the midnight falafel and other stories

The downside of not blogging as much anymore is that you have an awful lot to write about once you do. So I thought I'd start with the above original drawing that I'd coveted for some time and which is now finally mine. I've always loved the quote "I'm incomprehensibly intellectual", had it for years on my travel card protective sleeve, which makes me smile whenever I use it. When I saw this drawing on Instagram a few months ago I knew it was meant to be.

The hair, the glasses, the slightly raised eyebrows, the not wanting to be in the picture, simply me. When it came on sale last week I went for it. Made by talented Jessica Johansson, @jessicaritar on Instagram, you can get both original drawings and prints (with a feminist vibe) in her shop plus she makes special orders. I'll get a frame soon and put it in pink office.


My spirit animal, much fiercer than she looks.

And continue to be incomprehensibly intellectual. Seeing connections where very few seem to understand. The oddball seemingly living in a parallell world not really getting people and the way they behave. Hello Weltschmerz. Some days more than others. And now and then you find people you vibe with, they get you and you get them. Then everything is alright in this world, that can be both beautiful and magical.



Talking about odd balls, say hello to my first ever homemade from scratch falafels! My midnight falafels. Because being a vegan food ambassador this time of the Swedish year means you have to get cooking at very odd hours in order to be able to take pictures in the few hours of daylight you hopefully get. Thus at midnight the other day I cooked these so I could take pictures in the morning before I left for meetings. I think they turned out really well for a first time. Not really sure I will ever make the again though, I find the deep frying to be scary stuff, rapeseed oil is good for you, but the actual frying in a big pot with oil, creepy. And despite the kitchen fan the whole house reeked with the frying for a few days afterwards. But it was a great new experience, the process to make your very own falafels.



Almost 2 years ago I signed up for a mentor/friendship programme for people new to Sweden, via Kompis Sverige. Never heard anything from them, I had important wishes about vegetarianism and non religiousness. I guess that sadly can be a tricky thing to match. However, now it has happened! I got a call a few weeks ago, and met my new friend via the programme this week. She's a vegetarian teacher from China. We talked about food, culture, philosophy, books, sustainability, you know, all awesome topics. Next time she wanted to see where I lived as child, so we'll take a walk around the now very hipster parts of Hornstull, Sodermalm ~

my keyboard is currently all wonky, I blame a certain cat for sitting on it when I turned my back. Be as that may, despite having looked through the internetz for a solution the Swedish letters and some symbols remain lost. Such a nuisance, that I will have to look into for real of course. I miss the precious dots over A, A, O. ~

which was nothing hipster whatsoever back then. Looking forward to learn about a culture so very different from ours, talk more about philosophy, books, life and plantbased food. And show the gems of Stockholm.



Next week I'll rekindle with the career coach for international talents assignment ~ with a slightly changed client, which for some reason gave me new business cards, and spelled my name correctly without asking, life's little miracles ~ it will be good to do something hands on that can give great results for individuals and society within a reasonably short amount of time.



I think I've showed these quirky, adorable dog characters in blog before, but now in another context. When I stopped to take a picture of them the other day I realised that they remind me a lot of my team, in the most hilariously endearing way of course. Unfortunately I didn't find anyone who symbolized me so aptly.



But when I walked past the shop again later in the week I saw the above little sad, pensive dog though, which I immediately saw as my spirit animal. By her side was this grinning character. And that's me too, both sad and happy, brooding and proudly content. Passion and fierceness hidden behind a calm, innocent exterior.

If they weren't so expensive, which I think is quite right given all the work and talent that obviously have gone into making them (sculptor's name is Christina Rosen), I'd possibly buy them all. But also if I had that kind of money lying around I'd much rather get a shelter dog or two to love and care for. Plus my home isn't really that kind of stylish home that would make the perfect backdrop for these larger than life sculptures. So I settle for them making me very happy whenever I pass the gallery windows. And I got a few postcards of them. Also they have some limited lithographies of the characterful dogs, within a less daunting price range. And you should support local artists, in anyway you can.



Apart from meetings and work I also had the pleasure to meet up with a friend via Twitter ~ Instagram ~ LinkedIn (social media, such a great source for meeting really good, interesting people, whom you can officially stalk to get to know) for vegan dinner at a restaurant I hadn't visited yet but had been on my Yelp~list for ages, Surfers. Nothing to do with surfing (except the interior) but food from the Sichuan province of China. A lot of spices and flavours. And delightful coctails and moctails too. I'm a lunch, brunch, fika kind of gal, not drinks and dinner, but when I on the odd occasion meet for dinner it's really lovely.



I was going to write a few words on music, marketing, work, photography, Stockholm and Christmas time of the year too. But I do believe I've reached my self~appointed blogpost quota. There's always a next time for that.

I will however touch briefly on the pink vegan meringue~situation, which continues to obfuscate as well as delight me, and honestly, frustrate. If it was possible to just sit down and talk this through, find out more, I'm certain it would make complete and perfect sense. But as things would have it, it's factually impossible. Currently. Well, I said it was complicated in all sorts of ways, didn't I? And it's kind of typically me to find myself in a situation like this, not that I've experienced anything like it before, not at all. It's just the oddness, serendipitiousness, complicatedness of it that seems very me somehow. In the meantime I'm having many fascinating, illuminating conversations about the status with myself over a cup of tea in the company of cats. As one incomprehensibly intellectual naturally does.