Pink Punk

While Rawls & Me has given my mother plenty of reason to worry about my alcohol consumption over the years, a fair bit of it has been props too, and being alone with the kids, so is this bottle of Serbian rosé. Seeing the label on the temporary selection shelf, it was such an irresistible throwback to the club scene of Belgrade two decades ago that I simply had to buy it.

Beyond vacuuming and throwing away things in preparation for the big move, today's great accomplishment has been taking both kids to Parkrun for the first time in a long while. Though it took some bribing in the form of Nutella waffles, both kids thanked me afterwards, and I was reminded once again how much resistance there can be to doing the things that are ultimately good for us. Without going all-out theological with Bjørn Eidsvåg's Floden, the last few weeks of procrastination have been a hard lesson, and as such, it was a relief to finally start making progress on my co-authored article about the transition to higher education.

Otherwise, my plans of going to the library with the kids fell through when I realized that today is the National Day of Sweden and that the country has been taken over by syttende-mai-wannabes. Do not get me wrong, there is nothing intrinsically wrong with being proud of Sweden, especially considering all the great things this country represents, something that becomes even clearer with a bit of distance when living abroad. Still, it felt almost like a dream when someone wrote that she “wanted her kids to be world citizens”, as if I had almost given up on the possibility that there could be other people out there still aspiring to something larger.

Eden

Over the years, this blog has seen many Edens, from my PhD studies in Lund to Steinbeck country. Tonight, I am thrown a world away to South Australia and the cool-climate wine region of Eden Valley, famous for its mineral-driven take on the Riesling grape, as Systembolaget currently carries a new wine called “Vickery” that I can wholeheartedly recommend.

Otherwise, one may be forgiven for thinking that I had been to Austria rather than Australia on my trail run as I passed lots of red and white waymarks while exploring a newly marked-out trail between Sörlyckan and Bertilson’s cabin this morning. Again, I feel so incredibly fortunate to be able to shift my work around so that I can go for these longer runs and make the most of these luminous early summer days.

3x Valborg

Tres Patas

A month ago, Systembolaget released a limited batch of Tres Patas from the mountains south of Ávila in Castile and León, which quickly sold out after receiving glowing reviews from Swedish wine critics. I was able to secure a bottle which I, despite the hype, would only give three or four out of five – perfectly fine, but nothing extraordinary. Yet, few things beat moose meatballs with blackcurrant jelly on a wintry night in February after teaching statistics for six hours.

Today, I did six more hours of SPSS workshops before heading down to Nordic Wellness Kyrkogatan to wrap up my indoor rowing for February. With only two days left this month, I am happy to have done fifty kilometres on the rowing machine for the second consecutive month, now when my running has more or less stalled. 

Bastión de la Luna

Apparently, 18 months have passed since I last mentioned the Moon here on Rawls & Me so, with this busy week of teaching and travelling finally over, I felt like it deserved a post. Even if the Moon may hold the key to some of the sustainability challenges that we face, and I still have a lot of pent-up frustration after yesterday’s conference, I desperately need to turn a page.

And, hailing from Salnés, about 60 kilometres south of Santiago de Compostela, this lovely Albariño was precisely what I needed to do that. As discussed at length in Scruton’s “I Drink Therefore I Am”, wine does something to your thinking, smoothing the edges, and making you see the basic existential truth, what the old confession calls “confitemur partem nos habere in aversione mundi a te”: that we all have our share in the world’s turning away from God.

Iris Murdoch

Two years ago, Anna and I both became completely absorbed by Lyra Ekström Lindbäck’s novel Moral, in which the Irish-British novelist and philosopher Iris Murdoch plays a key role. With Anna Victoria Hallberg’s book You Touch My Soul: Scenes from a Life with Iris Murdoch fresh off the printer, it felt like an obvious new piece to the puzzle – and a necessary investment.

Otherwise, the big news today is that my co-authored article Critical Perspectives on HyFlex Teaching is finally live on the website of the Journal of Social Work Education. First submitted in May 2023, back when I was still working in Umeå, it has been one of the most drawn-out publishing experiences of my career – rivalled only by my book chapter with Edward Elgar earlier this year. From initial submission to first decision, my co-author Linda and I waited 13 months. Fortunately, the reviewers were positive, so after some minor revisions our article was accepted in September last year. Normally, it then takes a few months for an article to appear online (and possibly much longer before it is assigned to an actual issue of the journal). In our case, however, we had to wait another ten months before the next chapter of the saga: getting the journal to recognize that Halmstad University (like all Swedish universities) has a “transformative agreement” with Taylor & Francis that covers the cost of open access publishing. Countless e-mails later, I got to sign the publishing agreement last Tuesday – and, after yet another exchange with the portfolio manager and the “typesetter” (only the “lamplighter” missing) – the article finally appeared online today exactly one week later. I like to think that Iris Murdoch would have appreciated the whole affair: the long wait, the bureaucratic entanglements, the small triumph at the end symbolized by fish tacos and a bottle of Portuguese white wine – all the stuff of moral life, just with more email threads and fewer Oxford quadrangles.

Queer

Apparently, William S. Burroughs’ novel Queer – left half-finished for three decades before finally being published in 1985 – was adapted into a film last year, premiering at the Venice International Film Festival in September. Pouring myself a glass of Austrian Pinot Blanc on the balcony after six hours on Zoom, I am suddenly transported to Mexico City in the fifties by the literary original.

Luckily, I was able to break up the Zoom sessions with a lunch run in the sunshine, as I really want to make the most of these precious spring days, finishing the run at my new favourite Vietnamese restaurant. With another class on evaluation starting on Friday and ten different thesis projects to supervise, I am struggling to find time for longer runs. Still, with a bit of luck, I am hoping to do a long run tomorrow morning, heading up to Brödfabriken in Jonsered for a post-trail breakfast.

Aphros

Oven roasting kale for a salmon and blueberry salad, I am uncertain if a #småparti bottle with Vinho Verde is enough to bring sunshine to the Iberian Peninsula forecast in time for next weekend. Right now, it looks like there will be heavy rain throughout, to an extent that the race may even end up being cancelled. Still, as I said to Anna on our morning run through Skatås, what really matters is all the training that I have been motivated to do this winter thanks to the Bandolerita ultra marathon rather than the race itself.

After taking the kids to laser tag, I was able to get 5k of indoor rowing done as well so now I am almost ready to pack my bags for Spain. Starting in Málaga, Sofi and I will first head up to Ronda for one night before staying two nights out on a farm in Las Abiertas for the race. With our return SAS flight first on Sunday night, I will at least not have to stress about having a flight to catch out the course. Still, I really hope to be able to finish before midnight, especially if it has been raining all day.

24 days

I guess I am only human. Or something. But I did make it to day #25 without any sweets before I gave in to a semla with Eddie at the Cum Pane bakery in Olskroken. And tomorrow, Anna and I are planning a date night at Tavolo while the boys are going to the opera to see "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" with Anna's mother, meaning that there will probably be a glass of wine or two. Yet, looking ahead towards the Bandolerita in March, this experiment has really made me more conscious about how much sugar I eat and eager to clean up my diet for the 42 days that remain. So, do not expect any #småparti wine updates until later in the spring...

Small Wonder

After sharing a bottle of Pinot Noir from the Central Coast with Johanna last weekend, I was intrigued when I saw the same grape from 41 degrees South or the Tamar Valley in Tasmania to be exact. Making Manchego toasts in the oven to my Spanish stew, I read about the neologism “anemoia”, as in nostalgia for times and places that you have never known, a concept that I experienced first-hand in Buenos Aires when thinking about Evert Taube and the 1910’s. Similarly, when living in Melbourne in 2008, I often saw the night ferries leave for Davenport, yet Tasmania has remained solely in my dreams.

Furmint

The other day, Ally recommended a Hungarian white wine made with the Furmint grape. While Hungary is mostly known for its sweet dessert wines that are made using the same grape, both Anna and I loved this dry variant. As often, I realize that it has been my own prejudices that have kept me from discovering how much some countries have improved as wine producers in recent years.

Today it is Saturday which of course means Parkrun. Running next to William, we had a great run in the autumn sunshine, including some wild downhill sprints in 2:50 min/km. And in three hours, we will pick up my parents at the railway station to make sure they know everything they need to know in anticipation of our big trip.

Seasalter

After commuting back and forth for two days with high-speed trains, it is finally Friday night. Thanks to this summer’s Mediterraneo magazine and an outstanding Sauvignon Blanc from the Western Cape, I have already forgotten how soaked I got when walking to the station in Halmstad, and instead I am back dreaming of places in the sun.

With exactly 40 days left until departure, and SAS leaving Star Alliance in a week from tomorrow, Anna’s and my autumn award trip to Argentina is hanging by a thin thread in case there are any last-minute schedule changes. But, if all goes according to plan, we will first fly to Istanbul, then across the Atlantic to Bogotá before continuing all the way down to Buenos Aires. With Montevideo being located a short ferry ride across the Rio de la Plata (Taube anyone?), we are of course planning to include the Uruguayan capital as well before returning to Europe on one of Lufthansa’s few remaining 747-8s. All in all, an epic adventure which I really hope I will be able take you all along for here on Rawls & Me.

Roasted grapes

Tonight, I made a recipe with toasted red grapes and feta cheese that was just divine. Together with a long-time favourite white wine from the slopes of Etna, it was the perfect midsummer dinner. So, with that, happy midsummer to you all!

Summer is here

After the morning rain, it was suddenly summer here in Gothenburg with the temperature climbing above twenty degrees (and, yes, I have finished reading The Three-Body Problem, more on that later) and blue skies. As such, the family finally invested in a charcoal grill to have on the balcony for that authentic Turkish Airlines experience.

Pouring up a glass of pinot noir from Patagonia, I received an approval of my summer vacation, with enough days left to spare for Anna’s and my long-planned trip to Argentina in October. Beyond grilling, I have otherwise spent most of the day fixing the last things in the new apartment but at least I had time to also go for 12 km of running in the afternoon sun for a total of 72 km this week, despite taking three days off, so, all in all, I am a happy bunny.

Swell season

Not the Irish-Czech folk rock duo, but a glass of Sauvignon Blanc from Margaret River in Western Australia (yes, I definitely have to go there one day) to mark that this mad Wednesday is over, a day that started shortly after 4 am with the writing of a syllabus followed by the customary train ride to Halmstad, a thousand meters in the pool, a seminar and then the miserable experience of having to grade a third-chance exam at which I had to fail 20 of the 22 students :-(

Fortunately, tomorrow promises to be less stressful with time to finally finish my paper for WPSA in Vancouver and maybe even get some rowing done at the gym.

Great Southern

From Western Australia, a bottle of l'orange made it across the world and all the way to “bolkki” here in Kiruna. Unlike the Arabian sunshine a decade ago, the polar night reigns uninterrupted as I make my signature bouillabaisse to match after one last day of Zoom thesis supervision this year.

Next week, the temperature is expected to drop below -30 degrees but hopefully I will find time for some more cross-country skiing before it gets too cold. Even now the temperature has been the limiting factor as the kids have started to protest already after a few kilometres but, all in all, Anna and I have still been able to do 60 kilometres since we got up here a week ago. And as for after ski, I can wholeheartedly recommend Blossa 23 “Old Town” white wine glögg (for the protocol, I should say that my former colleague Therese, who is a true glögg connoisseur, has a dissenting opinion on its qualities).

Mendocino

While Justin gets to go to London, I am back to race planning for 2024. As always, the Coastal Trail Series in the UK has its unique pull on me, with both Pembrokeshire and the North York Moors standing out as particularly alluring. For now, however, I am thrown back to the Mendocino Coast with some pinot noir #småparti as I am making a warming risotto for dinner.

Finalloppet

While my former colleague Veronica is spending all night and day doing Kullamannen 100k, I woke up to a much shorter and quicker distance in Skatås where I have come to do much of my running since moving to Gothenburg.

Racing 19k on (mostly) familiar trails, I was able to complete the course in 1 hour and 34 minutes as number 134 of 446 runners finishing the race. Taking it slow on the more technical sections and speeding up to 4:40 min/km on the gravel roads, the whole race felt very controlled, with an average heart rate of 160 bpm despite a total climb of 334 meters. Passing Delsjön, the sun even briefly came out, making it perfect race weather with the temperature hovering around nine degrees.

Once back home, it was time for laundry and vacuum cleaning. Compared to in the past, when every race knocked me out completely, I am surprised by how much spare energy I have after racing these days. With the kids deciding what to have for dinner, I got to make the house signature Spaghetti Bolognese, served with a glass of Gilda red wine from a bit north of Lisbon.

Nothing Wrong With Old Skool

The other night, I rediscovered a chenin blanc from Western Australia that threw me back to those beloved antipodean shores. With a fun taste of green apples and tropical fruit, I think it is up there with DeAetna Bianco as one of my favourite white wines right now.

Real bad lookin'

With the rain starting to fall, I made my new signature dish, mango salmon Kerala-style, today slightly less spicy but with fresh cilantro and lots of ripe mango. Though I normally consider myself a “terroiriste” (despite all my universalist inclinations), in this case, I must say that the hyper-rationalist Gothenburg-based company “Wine Mechanics” has nailed it with their Chenin Blanc, sold for a limited time only by Systembolaget in a can (of course).