unusually and exceedingly peculiar and altogether quite impossible to describe –

my new wand

Blond.

**

Kiriakos and Pavlo, the two half Greek boys that Ammadeus and I babysit, made each of us a magic wand this Saturday. I'm going to take a picture of mine later and add it, but for now I'll just say that it's really awesome. Pavlo used a knife to whittle the wood, and added a special green stripe at the bottom.

Naturally, when he handed the wand to me, I raised it up and used a spell, waving it for effect. The spell I used? Avada Kedavra. It just popped out. That's right, an unforgivable curse. And not just any unforgivable curse, the death curse. Everyone was silent and Ammadeus looked at me, appalled.

"I can't believe you said that."

Yup. That's me, making social gaffes through the most unlikely of methods.

**

Simply Sweden:

As an easily identifiable foreigner – I walk around shivering in uncoordinated outfits, don't speak Swedish, etc. – I am often asked what my favorite part of Sweden is.

Public Transportation. I love it.

The SL (Storstockholms Lokaltrafik) system is, in comparison to other cities I've lived in, terrific.

Basically, you can buy a monthly adult SL card for 690 SEK (around 100 dollars), and it works on buses, trains, and the Tunnelbanan (metro). This might not sound cheap, but compared to paying the exuberant Stockholm gas prices/parking costs, and compared to other monthly metro card prices (London, for example), it's not a bad deal.

The SL system has so far been punctual (supposedly it slows a bit during winter), extensive (covers Stockholm suburbs), and easily accessible; bus and metro stops are everywhere.

For me, it's also a personal quality of life improvement. In L.A., I didn't have a car (long story – didn't get my license until my last year there), and was forced to rely on walking, buses, and friends to get around. Unfun. This was partly because the system was not well coordinated – transferring buses involved long wait periods, etc. Also, I didn't like using my friends to get around. Even if they were going to the same place: I didn't like that it was something I could never contribute to (except pitching in with gas).

(During college, no problem. I lived on and close to campus and had easy access to most events going on. After college, unfun unfun unfun. Mostly, the problem was that everyone had a car, which meant that it was a built in assumption into people's way of living.)

So, Life Advice: Don't live in L.A./O.C. without a car. L.A. is not concentrated or connected like New York City. It is sprawling.

In Stockholm, I can get to the center of town in ten minutes taking a bus which is right outside my door. I'm independent again. Minus the fact that I'm living at home. Ah, life.