Komet

i've joined a bike club here in Gbg, the one my brother is in - Komet Club Rouleur. their motto is: De såg ut som gudar men levde som svin. (They looked like gods, but lived like swine.)

last weekend they organised a bike film festival, and there was even a Roller Race. i didn't participate, cuase i had a big cold/flu, but here are a couple of films from the finals!

and now it's dark and cold already...

i feel like it's a very long time since i last wrote... since then, some things have happened.

the biggest thing is that my grandad died. he was 90 years old, and had a long and happy life. he passed away in my grandma's arms.

the funeral was lovely, over 200 people came, and i got all sorts of reminders about what is actually important in life... we miss him.

i've moved into a flat with my two lovely sisters, close to both my studio and work. so my legs are not getting as much cycling, but it saves alot of time! and it's great living here. please come visit.

also, before i left the States, i got a little tattoo. it's from a drawing by Ardeshir Mohasses, an Iranian artist/cartoonist. when my grandma saw it, she paused for a while and then said "... well, it's the inside that counts." but i really like it.

cycling

last Friday was Critical Mass Friday! we luckily happened upon it, and it was alot bigger (of course) than any other place i've been to CM ride. it was fun, and included for example sitting on a hill and driving down a dead-end street. the drivers of Austin were pretty freindly -even the ones that didn't seem to like what we were doing, for example one man who sat stranded in his car, surrounded by a sea of bicycles, who kept saying "Thankyou for obeying the law! Thankyou for obeying the law!"

Saturday morning, together with a friend of A's, we cycled to Hamilton Pool, which was so beautiful! and swimming felt really amazing after cycling in the sun.

we camped in a park about 20miles from the pool, and heard strange noises in the night, maybe coyotes?

Big Bend National Park

we rented a little car and drove down to Big Bend State Park. well worth a visit! it was really beautiful. here is a little selection of the millions of photos we took:

A's very special birthday meal:

the light reminded me of Afghanistan... the same cloud-shadows.

i don't have good pictures of them, but we also saw a big hairy tarantula and a rattlesnake and another little snake, lots of different birds (e.g. different kinds of hummingbirds) and butterflies, a little mouse, and squirrels, and 2 kinds of rabbits, 2 kinds of deer. and lots of beautiful colourful insects. we didn't see any javelina's, black bears, or mountain lions. we'll just have to go back.

Mexico

Mckinney Falls State Park

prickly pear growing on a tree (think it was a bald cypress)

there's a little turtle sitting on a rock but he's so small in the picture

little fish

three black vultures

austin

hello from Austin, Texas.

i saw this image on a wall in the East side, and thought it was pretty funny. (people don't have to wear helmets here when they ride their huge motorcycles... )

we spent a week in Kansas City, which was really nice, we got spoiled by A's family, and i fell in love with some little dogs... and A's sister's wedding was really great, it was original and happy and i was really glad to be there. i don't have any pictures from there just now, but should post some of all the cupcakes, if nothing else! (K&S had vegan cupcakes instead of a wedding cake, and the whole thing took place in a little cinema, complete with movie trailers and ping-pong-tables).
we took the Greyhound from there to Austin (which was quite a funny experience, mostly due to the drivers we had: first an elderly man who did everything in slow-motion, was extremely sensitive to ciggarette-smoke -ie he couldn't drive for 1/2 hour after getting a little whiff of it outside- and we ended up over an hour late. but then! the next driver, who got on in Oklahoma, was a superwoman. big, tall, whitehaired and amazing. she was shouting out information while driving -the PA system was broken- we could even hear her at the back. and we felt that she would do anthing, whatever it takes, to get us to our destinations on time. and she did, so we didn't miss our bus from Dallas to Austin. also, there was something wrong with the AC, so with the first driver we were all turning blue and shivering cause it was so cold, but with the second driver, she kept turning it on and off and it was a perfect temperature and we could sleep. aah.)
we spent the first 2 days bussing, cycling, and driving a moving truck around; A got himself a flat and moved in. those two days were a bit hectic, but it's amazing how smoothly things have been going. it's good that it's not as hard to find flats here as in Sweden! the 1st night we stayed at a lovely B&B, it was at a welcoming hippie's house, who's planning on moving to Costa Rica and has all sorts of animals. (i invited him to stay at my and all my friends' and family's houses all over the world, i hope nobody minds...) He tried to sell us all sorts of things, but also gave Andy a very nice shirt that another guest had forgotten.
the 3rd day was mostly spent on the couch...
we've also gone swimming, (there's a really great natural pool called Barton Springs) been to a BBQ, listened to a bit of music, shopped in some thrift-stores, sat in the library, and had the odd beer here and there. and been to a park, the Mckinney Falls State Park.
and ... (this is quite exciting) tomorrow we're renting a car and driving down to Big Bend National Park, to go hiking. :-). i'll post some pictures after we come back next week.