I’ve been strangely busy with random stuff this whole month, dogs and work and dogs and the employment office and more dogs… I’m tired.

Oggie has been here for 3 weeks now and will stay for another week. While it has been fun to have him here it will be such a relief when he goes home.
He’s sweet and funny, but I can’t believe how such a tiny body can hold so much energy. He never sleeps! And he’s so social/insecure/curious (I haven’t decided which of those options it is yet) that he follows me around like a tail. A very small tail that is. Very easy to step on or trip over. It’s a miracle there’s no broken bones
Yeah, he’s cute enough and such – but I think I still prefer my lazy, independent cat-dog Zaphod.

But I have had a little time set aside to be creative!

I have a new layout up, this time suitably featuring a witch The other layout was cute and colourful, but I don’t know… It wasn’t me. This one is much more my style.
Here’s a bigger version of the witch if you want to see:

I also drew this:

Don’t ask me where it came from, I started drawing a whippet, plain and simple – but somewhere along the way he seems to have grown bat wings

And finally I’ve also managed to upload some new dolls:

Both are made for the art forum Sunblight. The first is a mugshot portrait for the yearbook and the other is a doll for a base edit contest (cross your fingers for me!).
I’m really satisfied with the mugshot, it actually looks like me! I just had to edit the face a bit.

So… busy or not. I have to say it has been a few productive weeks anyway

On Christmas Day I went to the movie theatre to see Avatar. I had not heard much about it before I saw it, but the trailer looked promising (blue people with tails? I’m in!) so I was really looking forward to see it. And I was not disappointed!
The actual theatre experience was rather lame, a bunch of kids (ok, teens) were making noise in the front rows, the temperature was ridiculously hot in the salon and the guy in front of me was circa 3m tall so I had to move from side to side if I wanted to read the subtitles.
But the movie itself…? Stunning!

If you haven’t seen the movie there might be some spoilers ahead. Or not. It depends on how much you know about it already. Anyway, I’ve warned you now!

When his brother is killed in battle, paraplegic Marine Jake Sully decides to take his place in a mission on the distant world of Pandora. There he learns of greedy corporate figurehead Parker Selfridge’s intentions of driving off the native humanoid “Na’vi” in order to mine for the precious material scattered throughout their rich woodland. In exchange for the spinal surgery that will fix his legs, Jake gathers intel for the cooperating military unit spearheaded by gung-ho Colonel Quaritch, while simultaneously attempting to infiltrate the Na’vi people with the use of an “avatar” identity. While Jake begins to bond with the native tribe and quickly falls in love with the beautiful alien Neytiri, the restless Colonel moves forward with his ruthless extermination tactics, forcing the soldier to take a stand – and fight back in an epic battle for the fate of Pandora. Written by The Massie Twins

The most spectacular part of the movie is of course the special effects and the amazing pictures. The scenery and wildlife on Pandora is nothing but amazing! Bright vibrant colours, sparkling lights and really imaginative creatures made it look like a true fairy tale world. The whole first hour when Jake is beginning to explore the planet with Neytiri was breathtaking, I found myself saying “wow…” quietly over and over And it made a very clear contrast to the grey, sterile, machine-driven world of the humans on the base.
Plot-wise it was ok, pretty much a Pochahontas rip-off. But it worked for me, I love that type nature-strikes-back stories. Honestly I could have lived without the love story, the rest of the plot was good enough, but hey, it was cute. I’m not going to complain about it.

What I felt it lacked though was the development of Jake’s character from human to Na’vi. It was such a fast transition (and not very well covered) it felt like one minute he was an obedient, almost ignorant, solider on a mission and the next he was in love with Neytiri and working against the humans. I would have liked to explore his mind a lot more, seeing how he gradually start switching sides and growing from the experience. And also how he falls in love with Neytiri. If there’s gonna be a love story you might as well make something out of it. Shouldn’t it be a much bigger deal for a human to fall in love with an alien? A lot more hesitation and agony?
The movie was almost 3 hours long and I still feel it should have been longer so it would’ve had more room for these things. Perhaps when it’s released on DVD it will have some of that in the extra material?

Even so, this is the best movie I’ve seen in a long time. What it lacks in one area it makes up for in another. I want to see it again already! This will definitely go on my favourite movies list

I can’t believe it’s 10 years since we first saw the new millennium!
10 years ago I was 16, living with my dad and step-mum in a teeny tiny village deep in the woods and in the middle of nowhere. I was in 1st year of Gymnasiet and dad had just got us our first computer. With dial-up internet and Windows 95
The big 2000 was celebrated with my then best friend Minna in her father’s house. We made a fancy dinner for everyone in the village (not as much work as it sounds like, the whole village = 8 people. That might give you an idea of what I mean when I say “tiny”) with a silver wax cloth on the table, silver confetti and silver candles. Minna’s sister even had a silver lipstick that we all put on
It may sound like a poor New Year’s party, but it was seriously awesome!
What did you all do on New Years Eve 2000?

A decade in the rearview mirror

2000

• My 17th birthday.
• 1st year of Gymnasiet ends.
• Meet my first boyfriend Johan in May. Or whatever you’d like to call it. More like kids at play than an actual relationship. He’s really cute though, but I can’t believe I fell for a blonde!?
• Oh well, never mind. We break up in August.
• Start 2nd year of Gymnasiet.
• Meet second boyfriend Björn in October.

2001

• Move back to my mother after 2 years of living with my dad.
• Most of my friends drop out of school and/or move so I pretty much end up alone. And I’m to grumpy and unsocial to get new friends
• 2nd year ends and 3d year starts. I get to study sign language which is pretty much the only subject I actually enjoy.
• Beginning to grasp how to draw stuff in Ms Paint.
• Gets my first cell phone.

2002

• 3d year in school sucks giant donkey balls. I’m sick and tired of school and spend every day regretting my choice of orientation. In hindsight I really should have chose art over social science…
• … but in May I finally graduate! FREEDOM!!
• Moves in with Björn. He lives in a town by the sea so I finally get away from my dead end village
• Start my first “real” website Sagi-tazi. On Geocities
• Get to ride a motorcycle for the first (and only) time.
• After a lazy summer I get a trainee job at a local advertising agency.

2003

• My trainee job turns into a real job. I get to make signs, printed matters, car decorations etc. It’s a really fun job and I love it there!
• Me and Björn breaks up after almost 3 years together. Good riddance, it really was for the best. But I’m still an emotional wreck and he’s still a bastard
• Moves in to a small apartment smack down in the centre of town.

2004

• Gathers some courage and joins The Quilting Bee.
• I meet Jesse. Once again I got myself a blonde, but at least this one has long hair. And a small zoo in his apartment: snakes, tortoises, fire salamanders… A regular Steve Irwin rip-off.
• Iva offers to host me on her domain Shortly after I start my first fanlisting.
• Buys my first own pet, the fabulous Flamma
• Work is getting fucked up. They fire me due to lack of work and then hire me again when the work load increases. Rinse and repeat 10000 times in the span of 1 year. Blah.
• Moves in with Jesse. And all his 7 billion pets.

2005

• My dog Zaphod is born on March 22 and I take him home on May 16
• Goes to Sweden Rock Festival for the first time
• Buys my first car, a white Audi 100 Avant from -85
• Get to see Black Sabbath, with Ozzy Osbourne, live in Stockholm!
• Buys my first own domain! I create a blog in Swedish and an art/pixel site in English.
• I’ve finally had it with work. Jesse wants us to move to Skellefteå, his home town a bit further south, and I agrees to do so.
• New apartment, new town, new life *deep breath*

2006

• Applies for neat education: Design for interactive media. 2 years long, in town.
• Becomes a member of the Pixel Team at the Qbee.
• Get accepted for the education! Meet lots of new cool people! Like Alexandra, Linda, Markus etc.
• Buys new car, this time a white Opel Omega (aka “the white trash car”) from -89

2007

• I break up with Jesse. One of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do. Very sad.
• In lack of place to live I move in with Alexandra in her apartment. Zaphod have to live with other friend Andrea, Flamma stays with Jesse for now. Life seriously messy
• Manages to get a place of my own. Can take my stuff from Jesse’s apartment and best of all: I can get my pets back!
• Buys Rockwitch.net to cheer myself up Moves blog + art/pixels here and keep CyanSunrise.com as a fanlisting collective.
• Strong and strangely amorous feelings towards my friend Markus. WTF?
• Sweden Rock Festival again.
• Ok, friend or not Markus is amazing. And he likes me too! (But seriously, what’s with the blondes!? All my life I’ve stated that I prefer brunettes and yet 3 of my 4 boyfriends have been blonde. That’s what you get for living in pale ass Scandinavia I guess…)

2008

• Gets an apartment with Markus.
• Buys Vittra.org and moves my Swedish blog there. Keep Rockwitch.net as an art site.
• Sees Alice Cooper in concert for the first time!
• Graduate design school. Wee bit sad, it’s been so much fun. But hey, graduation party in our new apartment! Whoo!
• Is job-hopping all summer. Switchboard operator, salesperson, janitor…
• Markus gets a car from his parents as a gift (OMG!). A dark green Renault Laguna. My old shitty Opel is kicked out immediately.
• Markus start doing freelance work for Gem, a local advertising agency. Shortly after I start doing work for them too

2009

• Sweden Rock again. Crappy weather but otherwise great.
• Converts Rockwitch.net to WordPress to make it a proper blog as well as an art gallery. Ditches the Swedish blog in the process.
• Summer job as a janitor again.
• 9th grade school reunion.
• Decides to close CyanSunrise and buys Heart of Snow to use as my fanlisting collective instead.

And what do I know for 2010?

• Nothing. Absolutely nothing. It’s a blank page so… I guess we’ll see what happens!

I would probably violate some unwritten blogging law if I don’t write one of these posts, so I better get mine done

So… Christmas.
Me and Markus went to his parents in Örnsköldsvik on the 22nd. Bus ride was crazy, the bus was totally crammed with people and outside we had a full-fledged blizzard going on But we managed to get there in one piece anyway.
But other than that, and a minor accident when a kettle boiled over and we got melted fat all over (and behind) the stove, we had a very relaxed Christmas. It was just me and Markus, his parents, his sister and her boyfriend. We had a lovely dinner, exchanged gifts, played games and just generally had a good time.

Zaphod got presents to, he even got to open them himself. I’ve been giving him cardboard boxes with treats hidden in them for years (great mental activity for dogs btw) so he knows how to open packages. He got dried pig ears and a whole box of liver treats. Win!

Christmas dinner, in case anyone’s interested, was made up of Christmas ham, raw spiced salmon (my favourite), meat balls, spare ribs, Janssons Frestelse (scalloped potato casserole with anchovies), brawn, boiled eggs, about 4 different types of pickled herring and lots of other good stuff.

Present-opening mess

Gift-wise I got a gift voucher for the movie theatre, bronze ear rings, snow flake ear rings, snake skin bracelet, a Dolce & Gabbana t-shirt (omg, I’ve never owned any designer clothes!),  a cake plate and money. Mostly money actually. Which is actually my favourite type of gift, that way I can buy myself anything I want

On Christmas Day (In Sweden we do all the celebration on Christmas Eve) we all went to see Avatar. It was amazing(!), but I’ll save the review for a later post. Good thing I got that gift voucher too

And then… we haven’t done anything really. We’re still at his parents, having a nice and calm vacation. We won’t go home until Saturday, so we’ll spend New Year’s Eve here too. Apparently we’re going to a party with some of Markus’ old school friends. It will probably be great, I love his friends and think of them as mine too

Hope everyone had a nice holiday and that you will have a Happy New Year, wherever you are See you on the other side!