football, football...

... and more football.

game in the morning today, and we managed to win 2-1. not too good of a game, we should've scored a few more goals, but it wasn't all that tight in the end. I had the 2nd assist to our first goal, and scored quite a nice goal in the beginning of the second half. some of the teammates wanted to liken it to this goal by zlatan:

can't say I can agree with it though, it wasn't *that* nice... I did take the ball from our own half, ran past one guy and shot it up in the roof of the net, but not really all that impressive, I think. two minutes later on I had a very similar thing, but shot in the inside of the far post... really wanted a goal there.
and then of course, I was close to scoring the goal of the season. we had a freekick on the side, and from the end of the penalty box, on the volley I backheeled the ball, over the goalie, and... off the bar :(

well-deserved win though. had a few nutmegs or so too... :)


and then we have this other video also, which is just completely sick:

kafka on the shore

finished this book in about 3 days (~470 pages), although I didn't really intend to do so, it just happened. kafka on the shore is a very symbolical double-story about kafka, a boy that decides to run away from home on his 15th birthday, and nakata, an old man who spends his time and life finding lost cats.

the story of these two combine and connect, but they never meet, at least not on the physical level. kafka ends up traveling here and there, and while it seems that he is choosing where he wants to go, he's not really. a curse of his father is following him, and he ends up going here and there almost because of fate. and nakata is the type of person that does not know why he's going somewhere, but only knows once he's actually there. a very odd person :)

I really liked reading this book... it was the kind that I didn't want to read because I was afraid I'd finish it too early. the story is simple to get, but I think the symbolism is very difficult to grasp at times, especially as haruki murakami said this about it himself: "Kafka on the Shore contains several riddles, but there aren't any solutions provided. Instead, several of these riddles combine, and through their interaction the possibility of a solution takes shape. And the form this solution takes will be different for each reader. To put it another way, the riddles function as part of the solution. It's hard to explain, but that's the kind of novel I set out to write."



I wouldn't say that it's a life-changing book, but definitely worth reading to think about things. nakata's attitude to life is very pleasing at times, he simply goes wherever life takes him at that very moment; he doesn't really live for the future, but very much in the now. maybe something more of us should?

I'm back

wedding was good, and it was also nice to meet up with some friends :) gonna try and put up the pics later on... finished a book as well, so I'll be writing about that and other stuff too, later on...

got a hectic week coming up, really looking forward to the end of it. hope to be alive by then!

go west!

and off to norway I am... time for another wedding (don't read too much into that ;)), so I'll be gone over the weekend. it'll be nice to meet up with the friends over there :)

here's a lovely pic to represent (not taken by me):

death on two legs!

yesterday was my first football practice for more than 10 years, and indeed I can feel it in my legs. don't think I've ever ran so much during so long, constantly.

but the training session was good, didn't really feel like I was too far behind the others. the only thing missing is a bit physical stuff, both stamina and speed. I scored a nice goal on volley in one of the exercises, and also a nice lob when we played (was meant as a cross, but don't tell anyone!). was put at left back, not really my natural position, but I think I did quite okay...

and afterwards the coach something along the lines of "pretty good for having played only amateur games for so long", so I guess that's a compliment :)

he told me to come to the next practices as well, and then we'll see what happens. so at least I'm not out, and it was a lot of fun!

a brief history of globalization

here's an interesting book I just finished, a brief history of globalization:



it's by no means a great/brilliant book that keeps you thinking for a long time after reading it, but that doesn't mean that it's not worth reading. alex macgillivray goes through the course of history, pointing out the important events of each "age", and some ground-breaking moments and key interests. there's a lot of information to try and digest, especially all the historical facts.

one thing I especially liked is that he is quite unbiased throughout the entire book (for/against globalization, if that now is possible), only some sarcastic remarks here and there, but mostly just tells of what happens, and how the world "grew smaller" throughout the years.

I was surprised to read two references to the Baha'i Faith in the book, one about how it spread in the end of the 19th century, and another telling how the believers in iran are essentially without rights. I don't have the book available now, but will write those two parts here later on.

it's an interesting book, well worth reading. if nothing else, it helps one to brush up on the history, and it's always good to know what's been happening in the past, as it might be an indication of what'll happen in the future...

football update

talked to the coaches last week, and again today. they say their squad is quite full, and considering I haven't played any organized football for many, many years, it's understandable that they weren't too excited about having me. but, I'll go down to the training tomorrow and see what happens...

video on the House of Worship in chicago

in relation to the Baha'i House of Worship in wilmette being nominated as one of the seven wonders of illinois (read here about it), abc made a short report about it. check it out here.

tip for students

I know I'm way too young to give anyone advice for life, but I suppose I might give it a try at least. take it as you wish :)

as a student, everyone told me to enjoy my time as it would never come back to me. I never really quite understood what that meant, because life goes on, we mature and become different people and enjoy that. but now, when I've started working, I've realized what was meant.

I was never much into the student activities during my time at uni. they were mostly different parties here and some other stuff, didn't bother to spend too much time to find out what more there was. so why was the time as a student so special? what was it that I enjoyed?

one simple word: freedom. life as a student is so much different from working life, as you can very much set up your own schedule (with some respect to lectures and classes). that's not possible when working, as it's usually quite fixed working hours, with perhaps a little bit of flexibility.

as a student, I was able to make quite many trips to here and there, meet up with friends, do quite a lot of sports when it suited me, and take some time off when I needed it. with 5-6 weeks of vacation per year, there really isn't the same now.

nowadays it's not really possible to stay up or out for too long during weekdays. with work coming up the day after, it's usually time to say good bye at around 10-11, to be able to go home and sleep. that did not really happen as a student...

student life is of course about studying and preparing to become a person that can give back to society, as a way of worship:

"It is incumbent upon each one of you to engage in some occupation -- such as a craft, a trade or the like. We have exalted your engagement in such work to the rank of worship of the one true God."

(Baha'u'llah, The Kitab-i-Aqdas, p. 30)

however, I think it is important to really appreciate the time and opportunities one has during that time. so what I mostly want to say, for those of you who are still reading this far, is to enjoy the freedom you have as a student, make up your own flexible schedule and really make the most out of it. because it might not come back in the same way again...

kids and monsters...

... are so cute! :)

I just watched monsters inc. (yes, I'm lagging behind a bit...) and all I can say is that it was so incredibly cute! well worth watching :)

I hope I'm not too old for it...