Being Lonely Is A Choice, Not A Verdict

Today I went out to meet a couple of complete strangers.

A year or so after moving to Malmö I started feeling sorry for myself. So lonely, no friends, no one wanted to hang out with me. One day I lay in bed crying my eyes out and then I thought... screw it. The only reason I am lonely is because I am laying here in bed crying. No one would just knock on my door and be my friend. So I did what any desperate, lonely, sad, almost 25 years old would do... I googled. Literally "How to make friends when you are 25".

Result → GoFriendly

Not a sponsored post, just letting you know about this app that I found. Unfortunately for men, it is only for women. All ages, all over the world (apparently). Filters to find more specific people and there is a calendar with activities. I have been meeting with a couple of women on one-on-one dates, but there have not been a group-date that I have been interested in until today.

So the event was posted by an admin; I am supposing one of the creators of the app or someone working for them. From what was written I was expecting the admin to be at the café, maybe having booked a table with a sign so we would find each other.

It was a windy day, a bit chilly, cosy if you were indoors. When I got to the café it turned out to be very small and looking at the event we were expecting to be a group of 12. At the door I was stopped by a woman saying the words GoFriendly. Yes, but none of us were the admin. So we took a seat outside, since there were a lot of people and all tables indoors were taken. I wrote in the event that we were there, waiting for the others. Two more showed up but that was it. Pretty disappointing to go to an event and expecting a big group, and hearing nothing from the others who were supposed to come. Anyway, the four of us sat there talking for less than an hour, none of us bought anything from the café. We were a bit different, all of us, and did not really connect... so it was a bit stiff and we talked about the most mundane things.

Even though the event was not successful, I still believe the app is. It has great potential and there are plenty of people using it, so you will definitely find someone to hang out with. It worked for me when I was lonely, I would just find a woman, ask if she wanted to meet and boom - not alone anymore!

First Time Cooking This

A very general label I must say, but I feel that I want it so that you may follow my journey. I have just recently started to cook, or started learning. It sounds strange, being 25 and just "started", but I have not had any interest in cooking for myself. I am been cooking with other people in the kitchen, never taking the lead though. It is time now!

Last night I made myself dinner. Something I had not done before. Very simple and I laughed when I realised I had never done it myself before. It was Oven Roasted Vegetables. Laugh if you must, it was my first time making it. I laughed.

So. I sliced up some carrots, potatoes, sweet potatoes, parsnips, beetroots, yellow onions and tomatoes. Then I mixed chopped garlic with olive oil and poured it over everything. I tried to follow a recipe, but it asked for thyme and I did not have it at home. I tried my best and used umami spice and dried parsley instead. Probably not enough and probably not what would normally go with the vegetables. Do give me advice on what else I could have used and I will try it next time.

It was surprisingly good. With it I had a grilled chicken leg. Tasty indeed, but could have been better. Next time it will be!

Opinions

I lay in bed last night thinking of a new label I wanted to make. My first instinct was to call it "Unpopular opinions" and I suspect you understand the meaning of that phrase. It is a common phrased, overused if I may say so..

I do not want to call my new label that. I do not want my opinions on my blog to start with a negative effect and instantly putting them under scrutiny. I also do not think of myself so highly as to know what is popular and unpopular these days. I do think society is changing and those who share my opinions may not be heard. In the news I read about things I agree with, only to see them pushed down by the government or "the louder people". It is never really discussed, because most of my opinions are uncomfortable to talk about, but I believe we really should talk about some things more openly.

It sounds like all my opinions are controversial, but I am sure not all of them are. Some opinions I have might even be "popular" ones, yet another reason to not call my label "unpopular opinions".

What I want with this label is to write down my thoughts and ideas, and hear from other people (preferably in my comments) what I am missing. What is your opinions? Can you change mine, or can I change your? I would like to hear what people have to say. Right now all I am hearing is politicians in the news and influensers on the net. What about you? Tell me, write to me, start a discussion. We do not have to agree, but I would like to have a discussion with you.

I will call the label "Opinions".

Under The Microscope

I have a lot on my mind. A lot of changes have been made and a lot of changes are yet to come. Eventually I will write about that, when the changes are upon me. I do not like to write or discuss potentials - things that may or may not happen. Have you ever talked about something you are looking forward to and then it does not happen? Maybe been bragging about a concert you have tickets to and the people you tell are somewhat jealous, only to later find out the concert has been cancelled and now you have to tell the same people that you never went. I feel like that happens often and I do not like that kind of story. A story without an ending. Kind of like watching a series that has been cancelled or a book series that was never finished. Another reason why I have not yet started reading the A Song of Ice and Fire series (Game of Thrones as the TV-series is called). I will wait until all books are published before getting myself hooked on the books.

Anyway, what I have been doing today was using a microscope in class. I am taking Natural Science on a High School level and, although I have done this very same practical laboratory before in Biology, I really did enjoy looking at cells. We looked at the red cells from red onion skin, the green leaf from an orchid and human cells (from the inside of my cheek) coloured blue so they could be seen.

Underneath you see three photos. The first two are essentially the same, one more zoomed in than the other. It shows the many cells that builds the red skin of an onion. They are stacked almost like bricks with cell walls; something that only plants have since they do not have to be able to move like animals do. It looks so gorgeous! I wish I could print these out and hung on my wall. I do love the colour, the structure, the everything about it. On the rightmost photo we have added a drop of 10% salt water. The cells dries up and shrink as the salt pulls the water out from the cells.

 

Further down you will see a green photo, it is the leaf of an orchid. If you look closely you will see that the cells looks like bubbles. Still packed somewhat similar to bricks. All plants look a bit different, as animals do, but have the same basic brick structure with cell walls keeping the cells together. Inside the cells are tiny green dots, I compared them to roe. These are called chloroplast and they are filled with chlorophyll, which gives the plants their colour. Inside the chloroplast is where photosynthesis take place; simply put where plants convert carbon dioxide, water and solar energy to oxygen and sugar.

The blue photo shows my cells. The blue is just colouring so you can see the cells, I am not blue myself. Animal cells, as you can see, are scattered and does not follow the brick patterned. Good for us, it makes us flexible and movable. Although... maybe my back has bricked up. I am experiencing a stiff back. (A joke in text form, I wonder if it got through to you?) Back to the photo - if you look closely you will see my cell nucleus which is a small dot inside the cell. Inside that tiny dot is where my DNA is stored along with some proteins. Pretty cool to look at, also difficult to truly understand that everything I am is made of these tiny cells.

After class I went to the district health care centre and left three tubes of blood. I have been feeling off lately and the tests keep coming back with something off and then back to normal again. Hopefully this time it is still off. That sounds strange, but I would be glad if I could get an answer to why I am not feeling my best. Right now it looks to be hypothyroidism, which means that my thyroid is not producing enough hormones. Nothing dangerous per se, but it makes me feel ill most of the time. Now I have two bruises on my left arm from where the nurses put the needles (I was in earlier last week too).

Time to eat dinner.

Have a good evening!