Andreas Jennische

I had almost forgotten how fun it is. Luckily my daughter wanted to try it so yesterday e we went to one of Stockholm’s ski slopes. We rented the equipment and had great fun. She went mad a couple of times, snowboarding is hard, but after a couple of hours she managed to take the lift and slide down, cautious and careful. We went home both happy and tired. It was one of the best days I’ve had in a long time. So fun. Next weekend we’re doing it again.

I love this digital way of fast writing that goes online immediately. All I need is my smartphone. All my notes at work (journalist) are digital notes as well. Back in the days I used paper and pens but the transcription part, when the handwriting had to be transformed to digital text, took way too much time so I gave that up. For the same reason I try not to rely too much on recorded interviews. If a record I see the audio file as a backup, I can go back and listen if I missed a detail or if I have to double check something. Sometimes I forget to make good notes during a conversation/interview and that’s always a hassle afterwards. With all that said I start to re-evaluate the analog writing, all handwritten things. There’s something special about it, something that never can be digitalised: the feeling of holding a pen in hand and move it with just the right amount of pressure onto the paper. You create words. And if you get something wrong you will have some problems. It’s very hard to delete words on paper without traces. The handwriting acquire thinking in advance. It’s not always good, quite the opposite actually if you ask me. One of the good things with the kind of writing I’m doing right now is that it’s very direct, I’m hammering down my words to use the expression TMO used in a well written post about blogging the other day. Yesterday I really had to do some thinking before I set down to write. In the first time in many years I wrote a classic enveloped letter to an old friend, a relative that means a lot to me but who I rarely see or talk to. To write a classic letter during Christmas time felt like the right thing to do. It won’t interfere. I hope she’s able to read my handwriting though. Maybe I’ll get a response! When was last time you got a handwritten letter?

I am feeling goddamn tired all the time and have decided to get on top of it. Instead of just giving up (laying down dead eyed scrolling on a screen) I will go outside for a walk or a run several times a day. I started this morning with a 45 minute walk and when it was time for lunch break I went for a 30 minute run. I don’t know if this is going to make me feel more energetic in the long run, but a run is always a run and afterwards you feel better about yourself.

I drove to Tallkrogen to pick up my daughter at her friend. It’s been a couple of weeks since a used the car so I had to spend fifteen minutes or so with cleaning it from ice and snow. The winter has finally come to Stockholm. Tallkrogen was adorable in the winter outfit, snow and all on the roofs on the small houses crowding the area.

I’m not a gamer. Actually, the time I’ve spent on online games or video games the last twenty years is a couple of hours. In total. Therefore I’m quite surprised my kids got me into this brainless game Hay Day. An app where you’re a farmer. You’re supposed to grow and harvest and take care of animals, make pies and cloths and other stuff you can sell on the market. It’s not fun, it’s not educating, still I’m doing it. Yesterday I spent an hour before bedtime in this worthless game. Today the same. Why? Do I hate my life!? No. I don’t. I blame the pandemic. This is what happens.

First of all, I agree with Noisy Deadlines, ReadWriteAs is awesome. Second, I really liked ND’s blog post about social media and the attention economy. I’ve read Lanier’s book with all ten great arguments for deleting your social media accounts (he’s got nothing against personal blogs, quite the opposite) and I found it very interesting. But, there is a but, for me as an employed journalist it’s very hard to get rid of Facebook or Twitter. It’s often a good source for information or ideas because it’s the place online where people talk about subjects as the local politics, the schools, the parks, the elderly care and all that stuff. I have to be there. But I really try not to spend more time on Facebook than necessary. And I’ve almost stopped posting myself. It’s something. The time spent with my phone in my hand is not decreasing though. Instead of Facebook and Twitter, I’m spending more time on W.A and R.W.A and Micro.blog but the good thing about that it’s completely free from ads and the content, blog posts and pictures from complete strangers, are giving me new perspectives, insights and joy. I never wrote in English before but the potential audience here, since not many of my friends are spending time reading old fashioned blogs, has made me do it. It’s good for me, I need to practice my English. And it gives me opportunity to meet new people, even though it just means we’re people reading each other’s blogs. #socialmedia #microblog

Now it’s official. I am happy to announce that I am going to start a new job. After 18 months as a news director at the business magazines Fastighetsnytt and Byggindustrin (about the real estate and construction business in Sweden and the Nordics) I’m going to be news director at Dagens Nyheter’s metropolitan division, the section that covers the Stockholm area. I am looking forward to it. A lot. Local news is the best.