New look

Last night, my fiancé and I, we were preparing our New Year's stay up north by packing overalls, warm winter ski outfits, cameras, the whole works really, firmly believing we were going to head north early this morning. Just before heading into the sauna last night though, our eyes fell on the printed reservation for the place we'll be staying at and what do you know! The reservation we'd made was for the 31st December 'til 2nd January, not 30th-2nd! If we hadn't seen that, we would've driven up there, without a place to stay that night! So I realized I gained, or won, a day. One additional, entire day without any plans, completely up for grabs for the best ideas. That truly was a strange feeling! So I started off by going out for some drinks with friends, getting home way too late and thus ensuring that my body opposes any activities today. It's not the most cleaver way to spend a day earned but hey, the human mind does not work rationally all the time.

So I'm parked in the couch with three heat generators, the cup of coffee, the laptop and the peach blanket I got for Christmas way way back, and I'm pondering what to make of this sorry day. Et voilà, I'll do a new template and layout for my blog, something I've been meaning to get around to for quite sometime now. When I'm hangovery, I'm always very creative - I get my best ideas in a weary state of mind - and thus this current project.

I did an eye tracking study about two months back on my blog. I had a couple of colleagues, who hadn't visited the blog before, to look it up and read what and as much as they wanted. Turns out that the heading is of no interest. That could imply two things, that a heading to someone entering the site is of no interest, or that my heading simply does not attract any attention. As my heading does not cover any substantial information that you absolutely have to know, I'm keeping it simple. No photos, no fancy graphics. Just two sentences.

Another finding is that the readers all started off by reading the blog posts, which were earlier to the left. This is interesting as there were several images, that usually attract the gaze, in the blog roll to the right. I'm guessing they have learned to ignore small features to the right as sponsored ads and other commercials are often in that very place, to the right. Therefore, I'll do a switch now, I'll have the blog roll, links and archive to the left as that is substantial information that I'm hoping people will see.

I was also thinking about coloring "Comments","Posted by Paeonia..." with a greenish nuance but judging from the heat maps, people tend to read them anyways, perhaps 'cause they're so obviously separated from the blog post. Therefore, I see no reason to color them, but one. It would be awfully boring not to blend the brown text with another color, my visual eye won't rest until something breaks the brownish advantage.

Only one more thing to do now really, and that is to figure out how to accentuate the links in a blog post. Now, they're not highlighted at all, which makes them disappear. I need to work on that...

Update: an image of the snowy slopes, when we finally got there

New year's resolution

Being a former journalist, I know what makes the press tick and therefore, I rarely complain on news stories. I do not approve of the negative, sensational perspective many news stories are presented with, but hey, I can always choose not to read them. I'm quite good at browsing further down after spotting a heading containing chock, porn and scandal.

But last Wednesday, I simply had to shake my head and complain a little. I was listening to the radio while heading to town and the news were on. The anchor informed me that the firework sale for making the New Year's Eve a bit brighter had started that day. And she continued: "Many are likely to hurt themselves while attempting to light a sky rocket or a Roman candle." The big event, the New Year's Eve, was still four days ahead and already there were speculations on how many was going to get hurt! Not if there would be any accidents, that's taken for granted, but how many. It wasn't a bit from a press conference or a story on accidents, the piece of news were basically three sentences, the first being that the sales started that day, followed by many will get hurt and finally for how long you'll be able to purchase fireworks.

Firstly, I wonder where's the news in this piece of information? Every year, accidents related to fireworks do happen and are very well reported on in the news. Secondly, why kill the excitement and joy? Why not report on the issue of New Year's in a positive, enlightening manner? Why the constant negative perspective? I guess the intention was to enlighten and to make sure that people are aware of the risks involved and to promote security while firing up the rockets. This is a good thing of course, but is this necessary every year? Why not at least add something like tips on how to spend it, what events are happening in major cities, some historical spice like how the Chinese invented it as a means for entertainment or whatever. People are interested in other things than death, injuries, sex and violence. Therefore, I suggest that some media folks ought to make it a New Year's Resolution to try to see things out of a more positive perspective.

Well, enough complaining, Happy New Year everyone! I'll be making an old dream come true, finally, which is waving off this year and embracing the next one in Lapland among deers and snowy mountains.

Is money loosing its value?

After an evening of intense wii playing in the living room (no, nothing broken yet except illusions of being a champ at tennis with a good old retro graphics) I decided to calm my brain with some aimless browsing on the net. I stumbled upon a recent study by the research company United Minds on what’s high-status and what’s not according to Swedes. It turns out that status is not for sale, as non-material values top the chart (these are all my home brewed translation):

1. To be well read
2. To be a good and engaged parent
3. To possess a fortune derived from one’s own work
4. To be capable at work
5. To master several languages
6. To be able to be on vacation the entire summer
7. To spend time and money on helping people in need
8. To have many friends
9. To live in a big villa/apartment
10. To have an entirely own style

To be able to buy posh new clothing brands did not make it high up the list. Qualities you can possess without a chest loaded with money by your bed, like being good at what you do and being a good friend, did however, which does not surprise me. I’ve sensed a change for a long time now. I’ve seen indications perhaps not on an anti-movement to the consumerism, to the materialistic society characterized by an “the one with the most gadgets when s/he dies wins” attitude and a love for “hard values” but certainly on a large scaled, firm declaration that “my choice is different”. That “Although I accept that you do the race, I choose not to participate in it. I don't need a 300 square meter house with exclusive floorboard from Africa in order to be happy and content with my life.”. I thought about blogging these signals that I pick up, lastly when commenting the President’s choice to wear a gown dating a couple of years back at the Castle ball. But it sank into oblivion until tonight when I read this press release on the status list.

Status can’t be bought, says United Minds, and neither can happiness, according to Kari Nars, whose book Pengar och Lycka (Money and happiness) I just finished. KN claims that the more a society stresses material efforts in order to land a happy life, the less it values the search for a deep satisfaction with life and the inner meaning of life. “Materialism marginalizes religiosity” he writes and gives as an example the great number of people resigning the church in Finland.

I’m not convinced this is the case and I don’t equal the fact that many do leave the church with a poor interest in religiosity. Maybe there simply are better ways of practicing it, according to many. I think on the contrary that more and more people are searching more and more for a meaning of life and take and interest in spiritual nourishment, religiosity and non-material values. Perhaps as a consequence of being tired of living in the material world that KN depicts. The great interest in self help books, the great number of days devoted to team building at work places and seminars on how to be a better employer/employee/father/lover/friend are examples of the evidence of a big interest in the meaning of life and spiritual matters, in my eyes at least. I don’t believe people read a book on, say, ”Making the most out of your job” in order to advance to become a boss in 2 months time. I believe there’s a desire for spiritual nourishment, for getting to know who you really are and who you want to be that lies beneath. And in a broader sense, speaking of the material values getting cold, I notice that many dig through their grand parent’s attics now, hoping to find a vintage/retro beautiful handbag to go along the city shopping afternoon, instead of simply buying a brand new bag with a rugged look. More and more people are actively supporting locally produced food and handicraft. Another signal of a declining materialistic view on life is the collective spirit found on the internet. I know of many who don’t pay for support when setting up their own websites. In stead, they consult discussion forums and user forums, where other people are glad to help and trade advice, for free.

In short, I see people striving to be and genuinely valuing what’s on the top 10 list in the beginning of the post. To them, money, gadgets, costs and surface is not as hot as are values, engagement, reliability and to dare have a deep and intense discussion on things. I for one would love to see more of that!

tv quiz

This is a puzzle (a pdf-file, print it if you like!) I created when I got back from London. The hot words that I repeatedly scribbled down on paper during the conference are to be entered into the quiz, with the help of clues. There’s no prize to be won unfortunately, other than the great personal satisfaction of completing it successfully. Enjoy!

Consumerism

I did make it to the V&A Museum in London last week. It was a thrill, I spent most of the time at the exhibition of da Vinci's notebooks. I love it how he used mirror-writing, due to lefthandedness. It was a real challenge reading his notes, especially as he didn't exactly waste any paper, the words were close to one another. I guess it's a lazy but yet very effective way to learn things, to watch the movie or go to an exhibition instead of reading the book. I did it with Mahatma Gandhi and now with da Vinci. I read about half way through a biography on da Vinci, but after realizing it was more beneficial for my sleep than for my curious mind, I threw it out and decided to go to the museum instead. Which worked just fine, I didn't for instance know da Vinci studied the anatomy of the tongue when we produce sounds and that he was a gifted musician. Luckily enough, I had time to visit the exhibition on fashion as well. There was one section devoted entirely to 60's UK fashion, fabulous! I totally love skirts and dresses. Having said that, I regret to say that though I spent one afternoon hunting for skirts and dresses, I bought none. Not a single one. The problem was that they were all too expensive considering a couple of buttons and seams were hanging loosely. A friend questioned my sanity, going to London without bunkering up clothes, like squirrels! But I've never been into consumerism of that sort. I've sewed skirts of old table cloths and curtains because I absolutely adored the fabric. I re-use my mothers dresses from the 70's and buy second hand. I avoid to all cost the Christmas season rush in the stores because I get totally stressed out watching how people run around buying - in my view - unnecessary things. The joy of small funny plastic toys is particularly ambiguous to me. It seems that this sort of recycling in clothes has reached many others. I watched the ball at the President's castle on the telly last night. Apparently, President Tarja Halonen's black dress, which was very beautiful, was the same one as she wore a couple of years back, only a bit moderated this year.

More photos here