Friday, November 25, 2016

Konst på Brommaplan Station, Peter Svedberg



The art at the Brommaplan station seems to be especially overlooked by people passing through the station. I, myself have been here with two different people that did not even notice it as I was photographing the art for this blog.
I like that the silver aluminum, with its rivets that for me scream 'Plane!', is subtle or, perhaps made subtle by the advertisements and reader boards that are all around.
Another aspect, I like is that the photographs encased in the glass are recessed, adding to what I feel like is the ghost like quality of these memory columns. Because that is what they are, photographs and an homage to the days that Brommaplan was the main airport. Now almost all traffic goes through Arlanda airport.
Mostly tourists go through this station on their way to visit Drottningholm Slott (the royal summer palace).

I do not go as often as I should, I went once during summer this year, and recently with my latest house guest.  I did find myself thinking about the first time I went, which is now over twelve years ago.  The journey seemed so far, but not that I am familiar with Stockholm, I don't consider it to be far.
The first time, I went alone, to see the theater which is an actual working 18th century theater with its original stage machinery still in use. Until I went to see an Opera there, I had only seen such a stage in movies.  The thunder machines and the fake waves moved by human hands rotating a handle hidden in the wings of the stage.  There were only tours in Swedish at the time (or perhaps I just didn't come at the correct time). This time I got to have the tour in English and my girlfriend and I were the only ones on our tour, so we got to be on stage and work both the wind/waves/and thunder.
Delightful!

I enjoyed the grounds even though we were frozen and yet there was no longer snow.
IF
a new snowfall comes I think I will drag the husband out there.
Only the top photo is of the palace, I prefer the grounds and the "Chinese" styled pavilions out past the formal gardens and the labyrinth.

 
 







 

Sunday, November 13, 2016

Same as it ever was...the good and the bad

 







Very dear friends came to visit us for two weeks, and now looking back- the time we spent seems like a blink of an eye.
Even though during their stay Stockholm went from a bright colourful Autumn scene to getting record breaking snow fall.  The local paper said that Stockholm got more snow in one day, (November making this a rarer occurrence) for 111 years.
We went from lovely wide open skies, to glittering snow.

Not every visitor gets perfect weather of course, and our next visitor has arrived to treacherous, icy paths which we both fell (get it? fell?) prey too, during our long walk around Stockholm.

Also, as I sit here, I realize the year is coming to a close, and my partner is saying things like "We go home in six weeks!"- which I am not ready to hear.
I have two trips coming up, and I am still struggling through SFI most days.
I am, however really missing my exercise routine- which is the activity that got lost among, entertaining, running for trains, SFI and what I dimly remember as 'summertime'.

At this moment most people I know connected with the united states either by origin, or living there now are stuck under a very, dark cloud.
Having grown up through the 1980s, I think I always had this view-
The 'one step forward, two steps back' view.
I really know little about the candidate that won, I gave up hope when the party put him forth, the first nominee with no experience or qualifications.
I spent some time thinking about the time and energy I put into volunteering...escorting women through crowds of people shouting hateful things as we went into health clinics, all the people I registered by hand for 'Rock the Vote', the campaigning for voter registration, the hours postering, watching friends die and medications were held up by bureaucracy, politics, fear and profits just to dredge up a few memories...
I am grateful to not be there, and I am not sure how I would be feeling if I was there but since I have the luxury of not being there- I feel that embracing negative emotions would be truly losing so I am going the other way.