs and the text "Steve Jobs 1955-2011". Simple, as was one of Steve's marks of genius, and to the point.

According to the news, he passed away yesterday.

I can't claim having known Steve Jobs... and yet, I knew about him, and I'm most certainly affected by him one way or another. He was a genius, without a doubt, and had things to say that we'd do well remembering. I hope we will.

R.I.P Steve, you will be missed.

I just got to know that an old friend of mine has passed away last week. As far as I understand, it was quite sudden and quick.

There will be a ceremony in about a month. I'll be there of course.

You will be dearly missed, my friend

A propos a friend who didn't like his image in the mirror

'nuff said.

Nobody tells this to people who are beginners, I wish someone told me. All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase, they quit. Most people I know who do interesting, creative work went through years of this. We know our work doesn’t have this special thing that we want it to have. We all go through this. And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know its normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you will finish one story. It is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions. And I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I’ve ever met. It’s gonna take awhile. It’s normal to take awhile. You’ve just gotta fight your way through.

—- Ira Glass

I just stumbled upon this quote, and found it both true and inspiring. Having been a computer programmer for almost 30 years, I can tell you that there were years of experimentation, and a lot of what I did back then are quite horrible, seen with my eyes today. And still, I wouldn't have done without those years...

Ref, the quote above is really edited, the whole quote is in the third clip.

One of the aspects of photography that attract me is going out, taking pictures of life happening around me, people, the streets, the local suburb or the city...

I just missed a challenge in this, Street Photography Now project, it ended last week, more or less when I got to know about it. Still, you get to admire some nicely taken shots and ponder over the instructions that people have been inspired by. Some of those instructions can actually serve as inspiration still or as a truth that's easily forgotten, not just the week they were valid in this project...

"If you can smell the street by looking at the photo, it's a street photograph" - Bruce Gilden (instruction #1)

"Never overlook a cliche" - Artem Zhitenev (instruction #6)

"Look closer to home." - Lars Tunbjörk (instruction #13)

"Slow down, the next picture may be very quiet and close" - Bruno Quinquet (instruction #20)

"Pick a spot, stay there for an hour and see what unfolds" - Polly Braden (instruction #22)

"If you're not sure it's a picture, shoot it anyway" - Carolyn Drake (instruction #26)

"Remember Robert Capa's words: "If your pictures aren't good enough, your're not close enough". - Andrew Glickman (instruction #30)

"When you hit that wall of utter frustration while photographing the street, when you are beyond tired and just want to give up, keep on walking - for another hour, or until the light goes entirely. Often the best photographs come when you least expect them - when you are the most exhuasted, and the most emotionally vulnerable." - Alex Webb (instruction #38)

"The real subject is yourself facing the world" - Thierry Girard (instruction #47)

I still am...

... however, there are some specific things that still partly define me, because they're something I do well, or have done for a long time, and that I'm passionate about.

I often call myself "a computer guy", especially if I talk about my profession. Programmer by preference, but I've done enough other things that it doesn't describe it all.
So, "computer guy" is one of those things that define what I am.

I discovered, more than a decade ago, what dancing means to me. It's invigorating, it's sensual, it brings me a lot of pleasure. I took a break from dancing for a few years, but started coming back to it a little more than 3 years ago, when Charlie and I discovered tango. The start was slow, and I started on swedish folk dance a bit after that (early 2009). Today, I've immersed myself in both, I'm following a regular tango class and am (again) going pretty often to Skeppis to learn more folk dance and get a chance to, well, dance !
I'm at the point that I dare call myself "dancer" without shame, and this is another of thise things that define what I am.

And then, there's what I took up again not so long ago, photography. You know, I recently took out the bags full of old pictures I've lying around, and was amazed how much I was shooting way back, you know, considering the cost of film, let alone lab fees, and that I wasn't anywhere near rich... how did I afford it? Anyway, that's a long forgotten cost in this digital age (unless I choose to take up film again). I keep challenging myself on sites such as the Daily Shoot and finding inspiration where I can. Among my interests is street photography, and I'm curious about portrait photography. Whatever I choose to publish, I do on flickr.
So, I hope to get to a point where I can call myself "photographer", perhaps even partly proffesional... for the time being, I see myself as "aspiring".