I did two very unusual things after arriving in Göteborg early this morning. The first was to have a decent breakfast at Jungrens Café along Avenyn – the city center’s main drag and a classic hangout that my friends and I used to frequent for hours on end, almost daily.

The food and coffee were okay, but they have changed so much of the layout that the old feeling is long gone. Had they been faithful to how it used to look – which I realize is probably an idiotic request or expectation to have – yet I was still kinda hoping to see the old owner: a tall, lanky, couture-dressed Polish woman with a strange aristocratic aura about her. Heck, today she would have been around 159 years old.

The second thing I did was to visit Lasse at Cornérs art supply store up the street from Jungans. Somewhat surprisingly, but in a good way, he was still there, waiting on customers who are about as scarce today as cash. Lasse seemed okay with the situation and even vaguely admitted that he was mostly there to have something to do.

I spent a lot of time and money at his store back then, and Lasse was always generous about allowing me to pay for canvases, brushes, and paints at the end of the month, when I hoped to have made enough to cover the rent and other debts I had accumulated during those days of living the life of a struggling artist.

I was a bit surprised that he remembered me. I mean, I was by no means one of his best customers, but I might have been one of the friendlier artists who bought stuff from him.