" The World According To Me " Pixiekatten's Profile

With these two hands I make my own world. I create, therefore I am:

Perfectionist.
Work-a-holic.
Temperamental.
Pescatarian.
Art student.
Movie buff.
Thinker.
Insomniac.
Friendly.
Ironic.

I been doodling, drawing, painting, sketching, creating all my life. Many times did I prefer the company of the paintbrush instead of other children. And I still seek solitude... within it lies my creativity.

It has been like riding a bike. During the years I lived in Scotland it was almost like I forgot about my skills and the joy I felt while creating something out of nothing. When I returned to Sweden last year I returned without one single piece of artwork. Still I decided to go to University, to become an Arts teacher. Terrifying. Did I still have it in me? I got up on the bike and before I knew it I swooshed off. Soon pictures filled my head. I have worked in plaster, clay, steel wire, cardboard, photoshop, acrylic paint... And every time I finish a project the rush creates more and more ideas.

For once in my life I am 100% certain that the choice I made was the right one. Becoming an Arts teacher seems to be my calling in life! :) To see some of my stuff have a look on this Travelogue on my Japan page.

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Yup since I am a person that always got so much to say I got two blogs - one is mainly a photoblog and the other one in English about my plans to leave Sweden for Scotland. That one is called TAILING PIXIEKATTEN and the photoblog one is FOUND HERE. The latter one is however not very active at the moment.. Still full of real good pics tho. ;)

Enjoy!

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It all started a day sometime in the 80s… I was home sick from school and my dad being the sweet man he is he went to rent me a movie so I could pass time. He brought me Ferris Bueller’s Day Off – unaware of the fact that he was about to change my life…

We watched the movie together, both were laughing out loud throughout the film. Me at the cheekiness of Ferris and my dad at the mental principal always on Ferris’ tail. It was such a good day. The sky opened up … the horizon broadened. I changed…
Leisure rules is the movie’s tagline. Seize the moment. Have fun and stay young. I still live my life like that, about 20 years later. I grab moments without hesitation. I do what I must to be happy and stay that way. Sometimes I have walked down the wrong path but there’s no worry in my mind. There’s always a road back to where you started the journey.
I left Sweden for Edinburgh, UK first time when I was 19 but only stayed for 6months. And then I moved back there again at the age of 23 and this time I lived in Edinburgh for almost 4 years. I got a job as a waitress in a busy Old Toun restaurant. I started at the bottom but made it to manager only 2 years later. All my years spent in hospitality finally paid off!
I have changed jobs loads of times as a young lass in Sweden but never been unemployed for more than a couple of weeks in total. I love to work but I also love to live! We only get this one life and I want to enjoy it to the max. I have never understood people staying put on a job they hate or live in a place they can’t stand. Change is scary but good. Sometimes we all need a good scare to wake up and smell the coffee…
So there you go. Welcome to my page. Welcome to the world of a coffee junkie. Hope you will enjoy my pages. Please drop me a line or leave your print among the comments. Even the tiniest smile can make somebody’s day. Don’t be stranger!

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In 2005 a dear friend to me got a scholarship to go to Japan and do some design work. She booked a ticket for 5 weeks but soon realised the work was only going to take just over 2 weeks. We sat one evening doing what we always did, shared a bottle of bubbly at The Villager in Edinburgh. Suddenly she suggests as a joke that I should come and meet up with her in Osaka so she didn’t have to travel alone. A few weeks later I booked my ticket.

In mid March I landed in Osaka and within days I had fallen in love. We travelled the Kansai area before going to Tokyo to see an old friend of mine who had been an exchange student in my class in Sweden 10 years ago… It was the best trip of my life. And in 2006 I returned to Japan on my own and spent a month there. My fascination with this amazing country just seems to grow stronger and stronger. This year Im heading to South Korea but it would be rude not to take the ferry from Busan to Shimonoseki and spend at least a week in Japan. So that’s what I’m doing. And I can’t wait to go back. Every day feels like an eternity. So what is it I love about this country? Well, just to mention a few things and places:
- Kyoto Where modern life meets the traditional Japan in a way that to a westerner is magic.
- Manga and anime. Although some are a bit too porno-ish in my opinion the artwork is still amazing and some extremely beautiful. Studio Ghibli films are all masterpieces!
- Takayama. I fell in love with this small mountain town straight away. Maybe it was the friendly people browsing the morning markets, maybe it was the stroll in the hills taking me past temple after temple or maybe it was the way the clouds there wore colours I never seen before… Whatever it was I had a wonderful stay.
- The people I met. I had heard stories about chikan and frankly I was worried before I went since I was about to spend so much time on trains going places. But I had no close encounters. I only met wonderful people. A young girl with an umbrella walked me to my hotel from the train station in the pouring rain just to keep me from getting soaked. Two older women bought me a ticket to the park by Osaka’s castle. On several occasions I got help finding buses without even having to ask, looking slightly confused seems to be enough…
- Japanese cuisine, J-Rock, shrines, art, Tokyo, Shinkansen, fashion and of course, coffee. Extremely expensive but when made the traditional way like in the coffee shop in Kamakura it was worth every Yen!

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So how does a coffee junkie spend her days? Well this particular caffeine addict makes sure she gets her fix first thing in the morning. About 3-4 cups usually do the trick and she’s ready to go! Breakfast is out of the question. She knows she should eat before going to uni but hasn’t done so since she was about 9 years old. And an old habit is hard to break.

She’s off to uni in Kalmar where she studies to become a teacher. Subjects are arts, media and English. It’s her ticket out of Sweden. It’s a great country but the coffee junkie is not done seeing the world and even though she loves to travel she’s not satisfied with just seeing the tip of the iceberg. She wants to get in there – live like the locals do. And after 2 trips to Japan she hopes to one day move to Kyoto. It has do be said that during a school day she has at least another 2-3 cups of coffee, otherwise she can not function and slowly transform to the ***iest *** from hell… an alter ego nobody should ever have to meet.
Spare-time. The coffee junkie has many hobbies. Painting, writing novels or poems, reading, kick-boxing, listening to music, seeing friends, spending time on VT, cooking, taking long walks, going to second hand shops, watching a movie, sleeping, taking a bath, taking photographs, going to the pub, going clubbing and of course: going to a café to enjoy an extra large latte!

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Do you ever get the feeling that life is just a show? That it's all an act? People around you are just a bunch of extras? You got the lead?

I do. Constantly. Since I was a wee lass I'd always had an imaginative mind. I still make up stories every day. Some I write down but most of them disappears into thin air never to be told. I daydream. How else can one escape the madness of every day life?

Music that accompanies me:
Ratatat, Of Montreal, Brian Jonestown Massacre, Cursive, Queens of the stoneage, Tori Amos, Built to Spill, Muse, PJ Harvey, White Rose Movement, Yeah Yeah Yeah's, The Shins, Televison, Pixies, Sonic Youth, Pavement, Modest Mouse, Polysics, Boom Boom Satellites, Ajico, The Brilliant Green, Guitar Vader, Soldout, dEUS, Hollywood Porn Stars, Girls In Hawaii, Evil Superstars, Caesars Palace, Kent, Small Flowers Crack Concrete...

C'mon, let's pretend!

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On request I have to keep my wee Swedish language course. And do not worry, I have kept the tongue twisters too!
Remember the 3 extra letters: Åå, Äå and Öö?
Åå – like ‘o’ in North.
Ää – like ‘a’ in Fat.
Öö – like ‘ea’ in Pearl.

Here we go!
Hello – Hej
Goodbye – Hej då
See you – Vi ses
Sorry – Förlåt
Excuse me - Ursäkta
Thank you – Tack
Good morning – God morgon
Good night – God natt
Yes (please) – Ja (tack)
No (thanks) – Nej (tack)

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Do you speak English? – Pratar du engelska?
I don’t understand Swedish – Jag förstår inte svenska.
Where is..? – Var ligger..?
The trainstation – Tågstationen
Bus stop – Buss hållplats
This place (*pointing at a map*) – Denna platsen

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Can I buy you a drink? – Får jag bjuda på en drink?
Whats your name? – Vad heter du?
Go away! – Stick!
Damn… - Fan…

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And now – TONGUE TWISTERS!!!
Sex laxar i en lax ask.
Sju sjösjuka sjömäns sju skepp sjönk.

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