Malmo, Sweden - Day Six - Beautiful People

Agh, the first time I got to relax. I still did not sleep well I had to be up. Like Paul said, “No one is forcing you to be up” You are on vacation! I am on vacation, but it feels like a turbulent spill down a color filled rabbit hole. I am on vacation and shit can be worse. I am also in a beautiful country with beautiful people. Aight, it is 7am and I have to shower get to Lilla Kafferosteriet that’s a cafe. I don’t know what to expect, but that is my first order of business.

Thank you NINA!

My 2 mile pilgrimage to the coffee shop that was going to be the anchor for my next three days was underway. I was excited, but at the same time skeptical. A new world! A new place and it is colorful not as colorful as Copenhagen, but still lovely.

I made it to the coffee shop and I ordered the breakfast it comes with a beautiful scone, jam, sour cream, your choice of coffee/orange juice, and I decided to add oatmeal to all of that. I did not think it would be heavy, but it was I was not able to finish all of it. It is a nice cozy cafe at an intersection. I wondered why they had two floors it never got busy, but I heard it was bad on the weekends. I met a wonderful Swedish girl named Kleiza I think that is how you spell it. She kept me company while I was here and offered some cool places I could walk to. I felt like going to the beach for some reason. I wrote a lot while I was here I nearly filled up my notebook writing about the adventure and thinking about the days before this one.

It was time for me to go, but I would be back. My first stop was the Moderna Museet Malmo, they had an Andy Warhol installation. It was a small museum, but it was free. I was curious of Warhol’s work, but he does not fit my sensitivities. I picked up one the little Brillo boxes to remember Malmo.

Off of Kleiza’s recommendation I went to Shawarma King, I liked it a lot and it was relatively cheap compared to a lot of these other spots. It was also windy and I decided to hit the streets without a jacket. I did not eat the Falafel immediately I tried to wait until I got to Ribersborg Beach I made it to a small park on my walk their before I had to eat. I finally made it to the bridge pictured above and I greatly enjoyed it. Like I said, it was windy but I was by myself out there and it made for a soothing experience. I guess I pushed the limits of how lonely I could be while on this trip. After this I walked to the Malmo Konsthall, the spot was about the same size as the modern museum, but the installation Speed 2 (https://www.konsthall.malmo.se/en/utstallning/speed2/) was odd. It was ultra abstract and unconventional I still don’t know what to think about it.

I was walking around after visiting the Konsthall and had no plans. I walked by a movie theatre and I saw they were playing Blade Runner: The Final Cut in about 2 hours. I walked over to the Solde Kaffebar I had another latte, no more pastries and I wrote some more. At this point I can not tell you what it was that I was writing it about.

I went back to catch the film and I liked this version it seems that I have watched this film all the way through on three separate occasions and it is different every single fucking time. This version did not have any voiceover I think that is the version that should be watched? I don’t care much for Ridley Scott to check on that.

I took two rolls of film on this day. It was a nice day when I can forget about all things. At times I did feel sadness and a bit empty, but I just took a look around me and felt good. It is odd that I had to continuously remind myself that I am in a special place and should be grateful for where I am not just physically, but in my life. I should be at peace.

Copenhagen, Denmark - Day One - I Don't Die Enough

“Preserve your memories they are all that’s left of you” - Bookends By Simon & Garfunkel

I have a difficult time with planes. I am just anxious leading up to the plane trip. Adjusting to the idea of making peace with my death. I am about to fly thousands of feet into the air and if anything goes wrong you are fucked.

Brandon was going to drop me off at the train station, but my mom got home a lot earlier than expected. She wanted to drop me off at Union Station and buy me breakfast, let’s get it. We went to Gus restaurant and I ordered the french toast. Stay away from their french toast It was dry and no amount of honey could wet that up.

On the Fly-A-Way bus to LAX I was thinking about my little sister a lot. Earlier in the day I dropped her off at school and I didn’t give her a kiss goodbye. I have been told she is not my responsibility, but she definitely is my responsibility. It would break me to pieces if she didn’t live up to her potential, because I was not around to guide her the best I could.

What type of a playlist should I put together for this trip? Rap heavy, ultra melancholic songs? rock? I had yet to start the playlist and was not going to yet. I had no idea what the vibe was and at the moment inspiration was non existent.

I guess airports don’t expect people to arrive early because gates aren’t shown until 3 hours before. It probably has some shit to do with security, but it makes for some anxiety when you are looking to post up. I sat at a dusty Starbucks reading Infamy a book about Japanese Internment during WWII. After a chapter I put the book away and started to watch The Turin Horse a movie loosely based on Nietzsche as he grows demented after staring at a horse that would not move. The film is slow and focuses on the life of a potato farmer and his daughter. The shots are beautiful and the scenes are moving even though they are black & white and don’t offer much in the way of dialogue. My favorite scenes were when they would take turns sitting at the window their only form of entertainment/peace. I did not fuck with the post apocalyptic aspect we could have done without it.

An LAPD cop was waiting by the gate he waved me over to check my bag. I was told by the cop it was a random check. Fuck you!

On the dumb ass plane for 10+ hours I saw three films Gentlemen Prefer Blondes I thought it was funny, Marilyn Monroe was great especially her comedic timing. The Lion King I hope the remake tanks why the fuck are they touching that film! They should take that all-star cast and make a new movie. A Private War, wow I thought Rosumund Pike was great the actors got more comfortable as the film progressed. It grew melodramatic at time, but the topics were difficult and I believe they did the best they could with that subject. I thought the flashbacks were weak and were not needed to accomplish what Pike’s character was already doing via action (irresponsible drinking, spontaneous sex, and her plunges into danger). I thought she was in search of martyrdom.

Mocha in London! Starbucks can get fucked, but it is convenient and aight. I had a Mocha and stale Strawberry Pop-Tarts I had time before my plane. WHERE IS MY GATE!?

I met this beautiful Danish girl. I have forgotten her name she was traveling home from Fiji. She was exhausted after being away for 6 months and was happy to be home. I wanted to ask her if she would guide me around Copenhagen, but I never said it. I kept quiet and she asked how long I would be staying in Denmark. I said one day and then I was off to Sweden. We sat next to each other on the tram to the plane. On the plane to Denmark I met a group of friends traveling to a beer fest in Denmark. The dude sitting next to me I forgot his name as well invited me to have a beer with them while in Copenhagen. I politely declined his offer, but I never said that I didn't drink. I thought that would have bummed them out and they were excited to drink some Danish beer.

I stayed at Generator Hostel in Copenhagen in Kobenhavn K. All I wanted to do was sleep in a proper bed, but before I wanted to walk, eat and watch Detective Pikachu. I set my route to Palads Teatret and took the Leica (Point and Shoot) along with a roll of color film (Kodak Ektar 100?). The pictures you see here came from that set-up. The black and white film is from a Kodak 400tx roll or a Kodak 100 black and white.

Still

With whatever moments I had

They never let me be better

Wrote a letter hoping an older me would get it

That wasn’t the case

I’m still in my way

Everything I’ve done it’s a wrong done on me

We’ve stared at the cross for a bit too long

How else would we carry you around?

We came together for a laugh

Still I kept it close to my chest

Still I came out of breath

It’s okay to not be who you want to be

I walked down these tight streets, they weren’t as tight as they were in Barcelona. It got packed with people along those dense corridors. I was leaving nothing exciting behind at the Hostel. It was a pair of siblings from Sweden who were just going to go until their money ran out. (They said that would be only about 2 weeks) The girl was cute, but they never offered to have me tag along so Detective Pikachu it is. I was searching for a spot to eat at. I found a restaurant called Greasy Spoon or something like that I ate a burger covered in mushroom sauce. DON’T TRY IT! I was begging for the shits.

Palads Teatret looks like Circus Circus a nasty pink building about a 2 minute walk from Tivoli Gardens. I went inside Palads and bought a ticket to Detective Pikachu. At a supermarket I picked up some dark chocolate and I finished up the color roll of film. Did I start a new one? I don’t think I did, but I might have. (I DID!)

Detective Pikachu was a bore I fell asleep the first 20 minutes and the only great aspect about that whole mess was Ryan Reynolds as Pikachu and the world they built. The real actors were bad and they just had a difficult time not being unnecessary.

I walked back at about 11pm hoping not to be robbed, but these aren’t the streets that I grew up in. I was thinking about the Sixers they were going into Game 6 should I stay awake? Natives was premiering tonight at USC and I had an anxiety about that project trailing back over a whole year following me around mocking me for not having the confidence to immediately tackle it myself. What would my mom say if my name wasn’t in the title cards at the end? What would I do about it? Nic reassured me multiple times that Ramone would come through, but I was dealing with my own insecurities. I was on vacation and I would enjoy it no matter. When I got to the hostel I turned my phone off and fell asleep.