Because this is what it looks like when the best of worlds meet, Scando boys in West Coast sunshine. And because Jonathan Franzen's Freedom has been one of our summer readings during flights and pool sides. These are a few noteworthy lines we would like to share.

He nodded and ate, and it occurred to her that she was a person who dwelt in fantasies with essentially no relation to reality.
/.../

"It's not you. You're a good-looking chick. You just may be too nice for New York. It's a pretty naked economy there."
"But how come there are so many girls like me? And no guys? Did the good guys all decide to go somewhere else?"
Katz cast his mind over the young males of his acquaintance in greater New York, including his former bandmates, and could think of not one whom he would trust on a date with Jessica. "Girls all come for publishing and art and nonprofits," he said. "The guys come for money and music. There is a selection bias there. The girls are good and interesting, the guys are all assholes like me. You shouldn't take it personally."
/.../

"So let's go. I want to see it. I want to sleep with you."
"That sounds great," he said, "but I think my mom might be uncomfortable with it."
"I want to sleep near you. And then I want to have breakfast with you."
"That we can arrange."

Because childhood guy friends are possibly one of the most valueable constellation of atoms in this universe. And because we love our friends in the Break-up Club, accepting the fact that life sometimes simply sucks and that "what doesn't kill you, fucks you up mentally". Regardless, there is always champagne to cure both real and imaginary relationships. And as dear F. Scott put it: “Vitality shows in not only the ability to persist but the ability to start over”. Or like Markus Krunergård sings:

Det är först när man ger upp som det blir något nytt.
När man släpper taget tar man steget.
Jag vet hur ont det gör när hoppet dör,
men askan är den bästa jorden.
Och även fast du inte tror det,
du kommer födas och dö, födas igen,
så länge du hör musiken.

Because we adore that you are the prefect mix of a rock star and academic, and comment on our new potential job with economic-philosophical arguments. Although, the three questions anyone needs to know is; Can you do the job?, Will you love the job? and Can we stand having you around? And because we are amused by the description of a person "as someone who wears normal-sized clothes" and that a jar can contain "honey from within the European Union and honey from outside the European Union". And that the husband of Zadie Smith say that "time is how you spend your love".

Because, like a Hugo Boss fragrance ad, "we don't expect sucess, we prepare for it". And whatever troubles may be on pretty Bo's mind, he ought to know that there is nothing left to worry about.

Because sweet Swedes are even better when they are in California, explain their choice of education to parents through pie charts and have worked in Botswana. We do have a rule against younger brothers, but when they are this charming, we just want to share.

Because we love the causual unbottoned shirt, the books and the beard.

Because we love waking up and find several missed calls from old male acquaintances. It makes us rather suprised though if it is 5 calls and 3 messages from a man whom we met last fall and when last we were in touch around Christmas, he said that he had made a resolution not to drink during all of 2011 and wished me the best of times. The first message was quite plain "We're having an after party, you should come. Come!" The second one said "Fuck Ernst & Young. You can do so much better than that" (We do not work at Ernst & Young.) And the last one: "I know you like to talk politics. I know you like politics. I do not like politics. But maybe we can meet halfway? Ok? Call me."

The optimist is convinced that this guy has not been drinking for half a year and once the alcohol starts kicking in, he builds up the courage to call the girl he has been thinking about for the past six months. The realist in us is quite certain that he is mixing us up with someone else, who works at Ernst & Young, or likes to talk extensively about politics.

So, naturally, we call him up to hear what this is all about, and yes, of course he wanted to talk to us. Slightly ashamed of not keeping his promise of sobriety, he was quite sweet and we ended saying that we would be in touch later on.

Later that week, I texted to know what he was up to, without getting a reply.

Then we wake up at out country house yesterday morning, with six new missed calls from the same dude, all dialed between 06:22 and 06:35 am. This time there is only one voice mail "Hi Emma (that's not our name). I'm willing to go home to you now. Call me."

Not romance in it's most rose scented or star gazing way. To be fair, the timing could have been better since he caught us at point in time when we are slightly tired of this sort of thing, but come on. Then around lunch he gives us a call to apologize, said that it's the hard liquor that drives you mad and am I married? Because he sense that I am a kind, relaxed and a very unusual girl that he would like to know better. Well, we'll see.

We bumped into one of our long-time favorites this past weekend and he looked sharp in a fake Versace blazer and striped shirt. He was so handsome and nice that we decided on the novel approach of asking him out for a beer or a lunch at Grands veranda. Our treat. As working girls you ought to spend your money wisely on romantic meals and booze.

Although he is the most amusing and provoking person we know, he rarely surprises us. Needless to say, the invitation did not get a reply and we had to inform him how utterly rude that is and ask the open ended question - How will anything ever happen in the history of the world if antagonist never meet?

Because nothing quenches the thirst on a sweaty beach day as ice-cold coke with lemon, drunk through a straw, with sleeves rolled up and ray-bans on.

Because the great thing about native languages is that words
sometime ring much truer in it than others. And really,
romance is all about a mutual desire to see each other.

Får jag träffa dig ikväll?
Jag har ingen anledning till det
Tänkte först gå runt det, tänkte råka springa på dig

Men nu är är det bara så
Att jag orkar inte göra så
Antingen vill du träffa mig eller så vill du det inte

Vill du det inte så går jag nog hel ut ur det
När man var liten föll man jämt
Men nu ska det vara så jävla hemskt

Så fastän du kanske säger ja bara för att vara snäll
Får jag träffa dig ikväll?

Får jag gå precis så nära
Att min axel stryker vid din arm
Jag vill inte verka jobbig eller så men jag är varm
Och du ser kall ut 


Lyrics from the song Får jag? by Säkert!

March 9th
21:26 - Hej, hej jag mår fint. Är du fortfarande hångelsugen?

March 10th
18:42 - Ja jag e lite sugen.

19:34 - Åh! Det verkar vara ett klokt beslut eftersom du har funderat i ett par timmar.

19:40 - Jag var inte sugen när messet kom.

19:54 - Skönt att du kommit på bättre tankar. Ska du inte komma över dåra?

20:09 - Nja, du får komma hit istället.

20:33 - "If a man speaks his mind in a forest, and no woman hears him, is he still wrong?"

Because those dreamy bedroom eyes are a killer. And you are gorgeous. Simply gorgeous.

We've just finished a fantastic piece of literature about life as a young lady in Stockholm, written in 1908. Supposing that the young men looked as dashing as this, when Elin Wägner composed Norrtullsligan, we'd gladly be up for some time travelling.

Jag vet inte vilka män och andra olyckor, som väntar mig här i Stockholm, men det kan jag på åtminstone på empirisk väg räkna ut, att där jag är, där församla sig ännu några år framåt alltid ---

Mitt hjärta ropade helt omotiverat på någon, som jag aldrig tänker på, men som jag en gång hoppades jag skulle få ha barnbarn med. /.../

Det var inte mycket religion i vår jul, men där fanns rätt mycket rörande vänskap och en smula osjälvisk uppoffring och ävenledes ett visst hjältemod, ty alla voro glada, fast ingen var gift. /.../

Det var en sådan kväll då, herrarna som möter en, inte äns gitter räkna ut ens figur, och då även de bästa av oss omedvetet måste längta efter en bil och en älskare. Emedan jag icke är av de bästa, gjorde jag de medvetet.
Och det betänkliga var, att jag sade mig själv: det är det enklaste i världen för dig att skaffa bägge delarna.
Bara ---

Grattis på födelsedagen, Xxxxxxx! Jag kan inte tänka mig annat än att du bara blir stiligare, och visare, för varje år som går :-) Hoppas att livet är underbart och att du har en fin dag, på samma sätt som du förgyller så många andras dagar. Stor kram, Xxxx

Stort tack för dem vänliga orden, sanna eller ej.. Ha det gott.

Klart att det är sanning! Du gör världen så himla mycket snyggare och när jag tänker på dig blir jag glad. Och när jag är glad blir, per automatik, åtminstone två tredjedelar av alla som korsar min väg också glada, och jag träffar ganska mycket folk. Alltså gör du universum bättre varje dag enbart genom din existens. Hipp hipp hurra för det!

Because we're speechless.

And even though it's great to be born in the early eighties, it would have been awesome to be a bit older at the time and hang out with men like these. Men with strong arms, tanned legs, wind in hair, hearts and minds, made of the same material as dreams.
Baby, sailboat and evening sun included.

Last New Year, our resolution was to learn how to seduce men. That is clearly an art that takes something more like a lifetime than 300+ days to master, but with a Key Performance Index of number of new male acquaintances, we can look back at 2010 with a slight blush, a big smile and report back to our shareholders of a highly successful year for easy lovers.

That said, for the new year two of our themes are Simplicity and Quality. The first one does not mean the easy way, but rather the straighforward, självklara, natural way. Things are complex, not complicated. And one of the best ways to succeed is to KISS; Keep It Simple, Stupid.

Concerning Quality, it's what we should always strive for; in the work we do, how we live our lives, how we choose to spend these blessed days. Above all, it's about quality over quantity when it comes to men. Quality meaning romance, boyfriends and deep, burning desire. It's a realization that it is rather nice to long for things, to move away from instant satisfaction and enjoy the wait for something brilliant. And taking even greater pleasure in it when it finally appears.

Because if it is snowing in Stockholm, that's a great excuse to stay inside and make out all day with one of all the pretty natives.
But we still rather prefer the warm breeze of the Indian Ocean and laying poolside in Maputo.

Because we are slowly dying of thirst for newspapers or magazines made of paper, written in a language that we understand and filled with fun facts, stories, ideas and pictures of new, pretty boys. Like you.

Because Swedish men are so wholesome, sweet and trustworthy that we keep falling in love with a few of them each week. Americans are weird (in the good way) and intriguing, which is fun, but in most cases they turn out to be completely screwed (in the bad way). Whereas there is something about our own countrymen that just makes us want to move in and have babies.

Because we rarely get to quote Freud, but when it comes to the unconscious power of love, we seem to agree; "When making a decision of minor importance, I have always found it advantageus to consider all the pros and cons. In vital matters, however, such as the choice of a mate or profession, the decision should come from the unconscious, from somewhere within ourselves. In the important decisions of personal life, we should be governed, I think by the deep inner needs of our nature."