Oh, hello springtime! Long time no see, come on in! Sit down, take a load off, stay a while, would you like a cup of tea?

Spring. Primavera. Frühling. Printemps. Vår.
/sprɪŋ/ Show Spelled Pronunciation noun: the season of the year following winter and characterized by the budding of trees, growth of plants, the onset of warmer weather, etc.
One of the few words that sound just as beautiful in every language.

The entire northern hemisphere is waking up, and so am I. I was out running this morning, after work. Usually after work I have problems staying awake while driving home, but today I had so much energy, I ran for a whole hour, and even after that I felt I had more to give. The sun was shining, birds were singing, and I was smiling. It is absolutely remarkable what a bit of sunlight and a few extra degrees in the air can do to you.

I have some rituals when the seasons change: The first day of the year fit for a barbeque, I clean out my warderobe, putting all of my winter clothes and jackets and shoes waaaay in the back, and all the shorts, t-shirts, skirts and dresses are put in the front. I make a new playlist on iTunes and my iPod with light, relaxing, music that puts me in the right "waiting for summer" mood. I make a list of what books I'm going to read over the summer, and then go online and order the ones I don't have. This summer I'm only gonna read light, entertaining stuff, in fear of having to read only heavy, classic English literature the next 5 years.

You see, I've just sent my applications for university. A masters study in English, with teaching and a second language (Spanish). If I get in, and I'm being positive, thinking I will, I'll be moving a 5 hour trainride away come autumn. A trainride I'll be doing this coming week to visit my friend who already lives there. The city's beautiful at spring time, people are smiling, the guys are wearing T-shirts, and the beer tastes better.

And in a few weeks time, as the spring unfolds in full bloom, I head off to Iceland. I have been promised to see geysirs. Geysirs! And the blue lagoon! I'm absolutely extatic about going, and I'm going to stay with the fabulous Hulda and her family. So nice of them to let me stay. I miss Hulda. We're gonna cry about missing Barcelona together, and make plans for next summer.

Pictures and detailed information on Linn's upcoming travels will be blogged about. Have no doubt about it.

I've previously blogged about my affection for quotes and how they often portray my feelings much better than I can do with my own words (http://linnterpretation.blogspot.com/2009/02/and-i-quote_19.html), and wouldn't you know! Some genious has poetically described spring
as well:

"Spring is when you feel like whistling even with a shoe full of slush"
- Doug Larson

Rise and shine!

It's 7.30 am. I have been awake since 5.06. I have had exactly 3 hours and 14 minutes of sleep.

I read somewhere the other day that too little sleep or an unregular sleep rhythm can cause you gaining weight, increase your chances of developing numerous diseases such as diabetes, even cause depression and mental illnesses. One study showed that people who sleep too little or too irregularly actually live 21% shorter lives. Really?! I'm practically a lost case. I work nights at a gas station, one week on, one week off. 26 weeks of the year I'm nocturnal. This didn't use to be a problem, after finishing a work week, I would take the first day off to turn the day around, and I would sleep at night like normal people do for a blessed while. But now, for some diabolic reason, I can wake up after 2-3 hours, feeling tired, but not being able to go back to sleep! WHAT'S WRONG WITH ME!? I have better things to do than sit for 3 hours in the morning listening to birds sing and watch Good morning Norway for crying out loud! What happened to those fantastic lazy teen years, when you could sleep 12 hours straight, huh? I'm not asking for 12 hours, just a couple.. minutes.. more... zZZzzZz

Reminiscing

"cocacolabeercervezaaguabeer!"
Never in my life could I have imagined how much it was possible to miss a place, or rather a feeling, as much as I miss Barcelona. Right now. My Barcelona. The phrase above is well known to anyone who has enjoyed a day at the beach in BCN. The hard working, sweaty men in their dirty T-shirts, running around la playa with their plastic bags filled with (more or less) cold beverages, shouting out in their monotonous voices what they can offer of refreshments. I miss them. I even miss the group of Asian women trying very hard to give you a massage. Looking back I wish I had accepted, just to have tried it, and also to support them; people with that level of persistency should be rewarded.

I miss the smell of salty ocean mixed with exhaust. I miss the sand beneath my feet. I miss the architecture, I miss Las Ramblas, and the parks. I miss being scared of the transvestic prostitutes in the parks. I miss the surprisingly simple metro system. I miss stumbling across great artists on a random corner doing their thing. I miss eating tapas, I miss how proud I felt having eaten squid the first time. I miss the fountain show at Plaza Catalunya, the incredible week that is the festival La Mercé, salsa-dancing, the market, the Lidl-store on my block, Milka chocolate and shots on fire. I miss staying out dancing till 6am. and going to school at 9am. I miss the building shaped like a giant blue penis. But most of all, and this is what has got me all nostalgic and depressed and is the reason why I've eaten two liters of ice cream tonight; I miss the people. Thank God I'll be seeing some of them again soon.

I was lucky to spend three months in this wonderful city. It's been five months since I came home, and to this day, everytime I hear Freddie Mercury and Montserrat Caballe sing Barcelona, I weep like a baby.

"If God is willing we will meet again, Barcelona"

Lost online part 2

Like so many times before, I sat down by the computer with the regular agenda: Check my e-mail, my facebook profile and the balance on my Visa. Somehow, (and I strongly suspect tonights episode of the Daily Show had something to do with it) I ended up for the first time on Twitter. Freakin' Twitter. You can't stop hearing about it, it's everywhere! You find politicians, celebrities and news feeds on there, Jon Stewart and David Letterman are obsessively joking about it. It's the new facebook, and people who more or less know what they're talking about, say it's growing even faster and has even higher potential.

So, several months after the twitter wave hits America, I am trying to figure out what the hell all the fuzz is about. A site where anyone can "tweet" their message to the world (if it's less than 140 characters long, that is), and the followers of this.. bird..? ..can comment on the.. ehm.. tweet.
This results in
1: Interesting, accurate news or information, short and to the point, often with a link if you would like to read more. (pages like CNN, NY Times etc..) OR
2: Page up and page down with nothing but bull***t.

Some of the bull***t is actually funny, Hobo Jones is kind of funny, and whoever is doing the twittering for Darth Vader is, if nothing else, really in-character. But all in all, with the way the page is right now, I don't think I'll be twittering that much. First of all: Who the hell should I follow? Whose lifes and opinions are so important to me that I would hang on to their every 140 character long update? The page has no categorising system, so you can only find tweets you're interested in by searching names or e-mail addresses. There is no way of knowing if the tweet you're reading is fake or real, and there is no filter on what's mundane and trivial (ex: I found expired milk in my fridge today), and what's breaking news (Earthquake in San Fransisco!!). And even though Hobo Jones is funny, you get tired of reading stuff like:
"Holy moly! I jus' saw m'self in a puddle reflection... I'm a handsome man. I jus' need t' git m' boils drained!" and "Lost my spittin' can agin."

Twitter has a lot of potential, and I'll never say never, but for now, this birdie no tweet.