Ridendo dicere verum - At leende säga sanningen - Telling the truth with a smile

It's been a Facebook free weekend! It's a amazing how much I got done and I wonder whether I would be this productive every weekend if I fasted from Facebook on Saturdays and Sundays?

On Saturday I gardened and cleaned the house and in the evening went to the theater in Norrköping with Bodil, Per and Anton.  We went to see a play called "Galleri 6."  In Swedish the number six is sex.  Sex is the same in both Swedish and English.  Or is it?  After seeing this play I'm not sure.

The play wasn't completely new to me since I was one of a group of 6, coincidentally, who attended several formative rehearsals of the play before Christmas.  It was an improvised work where writer/director and cast all had input.  The six ordinary members of the public also had input.  We met the cast and the writer/director, we were asked what we thought about certain scenes and dialogues.  Did we think the language was too raw? What did we think of the characters?

The rehearsals I attended were very enjoyable and entertaining and also thought-provoking and sometimes triggering.  Some characters were larger than life, caricatures, in fact most were.  But there was something human, something one could relate to in all of them.

I missed the premiere of the play in Linköping in January and instead was given a ticket to see the play in Norrköping yesterday.  It was fun but too long.  What is enjoyable in small doses isn't always as much fun if it continues for 2 hours and twenty minutes.  What was thoroughly enjoyable was being with Bodil, Per and Anton and seeing the beautiful theater.  Afterwards we were invited for pizza at Ingrid and Hans-Ove's apartment nearby, a great evening.

Today I went on my usual weekly hike around "slottet" with Rocio, did a bit more gardening, and then got ready for "fika" at my place.  My aunt Margareta, Inger and her two children Karro and Samuel came and we had a lovely afternoon of conversation, laughter, smörgåstorta, donuts, chocolate fingers and a short walk to try to burn some of the excess calories.  It was interesting to hear Karro's take on the Nationella prov that all Swedish children take in 9th grade, as well as to compare her school's cell phone policy with that of the school at which I teach.  The get together was also a belated celebration of Karro turning sweet sixteen.

What a weekend! Spring, sex, smörgåstårta, sweet sixteen, smiling sägande sanningen!