Serious stuff
So Stockholm was hit by terror yesterday. Someone I am slightly aquianted with was just meters from the lorry as it rammed people and was the first to try and help. Weird, terrible, and unreal. I am happy to see all the constructive reactions - people offering others food, somewhere to stay, someone to talk to and messages of support and understanding. Because even though the incident was tragic and unnecessary, what really worries me is if we let it win by overreacting to it in bad ways. The webpage of the largest local newspaper around here did all it could to try and make it sound like Sweden is struck and gripped by terror. Not a great way of helping, I would say. Building a world where nobody turns to terror to get their message across, that is worth doing. Various acts of selling the idea that we should now live in and act as if we live in terror, not so much. People of extreme positions will probably be screaming about all kinds of changes, and those will be exactly what we do not need. "Nothing at all" sounds like a very good change until we have all had time to settle down and breath … Oh well …
Uplifting stuff
I felt strangely out of whack as I got home after work last night. The above news certainly played a part. I went to bed early, slept well and got up before the alarm went off at 07:00. Then I headed out and joined the yearly run of Göteborgsvarvet's original course, a super-nice half marathon ran as a group with speed set to match everyone's pace. I have ran it a few times by now, and it has always been great fun, moving along at a steady pace, chatting to people and finishing up with a run through a shopping mall and a little rush the last few hundred metres. This year, we also got what I think is the nicest weather of all the times I have participated. Just the right temperature, increasingly sunny and not a drop of rain. I was (and still am, I think) still in my strange inbetween mood and so did not talk much at all, but it is still great for the soul to be part of a 750 heads strong group of runners talking so much you rarely hear their footsteps.
Perhaps most uplifting of all was that my foot - and the rest of my body - held up so well. I was hoping it would, but it still has been many months since I ran even ten kilometers. Now I feel certain I will make Göteborgsvarvet unless I have an accident or do something stupid. I do feel a bit worn, but not much more than after any other longer run. In short: good signs all round.
Long runs also tend to land me in inbetween moods, and this one was no exception. I sit around, replenish my water and energy, mindlessly browse the web and generally feel a bit unfocused and empty-minded.
The difference to last night is still quite striking. This is my inbetween, something of a low-power restoration mode. The mind and body quieted by exercise, sun, fresh air and people. I will resurface with new energy soon enough. This is mine.
Little stuff
Some of my puttering around online nicely included talking to friends (I never do enough of that) as well as and combined with figuring out the last (for now) puzzle in Blackbox. Darn nice IOS game that, in so many unusual and sometimes somewhat frustrating ways.
Also, Melin and I released the latest episode of Björeman // Melin today, complete with all our inital thoughts about new Mac pros as well as talk of old comics, Segways, and other nerdy stuff. Recorded before Friday hit us, and worth a listen if you want a tech-type geekout as a break from current events.