Thorildsplan Tunnelbana or how Sookie tried to beat the rain

Two days of non-stop rain. The two days I had for personal skating. One of STRD newer referees invited me to a skate park that is under a bridge and often skating in the rain is possible due to the amount of pavement the bridge keeps dry.

We were not quite that fortunate, I have a massive bruise from taking off when my wheels had gotten too wet. But at least I think my crash made the 6 year old girl skateboarder feel better about her fall...

I was happy to just get out of the apartment and go somewhere new.
The park was near a station I have been meaning to go to because of the tiling there. As usual I did not have a the better camera with me.

This week I also took a bus to check out a rumored outdoor 'covered' rink. This proved to be true and although the rink really, really needs to be clean up, at least we can skate in wet weather.
So for now practice is being held there.
I am going out early today to make up my skating time. I ran the last session and therefore didn't get to skate much. I might have to ref today so, again I won't get much actual practice time.
However, next weekend I am attending a skating camp in Berlin. Being organized by the Berlin Bombshells, and run by Swedehurt and Suzy Hotrod.
I just hope I can keep up...

"...I was dumped for occupying her time..."

I was in a funk- under a cloud- trapped by the snarl inside my head.

Often the answer lies within motion.
Going.
If I had access to the service in Tokyo, a 'friend hiring' service I saw featured on BBC 'Megacities'
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b011ql6k
I would probably get through- with more ease, because I could 'rent a friend' whose duty would be to come over and spur me into action.
To arrest any fear that might be keeping home, which of course increases the snarl.

Sometimes, the answer lies inside music.
A certain rhythm that can dispel all else.

So I backed out of any obligations and got into a car to go see some live music.

The answer I am writing about is abstract so I don't have any answers to write.
I can tell you that if the new songs I heard 'The Hives' play are an indication of the next record, then the record will not disappoint.

I can also tell you that often if I see an artist I haven't seen in over a decade, I probably want that artist to have a nostalgic set list-but there are a few that I would rather hear a deepening of the music, or I want to hear the b-sides, or the songs less recognized because the hits have been worn thin by over use.
Prince is one of those artists.
He gave the audience what they wanted- I would say that I am the exception.
I had a beautiful moment during 'She is always in my hair' but mostly there was a lot of 'Sweden I can't hear you!' and 'Can I get a bit more from the left side?.' Also the set was interspersed with medley- a minute of a hit into another minute, never the full song- which was a lot like bad sex.
Bad sex is not what I expected from Prince.

"...no winning smiles will do here, no prettily drawn lists of good intentions."

I have been sick, but this is a boring subject -especially to me, I want to just curl into a ball and sleep and not think about sickness.

I have been losing time within the spark of ideas that could not or would not be allowed to fit into the appropriate academic box.

Jag tränar uttal, Ja skriver meningar. Jag pratar Svenska och compris.
Jag rullskridskor, Jag mycket, mycket giller rullskridskor!

STRD practice for Roller Derby is still outside, but this time of year, the rain does come down.
Sunday skating was cancelled, many skaters skated in PRIDE and were low after late celebrating- so we decided Monday and Tuesday for skating.
Yet still the rain came down, so we had to cancel.
INSTEAD-
Some of us went to the indoor skate park at Fryshuset- Monday night is GIRLS ONLY.

In a word: FUN.

"...dancing with scissors or bones full of wishes..."

So many things are different and so many things are the same.

We went running back up the hill- I am positive the hill has gotten higher, and steeper. Why does your brain immediately give you excuses? "Oh well, I have worked out or skated for the last four days in a row.", "Oh, well, I did eat a lot today.", "Oh, well, I am like a zillion years older than all the runners in front of me.", "Is that the smell of burnt toast? Am I having a stroke?".
But there were good distractions, cute little hopping frogs, snails with very fancy shells, and a FAWN.

Actually I needed to get out of the house, nothing I read for University was making any sense, and all my war documentaries are- as expected, depressing.
Also after running (thankfully not sliding or tumbling) back down the hill, we went exploring, in search of a work out space.
The space seems as if it is in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by trees and fields. The equipment is made out of logs, and I could barely do any of the exercises, most of the stations I needed to jump up to get too- of course you would think once I am hanging from some equipment my body weight would help me out...but not so much.

The night before was a more casually paced skate through the cemetery. I have now located Greta Garbo's grave, but I haven't ventured that way yet.
We were busy skating, followed by running some errands, and then going to Maskulina's garden to drink beer and laugh too loudly until the night grew dark and neighbors started to shut their windows against us.
Also we just never bothered to take off our skates, which was sort of funny...

*Cute hipster-hipsomatic photos stolen from Maskulina.

possibly too long of a link:
Here is the workout park:
http://www.stockholm.se/-/Serviceenhetsdetaljer/?enhet=275c88cf5f454e39a4e72b9782810366

"...be running up that hill...with no problems..."

I went to another outdoor workout session with some of the great ladies of STRD. http://rollerderby.se/
The league is still on 'semester' as is most of Stockholm- shut down for vacation through July and into some part of August.
This time we met at Nytorget (Neeetoree-et) a park near our apartment and (ran!) to a free ferry that took us over to a huge hill where people can ski during the winter, essentially in the middle of Stockholm.

A bonus to the running, (gasping, dying), was that I found where the round jetty was located. I had seen a photo but I didn't know where to find it. But as we came off the ferry there it was.
The whole area is a new development of "green" housing, along the waterway and locks that are located next to a nature reserve. The hill is along side the housing area and the reserve, the size of the reserve can be seen from the top of the hill, if you are crazy enough to want to scale (run!) up the hill for the view.

I took Zok there the next day to get a better look, as I find that when I can stand still and breathe I am more able to appreciate my environment.
We found a good (for Sweden) place to eat, on our side of the water which made the whole trip worth the effort.
I was told that beavers can be seen in the waterways.
However...

"Swaying daisies sing a lazy song beneath the sun".

Tyestra: a park of nationally sized dashed hopes.
Animals (djur) and birds (fåglar) NOT spotted, yet displayed brightly, and in large numbers on website, in brochures, and around the ranger station: Beavers, Deer, Moose, many, many Owls INCLUDING a pygmy owl (read: Pigwidgeon), Bats, a LEGLESS lizard (looks like a snake, is not a snake), and of course Hedgehogs!
Apparently hedgehogs are in such abundance that there is a special warning that states in both Swedish and English and I quote, "Do not take hedgehogs or other wild mammals home with you". That really stung me.
Speaking of getting stung, I (naturally) got bit by some sort of insect.

Of course, I was giddy with happiness at the landscape, the village from 'The Iron Age', the fresh air, and the prospect of seeing critters, until of course I realized that I was not going to see animals. But I was still left with the satisfaction of 'getting out' of the city for awhile.
I was especially happy to leave our block as a whole new round of tagging had just been completed the night before. Graffiti in this style is depressing as it is pervasive throughout my travels.

Ängbyplan T-bana Konst

The light is starting to give way to the gradual change in season, where darkness comes a few minutes sooner, and the deepness is a little darker, each night.

If I hadn't known that Ängyplan was a station with art, I would have missed the hallway, because the tiles are mostly near the elevator (Hiss) which I would normally never use.

I couldn't do all of the tiles justice through an iPhone camera but here is a small sample.