Ken Mattsson

Saw all the Icelandic Sites

2007-06-28T16:21:00.000-04:00

Had a great day with Margrét going around all the different sites in the Golden Circle outside Reykjavík today, and you´re lucky as I´m able to have some pictures as Margrét took a bunch and I can access them with this computer! The weather has been great as it's been sunny and about 60 degrees here, which is quite warm for here.

Here's a picture of me in downtown Reykjavik from yesterday.

We started off around 10 a.m. this morning with driving east out of Reykjavík on Route 1, which is the route that goes all around the island. It doesn´t take long for you to get out of the city (5 minutes) and into the country. The landscape here is a combination of wide open spaces of either lava fields or fields of flowers and grasses. Either way, it´s breathtakingly beautiful. The photos will never do it justice, but we´ll try to show you something.

We first stopped in a small town to get a map, and at the tourist shop/info place, they had a bubbling pool of hot water coming out of the ground. Quite cool.

After going through many miles of farms, lava fields, and other landscapes, we made our way to Flúðir, which is famous for growing mushrooms. There, we bought some kleinur, which are Icelandic twisted doughnuts. As be traveled on, the road, which is a majorish road, turned to dirt, and there were sheep along the sides. We soon got to Gullfoss, which translates to Golden Waterfall. It was very impressive, and it cuts a canyon into the landscape, so you can´t see it coming up until you are right on it. Here´re some pictures of that.

Next, we went down the road to Geysir, to see the original Old Faithfull. Skrokkur blows every 10-15 minutes, and here is a picture of me that Margret got.

Then, we went into Hotel Geysir for lunch, where I treated Margret to lunch for about US$85 for the two of us. Again, it's expensive here!

We traveled on to Thingvellir, which is the site of the old Icelandic parlament from AD 974. It's an amazingly magical place, and it's where the North American and European techtonic plate come together. Here're some pictures of that.

We're just about to go out to dinner, so I've got to stop. Coming home tomorrow after a dip in the Blue Lagoon, and for some other shopping here.

Later!

Ken

Fun with Margrét

2007-06-28T05:04:00.000-04:00

Margrét and I went out on the town yesterday, and I saw most of downtown Reykjavík. The city reminds me of Anchorage, in that it´s a larger city, but kind of more of a town, out away from everything else, and the light is the same in the time of year. As Iceland is so far west in the time zone, and we´re so north, the sun goes down about 3 or 4 in the morning, and then comes up around 5 or 6.

We went out and had pizza. We each had a person pizza and a bottle of beer. The pizzas were IsKR1500 each, which is about US$25 and the beers were IsKR500, about US$9. We walked around and say the Althingi, which is the parlament, and the city hall of Reykjavík, which is bigger than the parlament. After that, we went to a bar and I had a great piece of chocolate cake, which was IsKR650, or about US$10.50. Yes, Iceland is expensive!

It´s a beautiful day outside, and it might be in the 60´s and sunny, so we´re going to have a great day traveling. We´ve already got plans to get together with her friends tonight and go to the Blue Lagoon tomorrow. As Margrét has a camera, I might be able to post pictures with this. My pictures will have to wait until I get back.

I also might splurge on an Icelandic Sweater while I´m here.

Ken

Iceland is Niceland

2007-06-27T13:12:00.000-04:00

I´m sitting in Margrét Eir's living room after flying into Rekjavik, and the weather here is quite nice (about 60 degrees and partially sunny. For Iceland, that's a great day.

We're about to go into Rekjavik from her apartment in Kopavogur, and check out the town. Tomorrow we'll be traveling around to a number of the sites that Iceland is known for.

Gotta go!

Ken

Adjö Sverige

2007-06-27T04:05:00.001-04:00

This is my last morning, and I'm just about to pack up and head to the airport so that I can get the flight to Iceland. It's raining today, and I'm lucky that I've had two nice weather days in Stockholm.

Since I've been here, I've actually run into people that I know. Yesterday, I got up and went to start my sightseeing by passing by the Bellman House where Carl Mikael Bellman, Sweden's greatest poet and songwriter, lived in the 1700's. Then, I went to Gamla Stan to go view the Royal Castle, and in line to get my ticket, I ran into Shreyas Patel, a friend I play bridge with in Boston. We knew that we'd both be here, but we hadn't connected before we left to make plans. He was traveling here for a conference, and his mother was also with him, so we went and saw the Royal Apartments, which were quite impressive. After leaving there, I went off to see some other museums in the castle, then the Storkyrkan, which is the main royal church next to the castle. There, I saw some people I met in Norrköping when we were both doing research in the library. I then went and took a tour of the Riksdag, which is Sweden's Parlament, and then went to the Music Museum, where I bought a special Swedish overtone flute (säjlflöjt), and then went to the main shopping area to try to find some books that I wouldn't be able to get in Boston. I got almost all of what I wanted there, and then came home tired and at night Shreyas and I met at Den Gylldene Freden (the Golden Freedom) which is a tavern where Carl Mikael Bellman (noted above) used to drink. We had a cider there, and there was a man dressed in 17th century clothes with a guitar, and we found out that he's a Bellman scholar and is very involved with the Bellman Society, and we exchanged information.

Next, Shreyas and I took a walk and went over to Riddarholmen, which is the small island to the west of Gamla Stan, and sat on the Evert Taube Terrassen (Evert Taube is another Swedish troubador from the early to mid 20th century) and viewed the sunset (at 10:15 p.m.) and the City Hall. We then went to a bar, and had another cider and talked with Jeff from Virginia who is living here for the summer, and also Gunnar, who's a minister at a Lutheran Church in Östermalm, and originally comes from Lugnås, where my grandfather's mother's family is from.

Further in the small world department, I came down to breakfast in my hotel this morning, and there were two folkies from Boston that I know. Jan Elliot is a sword dancer and her husband Tim was at Pinewoods a couple of years ago when I went with Lynn Noel. They are here for a family reunion, so it's just so funny that I'm running into people here.

Well, I've got to go pack and get ready to go to the airport. I should be able to write from Iceland. I've loved Sweden, but I've been traveling quite a bit, so I'm ready to start heading home.

Later,

Ken

First Day in Stockholm

2007-06-25T17:19:00.001-04:00

Well, it was an interesting day here. I had a good night's sleep here at the Columbus Hotel, and then started walking to the old city (Gamla stan). This is the original village of Stockholm, and it's very crowded. The streets are sometimes as narrow as 10 ft. across, and there are many times six story buildings on each side. I need to go through there a bit more to check out a bit more.

The one thing I found out (that was incorrect in the Lonely Planet Sweden guide) is that most of the museums in Stockholm are closed on Mondays. I went to four museums today, but only got into one. I did get to see the changing of the guards at the Kungliga Slott (Royal Palace), and that was quite impressive. I expected it to be about 10 minutes, but I left after 35 minutes, and there was a great military marching band that did a lot of good music and interesting choreography. The whole spectacle was cool.

I went over and met my friend Lena Hesselvik, and we had lunch at this nice restaurant across the water from Gamla stan. I've been eating mostly at cleap places, but this was nice, and I volunteered to treat her, as she and Fred put me up for 3 days, so I figured this was the least I could do. The food was great, but it really shows how much more expensive it is here that in the states. I paid SEK390 (~USD55) for two entrees and two soft drinks. I think at a nice place in the US, that would be more like USD35. Oh, well, I don't do that much here, but I don't do it much in America either, so vacations are for splurging.

I did get to the Vasa Museum, which as extremely good. The Vasa was a large military ship built in 1628, and because of design problems, it sank 30 minutes into it maiden voyage, and in the 1960's they managed to salvage it and bring it up with most of the artifacts, so it gives a great view into what life was like in the early 1600's. They did a great job at representing all the different parts of life from sailing, heroic imagery, ship building, forensics, city life, etc. If you come to Stockholm, I heartily recommend it.

About to go to bed tonight and wake up and do more museums, and hopefully be able to buy all the books, CD's and other things that I want to get, but haven't wanted to carry around with me. It will be my last full day in Sweden, and then I'm off to Iceland for some fun with the incredibly talented Margret Eir.

Ken

Back in Civilization after being in the Skärgård

2007-06-24T17:02:00.000-04:00

I just got in today to the city of Stockholm, and I'm staying at the Columbus Hotel in Södermalm. Södermalm is sort of like the Harvard Square/Davis Square of Stockholm, as there are a lot of funky restaurants and stores, and there's a great variety of people here. It looks a lot more like what I'd see on the subway in Boston when I walk the streets here.

I've got three more days here in Sweden, and I'm planning on checking out a number of the museums here. There are over 70 in Stockholm alone. I have to figure out which ones I'm going to go to over the next few days.

Today was a glorious sunny day here, as the previous two were cloudy and rainy, so this was a great relief. Fred and I went out in his boat this morning, and it went really fast. I also hung out, sat out by the water, and right before we left, Fred and I went for a dip in the Baltic. It's definitely still cold. I was in for about 30 seconds, if that! As the Baltic has only one outlet to the ocean near Copenhagen, it's not very salty. When you're down by the water, it smells more like it's a big lake instead of the ocean. I can tell you, that when you swim in it, you taste the salt!

I've got to go up to my room and get some sleep now. It's about 11 p.m. here, and I'm quite tired. The room is nice, but I never thought that I'd spend about USD105.00 for a room on the fourth floor (no elevator here) with a shared bathroom, but as I didn't want to spend USD300.00 for a room for three days, I can manage this. I'll be happy to be home in my own bed, and also when I go to Seattle soon for the National Career Development Association Conference next week (yes, I'm a glutton for travel punishment) I'll at least have a nice bed.

Later,

Ken

I survived Midsommar

2007-06-23T18:25:00.000-04:00

Hey all,

Just a note, I just found out that I got a bunch of mail that filled up my inbox, and I didn't get any new mail for 5 days. It should be fine now if you want to send me mail, so please feel free to resend anything you send me earlier that bounced.

Yesterday was Midsommarafton (day before Midsommer) and that's the day that everything happens. It was pretty relaxed around here, and we got down to the public festivities late, and I missed all the dancing, which was one of the main things that I wanted to experiences, so I was kind of bummed about that. Just means that I'll have to come back another year. I did get to see the pole, hear the musicians playing, and watched the potato-in-a-spoon races, the potato sack races, and the tug of war competitions between the different villages of the island (Mynäsudde won.) We then got invited to the people next door to my friends Fred and Lena's, and we had a great meal with their family and the friends of the two siblings that were there. There were about 16 or so people there, and we sang a lot of conveniently short songs, as in Sweden you have to sing before you can drink. I probably had more alcohol last night than I had for the past 5 months though. I paced myself and I felt fine though. I ended up going to a bar/club (the only one on the island) at about 11 p.m. and it was just like the places that I don't like to go to in America, but everyone was speaking Swedish, but it was one of the first places that I've seen drunk 20 year old men wearing crowns made of wildflowers on their heads.

Today, it was raining most of the day (seemingly another midsommar tradition) and we took it very easy. I took a walk for about 45 minutes, and we made dinner here. It started to clear up toward the end of the day, and we took a walk down by the shore. It's very pretty here.

We'll be going back to Stockholm tomorrow, and I'll be moving into a hotel room. Lena has said that she'd be interested in accompanying me to some of the museums that I'm planning on visiting while I'm there, so that will be nice to have company. I'm flying out on Wednesday to Iceland, so I'm sort of going through withdrawl thoughts of leaving Sweden. My Swedish has improved dramatically, but I'm also kind of tired of working so hard to speak. I know that this is one of my only times to really practice, but I think I also need some more time to absorb all that I've taken in here.

Overall, this has been a tremendously great trip for me, and one that's been somewhat overwhelming in so many ways. It's filled in some wholes for me, and I think I'm a little more centered now.

I'll try to write again while I'm in Stockholm.

Hej Hej!

Ken

Now in Utö

2007-06-21T15:50:00.000-04:00

Well, I left Norrköping this morning, took the train to Stockholm, the next train to to Västerhannige, and then the bus to Åsterhavstad, where while I was waiting for the ferry, my friend Lena and her daughter Nini, and I helped them with the various packages onto the boat. It was great to see people that I already know. We came to the island and brought all the stuff to their vacation house on a hill with a glorious view of the bay between here and the mainland, and then we took their 30 year old bicycles the 3 kilometers (approximately 1.8 miles) to the only store on the island. We bought a lot of food and came back with our groceries on the three bicycles home. By the time we got home in the rain, Fredrik, my former singing partner in Stämbandet, joined us, and we started getting down to having some wine. As they were wondering what a vegetarian eats, I made dinner tonight, and we are going to take a little walk to see their old cabin. It is 10 p.m. right now, and it is still light out.

Tomorrow is Midsommerafton, so this will be the party day. We will go down to the center of the island for the raising of the Maistang (midsommer pole) and I guess there will be dancing around the pole, and picking of flowers for midsommer kranz (flower halos to wear on your head.) The big party is tomorrow, so we will see if I can write!

Ken

Been inside a lot

2007-06-20T09:02:00.000-04:00

Well, since I got here, I've been in the Norrköping Library for about 7 hours as tehy have a really good geneological library and people to help out. I've found out a lot of things, especially about my father's father's family, but I've also done research on the other parts. The biggest thing I found out was that my great grandfather, Hjalmar Fredrik Mattsson, was the 4th of 5 children, but he was the only one who lived past the age of two. Also, he came to America with an 8 year old boy, who I'm not sure if he was a relative or not. More information needed to research.

Norrköping seems like Lowell if it were bigger. It's nice city, and they've done a lot of nice things here (the way they've redone the mills here into museums and concert halls, artists studios, etc. is impressive.) I've walked around a bit, and gone into 2 museums, but I've mostly seen the library.

This will be my last post for a while, as I'm heading out tomorrow to the island of Utö in the Stockholm archipelego, where I'll celebrate Midsommer with my friend Fred Hesslevik (who I sang with in Stämbandet) and his wife Lena. I'll take a train from here to Stockholm, another to Västerhannige, a bus to the port, and then a ferry over to the island. I'm looking forward to a few days of not traveling and just hanging out. I'm probably eat and drink a lot too, and I'm looking forward to seeing how real Swede celebrate Midsommer. Everything closes down here soon, and the weather for Midsommer is the biggest thing on the news.

I should be in Stockholm on Sunday, but maybe Monday. I'm flying out to Iceland on Wednesday, and then I really won't know the language.

Feel free to send me an email if you want to get to me.

Ken

Now in Norrköping

2007-06-19T09:16:00.000-04:00

Well, I took the three different trains to get to Norrköping from Karlskrona, and it wasn't too bad, but I was a lot of changing. I accidentally was in first class for the first trip, but they didn't catch me. ;-)

I booked a room at the Hotel Isabell here in Norrköping, and it's a budget hotel. No frills, bathroom across the hall, but it's cheaper than anything else I could get.

Norrköping is like my hometown of Maynard, but much bigger. There are a lot of mills here, and they have been beautifully redone. I'm going to go to the Museum of Workers tomorrow, and today I've already gone to Klockgutaregatan, where my great great grandmother was living when my great grandfather died. Right now, it's an apartment house with a pool hall on the first floor.

I'm in the Norrköping Library, and I've got some time booked to work with the geneology speciallist here to do some reseach, so I'll report back when I find something. Right now, I've got to figure out where I can wash my clothes, as I'm almost out. I might be doing it in the sink in my room!

Later,

Ken

Great Day on the Water

2007-06-18T15:20:00.001-04:00

I just got in from my adventure today out on the Skärdgård (archipeligo) outside of Karlskrona. It all started with an adventure of just getting the car. Last night, I did some research just to figure out where the car rental places where. They weren't were the Tourist Bureau thought they were, so I had to do some investigating on my own. I ended up having to take the bus about three miles, and then the bus driver didn't tell me to get off when I thought he would tell me, so I stayed on until the end of the line at Verkö, which I wanted to see any, as it's the place where my grandmother's brother Olof Algot Jonasson was born. Right now, it's the main port of entry for ferries from Gdynia, Poland, and an industrial area. So that's why there's so much here in Polish.

Anyway, I went back and got off the bus, and then found that the Avis office wasn't where I was told it was, but it was another kilometer away. That was frustrating, but I finally got the car, a Toyota, and I was on my way. The Swedish roads are in good shape, but there really aren't any big highways around here, as this a big city. As I mentioned yesterday, I thought Karlskrona was a little scruffy, the outlying area is very beautiful. It's a lot of low lying rocks in the sea, so there are about 1,400 islands off the coast. I drove out to Torhamn, which is where my mother's mother's family is from. Torhamn is very small, I'd say about 200 people or so, and about 20 miles from Karlskrona. It's a very peaceful place that I can tell gets busier when summer hits, which for Sweden is after Midsommar this weekend.

I looked around the graveyard to see if I could find any graves, and I couldn't, but I talked to the woman who takes care of the graves and the church, and she gave me the address of the person at the central parish in Jämjö who should be able to help me. I'm email him when I get back.

I then went out to Yttre Park to catch my first ferry of the day to Stenhamn/Utlängan. That was one of the islands where I know that my great-grandmother lived before she was married. I got off, figuring that there would be snack shops, etc., but there were a bunch of cottages, but only one woman got off with me. She has a house there and we talked as we walked the mile from the port village (which had only one person in it) to the village where she lived, which now had 3 people in it. I guess that everyone comes over for Midsommar and the rest of the summer, but there're not there yet! Anyway, I ended up just sitting at her house, eating the breakfast that I brought, and talking with her. Her name is Eleanor, and she works in IT in Karlskrona, and she's a native of the islands. She said that I should check up on a geneology of the main family that's been done for the area, and my family is probably on it.

It was so nice just to hang out there and to relax. I've been so goal oriented at seeing everything, it was just nice to relax. It was a sunny day also, so that was great. Even though the temperature was 65 degrees fahrenheit, it felt a lot warmer. I ended up going back to the harbor, and waiting for the boat to Unskär. There at the dock, I heard an American woman talking on a cell phone and talked with her. Found out, she married a Swedish man and has been living in Helsingborg for 1 1/2 years. She was as surprised as I was at meeting another American.

I got off at Ungskär, and as I had only a little over an hour until the next boat came, I had to make good use of my time. Ungskär is an old fishing village, and there are about 40 house/cottages there. I immediately met an nice man, Knut Andersson, who is 73 years old and a native of Ungskär. He also lived in New York when he was young and spoke English, although I think my Swedish was on par with his English. Anyway, he decided to introduce me to the oldest man on the island, who's name is Einar Månsson, age 82. We went into his small little cottage where he and his eleven brothers and sisters grew up. He was eating dinner with his wife, and we started talking. Einar thinks that his grandmother was the sister of my great-grandmother Cecilia Pettersson. As the island only had about 500 inhabitants at it's largest, that's not a surprised, but I was really surprised to hit the geneology jackpot so quickly. I got his name and address, so I'll be in touch.

I also found out that a lot of people from Ungskär emigrated to Boston in the 1800-1900's. I guess it was a popular place as they probably had other people they knew, and they had the nautical and sailing skills to work in the fishing industry.

After that, I took the ferry back to Yttre Park, and then drove back towards Karlskrona. I went through Ramdala, where my great grandmother Cecilia Pettersson was born, and then drove out to Sturkö to use the library to see if I could find that geneology that Eleanor mentioned. Unfortunately, there summer hours started today, and the library was closed there. The views out there are amazing, and I stopped a few times to sit and look at things.

I then drove back to Karlskrona to drop off the car, and to also to do an errand of replacing the electric converter that I accidenally left in Helsingborg. I couldn't get it there, but I was finally able to put gas in the car. This was a challenge as all Visa cards here use a PIN, and the automatic gas stations have you put in the PIN in order to buy gas. I finally found one that didn't need that, and put in the 6 liters (1.5 gallons) to fill it up. My cost for that? SEK71 or about ten dollars fifty cents American. Be thankful that you're only paying 3 dollars a gallon America!

After dropping off the car, I went into the bathroom to see that I got an amazing sunburn on my forhead and my nose. I hope it calms down in the next few days. That was the only place I got it. I've already put the sunscreen on and will remember to do it more here. The sun is so strong, especially out on the water.

Tomorrow I take the train to Norrköping to see if I can find out about my father's father's family. It will be three trains that I'll take from here, as this isn't the most central part of the country.

More adventures await. I'm having a great time, and I'm finally starting to feel pretty comfortable with my Swedish. I can't wait until Midsommer when I've had lots of Akvavit!

Adjö!

Ken

Made it to Karlskrona

2007-06-17T12:05:00.000-04:00

Well, I've been traveling for most of the day, and finally made it to Karlskrona. I found out that today is the first day that they've opened the railline between Kristianstad (ask me how to pronounce that when I get back. It's nothing like you'd think) and Karlskrona. Also, the connection, which usually in Sweden seems to be about 10-15 minutes for any train connection, was almost 2 hours. I ate at a Chinese restaurant in Kristianstad, and the woman working there used to live in LA. As I speak Chinese too, I tried to speak to her in that language, but found that my brain has been working so hard on Swedish, that I don't have the brain space for Chinese at this point; I couldn't remember the words. Oh well.

Karlskrona is a miliary/naval town, and it's a little scruffy. The Stortorget (main city square) is enormous and very impressive, but it's Sunday night and not a lot is open. I'm going to look around the place tonight, and then be up tomorrow for the big adventure. I have to rent a car, as I'll be going places that aren't easily accessed by train and bus. I'll also be taking some boats out to some of the islands where the Jonasson family lived. I also found out (thank you Kristina!) that my mother's mother's father had a brother Magnus Olsson, who also moved to Boston in the 1890's, followed by his wife and four daughters. Here's another branch I didn't know about.

Well, I have to do some research on car rentals and also check up on some family information. I'll be here until Tuesday morning, and then will take the train (with 2 changes) up to Norrköping.

Adjö!

Ken

I've been all over Skåne

2007-06-16T16:18:00.000-04:00

Well, since I last wrote, I had a lovely time going though Malmö, and I went to the Kogg Museum, which is a museum about the boats of the Medieval time in Sweden. I got to go for a ride in the harbor, and then try my hand at a medieval game. Afterwards, I went for a bus ride pass the Turning Torso, and onto the island of Ön, which means 'The Island.' From there, I could see the Oresund Bridge, which is enormous, and over to Copenhagen where they had 20 wind turbins going. Over all of Sweden, I've seen a lot of wind turbines, and they actually look nice.

Yesterday, I went out with Stig-Åke and Karin and we traveled to all the little towns and villages where my mother's father's family is from. It's absolutely beautiful country, and we checked out many churches and graveyards. We didn't find any hits, as in Sweden they take down a headstone after 60 years unless someone pays for it's upkeep, so most of the old graves are no longer there. We asked a lot of people and we found out that there was one placed called Hallfarm where my great grandparents most likely met. We also went and met Stig-Åke's brother and wife in Kågaröd, and we had lunch there and then went off to the village of Ask, where my great uncle Axel was born. We checked out the graveyard, and I found what I believe to be the grave of my great grandmother's sister, Kjerti Jacobsdotter. We also went out and found out where the farms of Sonnarp and Allarp where. My family lived in both and they are in absolutely beautiful country.

After a long day, we traveled to Helsingborg, where I had a new hotel room set up by Karin. It was just too uncomfortable in the Hostel,and they found me a great, comfortable room. I was so happy to be in a great room. It's right on the Stortorget in Helsingborg, and the view from the castle at the top of the hill is fantastic.

Today, my other cousin Kristina Larsson (great granddaughter of Matilda Andersson, who was the sister of my great grandmother Cecilia Billqvist), picked me up and we took the ferry over to Helsingör in Denmark. We went and toured the castle, Kronborg, which is the castle where Hamlet supposedly lived. After that, I did what all Swedes do in Denmark and bought alcohol. It's cheaper than it is in Sweden, and I'll bring it to Fred's place for midsommer. We came back to Sweden and traveled to her father's farm in the middle of beautiful farmland, and then onto her aunt Ulla's house, where we had dinner. It was great and Kristina has a lot of information about my family, including information on another brother of Cecilia's who emigrated to Canada. I didn't know that this brother existed, but this fills in a gap about my knowledge of the Anderson side of the family.

I'm in Kristins'a apartment now, and I'll go back to the hotel and tomorrow I'll take the train to Karlskrona, where I'll be looking for traces of my mother's mother's family. It's been raining like crazy today with temperatures in the 50's, so I'm hoping for better weather tomorrow.

Till later,

Ken

Off to see the homesteads

2007-06-15T02:12:00.000-04:00

It's Friday morning, and today Stig-Åke, Karin, and another cousin whom I forget his name at the moment, are coming and picking me up, and we'll be visiting all the little villages where my mother's fathers family is from. Should be interesting. I've also checked out of the hostel, as I wasn't sleeping well there. It's in an old train, and it's very narrow, small, and there's not a lot to keep you from hearing other people. I don't know where I'll be staying, but I'll find a hotel somewhere so that I can sleep better.

Yesterday in Malmö, I got to go to the Koggmuseet, which is a museum of medieval boats and what life was like back in the middle ages. I also went out and took a bus to the most western part of the city so I could see the Öresund Bridge and over to Copenhagen. One thing I've noticed here is the number of wind turbines around. There certainly is a lot of wind so that you generate energy. It's what they've got here.

I've got to research hotels and more info on my family geneology, so we know what we're looking for today.

I'll check in later. Feel free to post a message on my blog if you want to get a message to me. I've noticed that sometimes I can login to my regular email, and sometimes I can login to my kenmattsson@gmail.com account, but usually not at the same time. If you want to get a message to me, try both!

Ken

A Day Off...Sort of...

2007-06-14T04:45:00.000-04:00

I'm now sitting here in the Stadsbibliotek (City Library) in Malmö, and I have just my own schedule to deal with today, so I can take my time and fill everyone in. I've had to figure out how to get internet access here, and it seems that the best and cheapest way is to go to the library, and you can reserve a computer for 30 minutes, so I've done that now. A Swedish keyboard is different from an American one in small ways, so I'm always typing quickly and then make a mistake like typing Iäm instead of I'm. I'm learning though.

I'll use this opportunity to write more about everything that's happened in the three days I've been here. The first day, I flew into Iceland to the very cute Keflavik Aiport. While this is the main airport for the country, it really shows how small Iceland is. It's also quite expensive, except if you shop at the duty free. I'll be getting from Brennivin to bring home with me!

My trip to Arlanda Airport outside of Stockholm, and except for waiting for my luggage, it was very quick. As I went through EU customs in Iceland, I just had to walk out of there to the train. The trip into Stockholm Central station was fine, but I had to figure out where to go from there. I had decided on the plain that although I had originally planned to go to Skövde, I would instead got to Mariestad, as it's right on Vännern, the biggest lake in Sweden, and should be prettier. I had to wait in line (a national habit here in Sweden) to speak with someone, so that I could reserve my seat on the train. I have a Eurail pass here, but I went on one of the X2000 trains, which is new and extremely fast (187 mph!) and it cost me an extra SEK65 to reserve a seat. It took about 1 1/4 hours to get to Hallsberg, where I changed trains to a local Västtraffik train to Mariestad.

The trains here are great and they are scheduled so that when you change trains, you never have to wait more than 15 minutes at a station. They all run on time too, so it's so easy. No wonder the Swedes all use them. Another reason could be the price of gas, which seems to average SEK11.50 for a liter (translation: with about SEK6.9 equalling one US dollar, that's about one dollar seventy cents per liter, and there are 4.05 liters in a gallon, so that's over seven dollars US for a US gallon. And we think we're paying a lot for gas!)

I managed to get a bed at the Hostel in Mariestad, and it was only SEK180 for the night. I was in a room with 6 beds, but I was the only person in it. I got to call my internet geneology friend Elisabeth Simensen, and we arrange to meet the next day to go to all the places where the Hurtig part of the family came from. As at this point I hadn't slept for 28 hours, I at least tried to stay up for a little bit so that I could try to get on a Swedish time schedule. I walked around the small city, and got to bed around 10 p.m. Of course it was still light out.

After falling asleep, I woke up at 2 a.m. The light was still up, or came up, and try as I might I couldn't fall asleep again. I got up at 3 a.m. and started to organize my things into a better way to travel around Sweden, took a shower, ate a couple of fruit leathers that I brought with me, and went outside to journal a little and walked out the breakwater (which was across the street from the hostel) out to the lake. I was starting to get into vacation mode as I couldn't do anything but hang out, but I was getting hungry. None of the bakeries or grocery stores opened until 8 a.m. By 7 a.m. the sun was getting very strong, and I just had to move around so I went out and walked a bit around. Finally 8 a.m. came and I grabbed some great Swedish pastries at the Konditorei and then went next door and bought some yogurt and fruit and juice, plus some other snack items for later.

As I didn't sleep well, I decided that I was getting too old to be in a hostel, and that I would move to a hotel the next night that was closer to the train line that would take me south to Skåne the next day. Elisabeth picked me up, and we drove to the first place on the journey, the village of Ullervad. I found out that Elisabeth has family in Maynard (my home town) and she new my great-grandmother's sister Milde when she was young. Milde Tornell had emigrated to the USA, and then moved back to Sweden. Elisabeth new her when she was in the nursing home in Ullervad. We went to the cemetary there, and not only did we find the gravestone of Milde and her husband, but I also found the gravestone of her sister Selma. I've got pictures of all that to put up here later. I also found out that in Sweden, they only keep grave stone up for a set number of years, and if someone doesn't pay a maintenance fee, they will taken down the stones and put someone else's up there. I at least gave my name as a contact for these graves.

Next, Elisabeth and I traveled to the small house (stuga) where my great great grandfather Anders Hurtig lived in at the end of his life. It's in the middle of nowhere. If Elisabeth wasn't there, I never would have found it. It's in a logging area on a dirt track (road is too good of a word for it). Walking up to it, I could just feel goosebumps coming onto me as this was a place I've been wanting to see all my life. It's a little cottage, probably about 15 x 20 feet, with a small barn, a root cellar, and a small well. I don't know if he farmed around there, but it would have been difficult. It's very wooded and a little marshy. We stayed and took some pictures, and I got a couple of stones from the place so I could bring the spirit of it back home with me.

The rest of the day, we visited a number of beautiful old churches where some of my relatives where married or confirmed or christened. And we looked at a lot of graveyard, trying to find stones. We didn't find any, but they might be where we looked but the stones aren't there anymore. It was very warm, and I've found out since that Mariestad was the warmest place in Sweden that day. It was in the upper 80's which is very rare for Sweden in June.

Elisabeth was more than kind, drove me everywhere, wouldn't let me pay for my lunch, and drove me to Skövde so that I could get a hotel room. She also allowed me to try to speak as much Swedish as possible, and I got much better by the end of the day. Her English is pretty good, so I could always fall back on that. I had brought some maple syrup from New England to give as a gift and she liked that, but it certainly wasn't a fair trade here. I'm going to try to find out some information about her relatives in Maynard.

I managed to get a hotel room in Skövde (which is pronounce khov-deh, where the kh sounds like a capaccino machine; it's the most difficult sound in Swedish for me to say, but I'm getting better!) It was difficult to get a room and when I finally got one, it was so amazingly tiny. I did sleep well though, and was able to recharge my batteries for my camera.

The next day, I went across the street to take the train from Skövde to Nässjö (there's that capaccino sound again) and then change to the X2000 train to Lund. On the train to Nässjö, there were a couple of students drinking, playing loud Swedish rap music or old American 70's songs I knew in high school. Then in Jönköping, a group of 8 students got on and then they turned up the music. They were drinking beer, and it was only 10 a.m.! You can tell they were getting a little crazy, as one of them took out a condom, unrolled it, and thread it through the piercing in his nasal septum! That was bizarre. Just goes to show that kids are kids wherever they are.

The trip from Nässjö to Lund was uneventful, except the seat I reserved faced backwards, and I really don't like that, so I asked to switch seats. When I got to Lund, I found out that there was not only a conference, but it was graduation from gymnasiet (high school), so all the graduates were dressed up, wearing sailor hats (a tradition for graduates here), walking around blowing whistles and singing off key. Oh, and of course, drinking beer. I went to the tourist information to try to book a room, and they said that all the hotels were filled because of the conference, and my best bet was the hostel, but that wasn't open until 5 p.m. I tried to call Jenny Rosenkvist, my newly found cousin, but couldn't get throught to her. I got some lunch, and then went back. I only had Jenny's work number, so I went to the tourist information center to see if they could help me find a number at her office so I could locate her, when the woman told me "Well, we could just look up her cell phone number." I was surprised that that was public knowledge. So, I called got her, and she and her mother Karin met me at Lund's Cathedral, which is a lovely large church with some beautiful artwork. There's also a medieval clock there that I got to see run.

Next, Jenny, Karin, and I went to the museum at Lund University, where they had actual houses from different parts of Sweden and of different social classes that had been brought there. There were representative items, like spinning wheels that are almost the sam as the one that we have at my parent's house. That was great, and then we went to a restarant where we met Stig-Åke Rosenkvist and Jenny's boyfriend Jacob. I showed lots of pictures and what research I had, as well as heard their stories. Again, I'm trying to use my Swedish, but sometimes I have to go to my English. They speak English also, but aren't as comfortable with it as Elisabeth is. After dinner, I got my bed at the hostel, which is an actual train, and I'm sleeping in a sleeper, where we have three beds in a room smaller than the hotel room I had in Skövde. Then, we went over to Stig-Åke and Karin's house in Furulund where I was able to show them more of my geneology work, and they showed me more picturs of their family. We made plans to get together on Friday to go see all the villages where the Bilqvist family is from, and then on Saturday, I'll meet up with another cousin, Kristina Larsson, who will show me arount to other places.

I'm getting better at understanding Swedish, but the people down here speak with a Skånska accent, and their vowel sounds are different, so it's not as easy. They sound more like the Danes here, which is not surprising, as Copenhagen is quite close.

I'm going to go now and get some lunch, check out what seems like a cool museum here, and get outside. It's overcast and in the high 50's/low 60's now, so itäs quite a difference. I'm planning on staying in Lund until Sunday, and then take the train to Karlkrona, to see where my mother's mother's family is from. I don't have anyone there to help me, so I'll be doing it on my own.

Malmö seems to be famous for it's falaffel shops, so I'll go get a sandwich now. Don't know when the next time I'll be able to write, but wanted to use this time to catch up.

Ken

Now in Lund

2007-06-13T15:11:00.000-04:00

I made it to Lund after having a great time in Västergötland. I am at the house of my 3rd cousin, Stig-Åken Rosenkvist, and I'll be going to Malmö tomorrow, and seeing sites around Skåne on Friday and Saturday. The weather's been great, but we might get showers on Saturday. I'm staying in a hostel in Lund that's an old train, so it's quite funky.

Getting late, so I'll write later.

Ken

Made it here!

2007-06-12T08:28:00.001-04:00

Well everyone, after 17 hours of traveling, I made it here. After the trip to Iceland and the flight to Stockholm, the trip into Stockholm from the airport was, okay, but then I had to figure out the Swedish Rail system and how to get a reservation of a seat. I decided to got to Mariestad, which is a small city on Lake Vännern, and reminds me of a cross between Burlington, Vermont, and Wolfeboro, New Hampshire. I managed to make contact with an email friend, Elisabeth Simensen, and I spent the rest of the evening walking around and seeing the small city. I willed myself, after not sleeping for 30 hours, to stay up until 8 p.m. to try to get on this schedule. I stayed at a hostel which is very cute, and I was lucky in that I got a room to myself. It was only SEK 190 (approx. US 20, no dollar signs on a Swedish keyboard!) but it wasn't as comfortable as I would have liked it. I decided that I'm getting too old for this, and I'm going into a hotel tonight before I take the train to Lund.

This morning, Elisabeth picked me up and we've been driving everywhere. She's been incredible. Her Grandmother and my Great Grand Aunt were best friends, and she has relatives in my home town of Maynard. I've seen the graves of two of my great-grandaunts, Milda and Selma, visited the farm where my great grandfather lived and died, as we'll ask check out a lot of church yards. We've got a few more to go, as Elisabeth is in a cafe at the library (very civilized) while I type this.

Sweden is sort of like Alaska and Maine, with a lot better infrastructure. The people are nice and my Swedish is already improving! It is expensive, but manageable. I've seen some beautiful signs and it's really warm here. I'd guess in the 80's. I didn't bring enough light close for this! Time to buy t-shirts. I woke up at 2 a.m. this morning, as that was 8 a.m. Boston time. It got light out at 3 a.m.

All for how, but I'll try to find another library soon. I can't seem to get to my email, so if there's something you need to get to me, I'll check my email at kenmattsson@gmail.com.

Next adventure awaits. Vi ses!

Ken

Next Stop: Sweden

2007-06-10T09:20:00.002-04:00

Well, I'm in the last frantic time of trying to get everything together before I head off to Sweden, and I wanted to have some pictures up here so that I can show people there who my family here is, as I don't have them printed out!

Here I am with my Dad.

Here's my mom with my nephew Sam as a newborn.

Here's my brother Rob with his son Sam.

This is my sister Jane with Sam.

This is a picture of the May Pole at May Day. Just to show some other things that I do.

I'm a hammered dulcimer player, so this was what I saw when I was on the stage at the 2003 Dulcimer Fun Fest in Evart, Michigan.

This is a picture I took at Squam Lake in New Hampshire in the fall.

Gay Blades Video

2007-06-08T14:56:00.001-04:00

Finally got the video for our performance at the New England Folk Festival in April 2007. See it at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRJg-D9W1aY.

Family Geneology Information

2007-05-20T15:43:00.000-04:00

I'm finally going to Sweden in seach of my roots and will be there for almost three weeks next month. To help prepare for this, I have put a family research for the different branches on my home page in hopes that someone who is related to me will find it and contact me. This is also so I can have quick access to the information from any computer while I'm in Sweden.

Here are the links to the ancestor reports:

Lorentson Family
Mattsson Family
Lawlor Family
Jonsson Family

The big file with all my genealogical info is here.

Happy Birthday to me and Australia

2007-01-26T12:05:00.000-05:00

Well, it's my birthday today. For the past year, I've been the Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe and Everything (i.e. 42, see Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy for reference.) Now that I'm 43, I figure I'm prime. So it should be a good year!

Granted, it's the coldest day of the year today. High in Boston about 14 degrees Fahrenheit.

A lot warmer place is Australia, where they are celebrating their national holiday, Australia Day. Someday, I'm going to go down there for my birthday, so that everyone is celebrating, and it's warm!

I also share this birthday with Ellen DeGeneres, Eartha Kitt, and Paul Newman. Pretty good company.

My Happy New Year

2007-01-02T10:52:00.000-05:00

Well, I've just returned from my retreat at Kripalu, and it was fantastic. The title of the program that I did was called Refilling Your Well, and it was all about nurturing yourself and doing what best serves you in your life. After everything I've been through in the past couple of years, it really spoke to me. Kripalu is great in that you can really completely relax, as everything is designed to make you be conscious of yourself, your thoughts, and your actions. Just getting back to doing yoga again was a great blessing. I have done it off and on (unfortunately, more off than on) in the 20 years since college, and this reminded me that I really need to have it be a part of my life.

Priti Robyn Ross, the director of the workshop, was great in so many ways. She's got boundless energy, and at first it seems like it must be for show, but it's really her. She's also very knowledgeable about stress management and how to put together a great program. I mentioned at the end of the workshop that all the things we did in it were things I already knew intellectually, but there was something about the way it was put together that really made it click at a gut level. She really cares about everyone getting all they can out of this. We did yoga, journaled, and shared thoughts and activities that got to some of the core issues about why we don't take care of ourselves. One of the greatest activities for me was looking at what at the things that nurture you, and why don't you do them. Seems easy, but it's very easy to forget this. That's the biggest thing that I got out of the workshop is that I've always tried to take care of everyone else, but not done a good job of taking care of me. I likened it to being a string on an instrument, but without the body of the instrument to contain me and to let the music resonate and travel. I need to take care of me more on that.

Some of Priti's good comments were:

What would be the loving thing to do?
I'm not saying no to you; I'm saying yes to me!
What you put your attention on grows.

I'm reminded that I have to do yoga more. I've been doing it for 20 years, but more off than on. While I was there, three people all suggested I check out The Arlington Center, a holistic health center. It's within walking distance of my apartment, and I found out they had an open house with free classes the day after I got back from Kripalu. I've already bought a 15 class pass!

At the end of the session, we needed write out a statement about ourselves that encompassed all we had learned. Mine is:

I, Ken, respect and acknowledge my needs at every moment and choose to nourish myself so that I am strong and protected, and my resonance sings divinely to all corners of the universe.

I've got a lot to do to keep on track of nourishing myself, but I hope that 2007 is the year for that!

2006 Year in Review Letter

2006-12-20T09:51:00.000-05:00

Dear Friends,

2006 has been a very momentous year of change for me. Mostly for the better, but change can be difficult. I'm glad that I've had the love and support of so many friends.

The biggest change has been that after 17 years, Bob Flannery and I have started different paths. In 2005, we decided that, while we still like and support each other, we serve each other better if we are friends and not primary partners. While this hasn't been an easy transition, we want to make sure that all our friends know that you do not have to take sides or make sure we're never invited to the same party. We still talk and know that we’ve shared too much to throw our friendship away. We hope you will support us in that.

In July, Bob got a great job teaching computer science at the Canterbury School, an Episcopal middle school in St. Petersburg, Florida. He moved down to Florida in the end of July, and from all accounts is very happy in his position. I encourage you to contact Bob and find out more about his adventures yourself. I can get you his contact information if you need it.

We were very lucky in this tight real estate market to sell our condo. We put it on the market March 8th, thinking that we'd soon get an offer and we'd be sold by May. Obviously, so did the other 350 condo-owners in Cambridge who all seemed to put their condos on the market at the same time! Through some aggressive price dropping and great realtors (thanks Barbara and Dick Currier!) we got an offer when many others did not. Unfortunately it seems our buyers were told that everyone is out to get you, so one has to be difficult with everyone. There were about 20 times that we wanted to end the deal, but we thought of our options, bit our lips, and went forward. We finally sold on August 24th, and I officially was no longer a Cantabridgian for the first time in 12 years (I’m going to miss that Cambridge parking sticker next year!)

Luckily, I was able to find a nice two bedroom, two bath apartment with a 45-foot long balcony in Arlington Center, just three miles from my old place. While I’m not planning on staying here forever, it's a great place and a good place for me to be in now. I'm right off the Minuteman Bike Trail that goes between Alewife MBTA Station and Bedford, as well as being 1/8 mile from Spy Pond. The area has good bus routes, great restaurants, and a number of good friends who live within walking distance. I've been busy getting the apartment in shape and have made many purchases. I'm looking forward to having people over for parties and out of town visitors in my guest room. Let me know!

One of the biggest additions to my life has been the birth of my nephew, Samuel Aaron Mattson, to my brother Rob and wife Jen. He just turned one on 12/17/06, and was showered with gifts. He's incredibly cute and all that his grandparents could wish for. I never thought I’d be the uncle to take out pictures to bore friends with, but I can’t help myself.

With all the changes in my life, I've just been trying to give myself opportunities to get settled into the rest of my life and thankful for those stable parts of my life. I've been in the Career Services department at Emerson College in Boston for just over two years now, working primarily with graduate students and alumni. As I work with professionals in the communication and arts fields, it’s a great challenge for me, and I’ve grown immensely in my career development skills since joining the team there. We’ve had a lot of transitions, and we are now finally fully staffed, so I’m really thankful for the stability there.

I’m also active professionally, and currently serve as the treasurer and webmaster for the Boston Chapter of the Association of Career Professionals International. I’m also pursuing my Career Management Fellow (CMF) certification through the Institute of Career Certification International.

In this time of change, I’ve been blessed with many friends in so many facets of my life. I’m very active with First Parish in Cambridge, where I’ve been a member for six years. Right now, I only serve as chair of one committee (Student Intern Committee for Diane Elliott,) but have been active in the men’s group, choir, and other initiatives in the past. I know that I’ll diving back in sometime in the future. The friends that I’ve made there have supported me more than I can say, and are some of my closest friends.

My music and dance life is one that sustains me greatly, but one that I’ve neglected recently. I’m back in voice lessons (a nice perk at Emerson!), have been singing with different groups of friends, as well as shape note singing. I hope to get back to performing more seriously, both vocally and on the hammered dulcimer. I’ve also bought a mountain dulcimer, and has done some recorder consort playing. I’m still trying to get back into shape to contra dance more, but I have started to dance English rapper sword dancing with the group, the Gay Blades. It’s something I’ve always wanted to do, and am glad I’m getting the chance to do it now. There’s definitely more music needed here!

While I’m a lot healthier than I have been in the past (it’s been five years since the burst appendix/peritonitis that almost killed me,) I’m starting to exercise more consistently. I’m hoping to get back in the gym and start racing again in race walking events, but it’s been an uphill battle. I’ve also gotten back into yoga, so I’m trying to utilize this time to focus on me and doing good things for my health, both physical and mental.

In that spirit, I’m going to Kripalu, a yoga retreat center in the Berkshires of Western Massachusetts, for the week after Christmas. Given the uncertainty of dates with the house sale this past year, I hadn’t been able to really take a vacation and travel. My planned month-long trip to Sweden had to be put off (hopefully 2007 will be the year!) and my only other trip was to visit friends Denise and Jim in Minneapolis in November, where I proceeded to sing my brains out! I’m hoping to see many more friends this coming year, both here and in my travels.

I wish you all a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Bright Solstice, and a Happy New Year. My new contact information is below. For those of you who I’ve been less in contact with, I hope that we will be able to reconnect. You are all special, and thank you for being a part of the adventure that has been my life. May 2007 shine brightly for all of us and the whole world.

With great love,

Ken

All Mozart Music Online

2006-12-13T15:18:00.000-05:00

I saw a YahooNews article that mentioned about all of Mozart's sheet music is now available on line for free! It's a great thing. I'm hoping to be able to do some of it on hammered dulcimer.

It's available at dme.mozarteum.at/

Sam Pictures from Marv & Joan

2006-11-27T13:46:00.000-05:00

My Sister-in-law's Parents (Marv & Joan) have a photo album on line of my nephew Sam, so it's a great place to see recent pictures of him that I wouldn't see otherwise.

Researchers seek routes to happier life

2006-11-27T11:19:00.000-05:00

This is a great Yahoo News article on the research and skills needed that can help everyone to be happier.

URL is http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061126/ap_on_he_me/be_happy.

They quote three researchers:

Sonja Lyubomirsky, a psychologist at the University of California, Riverside
Martin Seligman, Director of the University of Pennsylvania Positive Psychology Center
Psychologist Ed Diener of the University of Illinois

Duh Ashley: The Los Angeles County Fair Ads

2006-11-13T13:10:00.000-05:00

Ran across these hilarious videos for the Los Angeles County Fair. You too will soon be saying "Duh Ashley".

All wool comes from a Cow

Cotton Candy is Vegan

Cashmere in its natural state

Article Marketing

2006-11-03T14:57:00.000-05:00

Here's a good post from Sean McPeat's site, as he had a link to Article Marketer, which is a site that helps people publish there articles on more web sites. There are good resources in the Article Marketer University section.

Men's Room Etiquette Video

2006-10-23T13:55:00.000-04:00

This is on the of the funnies videos I've seen, and the production values are great. Check out the Men's Room Etiquette offering on YouTube.

Some Cool Websites about Arlington

2006-10-16T10:00:00.000-04:00

Now that I'm living in Arlington (yes, I moved in August, that's why I haven't written since then,) I've found some good resources.

Town of Arlington Website
Live From Arlington
Friends of Spy Pond Park

Wish List

2006-06-28T13:31:00.000-04:00

Just found this great service that you can post the things that you'd like to get, and then have people look at it if they want to buy you a present.

Check out my list at http://www.wishrepublic.com/wishlist.php?wlid=9864

My Writings

2006-05-30T16:09:00.000-04:00

I've written and been published a number of times, and in various subjects. Here are some of my writings.

I've written three articles for Dulcimer Players News: The Journal for Hammered and Fretted Dulcimer Enthusiasts. They are:

Interview with Dave Neiman, Summer 2005 Vol. 31 No. 3
Interview with David Lindsay, February 2003–April 2003, Vol. 29, No. 1
Recipe for a Dulcimer Festival, November 2001 -- January 2002, Vol. 27, No. 4

I was also a collumnist for a fitness website called eFit.com. I wrote articles on walking, race walking, and various other aspects of having a fitness routine that included putting one foot in front of the other.

That site went the way of many dot coms, but my writing lives on at The Diet Detective: Uncovering the secrets of diet, nutrition, and fitness success.

Here are a number of the articles I've written in this field:

Career Certification

2006-05-03T17:47:00.000-04:00

I was at the Assocation of Career Professionals International (ACP International) conference in Cambridge, MA this past weekend, and it was great. The best thing I got was that it was a much better sense of the Career Profession, and how important it is for us to let other people know that skills that we bring to our positions. It also made me get re-invigorated about getting my Career Management Fellow certification through the Institute for Career Certification International (ICC International).

I have to put the url for logging in here so that I can access it easily!

More about the conference and other things later.

Ken

New Nephew!

2005-12-18T09:24:00.000-05:00

I'm an uncle for the first time! Samuel Aaron Mattson was born last night at Milford Medical Center. 8 lbs, 6 oz. and 20 inches long. My brother Rob is thrilled and Jen's recovering nicely after the C-Section. I'll be going over there this afternoon to see him for the first time.

First Post

2005-11-28T22:15:00.000-05:00

This is the start, as I have so many things happening to me, and I'm looking to have a place to put them all. Let the blogging begin!

Ken