Because, after all, recieving double honors from the You Look Great Society is an accomplishment worthy of praise, regardless of cleptomanic tendencies and a somewhat confused demeanor.

Valentine's Day is coming up and we are compiling a long list of boys who ought to recieve letters of admiration. But V-day is also about the wonderful non-romantic loves of your life who are out there. The girls who find a million treasures on the internet while staying indoors, who incorporate dreams in reality when going outside and who knows that 2011 is all about slow romance, or slomance as we like to call it.

Ladies also seem to have a thing for advice that men lack, and one of the more thoughtful consultation comes from the Dear Sugar, The Rumpus Advice column;

Dear Seeking Wisdom,

You are not a terrible person for wanting to break up with someone you love. You don’t need a reason to leave. Wanting to leave is enough. Leaving doesn’t mean you’re incapable of real love or that you’ll never love anyone else again. It doesn’t mean you’re morally bankrupt or psychologically demented or a nymphomaniac. It means you wish to change the terms of one particular relationship. That’s all. Be brave enough to break your own heart. /.../

Don’t lament so much about how your career is going to turn out. You don’t have a career. You have a life. Do the work. Keep the faith. Be true blue.

You cannot convince people to love you. This is an absolute rule. No one will ever give you love because you want him or her to give it. Real love moves freely in both directions. Don’t waste your time on anything else. /.../

When you meet a man in the doorway of a Mexican restaurant who later kisses you while explaining that this kiss doesn’t “mean anything” because, much as he likes you, he is not interested in having a relationship with you or anyone right now, just laugh and kiss him back. Your daughter will have his sense of humor. Your son will have his eyes. /.../

Yours,
Sugar

Recently, we're becoming more and more convinced about what the meaning of life is. First and foremost it is all about being. Not being x, y, z. But just being grateful to be alive.
Secondly, it is our firm belief that you ought to love and be kind to all, to create a security that allows people to blossom to their full potential instead of buying a lot of crap, for money they don't have, to impress people they don't care about.
Quite simple, really.

Because Blue Valentine seems to be the movie of the year for die hard romantics, and if more guys possessed just a teaspoon of the Gosling-charm we would be even less likely to end up facing the "kharmageddon". A word the creator describes as; "It's like, when everybody is sending off all these really bad vibes, right? And then, like, the Earth explodes and it's, like a serious bummer."

There is a bit of cocktail chatter on the merging of science and spirituality these days. It is possible that this relates to the fact that we are moving closer to the 2012 portal , or it could also be a simple misconception, with the actual meaning being the merge of sub-cultures and spirituality. Our friends over at Hipster or Jesus has started a thorough research project, mapping out the modern Messiahs. And although we are all God's children, some of us simply look better in beards.

Because;
a) we love the refreshing realism-pessimism that Parisians master,
b) you can spend a day at an Indian market, overflowing with silk, gold, spices, trash and stuff made of dreams, yet come to the conclusion; "Actually, I did not see anything that I really liked" and
c) when you say; "I have absolutely no idea what you are talking about", we know that we are on to something.

It's the irony of returning to Sweden and all of a sudden be robbed of the constant flow of warmth and love that the rest of our global family (the world) so effortlessly provides, that makes us lovebomb handsome strangers in cyber space instead.

In India we were struck by the revelation that reiki healing ought to be a suitable career. It's simply about channeling the life force energy and transmitting it to others. You can do distant healing aswell, all you need is a picture. So, in a sense that is what we've been doing the entire time.

Because nothing warms frozen bones as Brooklyn bars in wintertime.

A woman called us today from The Model Factory. "Aha, building bricks and handicrafts" we thought. She went on to say they had a photo studio that we could try out for free. "Hmm, wonder if I have any undeveloped rolls of film", our mind continued. She then said they would treat us to professional make-up sessions, we could bring pets and children, not to mention choose from three different backgrounds. "Aha, a model factory." Not as in models that you build and encourage creativity, but in models that are simply nice to look at.

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.

Because surfer boys are like sea shells; pretty, salty and sprinkled across the shores. But instead of holding them to our ears we hear waves crashing simply by looking into their eyes.

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.

Warm hearted girls are back! And so are good times, although good times are always in our minds. Let's just say like Karen von Blixen and her husband in Out of Africa;
He - That was some kiss Good-bye.
She - I'm even better at Hello.

Please excuse any inconvenience caused by lack of updates. We are touring sub-Saharan Africa and do not stumble into as many bearded men as one would like.

Because you look like a magestic creature which we dream of rolling "over together in a happy laughing heap of fur and arms and legs" and that it can be either "like playing with a thunderstorm or playing with a kitten...". Reading The Chronicles of Narnia while rain is pouring down we get more and more convince that fantastic men, or simply the feeling of passion, are pretty much like Aslan the lion.

At the name of Aslan each one of the children felt something jump in its inside. Edmund felt a sensation of mysterious horror. Peter felt suddenly brave and adventurous. Susan felt as if some delicious smell or some delightful strain of music had just floated by her. And Lucy got the feeling you have when you wake up in the morning and realize that it is the beginning of the holidays or the beginning of summer.
/.../

His voice was deep and rich and somehow tooke the fidgets out of them. They now felt glad and quiet and it didn't seem awkward to them to stand and say nothing.

Excerpts from The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis. Photo by Sandra Beijer

Because we love an unshaved man in bright sunlight.

Reading the September issue of Scottish GLAMOUR, we find amusing, very real life oriented excerpts from mis-communication between the sexes;

From him
Subject: Last night
Great night. That gold dress is so sexy. Can't stop thinking about you.

From her
Subject: Re:Last night
You and I went out last week. I wore trousers.
-----

Her What an amazing night - thanks sooooo much. I've been waiting my whole life to meet someone like you. When are we next going out, handsome?

Him Was great, will get my PA to pencil in next free eve I have.
-----

You are so sexy, sometimes I think I never want to sleep with anyone else ever again.

In the Swazi Observer, we read that the King has "noted that Swaziland was blessed because the economic melt-down has not dampened the spirit of the people of Eswati. He said prayer was the solution to the prevailing economic situation."

At first, this seemed like unusual approach to dealing with things. But further reading the South African Sunday Times we got the suggestion to; "Benefit from the "law of attraction". This is the idea that out thoughts influence our reality. Bearing it in mind can help increase the chances of success."

In other words, a great way to solve a crisis by having the whole population think and reflect over it, rather than a finance minister pushing a button or two. Hence, there ought to be no better way to find the men of your dreams than thinking about boys constantly.

Because the previous Nobel laureate in Economics take pleasure in playing with words such as; "Efforts to negotiate a resolution to Europe's banana split proved fruitless". And we love both deserts and negotiations, which all sound like wonderful activities to enjoy in the company of pretty boys like you.

Well, because it is knowing that guys like you lurk around Barcelona that make us find some proper internet connection in Mozambique.

Because you look like a distant cousin to our latest crush, the handsome revolutionary, who sautees shrimp in cilantro, does his homework, speak Portugese, thinks he is Che Guevara, pushes all the right bottons in our political disagreements and still manages to makes our knees weak even while the socialist manifests hurts our ears. And it was quite a while since we last felt how terrible attractive it can be to not get along.

We were watching Lord of War last night, and a few more memorable lines of romantic character, ringing especially true, were; "You can't force someone to fall in love with you.
But you can definitely improve your chances".

In the case of Nicholas Cage he pretty much buys the whole island of St. Barths. We suggest a a somewhat cheaper alternative; grow a beard, enjoy hanging out with kids, ride a horse and live like a gentleman in the English countryside.

Burton, the great seducer, appeared to ignore her at first, then he edged over to her and said fatuously, "Has anybody ever told you that you're a very pretty girl?"As recounted in her 1965 memoir, Elizabeth Taylor, she couldn't believe the lameness of that gambit. "Here's the great lover, the great wit, the great intellectual of Wales, and he comes out with a line like that.

Having discovered one of the great love affairs of the past century in a lay around number of Vanity Fair, we are even more convinced of the catastrophe that faces mankind if the art of writing love letters should become extinct. Richard Burton's correspondence with his lady, Liz, simply makes us wish that more men would surrender to love totally.

Well, first of all, you must realize that I worship you. Second of all, at the expense of seeming repetitive, I love you. Thirdly, and here I go again with my enormous command of language, I can't live without you. Thirdly, I mean fourthly, you have an enormous responsibility because if you leave me I shall have to kill myself. There is no life without you, I'm afraid. And I am afraid. Afeared. In terms of my life, scared. Lost. Alone. Dull . Dumb. (That will be the day.) And fifthly , and I hope I will never repeat myself, I fancy you. I bet that you would be alright if you loved me and stuff like that.
---

I love you, lovely woman. If anybody hurts you, just send me a line saying something like "Need" or 'Necessary" or just the magic word "Elizabeth," and I will be there somewhat faster than sound. You must know, of course, how much I love you. You must know, of course, how badly I treat you. But the fundamental and most vicious, swinish, murderous, and unchangeable fact is that we totally misunderstand each other... we operate on alien wavelenghts. You are as distant as Venus - planet, I mean - and I am tone-deaf to the music of the spheres.
---

...so why don't you come down and visit me? I'll show you a good time... I love you. Very very very odd curious strange bizarre unattractive without you. Millions of kisses and hugs. The bed is huge!

All excerpts from A Love Too Big To Last by Sam Kashner and Nancy Schoenberger, Vanity Fair, July 2010.

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 drinking beer under starry skies ought to be better if there is kissing involved, but instead you remind us of the pleasures involved in actually longing for something. And because when we simply put words on our perception of reality, you tell us that that it is among the most beautiful things anyone has ever said about you. And whenever we think about you, a warm, white light appears. And because you makes us not know what to do, but if the birds have been twittering especially melodious on your morning bike to work, it is because we kindly asked them to.

Slightly ridiculous, we know, but sometimes it is difficult to resist a pair of pipe smoking twins. Yet it is even more ridiculous to flick through an astrology book during lunch break and get an instant cosmic revelation to our own behaviour;

Det finns nog inget tecken som har förmågan att uppvakta så som Tvillingen. När hon flirtar och visar sina romantiska känslor i ord och handling kan ingen stå emot. Men hennes rastlöshet och stora frihetsbehov är det som oftast hindrar henne från en djupare relation. Tvillingen längtar efter kärlek men är innerst inne rädd för att binda sig vid en enda människa. Då är fanatsin tryggare. Tvillingen är kär nästan jämnt, och drömmer om den perfekta kärleken, men hon låter det oftast stanna vid drömmar för att slippa möta den krassa verkligheten.

Oh, no!

Because for curls and a beard we might make an exception to our otherwise non-attraction towards red heads. And looking back at the summer, the kissing has been in abundance, overall fantasticness has reigned and Trädgården has been a pleasant watering hole from beginning til end.

Photos by: Sima Korenivski

- That's so cute!
- Not as cute as you are!
- My friend just walked out and I'm also about to leave..
- That was before you met me.
- Ah, you're adorable.


Kissing ensues.

Because we love men and animals, men with animals, or simply all species. And at the library today we found a book that had us hooked in the preface, where the author, within the space of three pages, explain interspecie communication as well as offer a constructive take on how Swedes might view our new, undesired political situation with a xenophobic party entering the parliament;

I used to raise chickens and ducks for food. After a couple of years, a pack of coyotes discovered the easy meals, and I began to lose birds. I scared the coyotes away when I happened to be home, but I knew I could not forever stand guard. One day, when I saw a coyote stalking chickens I asked it to stop. I did this more out of frustration than conviction.
The odd thing was, the coyote did stop, and neither it nor other pack members returned.

/.../

As Franz Kafka put it, you may not destroy someone's world unless you are prepared to offer a better one. But no redemption can be found in avoidance of difficult issues. Redemption comes only after we have moved through the horrors of our present situation to the better world that lies beyond it. By confronting the problemas courageously as we can and at the same time presentling alternatives, our barriers to clarity, including our false hopes, may crumble to reveal previously unseen possibilities.

Excerpt from Derrick Jensen's A Language Older Than Words, 2004.

Because you look like the Russian penpal we always dreamed of.

Because we could go on raving about your porcelain skin/olive complexion/hazel eyes/ movie star lips/ lower east side rock band aura forever. And your hair is just the thick, ebony mess we adore the most.

Image via In need of some Polish.

Because they great thing about June, July and August is not simply tanned arms, but as our friend the photograher put it; "Well, that's summer for ya, everyone is happy and horny".

Although there is no valid reason for people to change behaviour, the vast majority seem to be closing up their physical and emotional candy stores as September moves forward. This saddens us. And how exactly do you plan to survive winter then?

Keep the sweetness burning.

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 sometimes you forget what you love if you loose sight of it, and that's why we have friends who don't let friends forget about the beauty, the beard and the dark, long hair.

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."

Because you are the tallest half of our favorite married couple, you are all about enjoying life, you don't eat meat, drive a Porsche, hang out at Home Depot, and because the trouble with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people’s money.

Because you are black-and-white men, smoking cigarettes and carrying paperbacks in your pockets, looking like models just by leaning against a wall. And because Jack Kerouac said; "Maybe that's what life is...a wink of the eye and winking stars.”

Yes, we do know that not keeping in touch or responding is the universal behaviour of men who just aren't that into you. Yet, this is not something that stops us from being eternal optimists or repeating previously failed behavior, 'cause you never know,
this time it might be different.

04:11
Okey, haha. Men herregud! Ursäkta om jag stör men jag är ju i stockholm och det finns ingen som jag så gärna ligger med som dig! Ägna dig åt lite välgörenhet och gör en tjej glad. Väldigt glad! :-) puss och kram

04:16
Ps. Jag hoppas du är lycklig!

14:10
Helst vill jag ju ligga med dig när jag är nykter, men man kan ju alltid hoppas att ditt omdöme sviktar lite under småtimmarna. Xoxo

In our mild criticism to the modern, constantly connected society, we would like to point out that when you have internet in your phone, it is way too easy to look up previously erased numbers in the online yellow pages.