And the days get shorter

As Fall increasingly pushes out the bright days of summer and the light changes to that 'golden hour' glow for the brief hours we have sunlight here in Stockholm I notice that the residents of Stockholm change. It seems that the winter wardrobe comes out and the summer one gets put away almost by the calendar as opposed to the temperatures and season themselves, the bright blues, greens, reds, oranges, and yellows of summer clothing give way to brown, black, dark camel and occasionally still the red pair of pants. The wearers of these cloths also seem to pull into themselves as well acting more reserved, quieter, and what might appear to be sadder and it almost appears that the mood fits the clothes instead of the other way around.

Now that I have lived here for a year, and I have experienced all the seasons I can see why in late Spring, Sweden embraces the sun and summer like no other other country I have experienced. Conversely though this Fall I am more aware of the opposite and how Fall brings a melancholy to Sweden. It might appear that people pack up their love of life and their upbeat, unbridled joy with the patio furniture that they put away in the garage, only to appear again when the bright sun and longer days once again appear. What I do think happens is that the joy is there, but it turns inward to home and family. The upcoming holidays kicked of by Lucia in mid-December and all the lights and candles aglow all over the country are about light and joy, and keeping back the darkness. It may seem more tempered that that of a Midsommar revelry but the festiveness is just the same, it all just happens indoors.

The thing that surprises me most though is the the clothing. Everything is dark, dark, dark come Fall and into Winter. Now, bear with me here as this train of thought may be a bit disjointed and come off the rails. Winter here in Sweden is dark. At most I think we get 5-6 hours of sunlight (that is sunrise to sunset) at the time of the Winter Solstice, so if you go to lunch late while at work, you return to the office at dusk. The whole country seems subdued. You would think that it would be appropriate to fight the darkness with some bright wardrobe choices, akin to fighting the darkness with candles in your windows, but no. Rarely do you see a bright red or yellow winter coat, everything is black or brown, or maybe dark camel in color and to be honest at night it makes it damn hard to see people walking about. When you are dressed as dark as it is outside and still move about with a pedestrian right of way it is downright dangerous. I get tense driving at night in Sweden in the winter, I am always afraid I am going to hit someone! In order for safety I suggest that Swedes start wearing brighter colors in the Winter months. Break the norm and walk on the wild side and try on something festive. It might just save your life, and make you feel good too!

Trends (strictly my opinion)

I have noticed lately that a lot of people have been getting gastric bypass surgery. A lot. I know some people who desperately needed it as their health and in some cases their lives depended on it. There there seem to be those who, in my opinion (please note this is my opinion only. My Blog, My Thoughts) who do it to take what they think is the easy way out. I can't see how reducing the amount of food your stomach can hold and all the potential health issues that can come from surgery is easier than making the decision to change your habits and your own life through your own will. I look at some of these folks and all I can think to myself is "you're not that big."

I know I am a large man myself and on more than one occasion I have tried to lose weight and in some cases I have succeeded and in other cases I have failed. When I have failed it was my inability to commit to the lifestyle changes that are required in order for the changes I wanted to see to my body occur. I feel that sometimes humans take the path of least resistance, and don't fight for what they want or need or now is right anymore. In anything.

Since I am on an opinion kick today I am also concerned about the number of guys I know who are going on CPAP machines. If I have a couple of poor nights sleep my husband always asks; "maybe you have sleep apnea?" to which my standard response is "no, I just slept like shit, it happens." My biggest problem with sleep apnea and a CPAP machine is the sleep test. I have never heard of anyone, EVER who has gone to a sleep test and not walked away with an order for a CPAP machine. Not once. I can't even see how someone who is a good sleeper could even walk away without failing. You're in a strange place, a strange bed, hooked up to machines. Yea, now go to sleep. That is not going to happen. I've even heard it referred to now as a "bear right of passage," almost like a badge of honor. These things trouble me and make me wonder about what is medically necessary, and what is says about healthcare as a corporation. Sadly I have noticed this worldwide, not just where medicine is privatized. Anyway I certainly don't have the answers but sometimes someone needs to ask the question.

Things that pique my interest

So this is a random post, coming out of nowhere but this morning I was uploading photos to the interwebs from yesterday's Berserkers rugby match so I was surfing around the net and looking at pictures. Of men. Not even naked men mind you, just pictures of guys I know even some I don't. Many of them are contacts of mine on a photograph sharing site where we share tips on shooting pics, and life in general.

Lately I am noticing more and more than people are taking self-portraits. Now that is all fine and dandy but many people are using point and shoot cameras and smartphones and often use mirrors to capture their reflection. I know that the individual taking the picture is supposed to be the main subject, but somehow my eye tends to wander and I end up looking at the extraneous things the lens captures. Often this is piles of dirty laundry (or clean and just piled up for all I know), unmade beds, piles of things in rooms that sometimes look as if the inhabitants should be featured on the next A&E episode of "Hoarders."

I know, I know, that is not what we should be looking at, but people should be aware that when taking a photo of themselves in the mirror they more often than not show us more than they intended and should be more conscious of it. Just some thoughts from me on this chilly fall morning in Stockholm, but I leave you all with one question. Is it just me or am I the only person fascinated by the fact that a single man in his 40's appears to have a brass stripper pole in his bedroom? Kind of hard to overlook.

Apple Walnut Cake.

I baked this cake yesterday and it was quite successful so I thought I would go ahead and post it here. I based it on the recipe of Paula Deen (Uncle Bob's Fresh Apple Cake) however I made a couple of changes, adding in nutmeg and cutting back the oil and replacing part with melted butter. (Yea, I know it was a Paula Deen recipe without butter, and I added it in). I did not make the glaze for mine as I felt it would be too sweet and it was just as good without it. 


Ingredients
Honey Glaze:
1 cup confectioners' sugar
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons milk


Apple Cake:
3 cups diced Granny Smith apples, about 2 apples
1 cup lightly toasted chopped walnuts
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup melted butter
3 eggs
Directions
Glaze: Add all the ingredients to a small bowl and stir until smooth. Set the bowl aside.


Cake: Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Lightly grease a Bundt pan or tube pan.


In a bowl, mix together the apples, walnuts, vanilla, and cinnamon. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt.


Using an electric mixer beat the sugar, oil, and eggs in a large bowl. Add in the dry ingredients and beat until completely combined. Fold in the apple mixture.


Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 1 hour and 30 minutes or until a tester inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean.


Allow the cake to fully cool in the pan, about 1 hour, and then turn it out onto a plate.


Drizzle the apple cake with some of the honey glaze, serve and enjoy!

Baking and Stuff

So I have been doing a fair amount of baking lately, almost all cheesecakes...the baked kind, not the chilled kind. I am toying with the idea of selling these little beauties out of my home so I have been trying different recipes to see how will they work, can be duplicated, improved upon, multiplied and reduced depending on the number I want to make. So far I have made varieties of Nutella, NY Style Plain and Chocolate and today or tomorrow I will try a pumpkin cheesecake. First I need to find canned pumpkin, but I found a store that carries it, The English Shop so I will make a trip down there later today.

There is a tradition here in Sweden and it is the Fika (pronounced "fee-ka"). It is traditionally a group coffee break that is accompanied by sweets. Most offices have them weekly and either the company provides the sweets, or there is a rotational list of employees and everyone takes a turn providing the sweets for the office. I am seriously working on creating a menu of items and starting a Fika Service. I would test and perfect a manageable number of menu items that I can produce out of my own home where people could order items when it was their turn to provide items for Fika. I would limit it to cheesecakes (a variety), cookies (also about 6 different kinds) and maybe something like cupcakes (but I would need to work on my frosting skills) or maybe some cakes that are not frosted like apple cakes and pumpkin and banana breads.

I think this is something that could work, and maybe I can post recipes, and other shopping tips such as where to find things in Sweden on this blog. I DO know that if I am going to continue to bake like this I need to do something with this stuff other than eat it, I can't afford to gain the weight! If you have any thoughts or ideas I would love to hear them!

Carl

Carl, a photo by Jay the Expat on Flickr.

I took some nice shots of Carl today, here is a sample.

Fit(s) and starts

This morning, like most mornings I was up early. Lately I can only sleep until 5:30 or 6 am. I toss and turn for about 30 minutes to see if I can fall back asleep and it just doesn't happen. I generally wake up with a slight back pain as well. In the past few weeks I have become more aware of how I actually feel physically and to be honest I am not that thrilled with it. I have little aches and pains, my knees are stiff when I stand up from sitting for a length of time and I in general feel sluggish.

I know there are changes that I need to make, and one of the most important is becoming more active again, but that is kind of harder and harder to so the more sedentary you are, and I have come to the conclusion I am pretty damn sedentary. Now that I am 44 I worry about my health in the long term and what my life will be like if I stay like this. I look at friends and acquaintances who have gone down the weight loss path, some with more success than others using many different tools such as surgery or diet and exercise. I do not think surgery is the right way for me personally, I fear I would go through all of that, but my habits would not change so it would be just a matter of time until I would be back in the situation I am today, just older and more frustrated. Please understand that is my view on surgery as it pertains to me, not a judgement on anyone I know who has had the surgery.

I know what I need to do is get off my ass and start small; a walk around the block with the dogs, a bike ride, join a gym but sometimes the first step is the hardest. Watch this space, as it will be a record or accounting of the steps I take to change this. Today is the first of October, so it might as well start today.