Today I learned that the coronavirus is so small, that it would take several hundred of them lined up after each other just to cover the side of a single grain of sand. That’s small! Yet once a virus gets into your body and takes hold of a host cell, almost any host cell, the […]
Wow, are these weird times, or what? Who would have thought that streets in entire cities would be more or less empty, seemingly abandoned? That even the most basic human social behavior would take such a colossal hit? Are we the last of those that will remember what a superficial cheek kiss, a fleeting hug, […]
Do yourself a favor and please, please, please listen to the latest episode of the daily by clicking here. It got me thinking… what if the doomsday proselytizers are actually spot on? Are we heading towards Armageddon or is the turning point actually near? Is the very fabric of western society becoming unraveled or just […]
I feel for New Yorkers. The population density has made it way too simple for the virus to spread across the city’s many neighborhoods and five boroughs. So far, our New York friends are fine and coping with the shutdown and self-imposed quarantine. Like most destinations that I have returned to time and time again, […]
Meanwhile, here in Sweden, the government seems, unfortunately, to have taken cues from Mr. Trump & Co and their devious corporate bailout strategy. It’s nothing short of a tragedy how Trump, nothing more than a guiltless grafter, has the gall to try stuff like this. He says he’s looking out for the workers of America […]
My addiction to reading The New York Times has not abated. Yes, I am well aware of how getting most of my information from a single source is a one-sided approach – but I also browse several online papers that I don’t subscribe to, including The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, The Atlantic and The […]
I am concerned about how fast the covid-19 virus is taking a foothold on the US east coast. Folks there are so locked into their routines that shopping, eating out and socializing unrestricted is going to be almost impossible to thwart completely. Unless the new rules are enforced by the military, like in Spain. I […]
Social distancing is harder than I thought it would be. Socializing is, after all, an important part of the human experience. Perhaps we are fortunate to live in an era where remote socializing is readily available. Two friends and I will gather in our first-ever virtual leisure meetup someday soon. It should be an interesting […]
Social distancing is harder than I thought it would be. Socializing is, after all, an important part of the human experience. Perhaps we are fortunate to live in an era where remote socializing is readily available. Two friends and I will gather in our first-ever virtual leisure meetup someday soon. It should be interesting. As […]
From earlier today on a rocky beach in Vejbystrand with Charlotte holding the camera. Brilliant weather.
Feels like it’s a good time for a new round of random thoughts and factoids from the above Raboff Randomizer. • Few people seem to know (or, are willing to acknowledge) the fact that Sweden has an abundance of trees and milling facilities that can transform almost any kind of tree into any imaginable kind […]
A collage made up of a bunch of old walls from recently locked-down Málaga. We have Swedish American friends still there and I can’t help but feel, well, sorry for them being stuck and forced to live under the government’s recently imposed state of emergency rules where they are barely allowed to leave their apartment […]
After weeks of playing down the severity in his typical ignorant-arrogant fashion, someone has finally woken Trump up, whispered in his ear that the situation is dire and needs the entire nation’s attention. People that solely watch Fox News won’t grasp this, of course. To them, the man can do no wrong and like their […]
Let’s just put the virus to the side for a moment, shall we? Let’s focus on something fun and important. Like this recipe. For lunch this afternoon, I made one of my most famous dishes; the Raboffski Open Egg Salad Sandwich. For whatever reason, I’d never served Charlotte this classic before and since I happened […]
Shot this yesterday while filming a late winter storm that passed through here in Vejbystrand. Trying to figure out how to best ride out the ongoing coronavirus storm and what to believe is sensationalistic journalism, what is mass hysteria and where to find actual facts – and above all – what the trajectory of this […]
From yesterday’s walk along the coast. I love the drama of stormy weather about as much as I appreciate the tranquility I get from when there’s total calmness. Best of all here in the “sticks” is that that I’ve got the scenery more or less to myself aside from the occasional dog walker or energetic […]
Shot this in Málaga just days before I left. Somehow, I find myself once again twirling within a bundle of projects. Unfortunately, none are invoiceable but interesting nonetheless and keeping me busy creatively. We’ve now secured a small gallery space at a great location here in Vejbystrand. Opening the doors in April. It should be […]
Short-term, the chain of events that have led to the exponential spread of the coronavirus is having a bigger and wider impact than I initially thought it would. Long term, I’m fairly sure the psychological reverberations are going to be both long-lasting and make a huge dent in societal behavior; We are likely going to […]
An old friend paid a visit today. We snacked on peanut butter crackers, drank Earl Grey and chatted about everything two old friends can talk about. Limitless. Because my relationship with social media is so fraught with inevitable failure, Facebook, in particular, I don’t keep up with a lot of my old buddies’ lives anymore. […]
Shot this scene yesterday evening while Facetiming with brother Nick in L.A. He too was blown away by how beautiful the scenery was. Thinking al lot about the coronavirus lately. It’s front-page news everywhere. Arguing that the world’s various ecosystems are self-healing and will autonomously regulate and correct mutations gone awry, the evolutionaries are convinced […]
It’s been “every-other-day” weather here for a while. Which, I totally appreciate as it’s coincidentally kind of how I describe my life. Seldom two terrific days in a row. Not that the lesser in-between day is necessarily bad or unmentionable. No, no. I make sure that almost everyday generates at least something noteworthy. At least […]
This is from a small forest near the public pool in Vejbystrand which the locals fondly refer to as “The Enchanted Forest”. The area has a plethora of windswept trees that over time, possibly hundreds of years, have become remarkably twisted. It reminds me of a gathering of similarly warped trees just north of the […]
Yesterday, I was invited for a cup of tea at our neighbors and later two friends drove here from Malmö and I made lunch. When they left, I was all by my lonesome again. For the first time in a long, long while, I don’t have any trips planned. Oh, wait. I do have a […]
There’s something intriguing about old rusty locks. This one is from somewhere in the old town of Tarifa in Cádiz, Andalusia, Spain. Shot last summer. The symbolism is perhaps obvious, but I am nonetheless fascinated by what locks represent as a metaphor. I’m also curious about what’s actually behind the door, gate or wherever a […]
I’d honestly be surprised if at least some Americans didn’t assume the latest coronavirus originated from the beer with the same name and which they are now rigorously avoiding. Update: This new poll indicates my assumption was spot on (thanks P-O). My grandmother Agnes, a solid lady by any measure, was a farmer’s daughter and […]
Yesterday was one of those, “I forgive everything” days. Zero wind, sunny sky and not too cold. I spoke to several people during my two-hour walk and everyone seemed elated about the vexatious and stubbornly consistent bleak weather letting up for a day. Though I’ve been fortunate to have been able to avoid this year’s […]
Here’s a new piece I’ve been working on called Solidarity. It’s made of about a half dozen photos from various walls covered with a range of frayed posters, worn stickers and whatnot. I woke up at 4:30 am feeling perky and thinking I should take advantage of the extra time before the day formally begins. […]
After so many months using a 15-inch laptop for all my artwork, sitting in front of a 27-inch monitor again, with all its screen real estate and horsepower, feels a little overwhelming. As I go through various art projects initiated on the smaller screen and now get to look at them in larger, more detailed […]
I woke up at first daylight, after my first night in Vejbystrand since sometime the previous summer. I don’t remember when I last slept here during the winter. Years ago. Once up, I did my Qigong routine for half an hour and then made banana/cinnamon porridge. The sun was shining when I laster went for […]
After five months on two wildly different continents, living in about a dozen hotel rooms and apartments, our fall/winter trip is slowly coming to an end. I’ve actually been in Sweden for a few days already. Flew into Copenhagen on Thursday. I’m writing this in a hotel room in downtown Göteborg after spending most of […]
Like some kind of mad scientist, I’m still making my ginger snuff on an irregular basis. While we were in Asia this fall, none of the places we stayed at had an oven in the kitchen (or anywhere else), so I heated the chopped ginger in a frying pan on the stove and then air-dried […]
I’m a Social Media Survivor. It’s been more than a month since I abandoned all of my Social Media channels and platforms. And there’s been absolutely no struggle whatsoever to make use of the time I’ve reclaimed. I do think of friends and family on Facebook and Instagram from time to time. And yes, I […]
We visited Museo Automovilístico de Málaga today. Had a nice long Sunday walk to the former tobacco factory where the car and fashion exhibit is housed. In short, we were blown away by the brilliant concept and even more by how well it was executed. The idea of attaching fashion to an exhibit of vintage and […]
I’m all coffeed up right now. Started the day with a croissant and a Cafe Americano at a small coffee shop near Plaza Merced where the music was way too loud and the Feng Shui (風水) vibe unconducive for creative writing. Headed across the plaza and down the street to the Picasso museum’s café where […]
Of all the visual impressions I absorbed while in Marbella, this shot of a fountain is possibly the most intriguing. I spent some time by this fountain, trying to figure out at what speed to best capture an abstraction of the flow of water and above all, the droplets. Finally settled for 1/4000 of a […]