Let's continue with where I left off. With my birthday. Or should I say... the day before my birthday.

Since earlier me, my MIL, my mom and my brother planned a HUGE clean-out off our storage. (All swedish apartments come with at least one storage in the basement.) We decided to clean out both the small one and the bigger one.

None of these storages have been cleaned out since Mr P took over this apartment from his mom. So you can imagine how full they were. The big one, that is like a room, a moderately small room. You couldn't walk into said storage, it was so packed full of stuff.

Now Mr P he is one of those people that say things like: "Let's take care of that later." "Let's put it in the storage for now, and deal with it later." Thing is... that 'later' never happens. Instead our storage just got fuller and fuller and messier and messier. And I couldn't stand it, so I arranged this huge clean-out.

That I wanted my brother there is that he has a calming effect on Mr P. Mr P has a very short temper when it comes to things like this. Not violent, but he gets very angry, annoyed, irritated and such... Usually over dumb things, or small things.

Gladly it went really fast! Mr P and my lovely brother took care of the bigger storage, and they were fast as fuck! We'd rented a small truck, so they drove that back and forth to the waste disposal site and the charity. Me and my best friend Ylletyg took care of the smaller storage, trying to be just as fast. We also bought two storage shelves that we put in the bigger storage so we could get some order to the stuff we decided to keep. Which was not much.

Meanwhile my mom and my MIL took care of Alexandra, amusing her. And made sure there was food, FIKA and coffee plus tea for us that worked. :-)

Once we were done, our storages were probably the most ordered storages in the house. :-D SO HAPPY ABOUT THIS!!!

Day after that, it was my 41st birthday. We took it very easy. Just took the last stuff to charity. Went out to eat lunch at our favorite FIKA-place. Was REALLY nice! And then we visited my MIL, she's awesome so that was also really nice!

Then we went home and just took it really easy. :-) Perfect birthday!

After that, I got REALLY inspired by our success. So I did a huge clean-out of our walk in closet as well. It's not a big walk in closet, actually quite small. Just big enough for mine and Mr P's clothes. And towels, sheets and such. Sounds big? Trust me, it's not. With all the things in there on shelves and stuff, you can only be one person in there at a time.

Add to that all the stuff that Mr P figured we could "take care of later". Yeah, there were so much stuff like that in there to, you couldn't see the floor. I rest my case. :-/ But I managed to clean that place out to! ALONE!!! AND got Mr P to clean out all his old disgusting T-shirts as well! AWESOME!!! So that place is in order to!

Day after that, I cleaned out a small closet as well. It was supposed to be a closet for coats, jackets and such. But… There were SO MUCH STUFF shoved in there that had been in there since Mr P moved in after his mother. :-/ Now we can actually use it for what it’s meant to. For coats and such. Which means…. I could organize our hatrack where you put hats, coats and such when you walk in the hallway.

Fuck yeah! Inspired much? You bet!

So today, I’ve organized and cleaned out some more! Me and Mr P has a shared desk in the living room with our two computers. It’s our nerdcorner. (See below at my current location…) There’s quite a few desk drawers in it, and they were full of just… stuff. So today I cleaned out and organized those to. :-)

Of course, we’ve done other things as well.

In between the cleanin out and organizing, we’ve been on a mini-vacation trip to Kolmården for two days. :-) It was Alexandra's wish to go there, since they have a small amusement park in the middle totally based around the swedish comic and cartoon character Bamse. Alexandra loves Bamse, she has a subscription on the comic, so it does end up in the mail now and then. And she has ALL the cartoons as well. :-) It’s a very very swedish comic, and has been around for so so many years. So I think the part of the park with Bamse was her favorite. My favorite was to see the birds of prey show they had and also the dolphin show they had. I’ve been there a few times as a kid, but it was sooooo different now. :-)

Anyhow, we had a GREAT time while there, even though our feet and legs were very tired. (I tracked how many steps we walked with the pedometer in my phone, and in two days we took about 23000 steps or more… o.O)

It did rain A LOT for some of the first day, but it wasn’t cold so with umbrellas, we had a good time still.

Rain is desperately needed all over Sweden. And well, all over Scandinavia, to be honest. We have a terrible drought right now. There’s wild forest fires in so many places here, it’s crazy. Not close to us, gladly. Mostly in the north of Sweden, past the polar circle (!). Not joking. There’s huge big forests there, and since they are so dry, well…

The king of Sweden, His Royal Highness Carl XVI Gustav was there encouraging the fireworkers the other day. They seem to have most of the fires mostly under control now, but yeah… It’s been somewhat insane.

Anyhow, between all this and a trip to Gothenburg and Universeum (which really is not built for people with a fear of heights… Poor Mr P…), I’ve kept busy. In a good way.

Mr P told me sternly that you’re supposed to relax as well during your vacation, meaning I’m too focused on organizing and cleaning out things. Well, I’m relaxing as well. Promise. :-) I did today, when Mr P took Alexandra with him to the zoo, so I had the whole place for myself for a couple of hours. Bliss!

This entry is cross posted between LJ and DW. Comment where you are comfortable.

The school term has ended. No more kids at school until 15 of August. I'm FREE!!! And so are the kids and teens. :-)

Well, I will work for a bit more. Not full weeks, since well... Midsummer and then LARP. :-)

The teens, kids and the teachers and staff have returned SO MANY BOOKS, that they can't really fit in the shelf. It's good though. Last year there were so many many books that were never returned. I lost so many. This year things look much better. AND the statistics for how many books are loaned every month looks SO MUCH BETTER! I mean, I think it was March or April that the loans even doubled compared to last year. So I'm... pretty proud of myself for getting more kids and teens to read. Go me, right?

So, what am I doing when not working? Netflix and chill. *LOL*

Well, more of a Netflix and everything else. Checking my social media and LJ/DW. I really should have two screens, but as it is, I've gotten used to split my screen, so to speak.

I've also read a bit. I know orangerful keeps posting what books and stuff she's been reading, so I guess I can to. At least after I've finished them. :-) So unlike her I'll just... post when I've finished something.



I've read a series of books by the writer Kristina Appelqvist. They're whodunit crime novels like Agatha Christie wrote. They remind me of her books. And the fun part with them? Is they take place in the little small town and the little villages and communities around where I grew up. So I knew EXACTLY where all the action takes place. Which made them fun to read. :-) Very swedish, and I think they only exist in swedish, but if you know swedish, you should read them.



Then I stumbled upon this graphic novel about Jeffrey Dahmer. I don't think he needs any future introduction. And to make a graphic novel about such a monstrous man, is... interesting. And brilliant. Because this is BEFORE he ended up doing those monstrous deeds. When he was a young teen. And had friends. Sorta anyway. Such a take was... very interesting. And the drawings fit the story perfectly.

That I picked it up is probably because my interest in true crime. And I think it was because I'd listened to an episode about Jeffrey Dahmer on the podcast My Favorite Murder...



Then I read this. One of the most talked about books, right? Donald Trump and his presidency is like a trainwreck syndrome. I can not stop reading. Can not stop watching. And when I knew it was getting closer to the next time I was up to talk on the radio about a book, and I saw this book... And that it was available, I figured why not? It was easier to read then I expected, although there was SO MANY names to keep track off! That was the only thing that was a bit hard with it. You like me and you can't stop reading up on Trump... Then you should read this facepalm-inducing book...

And thus endeth my post today. :-) Tomorrow we'll prepare an early birthday party for Alexandra. And on Sunday... she'll have her best friends come over for cake and kid-party.

This entry is cross posted between LJ and DW. Comment where you are comfortable.

Oh hum… Things have been… busy. To say the least. Because we’re nearing the end of the school term. And that means my work-load goes a bit insane. Phew.

Unlike other years though, I’m actually pretty on top of things. I’ve gotten better at planning. Planning is EVERYTHING!!! Seriously, it’s given me peace of mind on a whole other level unlike previous few years I’ve been working here. I hope I continue being better and better at planning.

And won’t break my leg next year when winter returns… again… *crosses fingers*

Finally though the spring has arrived! I mean, it’s almost summer already. It was SO WARM today! So yeah, I’ll try not to worry about breaking legs in a while again…

This spring though Sweden lost two HUGE icons in the swedish music industry. No, seriously. Musicians of all ages agree that the influence on swedish music from these two is impossible to say. There’s a reason they’re called icons.

I for one have just taken their music and presence for granted, so I was a bit shocked when I heard they’d died. I’ve listened to their music so much lately, and I will admit to miss them dearly. I really did love their music, and it’s very typical swedish. Music I’ve grown up with. Their music have been a constant background to my life.

First Jerry Williams died 25th of March. He made rockabilly music that made me smile. And he had one hell of a presence of stage. It didn’t matter what age you were, everyone loved watching him on stage. It's impossible to sit still when playing his music. A fan of Elvis, he did get to meet him once when Jerry was young (according to his autobiography that I’ve read). Even though old, Jerry could not get enough of being on stage. Even if he did slow down after he’d turned 70. Instead he focused on health and exercise, giving out a book about exercising as an elderly. He was in great shape! However, cancer in his back (I think the spine) got him in the end, despite him being in great shape. RIP Jerry Williams…

Here’s some of his greatest hits, and my favorites to.

I can Jive (2012 when Jerry was 70 years of age)


Did I telly you (2016 when Jerry was 73 years old)


You can never tell (2014, Jerry was 71 years old) at the Polar prize Ceremony...


And then on the 3rd of April… Lill-Babs died. If she wasn’t an icon, no one is. An icon and one of the most hardworking artists I’ve heard off. She worked. Constantly. From the age of 15 years old until she died at the age of 80. She was planning yet another tour then!!! And was still working with various musicians! Lill-Babs played A LOT around the swedish folkparks = the people's parks. Recreation areas where there was a stage for artists to perform. (Not many of them left these days.) She’s said herself in interviews that she could sometimes perform in 3 or 4 of these places a day, helping to pack and travel in between each performance. She was very hard working. While also having three daughters. They claim she was a very loving and warm mother, even though she was away a lot. And also a bit crazy, since she could just NOT relax. She ADORED her fans though. And always took time to talk to each and everyone. Not to mention she was a very close friend to Quincy Jones. To the point of even contemplating marriage, but they didn't want to ruin the deep friendship they had, so they stayed close close friends. He wrote music for her at times. Interesting note, she was infamous for always wearing insanely high heels, which she did until her death. She had a thing for shoes… She died from a combination of cancer and heart failure... RIP Barbro Lill-Babs Svensson…

Here’s two really awesome vids with some of my favorite music with her. She was AMAZING!!!

Lill-Babs (in all black) performing a medley with her friends Siw Malmkvist and Ann-Louise Hansson Summer 2017 (Lill-Babs is 80 years old!)


Her greatest hit, Leva livet (= Live your life!) TV-show 2009 (Lill-Babs is 71 years old!)



You were both so so so loved and respected by colleagues, fans, the swedish people, the international music industry... You are both so so so missed. Rest in peace Jerry and Barbro...

This entry is cross posted between LJ and DW. Comment where you are comfortable.

I am home sick today. Ugh. Every time I get sick, in having a cold, it effects my throat. Everytime. I sound like shit (if you follow me on Instagram/Snapchat you've heard my horrible voice.) It started on Sunday when we were at my cousin and mom. And then it just got worse and worse... :-P Monday and yesterday was really really bad. I was really short of breath and it... "whistled"... when I was breathing? And it was hard to breath. Not to the point I felt a need to go to the ER, but it was still not very fun. And I was coughing. SO MUCH! So now my ribs ache. :-P And I had a fever. Because why not. It's a good thing the kids/teens are off school this week what with Easter, or I would have felt horribly guilty as well. Bah. But as it is, no school this week so I can be at home and get well in peace.

Yesterday though I'd taken a day off and had planned to go shopping with Alexandra. And we did! But man, my breathing was so bad when we came home I had to sit down and focus on my breathing for a moment when we came home. After that though, I've just taken it easy. Taking care of me. I know I'm bad at that. But I get when I'm beaten by germ. *raises fist at fucking germs*

Anyway, since I'm home anyway, I'll just finish off this challenge that I started. I'm late as all hell, but I WILL FINISH IT DAMMIT!!!



♥ Day 1 ♥ Day 2 ♥ Day 3 ♥ Day 4 ♥ Day 5 ♥ Day 6 ♥ Day 7 ♥ Day 8 ♥ Day 9 ♥ Day 10♥ Day 11 ♥ Day 12 ♥ Day 13 ♥ Day 14 ♥ Day 15 ♥

Day 11

Share a book/song/movie/tv show/fanwork/etc that changed your life

Oh dear... This is a hard one to answer, since I've been around for quite a lot of years. *LOL* Old farts unite! I'm allowed to call myself that when I'm 40, right? ;-)

Anyway, well... If I go to books I've reread the most, I'd say there's a few series that kind of changed my mind. That I can say opened my mind and set my imagination on fire when I was young.

First off there's CS Lews Narnia series. It was the first fantasy-series I read, and it was very much an AHA-moment for me when I read them. I was... 11-12 when I read them the first time, I think. And when I reread them today, I still enjoy them (although I see the issues today to... Because there are quite a few.)

Then there's The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien. NOT The Ring Trilogy, actually. To be quite honest, I think they're boring. But The Hobbit I love! Same thing there, it just again showed the width of the imagination for me.

And then there's all the comics I've read through the years.

Donald Duck and C/O is the first comic I ever got a subscription on when I was 6 years old. I'm still subscribed to it. Get a comic in the mail once a week. I can't imagine a Friday without it, to be honest. :-)

And then there's Elfquest. I found the first two issues in a corner in the public library, broken and worn, but they spoke to me and I could NOT get enough of them! They stopped publishing them in swedish, but I now have nearly everything published in english. I don't know what it is with that comic, but I can not get enough of it. When I was young I saw one thing when reading it and as an adult another. Pretty incredible.

When it comes to movies and TV-show, the first one that really knocked me out was... Xena The WarriorPrincess. I do remember that there was two things with Xena. One: There's a woman that's far tougher than any man! And Two: She was the bad guy first!

Then there's Buffy, and it's the same thing there. A bad ass WOMAN in the lead. And vampires. Which I've always had a thing for. Just like with the others it was one of those AHA-moments.

I think all off these gave me AHA-moments. I could go on, I suppose, but these are the main ones. :-)

Day 12

In your own space, create a fanwork. Make a podfic, an icon, a sketch, a meta, or a rec list. Arts and crafts. Cross stitch. Draft an essay about a particular medium. Put together a picspam or a fanmix. Write a review of book you love, a ship manifesto, a you-should-be-listening-to-this-band essay. Create something.

I'm not a contributer to fandoms, so I don't have anything in particular. I just read, watch and listen. :-P But I do try to comment all the things that I do enjoy. Especially fanfic, for some reason. And fanart. Because that's people that write/draw something they are passionate about, and they should know there are more people that are passionate about the same thing.

I did create a list about my favorite YouTube channels once, I guess that's as close to something I've done. :-P

Day 13

In your own space, set some goals for the coming year. They can be fannish or not, public or private.

My goal is to just do what makes me happy. If you're in a fandom, or a fan of something/someone that does not make you happy, then why do you do it? So yeah. I'm not going to force it. I'm always so tired after work anyway, so I don't even have energy to talk to friends. So why should I do/read/watch anything that just makes me sad or upset me? I mean, really? My time is worth more than that.

Day 14

In your own space, create your own challenge. Whatever your challenge is, and have fun with it!

My challenge to any writer and/or artist is to write/draw a character that is the least popular in your fandom. Try it. Maybe you end up like it.

Challenge for me is to be more social. To dare to be online and talk to people again. And not be ashamed if I end up zoning out. It's fine to do that, even if whoever I talk to have to remind me of their existence. I'm a 40 year old mom working full time. I'm allowed to zone out in the evenings.

Day 15

In your own space, write a love letter to Fandom in general, to a particular fandom, to a trope, a relationship, a character, or to your flist/circle/followers. Share your love and squee as loud as you want to.

Dear fandom,

Without you I would not have discovered so many things about myself. Without you I would have been so lonely. Without you I would not be who I am today. Without you I would not have so many friends for life. And for all that and more, I will be eternally grateful.

Yours truly
// KSena

This entry is cross posted between LJ and DW. Comment where you are comfortable.

So I went to Gothenburg for some quality time with my best friend this weekend. And to see Phantom of the Opera with Fred Johanson playing the title role of the Phantom.

I saw Fred Johanson in the movie version of Jesus Christ Superstar years and years ago, and I feel head over heels over his deep dark voice and his incredible presence in every scene he was in. My best friend, who is a serious musical buff, has since kept track of him both for me and since she likes him to. In a word, we’ve turned into a bit of fangirls over him.

Had I not been a fresh new mom, we would have gone to Stockholm to see him in Jesus Christ Superstar there, but alas… :-) Now we got our chance though, and we jumped at it! Plus it played during February and we both HATE February, so there’s that to. :-) We all need something to put a smile on our face, right?

Anyhow, to make sure we wouldn’t have to stress after we’d been to the Gothenburg Opera House were the musical played, we decided to share a room at a hotel. We both have busy lives with work and such, so we needed a lazy little weekend with our best friend. :-)

We left for Gothenburg moderately early, it just takes 1 hour to go to Gothenburg by bus or train, so we were there around… 10:30am.

Went to the hotel we were luckily our room was already available, so we dumped our sleepover bags and then we just strolled around town taking our time. We both needed a stress free day, and we took our time with everything. Went to our favorite shops and stores. I ‘happened to’ buy the three latest Elfquest graphic novels. Oops? And we had a late lunch/dinner in a lovely british themed pub before we went back to the hotel to dress up for the night.

( Travel and shopping and views of Gothenburg and it's stores with my best friend... )

The Gothenburg Opera House is quite impressive. A modern building mostly made by glass and steel, but it still works quite well and is oddly beautiful. Right by the harbor to. Easy to get to.

( Entrance of the Opera House... )

We were there in plenty time, so there was no stress getting rid of coats, do a panicked bathroom break and finding our seats. Great seats, by the way! Close but not too close to the stage. Could see everything and hear everything perfectly. Whenever I need tickets to a musical, I trust Ylletyg to get tickets, she seriously rocks at it. :-D

( Interiour decoration and well... me... )

And so… On to the musical itself. :-) Apart from the knee jerk reaction “OMG! IT WAS AMAZING! I HAD GOOSEBUMPS!” Well, I did have goosebumps for most of it, but…

Unlike Ylletyg I have not seen that many musicals (she’s a proper musical-nerd), but I HAVE read the original book by Gaston Leroux. And it’s a very goth, very harsh gritty story. From what I knew of the musical going in, it’s not… quite as harsh and gritty as the original story. The original story is really dark, really goth. I do recommend it if you have the patience for the old fashioned language used. It’s really good.

So to actually see and hear it, and with Fred Johanson to boot, it was a true experience.

( Me and best friend and the stage before the musical started... )

Let’s see… How to do this…

The good

Well, the music, obviously. *LOL* This production was made together with the Finnish National Opera Company, so there were a couple of opera singers in it. And the orchestra was quite massive as well. Not sure how big an orchestra is at a musical, but since this was played at the Gothenburg Opera House, they used the full orchestra usually used there. And you could tell. The music just consumed you. Not even joking. The combination of the skilled musicians and the singers, all the different singers, was spellbinding.

Another downright amazing thing, that impressed both me and Ylletyg, is something the Gothenburg Opera House is known for… The ease and speed in wish the stage was changed and the scenography. I mean, the set up of the stage was changed SO FAST and SO SEAMLESSLY!!! Apparently the Gothenburg Opera House is built to be able to do that, so there was many scenes with different looks and a lot of props that quickly and seamlessly was changed around. The most impressive scene to me was when The Phantom lures Christine with him to his lair the first time (during the song Phantom of the Opera, the most famous of the songs) and all these stairwells and grey brick walls moved around on the stage as if they were part of Hogwarts in the Harry Potter movies… WITH the actors standing on them! THAT was impressive!

Another really good thing about this musical, which both me and Ylletyg both commented on at the same time, was that it was quite harsh and gritty, goth and dark. Well, the story IS dark and goth in and off itself, but the movie isn’t that harsh and gritty. And according to Ylletyg, previous productions hasn’t been this harsh and gritty either… If that makes sense? It sure worked really really well though, and I got the feeling that the actors/singers enjoyed that to. The costumes were INCREDIBLE and while I wanted to steal most of the male costumes, Ylletyg wanted to steal all the female ones. *LOL* She said the costumes had a bit of steampunk feel to it, and I have to agree! They even redesigned The Phantom’s mask, and I have to say I really liked it! The whole scenography and costumes was really good and added to the harsh, gritty, goth, dark feel of the whole production. A great great job!

Characters / Actors

When it comes to characters and their singers/actors, I have to say a character I found dull and boring in the book and in the movie (yes, I have seen the movie to), is Raoul. Christine's love interest. He is the posterboy for the time the novel was written, but would not be popular today, if get what I mean. But the actor/singer that did him the night we watched, did something more with the character within the frames he was given. A boyish charming guy, that very clearly showed his love for Christine. Not just competing with The Phantom, you know? He somehow managed to show that he cared. More than the Raoul in the novel, to be honest. So he sure impressed me!

Raoul works together with the two new owners of the Opera, Monsieur Firmin and Monsieur André. And these two were freaking HILARIOUS! Perfect comic relief without going to far with it. Have some of the best songs, to be honest. And the two actors clearly had fun with these actors. It was very obvious. The Phantom is my favorite, but these comes close to it, for sure. I think they did great!

Carlotta and Pangini were two other characters that were definitely comic reliefs. Carlotta and Pangini are the two stars of the opera in the story. And Carlotta? Is a proper diva! *LOL* The actress/singer is a trained opera-singer. And you can tell. I don’t think she had a microphone. She didn’t need one. Holy hell, what a voice! Combining that with an over the top diva character, and it was a joy to see! Also, she had the most awesome clothes off ALL the characters! High heeled victorian boots in leopard print? GIVE ME! Pangini was a bit more flat of a character, but he was funny to. Especially with Carlotta who kept bulling him around, while he just came back for more. Both of them played up an italian accent, which was very fitting both for the setting and the story.

Madame Giry and Meg are two pretty cool characters in the story to, that I really really like. We’re getting close to my favorite now. ;-) Madame Giry pretty much takes another characters role in the novel. The character that KNOWS… Knows about where the Phantom/Erik comes from. And that was a pleasant surprise. You actually found out quite a bit! That he’d built a room of mirrors for a Shah… that he’d been born with a disfigurement… that he’d been with a freakshow lead by gypsies… That he’d built trapdoors and sneaky passages all over the Opera House… So Madame Giry is quite the important character! And the actress/singer who played her did SUCH a good job! Just the right amount of creepy and know-it-all without making it annoying.

So is Meg! She’s best friend with Christine, and is a constant suporter to Christine. She’s the one that tells Monsieur Firmin and Monsieur André that Chrstine can be a standin for Carlotta, and in so makes sure they can discover Chrstines amazing voice. She to knows the stories about the Phantom quite well and also gives us clues to him, just like her mother. Her actress doesn’t have that much to work with, but I think she did a great job, I really did.

Christine… Ah, Christine. The token love intressent. She’s just as interesting as in the novel, that is not that interesting at all. But I have to give it to the actress/singer. She really milked the role for all it was worth! Not only a gorgeous young woman with a miraculous voice that is manipulated by a creepy voice in the walls… But a woman with dreams and wants her own, that wants to be independent and be the new star but is to shy to take the chance in the beginning (thank you Meg!). And also how confused and desperate she is the longer the story unfolds. I think it was very well played! And that woman's voice… WOW! She to has apparently trained to be a opera singer, and you can tell! Some of them notes… Just wow...

The Phantom / Erik… Ah, what to say, really? Played by the INCREDIBLE Fred Johanson, the sole reason we even went to see this production of The Phantom. It, of course, helps that I really like the story about Erik, the man who has grown up harshly and then isolated because of his face that is disfigured and horrible to see. Not even his mother managed to look at him kindly. One of my favorite books is Phantom by Susan Kay about Erik’s life from birth to death. I can not recommend it enough if you enjoy this character. It’s absolutely incredible. How did Fred Johanson do in the role then? Incredible, as was expected. He is a very tall man, somewhere between 6,4 and 6,5 feet tall (said himself in an interview), if somewhat leaner than he used to be. Still, having an incredible knee length coat on (that I wanted to steal…), he makes for an imposing figure. He definitely did the character justice, and not only when he needed to be scary, but also in more emotional moments. And then Fred’s voice… Holy fuck, that deep dark voice… It gives me freaking goosebumps, not even joking. Fred also has an incredible presence on stage! I’ve seen him three times live now, and then there’s the Jesus Christ Superstar movie, and Fred has this ability to just OWN the stage as soon as he sets foot on it. I don’t know how he does it, but it’s incredible to see. As the Phantom at times you just hear his voice, you don’t see him, and he still just OWNS the stage! An amazing talent in all ways! He really should get more attention for his talent.

Just to prove Fred’s talent, here he sings The Music Of The Night:

( Fred Johanson singing The Music of The Night! )

The bad

So the bad… Was there anything bad? Well, yeah. And it’s mostly nitpicking, but still.

One thing that kind disappointed me was… The infamous chandelier. The one that at one point during the musical “falls down”. The Phantom is pissed off, and makes a chandelier in the auditorium fall down and kill some of the audience, and to show this during the musical, they have a chandelier go on a cable over the audience from the ceiling. The whole musical starts with it going up the ceiling. You’d expect it to be an impressive piece then, right? Since it plays such a vital role? Right? Well. The auditorium at the Gothenburg Opera House is MASSIVE. And the chandelier kinda… disappeared. It looked REALLY TINY somehow. And the design wasn’t that impressive either, so that was a bit of a let down. :-P It was still cool though when it “fell down”.

At one point in the middle the story slowed down a bit, and I didn’t really know what was going on. It was a good thing I knew the story well, just saying, or I could have been a bit lost. Also, in the beginning especially, there was just way to many people on stage and you had to really focus to keep track of where the main characters was.

Nitpicky? Yes, a little maybe. :-) I’m allowed to. ;-)



Right, so…

After the musical was over, me and Ylletyg went to get our coats. We’d decided to try to go to the stage door to see if we could see Fred Johanson there and hopefully get an autograph. So we stood there calmly waiting in line… And suddenly, right behind us one of the many doors in the Opera House opened. And Fred Johanson in full Phantom makeup literary leaned his head out the door raising an eyebrow.

I nearly peed myself. One of those things you just can’t believe is happening.

Fred seemed to know some people, one in a wheelchair, and talked happily to them. No one bothered him, or took photos. Everyone was REALLY respectful and kept their distance, so he just stood there, talking happily with a couple of people. Opening and closing the door now and then since the alarm kept going off, and making a funny joke about it every time. Me and Ylletyg had a hard time containing our excitement, I won’t lie. We debated back and forth in hushed voices if we really would dare to go over to him or not and what we’d say etc…

Then a young women came over to me giving me a hug. It took me a second, but then I saw she was one of the many teens that had graduated from ‘my school’ two years ago. She was studying music now and was just as excited as we were about the musical experience, and very happy to see me (yay!). She’d spent hours in the library with me, so she knew what a nerd and fangirl I am. When I told her I didn’t know if I should go over to Fred or not or if I dared to ask for a photo, she sternly told me I HAD to when she understood what a fan I was. The student becomes the teacher? X-D

Said and done, when there were fewer people talking to him we walked over to him, hearts beating, and told him what an incredible singer he is. I think I even told him I got goosebumps from his voice. X-D

And we also made sure to say we were amazed by the presence he has on stage, and that we’d seen him in three different musicals live now, and that at least I kept rewatching the Jesus Christ Superstar he is in. He seemed really flattered that we’d followed his career and read up on him more than just about this role and was very happy to hear we’d enjoyed his performance that much. I remember he said he’d never reflected on about having a presence or stage or not, but we assured him he seriously has.

We respectfully asked him if we could take a photo, and he said sure! Fred then asked if we wanted a joint selfie with him. At that point my poor friend who is just 4.9 feet tall (short?) piped up “But I’m so short…” Well, I’m 5.9, almost 6 feet, and Fred is between 6.4 and 6.5 feet, so I totally understand her! X-D We ended up taking a photo each with him. When it was Ylletygs turn, he even bent his knees so he’d be level with her. IT WAS SO CUTE!!!! We again thanked him so very much for the incredible evening. He just smiled and bid his farewell before disappearing behind that door again.

( Picture evidence! I DID GET A SELFIE WITH THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA! I GOT TO MEET FRED JOHANSON!!! )

As we were leaving after that, we were downright floating! X-D We could not stop grinning and felt as if we were drunk, even if we hadn’t had any alcohol that day! (Well, just a little with lunch/dinner...)

Ylletyg commented that things like this only happens when it’s us two to doing stuff together, and I think she’s right! The magic of being two long time best friends? *LOL* It might be what triggers these incredible things!

So before we went back to the hotel, we felt like we needed a sturdy drink! So we found a pub that wasn’t to crowded, had a drink and a snack, discussing our evening and our incredible meeting with Fred. Then we went back to the hotel.

Once in a bed each though, we couldn’t sleep! X-D Se we ended up laying in the darkness giggling and talking for quite the long time, just like little girls, before we feel asleep!

You’d never guess we’re both 40 years old… X-D

The next day Ylletyg had to get up early since she was going on a course in Gothenburg to learn how to make hats, so I joined her for the LOVELY hotel breakfast and then she left and I just lazed around a bit in the hotel room before leaving to. A bit of shopping later and I went home.

So thus endeth my AMAZING time in Gothenburg with my best friend!

This entry is cross posted between LJ and DW. Comment where you are comfortable.

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Day 9

In your own space, post a rec for at least three fanworks that you have created. It can be your favorite fanworks that you've created, or fanworks you feel no one ever saw, or fanworks you say would define you as a creator.

Help? I'm not a creator, I'm a consumer when it comes to fandoms. I really am.

My current obsession, as I've said, are YouTube vids where fans discuss various things.

But I've read tons and tons and tons of fanfic previous years and years involved in fandoms. And I did try to write as well.

And what I've learned is I was the best at writing quick drabbles. In specific What-If-drabbles. So I did that a lot for a while there.

I did try to do a writing-challange once, which produced a bit of drabbles for sure, that were just a little longer. In the Buffy fandom I mostly wrote them short drabbles.

I have written ONE fanfic, a little bit longer smutty one, but just one. So there's that.

And I've written in so so so many roleplaying games. (During the height of the Buffy fandom, I even got awarded as the best roleplayer in a couple of games...)

Anyhow, I am not sure what to link to, so I'll just link to my tag My Fanfic, and you can cruise along there.

Also, here's the one and only sorta proper fanfic I've written to. It was betad and everything! It takes two

This entry is cross posted between LJ and DW. Comment where you are comfortable.

100 Truths

001. Real name → Emma
002. Nickname(s)→ KSena
003. Zodiac sign → Cancer
004. Male or female → Female
005. Age → 40
006. Dream Job → Librarian, which I am. :-)
007. Eyes → Blue with a green hint to them.
008. Hair color → Naturally I'm dark/greyish blonde, but I am colouring it purple. :-)
009. Long or short → Long
010. Loud or Quiet → Both? Talkative.
011. Sweats or Jeans → Sweats at home, jeans otherwise
012. Phone or Camera → Phone
013. Health freak → Definitly NOT!
015. Do you have a crush on someone? → Yep. Hubby!
016. Eat or Drink → Both!
017. Piercings → 5 in left ear, 3 in my right ear, one in my tounge, one in my lip on the left side.
018. Tattoos → One on each lower leg, one on each upper arm, one on my left lower arm and one on my left shoulderblade.

HAVE YOU EVER?
019. Been in an airplane → Yes
020. Had sex with someone you just met → Yes
021. Been in a car accident → No
022. Been in a fist fight → No (unless you count my brother). But I have stopped a few.

FIRSTS:
023. First piercing → Got my ears pierced when I was 6 years old
024. First best friend → Anna aka Ylletyg. 27 years and counting
025. First award → No idea
026. First crush → Can't remember
027. First time → Asshole, but really good in bed!
028. First big vacation → I was almost 4 years old when mom and dad took my WAAAAY north to the northen borders between Sweden and Norway. Summer before my brother was born.

LASTS:
029. Last person you talked to → My hubby
030. Last person you texted → My little brother
031. Last person you watched a movie with → My hubby
034. Last song you listened to → The American Murder Song called Pretty Lavinia
035. Last thing you bought → Spikes for my shoes so I won't slip
036. Last person you hugged → My kid

FAVES:
037. Food → ALL THE FOOD! :-D I love food, and I love desserts and sweets!
038. Drink → I prefer ciders, but I'd drink most thinks
039. Clothing → Jeans or sweats and a teeshirt
040. Flower → Orchids
041. Books → Biographies, preferably about old rock musicians
043. Movies → MANY! Fantasy/adventure/mystery etc...
044. Subjects → History... and litterature

IN 2018, I'VE ALREADY...
045. Kissed someone → Yes, hubby, kiddo, grandma... family basiclly
046. Celebrated Halloween → No, it's just February
047. Had your heart broken → No
048. Went over the minutes on your cell phone → No
049. Questioned someone’s sexual orientation → No
050. Came out of the closet → Already out, I guess
051. Got pregnant → No
052. Had an abortion → No
053. Did something you regretted → No
054. Broke a promise → No
055. Hid a secret → No
056. Pretended to be happy → No
057. Met someone who changed your life → My kid? No?
058. Pretended to be sick → No
059. Left the country → No
060. Tried something you normally wouldn’t try and liked it → No
061. Cried over the silliest thing → No
062. Ran a mile → No
063. Went to the beach with your best friend(s) → No
064. Got into an argument with your friends → No
065. Hated someone → No
066. Done something good for someone else → Yes, 'my' kids/teens at the school every day... there's always someone I help or give a comforting word to

CURRENTLY:
067. Eating → Nope
068. Drinking → Tea and a sweet drink
069. I’m about to → Go to bed
070. Listening to → Pretty Lavinia by Amarican Murder Song
071. Plans for today → Go to bed soon and have a loooooong sleep in in the morning
072. Waiting for → Nothing special

YOUR FUTURE:
073. Want kids? → Have one, can't have more
074. Want to get married? → Yes, at some point
075. Careers in mind → Be better at my profession

WHICH IS BETTER
076. Lips or eyes → Eyes
077. Shorter or taller? → Doesn't matter
078. Romantic or spontaneous → Both
079. Nice ass or tits → Both
080. Sensitive or loud → Both
081. Hook-up or relationship → Both, but currently in relationship
082. Troublemaker or hesitant → Hesitant

HAVE YOU EVER:
083. Lost glasses/contacts lenses → Oh yes, I've done that MANY times!
084. Ran away from home → Yes, when I was 5... It didn't last long.
085. Hold a gun/knife for self-defence → No
086. Killed somebody → No
087. Broken someone’s heart → Not sure
088. Rejected someone’s call on purpose → Yes
089. Cried when someone died → Yes

DO YOU BELIEVE IN:
090. Yourself → Yes
091. Miracles → Yes
092. Love at first sight → Yes
093. Heaven → No
094. Santa Claus → No
095. Sex on the first date → Why not? Yes
096. Kiss on the first date → Yes, definitly!

ANSWER TRUTHFULLY:
097. Is there one person you want to be with right now? → Yes, my family
098. Are you seriously happy with where you are in life? → Yes. Of course, I could have been rich and wealthy and... But apart from dreams, yes. I am.
099. Do you believe in God? → No
100. Post as 100 truths and tag 10 people → If anyone feels like they want to, go for it! :-)

This entry is cross posted between LJ and DW. Comment where you are comfortable.

♥ Day 1 ♥ Day 2 ♥ Day 3 ♥ Day 4 ♥ Day 5 ♥ Day 6 ♥ Day 7 ♥

Day 7:

In your own space, create a love meme for yourself. Let people tell you how amazing and awesome and loveable you really are.

I had to look up what a love meme was… Is that sad or what?

This feel extremely weird, but… If you think I deserve any good words, let me know?

Meantime to all my old and new friends, have a HUG!



This entry is cross posted between LJ and DW. Comment where you are comfortable.

♥ Day 1 ♥ Day 2 ♥ Day 3 ♥ Day 4 ♥ Day 5 ♥ Day 6 ♥

Day 6

Leave feedback for a fanwork. Or multiple fanworks. It can be as simple as I liked this to a detailed list of all the things you loved about the fanwork. The key is to leave some sort of feedback.

If you've already left feedback in the course of a previous challenge, it totally counts. But you're free to leave more feedback.

I don't read fanfic really anymore, but I do watch YouTube vids a lot. And they're about fandoms and such to, so that totally counts, right?
`
Anyway, here's a couple of my favorite YouTube channels that are fandom related that I left a comment on how much I appreciate the work they put down. :-)

The Dom - This is my favorite YouTube channel. It really is. He compares movies to the books they're based on. And he is doing it SO WELL! And really entertaining! And his accent is amazing! And I just... I admit, I've watched EVERY SINGLE CLIP on this channel They're just THAT GOOD! First ones I saw, that just sealed the deal for me about this guys awesome, was when he just bashed the Fifty Shades of Grey books and movies to HELL AND BACK!!! I love this guy. So at least watch those: Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3.

Alt Shift X - A really good channel that goes through a lot of things and characters in Game of Thrones really well. I like the layout of each vid they have to, very educational or well, it just makes it all easier to follow if you know what I mean. It does a lot when you listen to it. I really like this channel!

Calluna Reviews - I found this channel thanks to Game of Thrones to, but she's not only doing vids about Game of Thrones. Those are AMAZING, since she's very knowledgeable about the books to. But she has a lot of games and other TV-shows as well.

Costume CO - I am mostly impressed when watching this. Both by her research and by the costumers of Game of Thrones and other movies and TV-show. She is going IN DEPTH about the costumes here. Like, down to the stitches depth... And still makes it VERY interesting! Anyone interesting in sewing and embroidery should watch this!

Emergency Awesome - This is also really good channel as well. Again, found it thanks ot Game of Thrones (there's a pattern here, I know), but this guy makes a lot of vids about other TV-shows and movies as well. And I do mean A LOT! Damn, he updates often!

No Small Parts - This channel is just INCREDIBLE!!! Because here you got proper documentaries about those actors you never remember the name off... Because they never have the lead, they're just there... in the background, these character actors. But still just as hardworking and as passionate as the big stars. I LOVE that someone is giving them some spotlight, seriously.

Pop Culture Detective - Found this thanks to a Star Wars vid, about the problems with the jedi faith... Really interesting. A new one on my list of channels I follow, but so far it is REALLY GOOD, and brings up some really interesting theories and points about mayor movies and TV shows that I, for one, never reflected over.

ScreenPrism - Don't remember how I found this, but probably through Game of Thrones. Haven't watched all or that many of the clips here, but those I have where REALLY GOOD! And this channel go through anything when it comes to movies and TV shows to, so there's a lot to choose from here!

It's Black Friday - Technically not a fandom channel, I know. But I just adore this gorgeous goth! I mean, seriously! And she always has such a positive message in her vids, one way or anther. Even when she recently divorced her husband. I do so adore her.

So, giving comments and appreciation to all those channels should count, right? Right? I hope it does. I think YouTubers should find out that you enjoy their work to, not only fanart-artists and fanfic-writers. :-)

This entry is cross posted between LJ and DW. Comment where you are comfortable.

♥ Day 1 ♥ Day 2 ♥ Day 3 ♥ Day 4 ♥ Day 5 ♥

Day 4

In your own space, create a fannish wishlist. No limits on size or type of fanwork; just tell us what you’d like to see.

Oh… gawd… I mean, I don’t really read fanfic anymore, but I do have a loooong list of prompts that I wrote down once when there was a lot of fic-fests all over the Tokio Hotel fandom. I still have all them prompts. Some elaborate and some not so much. I really should post them, shouldn’t I?

Also, one thing I’d like to see is more fanfic with the rare pairings. You know what I mean. In all fandoms I’ve been in, there’s one pairing that ends up the most popular and EVERYONE writes that pairing it feels like. I never fall for those popular pairings. I always fall for the rare ones, the odd once.

A wish I have for ANY fandom really is that fanfic writers and fanart artists dared to stretch their limits a bit. Dared to try something new. Dared to step away from the most popular characters/pairings.

I think that’s my main wish really. :-)

Day 5

Recommend a fannish or creative resource.

Not really sure if this counts, but…

I really really do like Tokio Hotel Fanfiction. That archive doesn’t only gather to my love of the RP-slash written there. No. It does tickle my librarian nerd as well. Because it’s really well organized. As a librarian I can see a few flaws, but compared to other fanfic-archives this is probably one of the best archives when it comes to ease to find a fic you’d like. :-)

Can’t talk resources without mentioning AO3! That to is very easy to find in. To the point I’ve even used it in class in schools when talking about fanfiction and about archives. :-D The best part with tthis one is that you can find fic from more obscure fandoms and old ones. I mean, I’ve found fic for Elfquest AND for Robin of Sherwood there! Rare indeed!

And let's not forget my favorite swedish podcast! Tronspelet! If that's not a podcast made by fans for fans, I don't know what! Sadly though, since Game of Thrones are a on a break until next year, so is Tronspelet.

Not sure if I have any How To Do a certain thing though. :-P

This entry is cross posted between LJ and DW. Comment where you are comfortable.