Time for a review of the year 2012. It’s a bit strange that part of what has happened feels like it happened a really long time ago, while other parts feel like they happened yesterday.
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| My Superfighter Roine is wearing a fitting crown on his head. |
The Fighter of the Year: Roine
He has been dealing with various eye problems since the autumn of 2011. After that, he went through many problems, and it got even more difficult when it turned out that he also had high blood pressure. One bad surprise after another. I won’t write the whole story here, but Roine started a fight for better health, and he’s still fighting it. It’s been a very tough year for him; he has won many battles and shown an amazing fighting spirit. He’s really the Fighter of the Year! I love you, Roine. We keep on moving forward.
The Investment of the Year: Apple stocks
What is a year without ups and downs? In January, I got the idea to buy Apple stocks. To start with, it seemed to be a success, as you can read in this blog post, but then the stock price developed differently… Even so, it’s fun to own some Apple stocks. I will keep them for a while. In fact, I would prefer to keep them for many years. And I would be very delighted if they increase a lot!
The Birthday of the Year: my own 50th Birthday
2012 was the year when I turned fifty on the sixth of February. Since it was a bit uncertain about Roine’s health at the beginning of the year, I chose to keep my birthday celebration simple. I asked Anne and Stefan at Mavens Diner to help me with arranging a tapas party on a Sunday afternoon. On the Saturday before, Alice, Fredrik, Oskar, Dorty and Eddy had arrived so that we could have a more private family dinner together. The tapas party was very easygoing. It felt so good to have others to help me while I could focus on socialising with the guests. The guests arrived and left, and it was fun to see so many friends at Mavens Diner. I dared to make the decision to serve no alcohol, because it was my birthday and I don’t drink alcohol. Thanks to all of you who came and made my day!
The Social Media-suprise of the Year: Spreecast
In May, I was invited to attend a Spreecast with Mitch Jackson. I hadn’t got a clue about what a Spreecast was, and I had no idea about who Mitch Jackson was. But, I dived into the Spreecast world, and I’m so happy that I did! Thanks to Spreecast, I have learnt about Mitch Jackson and Debbie Elicksen. I was inspired to read Chris Brogan’s and Julien Smith’s books, and during a Spreecast with Murray Izzenwasser, he said a couple of simple words that helped me better understand social media. I feel like I got a chance to mingle with people in the USA while sitting on my couch here in Kappelshamn.
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| Alice, who has been Supercool during 2012! |
The Achievement of the Year: Alice
Our ambitious and supercool daughter Alice has outperformed herself during 2012 by managing to take care of her studies at Södertörn University and at the same time being in charge of the marketing at SERO, and together with Poina Shafiee arranging the freshmen week at the beginning of the autumn, and somewhere in the middle of the preparations for that, working as a marketing assistant for Drömstugan. She has not had enough leisure time this year, but she has also achieved a lot and made a difference for many others. I wish 2013 would be the year she gives herself more time to breathe.
The Peace Achievement of the Year: Ronny Edry
I can hardly write about this without getting tears in my eyes. This loving peace movement, Israel loves Iran, which Ronny initiated in March, has spread like an epidemic of goodness from human to human, from country to country. I had the honour of interviewing him via Skype in June, and afterwards I felt as if I had spoken to today’s Gandhi. I have great respect for the work he and many others have put into efforts to awaken the desire for peace in the Middle East.
The At Last of the Year: Apple Store in Täby
How we have been waiting for the first Apple Store to open in Sweden! Roine and I haven’t had the opportunity to visit any Apple Store abroad, so it was both our first visit to an Apple Store and our first visit to an Apple Store in Sweden. We went there six days after the grand opening, and it was exactly as good as we had hoped, and even a little bit better. Friendly and skilled Apple Geniuses, groups with customers learning different things in the store – such an inspiring and nice environment!
The Shift in Cars of the Year: Volkswagen Tiguan 2010 TSI
So, time to get a new car again. A year ago, I wrote that we probably wanted to have 4W again, and in the autumn, Roine found the perfect car. We have never before bought a car that has made us so totally happy as this VW Tiguan. It’s almost like when we bought our first Mac in April 1989 – after that, we never considered buying anything else but Mac/Apple. I don’t know if I will be that loyal to Volkswagen forever, or if it’s just the features in this car that I like, and I could get those in another car as well. Though it might be stupid to try another? Volkswagen Tiguan – Wow!
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| Krister Dahlström, Eva Bofride and Rickard Söderberg at Clarion Hotel Visby. |
The Breakfast of the Year: Rickard Söderberg
When Rickard went to Gotland to give a lecture on cultural entrepreneurship, he arranged a breakfast with me, Krister Dahlström, and Eva Bofride. Roine (Stenströms) and I have worked with the opera singer Rickard Söderberg since August 2011, but we had never met him, so I was very happy to finally meet him in person. The breakfast was so intense and inspiring, and it was fun to see how Krister and Rickard connected over their shared interest in Japan, even though they come from different places: Krister practising Kendo and Rickard role-playing. In the afternoon, both Roine and I listened to Rickard’s lecture. I feel so proud to have this wise and engaged man as our customer! Go Rickard!
The Dance Show of the Year: Swan Lake
Fredrik ”Benke” Ryman has once again managed to create a dance show in which he not only works with choreography, but also uses everything to create an intimate teamwork in which every detail is a part of the dance. When Benke creates, he can get both light and sound to dance, and the dancers achieve feats I barely thought possible.
Happy New Year 2013!
The new year has begun, and I am in a very good mood. I think this year has the potential to be very successful. Let’s move forward!
