February 25

My back has been hurting lately and I have been feeling a bit stiff despite working out a couple of times a week in the gym, so I have decided to start stretching for 30 minutes in the morning, following a YouTube tutorial, to see if it helps. I After a few minutes, it became evident that my muscles are in worse than I initially expected to be; my flexibility has been considerably reduced and the range of motion of certain joints is well under average, possibly as a consequence of the knee injury I suffered in 2012 and the sedentary lifestyle it imposed during the following years.

As I went through the video this morning, sitting on Kat’s yoga mat, I kept thinking to myself: “I can’t fucking do that!”. Every exercise was a painful reminder of the price you pay when you don’t take rehab seriously. It was quite frustrating and a bit scary. My body is REALLY tight, and not in a nice way…

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I just discovered Love Letters from Craig, a project by Cartelle Interactive Arts:

‘love letters from craig’ is a romantic exploration into the perversions of modern-day digital hookups. The narrator reads aloud personal ads from anonymous people seeking love & affection on the internet. The contents are not moderated and completely automated, only enhanced by sensual porno beats and tasty, sexy visuals. Content is scraped hourly from Craigslist casual encounters.

Brilliant.

February 24

Today, on my way to work, I started reading “Do Improvise” by Robert Poynton, a book by The Do Book Co. which explores the power of improvisation, a natural human process that has creativity and innovation at its core. On the second page, there was this:

The unexpected is our constant companion. Blind alleys, unheralded turns and serendipitous connections are everyday stuff. However hard we work to avoid it, we are constantly accosted by things we didn’t plan for, from a puncture to a deflating economy. Life is a whirling torrent for which nobody has a script.

Nothing new, I know, but it just tied in nicely with yesterday’s post. It made me smile and gave me a little pat of encouragement that I certainly welcomed.

And then there was this post by Rob Cambell, a guy I have never met but for whom I feel genuine empathy and admiration. He’s brilliantly insightful and funny, and his observations always make me pause to think about stuff I have never pondered before. I wish he knew how much I appreciate reading his opinionated musings, especially the ones in which he (willingly or not) makes himself vulnerable, it’s humbling and inspiring.

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My friend Ross is in Australia touring with Soundgarden and I can’t help but feeling tremendous jealousy for all the bloody Aussies who are getting to see the band live this year. I Skyped a very jetlagged Ross last night at 4am, Australian time, and he told me Soundgarden is sounding fantastic, as you would expect. I have seen them four times in the last couple of years (including a front row show in Copenhagen and the first-class photo-pit experience last year when they opened for Black Sabbath in Berlin) and and they have been absolutely outstanding every single time.

If you are into Soundgarden, or music in general, make sure to follow Ross on Instagram, he’s posting some really sweet shots there: https://instagram.com/rosshalfin

February 23

Last week was strange. A couple of things happened and, although they aren’t terribly serious, they somehow managed to bring us down a bit. They also changed some of our plans and I have to admit I’m struggling to let go some of them, which I was really looking forward to. But then again, that’s just the way it is, isn’t it? It’s always hard to deal with change, or to enforce it in order to make things better. It’s fucking hard work but we will power through and, in the end, I’m sure we will look back and realize it was all totally worth it.

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After thinking about it for a while, I finally decided to try my luck with collage. I have always been fascinated with the idea of taking existing material and re-contextualize it to create something else entirely. I also like the idea of hunting for the right image, to have a mental to-do list of visuals that might be useful later; it will give me a reason to start collecting something and keep me on the lookout for nice textures and graphics whenever I find myself browsing through piles of old newspapers, magazines, photographs and books at flea markets and vintage shops, something that up until this point I have done only out of pure curiosity. The fact that I can finally use all the unsolicited free magazines that get delivered at work is a plus, too.

I will approach this with an open mind and low expectations, and I have promised not to be too hard on myself, at least at the beginning. I want to enjoy the destructive process of construction and to have fun thinking of unexpected ways to combine the pieces I find, while trying to make the most out of the limitations that collage naturally imposes. It’s a creative exercise that will not only will require some brain power but also demand a lot of patience, both of which I seem to be lacking at the moment.

The results I will probably keep to myself but I’m gonna try to keep track of my learning experience and once I have a decent amount of pieces done, maybe I will post my favorites here along with my notes. Who knows, maybe someone else will enjoy them, too.

February 16

February 9

Half the office is away on holidays and I’m here at my desk, watching videos of AC/DC live at River Plate on YouTube, barely able to contain my excitement about the upcoming tour and the fact that, after so many years, I might finally get the chance to see them. Twice, maybe three times if I manage to score a ticket for that Madrid show that sell out within an hour. Kat and I will be in town anyways so I guess it would be just a matter of going to the venue a few hours before the show and see if I can find someone reselling their tickets. It’s a long shot but I will give it a try.

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Last night we watched “Pitch Perfect”, a movie Kat sold me as a “musical” and that I agreed to watch with trepidation. As it turns out, the film is actually pretty funny and we found ourselves singing, dancing and laughing quite a few times. We also spent most of the movie marvelling at Anna Kendrick’s fantastic boobs, which seem surprisingly big for a girl of such small frame. We both have a crush on her…

February 5

I’m down with a cold and I’m in the office, on a beautiful winter day, feeling sorry for myself.

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Yesterday, I came across a great blog post that drew similarities between moving (as in relocating from one place to another) and death, arguing that moving houses is like dying, but on a small scale; we are forced to leave behind some of our precious belongings, as if it was a rehearsal for when the time to leave EVERYTHING behind comes. The thought is daunting but, as someone who has relocated to a new city 6 times, I can totally empathize with the feeling.

I wish I could elaborate more on this, or at least include a link to the article here, but I can’t find the blog where I read it and I can’t be bothered to write anymore; my nose is leaking, my eyes feel heavy, and I still have a meeting to attend before going home.

I told you I was feeling sorry for myself, didn’t I?

February 2

I have been having trouble sleeping lately, waking up three and four times during the night, for no reason at all. I just can’t seem to be able to get deep, uninterrupted sleep and it’s really pissing me off.

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Last Friday, Kat and I went on a date and had dinner at Lille Bror, a nice restaurant in the city centre. We had a lovely 3-course menu and a glass of wine, then went for a drink at The Living Room and then met with Carlos and Marisa in Balderdash and Strøm, before going back home around midnight.

On Saturday, I went to pick up at the framing shop a couple of posters I got from my Mexican friend, Javier,; he bought them in a Lucha Libre match a year ago and sent them back to me with Klara, a girl who used to work at my favourite coffee shop here in Copenhagen, who had stayed with Javier during her visit to Mexico City. They look fantastic. I also went record shopping at Sound Station and got “Magical Mystery Tour” and “Help”, my first The Beatles vinyls, which I played as soon as I got home.

On Sunday, Kat and went to check out a flea market in Nørrebro, had Turkish food for lunch, then went to Torverhallerne for coffee and then back home to hide from the cold. We somehow ended up watching an entire episode of “Ex on the Beach,” a reality show in which a group of British chavs (muscular guys and hottish girls, all sprayed tan and with terrible tattooes) hang out on the beach and anxiously await for their exes to randomly come out of the sea, usually bringing some sort of drama. It was hilarious.

Taylor and I have a great taste for t-shirts…

We also kept watching “Banshee”, a series Kat recommended after a failed attempt to get me into “True Blood.” In case you haven’t heard of it, the series is about a thief that becomes the sheriff of a small town in the middle of nowhere (not gonna tell you how he does that, in case you want to see it) and spends his days fighting bad guys, fucking women, and trying to get his old girlfriend back. Despite the crap opening titles sequence, I really like it; it’s nicely directed, it’s exciting AND there’s plenty of exposed breasts. In fact, for a small town, Banshee has an impressive number of hot women, the greatest of all being a rebel girl named Rebecca, a character played by Lili Simmons, for whom I seem to have developed a massive crush.

If you don’t know her, Google her up. You’ll know what I’m talking about.

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Just got tickets to see Rom Zombie at VEGA in June. The ticket was reasonably priced and after seeing him played Roskilde last year, I’m really looking forward to see him in Copenhagen’s greatest music venue. Just watch this and you will get an idea…