There’s an amazing, large garden where I live.

It’s filled with, last time I checked, petunias, tulips, rhododendron, lilys, berry bushes, strawberry plants, nearly a hundred different kinds of roses and what not. The garden is full of life and colour three out of the four seasons each year. My mum has put incredibly much effort into it ever since we moved here (when I was four or something).

Because of our garden (and also the many neighbours large gardens) we also have plenty of small animals living near our house. The hedgehogs are my favourites. We see them every single year during summer. Sometimes a mother with cubs, and sometimes only a grown one. We’ve taken care of quite a few cubs who’s gotten left behind – last year one of them fell off the low wall edge that separates our and our next door neighbours properties and damaged it’s foot. We nursed it a bit, gave it food, water and such, and then gave it over to a guy who’s work is to take care of them.

This year I’ve seen three of the pointy cuties. One single hedgehog, which didn’t have any problems with being taken pictures of, and one mother and cub which we left alone.

It might be a somewhat silly thought, but don’t you think it has to be painful to be a caiman?

And crocodile and alligator. Probably gharial (those look so incredibly funny) too.

Sure, they might be terrifying creatures with their reptile eyes and huge jaws, but a picture I recently saw in a science magazine just made me think about their shape and behaviour a bit more.

After all, it can’t possibly be comfortable to roll around like they do with their death roll, and they has lots of battle scars since they’re violent predators. Not to mention the caiman’s teeth are so large, and their bite so strong, that they’ve got holes where the tooth edge meets the jaw. And not tiny holes either.

Rant done. No picture. By the way, I so want to see wild caimans (& crocodiles / alligators / gharials) and giant otters.

A long, long time ago in a cold, cold country up north – during December – I found a ladybird.

It was all the way back in ’07, and let’s just say ladybirds aren’t all that common during winter. More like none-existent. I mean, where would they live when the snow reaches over a grown man’s knees?

Needless to say, I got rather fascinated. Or obsessed. Whatever comes first. I followed the damn thing around with my Nikon D50 for three hours. In my bedroom, up the curtains, over diverse DVDs, around a couple of lamps, down two floors, up one floor. I thought the kitten ate it more than just a few times, as she was also hunting it down. Just with claws, sharp teeth and the kitten-ish playfulness that could be the end of every small animal she came across.

After a long hunt, the ladybird actually managed to get to the living room and into my mother’s hair. At least it stayed there long enough for me to take some (not too good) pictures.

And after that I’m fairly sure the cat ate it.

For a few days now, I’ve started thinking I want to move to London. I mean, I’ve lived in Shanghai for quite a while, London would be fun this time.

There’s just something about the city. Every time I’ve been there, which is quite a few now, I’ve felt overwhelmed by all of it. In a good way. In a “I wanna live there!” way. There’s so much to see, so much to do, just like in most major cities and very much unlike my home town, where I’m currently staying.

But there’s quite a few things stopping me at the moment. One of them is that I need to work for a year to get money, a second is that I’m not sure what I’d be studying there – although probably photography, another is that for photography you don’t get a scholarship for the first year since it’s -technically- not a part of the three year bachelor, and then there’s the thing about me lacking a proper photography portfolio since the old one is way outdated. And what about everything else I also want to do?

In other words, I either need to start working, both with my photography and a proper job, or just drop the entire thing. Don’t really feel like doing anything. It’s still to comfortable to just be at home and relax.

Just because I can.

And because I really love this picture!

It was taken on the 1st of March (’09, in Shanghai, of course) during my TFP with Buffy Huang, Sean Green & Amber – but not published as far as I know.

I did my own editing. I’m so in love with the blue tones at the moment. The photographer is Amber.

My hair on the top of my scalp seriously looks white here, but it’s only due to the lights. The colour difference isn’t all that big either. Oh narcissism!

I just came across some images I can’t help but share!

Chris McVeigh is a multi talent, and I’m incredibly fascinated by his photography style! He’s also an author and illustrator. Wicked talent!

Here are (quite) a few of his pictures;

Amazed yet? I really love that chipmunk.

• Article; The Stunning Work of Chris McVeigh. (The link I found these pictures through.)

• Chris McVeigh’s homepage.

• His Flickr page.

A small pointer in the right direction.

I don’t think it’s much of a secret that I’m completely and utterly confused about the topics “education” and “future occupation”. I’ve already written a great deal about me only wanting to enjoy life as it is, but I’ve also come to the conclusion that with me being incredibly restless it would probably bore me to death before reaching 25. Even if I had millions and never needed to work, I’d still need something to keep me learning and actually enjoying living. Let’s just say I’m not the kind who can lie week after week on the beach, tanning and bathing. I’d be wanting to wander off after a few days of enjoying being lazy, which is why I heavily prefer going on vacation to large cities and not tropical beaches. And besides, I’m scared of both water, fish and sharks.

I’m a dreamer, that’s for sure. I have incredibly many dreams, places to visit, things to see and experience. So why can’t I combine all this? Why can’t I combine my dreams and the occupations I want? I can have hobbies! After all, I already have a whole lot of those. Earlier today I wrote down a list of things I’d like to do and realized that even though I can’t live on all of them, I can combine the ones I can make a living on with the ones I’d have to keep as hobbies. I think I’m repeating myself, as always, but everything seems clearer to me now. Well, at least for now.

The first occupation I wrote down was Art & Antiques dealer. Or, in a perfect world, Art, Antiques and Furniture dealer. I’ve always dreamt of having my own little store. Always as in back in kindergarten when we were playing and I was a shop owner, selling sea shells, stones, buckets, sand figurines and everything else I could get my hands on, and my friends “bought” the stuff I sold with leaves. I’m a complete eBay & art geek so finding stuff to sell in a proper store probably wouldn’t be too difficult. Too bad I have absolutely no clue about economy and how to manage a store. I guess I’d have to learn that first. Business economy classes and a job in a small store maybe? I should probably contact one of those career centres for guidance.

The second thing I wrote down was Photographer. The only hobby I’ve never gotten tired of. Everything else has gotten my interest to fade after a while, but in photography your target always changes. You never need to take pictures of the same thing and there are incredibly many photography categories to explore if you finally grow tired of the thing you usually obsess over capturing. There’s nothing more fun that dressing up and capture the essence and mood of a moment. Plus, I love using photographs as memories of the past. Documenting what I’ve done is essential for my way of being. It would also come in handy during travelling, which I love above all.

My third thought was Writer. I mean, why not? Besides taking pictures, it’s what I do. I know it’s something that’s not easy to live on, and so this is the first thing to go into the hobby category. It can in every way be combined with my forth choice, Blogging. Sharing my thoughts feels amazing sometimes, even if the response I get is neither large nor positive. Maybe I could write about my way too eventful dreams, show some pieces from my dairy, or just rant as I usually do. Last mentioned shouldn’t be too difficult, since I rant way too often and much.

Backpacking around the world isn’t exactly a job either, but since travelling through the entire world is my major life goal it can be combined with everything else I’ve mentioned so far. And besides, I’m addicted to shopping here. I could always buy things to sell off later in my, potential, store. I’d love to go to India, Cambodia, Egypt, Morocco, and the entire South-America before the age of 25.

I’d also like to be a Vintage & Avant Garde jewellery dealer. And that can easily be combined in the store I’d like to have. The only problem would be that I’m not sure I’d be able to sell off the stuff after stocking up. I obsess way too easily.

Now, Make-up Artist isn’t something I need to do no matter what the odds are. It’s more because it would be rather convenient to combine with the photography and because I’m quite vain. I already love experimenting with make up, and the right make up can sometime make the entire photo shoot. Only bad thing is that make up artist classes are quite expensive, and I’m currently a bit broke.

Last occupation I’d like to have is Seamstress. Sewing is fun, looking through fabrics is fun, designing clothing is fun. And who doesn’t want to be able to make their own clothing? It can easily be combined with the shop idea too. Hirr, hirr.

I think I really should contact the nearest career centre and attend the work related gatherings in January. I have one more year before I can start my education anyway. One year of work and pondering about possible options. It’ll be fun I hope, even though my friends will be living far away from me.