proudly presenting - my first book

food and drink with bobbaloos by pia k | Make Your Own Book

Well, I know I said yesterday that I wouldn't divulge the project I was so excited about until I had a first copy in my hand (in two weeks time) to evaluate. A first copy of my first book. Because that's just what the project was all about. My. First. Book.

But when I got some nice comments about it and then learnt today that the book was chosen as a Staff Pick I felt both honoured and a need to show and tell already. So here it is. Klick on the picture above to get a preview of the book. Feel free to order a copy or more (yes it's for public sale) - you know you want to say the bobbaloos - feel free to tell friends and family about it, recommend it on Facebook, tweet about it, oh I'm happy and grateful if you actually think it's interesting and fun enough to support in any such way.

These days you apparently don't need a publisher per se, you just make it yourself, upload, print and promote. Blurb did it for me. Now why didn't I look into this before, that it was this easy and fun (not to mention extremely satisfying) who'd known?

Of course it would be fabulastic to be promoted in some magnificent way, at the moment I can't see how that would be possible, but really, right now I just savour the fact that I finally did it, I finally put one book together. Thank you bobbaloos for being such fun and food enthusiastic woollies, without you there would be no such odd, jolly feelgood book as the one above. This first time book-out is a photos-only book, but I have plans, oh many plans for others accompanied by text.

When I get my own copies in a couple of weeks I think the project actually deserves a release-party of some sorts, wouldn't you agree? (With good food and cake, please, add the bobbaloos.)

Such a very pleasant way to round of the month of September I think. Hope it'll bring many many many good things for the October to come!

Have a lovely weekend ~

thursday notes

Three things today:

~ meeting went well, as far as the the new administrator being a mild and simpatico guy wanting to help. Thinking my idea for a business was a great one, unfortunately, the current political system - with its very much a not so hidden, but completely appalling, agenda being to create a general, slow long-term salary-cut for average to lower income groups - "prohibits" the administrators to give the financial help/for-a-while-only benefits during the startup for someone in my situation. I knew that was most probably the case beforehand, so no surprise there, sadly.

Well, be as that financially may, it felt nice to still be firm about not wanting to remain in a pindown system that causes only misery and pain. By the end of next week I have to let him know what I will do from then on, I have no choice, there's only one answer. But I'll take the week as a chance to gather more information and inputs, from people as well as a business fair I'm going to on Tuesday.

Moving on. Moving up.

~ After the meeting we went for a stroll at one of my favourite places on earth, Skogskyrkogården (The Woodland Cemetery), the beautiful, soul soothing Unesco World Heritage Site in the southern outskirts of Stockholm. We enjoyed such a fantastic Indian summer day today, some +20 degrees C and mild breezes, it was some hours well spent in a perfect, just perfect way (even if feet were incredibly tired and we missed lunch-time at the nearby bakery with five minutes...).

~ When I came home I finished a project I've been thinking about for so long, but didn't begin with until earlier this week and yes finished today already. Well beyond chuffed am I, but I will not divulge any details until I have a copy of my own in my hand to evaluate in a couple of weeks. If it looks as good as it does on screen I will be proud to show and tell.

Until then I will simply heart the fact that I went so quickly from start to finish, for a longtime planned project. That really is something to rejoice all in its very own. Heart.

wednesday words

I was thiiis close to calling this a "wordless wednesday" post when I realised I needed to get a few words  of my coughing chest - yes, still fighting that cold I got last week, it's now in the dry-coughing-until-one-nearly-throws-up stage, an exhausting and nasty place to be - so here goes;

Tomorrow I have a dreaded meeting, which I think (for well-grounded reasons) will be another pointless meeting within our nasty political labour market system. This time however I refuse to be treated like the lesser competent person I have been treated like by a stupid beyond belief system and their little popes during especially these past two years. There's no way I can go on living my life in a vacuum like this for any longer. This was only suppose to be a very temporary solution, the measly-but-better-than-nothing employment benefits, until I got a regular income again. Clearly it has been very far from temporary, clearly it has overall been awful, demeaning and senseless. With August 2011 being the foul icing on the cake.

Tomorrow I will go there and actually say I will take this degrading treatment no more. No. More. Hopefully the new labour office administrator will actually be interested in helping (as laughable as that is) and there are some ways to get around the if-you're-not-a-good-girl-and-do-as-the-system-tells-you-you-won't-get-any-money-no-matter-the-amount-of-taxes-you've-paid for a few months until I get my business going. Because that's what I have to do, it has been my plan all along of course but I've had my aim on getting a job to pay the bills until I get the business going. That aim has failed, due to our miserably askew labour market.

All this time I've planned for my own business, but I haven't been able to neither register it nor market it openly since the Swedish labour market system doesn't allow that as long as you're officially without a job. So financially that has just not been doable. But I have now reached a point where neither my mind nor body can take this situation anymore. I need to rule my own life for real. And be my own boss. I need to be free from our demeaning and soul crushing system. I've spent most of my September seriously mulling this and come to the conclusion that this is the only viable option. For me, right now.

Hopefully there will be some financial support for a few months, otherwise we'll just have to make do with one income for a while. There will be no more shoes, no bobbaloos, no extraordinary treats (apart from those already planned and pre-paid) for a while to come. Life will feel a tad austere in that aspect.

But since I'm truly blessed with not only a highly functional brain and creativity but also a plethora of wonderful things to wear and shoes to walk in, books, camera, music, computer, TV, things to turn into new stuff (yarn, fabrics, beads and stones) and a commuter season ticket, life will not be less great. It will be good to withhold on purchases, to think about what is truly necessary. If that is what I must do until I get things going. And I wouldn't be at all surprised if I then realise that life tad austere in that aspect is a better life.

After all this teeth grinding time I've reached that point where I know I need to do this in order to get my body and soul on the right track again. Now I just have to work with my odd phoney behaviour, yes I admit, I hate phone-calls. Emails and real life meetings are great, phones are not. But, to finally being one's own boss, that's worth so much more than the silliness of phonecallphobia (even if well-founded, really).

You are so welcome to wish me luck tomorrow, but no matter how things go at the meeting, there will be closure and there will be a new way forward.

I may confess a great fondness for stripey socks and red shoes, but I will not be crushed by the system like the a wicked witch from the east. I will not. Will. Not.



Ordlista = dictionary or literally "word list"

one cat ticket pendant

Apart from bobbaloo stalking finding I rarely frequent Etsy these days. So this sweet pendant - bought before summer, not blogged until now. Strange how un-bloggable things feel after only a while, if you don't write instantly it feels somehow... uninteresting. I really don't like the common notion of instant gratification in our modern society, and this if-I-don't-write-about-it-instantly-it's-not-worth-writing-about is a part of that notion. That I too succumb to such silly ideas, that is not something I'm proud about... End of sidenote-ish - was a rare treat, found it via Pinterest (that I rarely frequent either).

But I couldn't resist such a quirky, fun and fuss-free (plus affordable too) little cat wooden pendant. From Buster and boo on Etsy

eastside gallery berlin

Something very enjoyable in Berlin is a visit and a stroll at the Eastside Gallery, where 1,3 km of the Berlin-wall has been saved for mural paintings. Some 100 paintings from different artists (not only German) making this the supposedly largest open air gallery in the world. Some murals are mindblowing and brilliant, others not so much, but the overall impression is definitely a; go see!

I've shown a few glimpses of the murals before here and here. Now time for a few more, and do tell, of these murals do you have one of more favourites?

"Himlen över Berlin" means "Der Himmel über Berlin" - "The sky over Berlin" which is the title of one of my favourite movies by Wim Wenders, called "Wings of Desire" in English. I'm guessing this mural is made by a Swedish movie afficionado...

Nelson Mandela, one of very very few people I have a general admiration for...

the bobbaloo gaggle effect

Time has come to tell about the wee woolly ones who saw it fit to migrate to Sweden during the summer that was. Well, some of them did arrive quite recently, but since it's Indian summer still... A proper introduction, so noone feel left outside. And that I'm addicted very fond of bobbaloos we've already established, so no need to point out the obvious, okay? Let's just enjoy their adorableness, personalities and last but not least, their little heinies.

Walter and Sherman, the Berlin boys

When in Berlin I was waiting for the lunch to arrive at department store KaDeWe's top floor Wintergarten restaurant (which I btw highly recommend a visit too) when I casually browsed the iPhone for possible WiFi - if not at a Starbuck's or hotel you rarely get that - so my great surprised it connected and as casually as I browsed for Internet connection I browsed The Shop. There were bobbaloos for sale. Squee. Clearly the settlement lacked ursabobs - poor Rodney with his sweet-tooth being the only one that far - so Sherman was soon on his way to Sweden accompanied by Walter. They sound like the perfect radar couple in a political talk-show - so far they have not really lived up to those names, but I'm okay with that.

Chubs is very happy about someone clearly her li'l brother having arrived                                               

Rodney is educating Sherman about the importance of eating lots of cakes

Needless - or not, pun not initially intended - to say both Walter and Sherman has perfect wee butts

Zanna and Weegurt met Rutger and it wasn't scary at all, or at least not as scary 

as the curious incident with the cat in the daytime...

You can not put a jacabob up for adoption named Weegurt - pink or not - and not think I'd jump for buy/joy. Weegurt was accompanied by a feisty orange friend named Zanna. Zanna has the most amazing mixed orange colour and Weegurt is sweetness bobbaloified.

Wilco and Wilby - with a curious threesome Chubs, Nilla and Walter in the background

A great horned bobbaloo has been on my wishlist, when I spotted Wilco I knew he was the one. He was to travel alone so when I opened the parcel and find him travelling with a wee colourful friend named Wilby I was delighted. *thank you kindly D*

Perfect from every angle of course

Q and Squink

I might, just might, have mentioned to Kit that a Questionable DNA bob was also on my wishlist - no sooner did one appear reserved for me. Q traveled with jacabob Squink - because seriously, they travel best in twos, obviously.

And then, for a while, everything was peaceful and content in the Swedish bobbaloo settlement. Until. Until there were rumours about some tiny and fabulastically named bobbaloos soon to appear in shop. I the bob gaggle sat in front of computer eagerly watching the shop until those two appeared.

Miffwinkle and Wifflesteinborgen - with Kismet in the background

Wifflesteinborgen and Miffwinkle, ah, such names would simply be wasted living anywhere but in the Stockholm, Swedonia bobbaloo settlement. Also called Tinier and Tiniest.

Magnolia with li'l brother Wifflesteinborgen

And then there was Magnolia, purely accidental. But who in their right mind can resist someone pink and green - and the perfect opposite colour match to Wifflesteinborgen? Not an addict someone very very fond of bobbaloos.

So at the moment the gaggle consists of an uneven number. As everyone (bobbaloo or not) needs a special friend I'm looking into solutions to fullfill that need. Until then they take their different turns to tag along on outings and eat lots of cake - for some reason they generally seem to prefer that before other vegetarian options - and seem content with life in this settlement. Although I've heard whispers about them thinking a proper dwelling for bobbaloos, a roof of their own, would be something highly appreciated. Who knew beings so small could be so demanding? It must be the gaggle effect.

weekending

Just as it was time for a well-composed weekend (which I haven't had for ages, the well-composed kind) life saw it fit to hit me with a bug-virus-infection-flu thing. So I'm sporting a sore throat, headache, cough, aching teeth and nausea thus will probably not doing anything else than resting, drinking apple juice and eating spicy green curry vegetables. Quite quite disappointed am I. Since it was a weekend with both plans and weather being very favourable. Ah well, haven't been ill since May, so perhaps it was just about time, with all the Autumn-colds and viruses around. The initial sore throat-nausea part is the part of a flu-cold thing I hate the most, so I'm hoping the snotty part will set in soon. End of annoying illness musings.

Have a lovely weekend, hope you're well and perky, 
and get to spend it the way you want!



PS Cake is always a nice ingredient in a well-composed weekend, even if over-indulging never really is such a good idea as it seems initially... DS

kitten wishes

I'm a big believer in not wanting to jinx matters and potential plans by talking and telling about them - although from experience I do know, I really do, that the talking/telling or not have done nothing in ways of pros and cons to any plans and matters, some things happen or not, whether you keep hush or talk about them beforehand. Still the not jinxing is something I think about anyway... - so let's call what I'm about to write now; this is one matter I wish for this winter. So not to obviously jinx it.

That I miss having kittens I've already said, now I wish for little miss dotty tummy Siri (top girl) and mister blue-white Rutger to have a favourable rendez-vous sometime soon.

And if it isn't wishing for too much I'd wish the same with little shiny miss Viola and water boy extraordinaire Pelle.

And needless to say I then wish for a reasonable number of kittens - whom would be the sixth respectively the seventh generation of kittens from my British Shorthair breeding, and welcome to share digs if the mothers so wish - that they are healthy, sound, happy, clever and that they at the age of 12 weeks are ready to move to those loving, caring good new homes they deserve.

Just a few wishes I have for autumn, winter to come...