I’m leaving on a small vacation today. It seems like a good idea since I don’t have to work until Wednesday.

But then again, it’s a family trip. I’m never able to decide whether I like being on those or not. If I could just tape my youngest little brother’s mouth shut, it would probably be very enjoyable. The family wouldn’t like that though. I think I’ll just go for avoiding him as much as possible instead. He must (almost) be the noisiest brat in the northern hemisphere, and he’s bringing along a just as noisy friend.

The vacation spot is beautiful though, and so close to the sea!

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.

Because, seriously, I’ve only got 10 days left in Shanghai.

I’ve been unable to update during the last few months, because of laziness, the worst internet in the world, travelling and more. But here they are, the last two weeks of my time in China. I’m so unprepared – I still have two more laaarge boxes of stuff to send back home, and I’ve been too lazy for the past two weeks to just buy in some strong tape and send them off. Needless to say, I have a lot to do.

I’m going to write about my small backpacking trip around the south of China with Monique and Nicole when I get back home (because I want to post pictures at the same time). We travelled to Hong Kong, Macau, Guilin, Yangshou, Xing Ping, Chengdu and Leshan, and I have tons of pictures and stories. In Hong Kong, we went to Disneyland – and I took so many panda pictures in Chengdu!

Also, I have a really bad cold. The throat-rasping, lung-spitting kind. Suits me well for standing over a half hour outside in cold, rainy weather and minimal clothing while trying to hail a cab. Damn the Chinese for not having a queue system, or manners enough to let the person who hailed the cab drive off in it. Every time I managed to get the attention of a free cab, some damn person came running from the side, jumped into my cab and drove off before I could protest. And that happened several times.

Manners isn’t the greatest thing with cab, metro and traffic culture in general down here, so I get happy every time I see the governments campaigns of behaving. Lately, there’s been “metro guards” in the larger metro stations during rush hour. They force the people to cue up on the sides so people can get off before the others get on, only to fail miserably when the train doors open and the Chinese get into a desperate (no, not kidding) frenzy of getting themselves as fast as possible into the train (while elbowing, kicking and screaming) – ignoring the people inside the wagons just as desperate attempts to get out.

It’s the same thing for the seats too. “The battle of the seats”. Be one second too slow, and someone else has put their ass down in the seat you were targeting. If there are free seats when the door opens, you’ll see people diving to get them. Even if there are old people needing them nearby. I don’t see people giving away their seats very often down here. It’s much more common to really pretend like you aren’t paying attention, so you can keep the seat to yourself.

I stood at People Square for a while last week, just observing. Every time the people got forced to stand in a queue (and the queue sneaks and the ones who still didn’t get it got scolded and sent to the back of it), they’d break it and start running towards the doors as soon as they opened. I’d say amusing, if it weren’t for the fact that I have to take that damn metro reaaaaally often during rush hour. I’m going to see if I can tape it sometime before I leave. We’ll. Otherwise I can just ask to borrow some videos from friends.

On another topic, it’s also really warm here now, but the temperature changes fast.. It goes from sunny 35 degrees Celsius to 25 and raining so fast that around 20 to 23 degrees seems icy with the air condition on in the metro.

Long time no update!

I have to admit I haven’t been searching around too much lately. So much to do, so little time to finish everything. I need to get my butt out of my bed and take pictures around Shanghai before I leave, and I need to buy a whole lot of tourist junk so I won’t regret it later. I want lanterns and antique-looking stuff!

^{Picture by me! The giant bronze Buddah in Hong Kong.}

• Shanghaistuff.com Incredibly networking site for people living in Shanghai (and around)! I met so many amazing people through the groups there. I’m linking you directly to my own profile, of course.

• Other great Shanghai related websites are of course SmartShanghai.com and Shanghaiexpat.com. If you’re searching for a job or a friend, EnjoyClassifieds.com might help as well!

• Tie-dyed eggs two ways! Now, I know it’s not Easter any more, but I’m still loving this one!

• I’m dreaming of a suspended bed like this!

• Christian Louboutin Red Round-Toe Pump. Oh the things I drool at but never will afford.

• Mix Hostel in Chengdu! The most awesome hostel I’ve ever stayed at. It felt just like home, it was cheap, the food was both good and cheap, the tea was yummy, and such a great place to get friends!

• Drool list; 1–, 2–, 3–, 4–, 5–, 6–. And no, I don’t need things like these. I just drool after them.

Soooo, that was it for this time. I’m sorry I don’t have more stuff to post about. But don’t worry! I’ll start heavy-geeking again soon! ~~