Brought my 2019 Macbook Pro to our local Apple store today to see if I could trade it in and buy a new shiny laptop. They offered me about 15% of what I’d paid, but couldn’t or wouldn’t allow me to keep it until my new computer arrived. Why? Policy.

If I kept my old computer in the meantime, Apple wouldn’t or couldn’t guarantee that I would receive the amount I was quoted today. Worse yet, they couldn’t or wouldn’t provide me with a reasonable delivery date, which meant I could be without a laptop for several weeks.

I’ve been a customer of Apple for a quarter century. At times our relationship has been contentious and as I grow older, I see beyond the smoke and mirrors and the company’s legendary distortion field. Nowadays, I even hesitate to visit an Apple Store. The experience is just too superficial and though beautifully camouflaged, it’s all about sales, sales, and more sales. None of the sales folks I’ve spoken to in recent years know much about real-world creativity and can’t provide anything but well-rehearsed clichés from the company’s sales manual.

Back in the day, when Apple computers were more or less reserved for creative types, there was an unspoken alliance, and most of us who used their machines followed the company’s progress carefully and prayed that Apple would survive. If for no other reason, than so that we wouldn’t be forced to use an erratically behaving mouse connected to a dreadfully dreary PC running the clunky Windows operating system. If I had to take a guess, I’d say our company has spent at least SEK600-700k on Apple stuff over the years.

Yeah, I’m clearly still pissed off about my effing option key conundrum. I even told today’s rep about how Apple wants to charge me SEK9000 to repair said key (one of the keyboard’s 78 keys!). He just smiled without openly admitting the absurdity of such a ridiculous fee. The environmental implications of having to replace the entire keyboard, the aluminum keyboard plate, and the battery because of a single, plastic key is certainly solid evidence that Apple is just as cynical about the environment as every other corporation. The company’s PR is just much better at being ostentatiously disingenuous.

Or maybe I’m wrong. Maybe the option key isn’t made out of simple plastic after all. Perhaps it’s actually made from an amalgamation of unicorn tears and gold. That might explain things…

I’m honored to have once again been invited to exhibit my art during Malmö’s annual Gallery Weekend September 22-24 at what is arguably the event’s most beautiful venue, the grand exhibit hall at the former City Hall (Rådhuset).

This year, I’ll be showing three rather large acrylic paintings on canvas. I hope to see you there! ‍

#gallerihelg #artforlife #paintings #malmöartscene #art #artist #acrylicpainting #creativityeveryday
#malmögallerihelg2023

I’ve been swimming a lot while here in Greece. Not so much in the ocean, though I’ve done that too. I’ve been swimming laps in the above 25m pool which is nearest our room and dedicated to exercise and not for playing in. I breastswim in one direction and crawl on the return.

In 2019, I spent a couple of months lap swimming in the early mornings at a nice sports club in Da Nang, Vietnam. Like back then, during this morning’s 1000m swim, I sometimes lost track of my laps and probably added at least an additional 100m to my original goal. Which is perfectly fine. But I think I need to invest in a lap counting watch of some kind.

After four days here, I feel inclined to convey that our hotel, Levante Powered by Playitas, which I visited last year and was totally blown away by after a week of intense training, continues to amaze me, and now Charlotte, again in August/September 2023.

The always friendly and helpful staff, the ambitious yet balanced schedule, the professional level of instructors for all classes and supervised activities we’ve tried so far, the high-quality gear and equipment, not to mention how well-kept the facilities are, have really impressed us both.

As of this writing, an almost blindingly bright full moon hovers steadily above the coast of Afantou, the village where our hotel is located. The full moon above was actually captured in Malmö a while back with a giant lens I no longer own nor have the shoulders to hold up toward the evening sky. 

Back in Rhodes again. Second visit in about a year. Chose the very same hotel as last time since most amenities and facilities are focused on training and health. If it works, don’t fix it, right?

There’s a long list of training alternatives here and they are all well-organized and led by a cheery crew of young, competent Brits, Swedes, and Norwegians.

Far from all guests have star quality, ourselves included, but the hotel itself has four, and as far as I can tell, upkeep is top-notch. Our goal is to partake in three separate activities per day, two organized (classes) and an independent activity (biking, hiking, swimming, gyming).

Today I joined a bunch of imposingly athletic tweens for an intense spinning class down by the beach (above photo). It was actually my first ever spinning class so I’m assuming I’ll be walking like Frankenstein tomorrow morning. Later, after a 5k walk in the baking sun, Charlotte and I took an afternoon Masterclass in Yoga Balance.

It’s day 14 of sobriety and even if I’m actually here to produce a story about the concept of healthy holiday-making for Charlotte’s website Hotell Addict, this week will likely be the easiest one so far to be teetotaling. I imagine myself never drinking again. Then again, I imagine mysel doing all kinds of unreasonable stuff that never happens. One day at a time…

I love Greece. I have ever since that very first visit to Corfu in 1983. Greeks are laid-back folk and if you ask me, Greece is by the country around the Med with the tastiest and arguably healthiest cuisine. Sorry, Itally. Sorry Spain, Portugal and France.

The hotel’s beach kinda sucks but the restaurant’s enormous buffet is just stunning and packed with wonderful traditional Greek specialties (mostly vegetarian) and loaded with marinated olives and several different kinds of feta. Cheeses.

As a very last but nevertheless wonderfully memorable birthday present, Charlotte had bought tickets to last night’s concert with one of my all-time favorite Swedish bands, Blackness. The last time I saw them live was in Lund some 23 years ago, quite possibly the night before Elle was conceived…

Old buddy Lars Hadders joined us last night and today we’re all a bit fatigued from the evening’s dancing and singing. I’m not much of a concert-goer these days, but last night’s show was excellent and not once did I think of myself as a 60-year-old dude dancing to music from my youth.

Captured this old factory yesterday while serendipitously walking around in the Praga District of Warsaw, Poland. Such a great feeling to just stumble onto stuff like this. For a good chunk of yesterday’s walk, I was talking with a friend and barely realized that I’d walked over 18k. With this morning’s light 6k run along the Vistula River, I’ve clocked over 90 kilometers during the 3,5 days I was in the Polish capital. And what a great city it turned out to be! The cuisine, friendly folks, and a history that reads like a suspense novel, make Warsaw easily one of Eastern Europe’s shiniest pearls.

Sadly, I missed yesterday’s Those Were The Days Reunion in Göteborg. That’s not to say my thoughts weren’t with my old buddies. Especially after each of the near real-time updates I was sent during their evening.

Though we initially met and became friends way back in the 1970s, our bond has withstood the test of time and I’ve only recently begun appreciating that there is tangible comfort in growing older with friends from one’s youth.

Since we’re all inevitably heading towards the final chapters of our storied lives, being in the company of old buddies just might make the ride into Vallhall a little less ominous.