Karl Stanton

Runs and Chess

That was going to be an embedded map of my run, but MapMyFitness has let me down. I may have to write my own, damn it.

This is one side of Kungsholmen that I run down, lovely, hey?

I’ve been running in the mornings, and I’ve noticed that I’m much more alert for longer. My sleepiness is drowned out by the jog and by the time I get to work, I feel like a million bucks. I’ve been running around Kungsholmen which is about 9.5km’s long (even though Wikipedia say’s it’s 8.9km’s). I am planning to run the whole distance twice a week and half the distance in between. This means that I’m not riding to work as I will kill myself, but I’ve been using the weekends to do mega rides as I posted earlier.

Apart from my runs, I’ve also been exercising my mind with chess. I recently upgraded to a pre-paid mobile plan with mobile internet, so I have been spending my waiting periods playing chess with people on the internet, a really geeky thing to do but I enjoy it… there, I said it. I’ve got a battle with B.L.I.M happening at the moment, so results of that as time goes on.

This coming weekend is a long one with celebrations for Första Maj (1st of May, Labour Day). I’m not sure how many people will be celebrating though as I have heard it’s a time for protest and pagan tradition, I’m in two minds about taking a ride on Friday as I’m sure there’ll be lots of great photo opportunities as people fill the streets… I think I’ll ride on Sunday.

I’m also thinking about buying a small GPS unit for my bike so I can track my rides more accurately, as well as help me find out where I am. I tried to get an iPhone 3G however I need to be a Swedish resident for over 8 months before I can sign a contract, so I have to settle with “Locate Me” on Google Maps, if anyone feels generous enough to buy a GPS Unit, this is what I want…

Spring time in Stockholm

Well, what a week. My first week back since Australia and I feel like it’s a whole new city. The weather has been hovering around 17ºc – 20ºc during the days and just below 10ºc at night, perfect.

I sit here in my kitchen, with a bottle of French riesling to help me reflect on the week and weekend just gone, and I must say that Stockholm is a place to visit when the sun is out. The trees have leafs, the rivers are flowing with boats & kiyaks, the parks are full of people and and the city is alive! The long dark winter is finally paying off, and everybody is making the most of it, including me.

Saturday I woke up early and took a walk through Östermalm in an attempt to get into some spring gear. I spent a fair amount of my time though taking photos of the beautiful cherry blossoms that line Kungsträgåden (King’s Garden). I will be uploading the rest of the blossom shots this week. It was really nice to be out taking photos again, headphones on (DJ Krush only with spiritual enlightenment thanks to DJ Krush – Zen). I sat and watched the people for a good while and realised that Spring has definitely landed.

Last night I caught up with NYC legend and fellow Fi employee Priscilla (Lil’ Pri, Ludapris, The Mexican) at Mosebacke, which lead us on to pizza and then a crazy apartment party, which while didn’t go late into the night (we packed it in at 1am), still managed to attract the attention of the Stockholm Polis who claimed they could hear us from 5 floors down on the street. We weren’t playing music loud, but because it’s spring, we have our windows open, and the sound echos across the area like nothing else. Oh well… they were cool with it.

As in my previous post, I woke up with an itch to get on the bike. After making a cracking breakfast with Canadian housemate Liam and Italian housemate Matteo, I jumped on the saddle and belted out 45kms. I decided to head south as far as I could go. I am so happy that Stockholm has such awesome bike paths. They’re wide, well directed and so smooth. It was like riding on a skating rink for 4 hours. I rode hard and fast for what felt like forever, there were a few moments when I realised I had been day dreaming and had to snap back to reality. It was that good.

I got as far as Skogår, which is about 20 km’s south of Stockholm. I know this because I managed to jack some unsecured wifi connection and Twittered about it. It was amazing. A rich area I would suspect, with houses raised high on cliffs overlooking peaceful lakes and amazing forests. It doesn’t take long out of Stockholm before you’re immersed in nature. The best way to see it is obviously on a fixed gear bike.

I arrived home exhausted and made up a nice plate of cheese and meat and am currently finishing off that bottle of riesling, almost topping off the perfect weekend, apart from the obvious.

I’m back to no drinking this week, and also running hopefully 4 of the 5 nights. I bought a great running jacket, and now that it’s warming up, the sun is out longer so I can run longer and avoid getting the flu.

Until next time… hej dåg!

Stockholm Syndrome – Part 1

Part 2, coming next!

Wedding Highlights

I thought the wedding was gorgeous. It brought a tear to my eye! Congratulations Bob & Rachel. Looking lovely. Apparently I gave a speech that was “very good”, but I can’t remember most of what I said as I was shaken with nerves. What do you tell 100 or so people about Bob that they don’t already know?

What a handsome bunch of fellows!

More will come on Flickr shortly…

Back in Stockholm

Wow, what a whirlwind tour of Australia. I’m back in good ol’ Stockholm and I’m completely knackered. There is much to say so I will break everything down of a couple of days as I really need to get back into the blogging habit. I seem to be sprawling my life across various social networking services and I fail to neglect the core of my life online which is my humble blog, the place where you get the juice, and not just meanlingless bleets.

So I’m back. Australia was amazing. It was really lovely to see everybody again, you’re all looking well! I survived the 24 hour trip back and went straight into my mate Bob’s bucks night and got home and some rediculous hour which, while it was nice to catch up with everybody, it elongated my jetlag by about 4 days and I had a hard time over coming it.

This was taken just before the photo. Kris, Fiona and I all looking very sharp, I might say… stay tuned!

It’s heating up…

I’m loving the weather at the moment. 11 degrees, riding around eveywhere, sun staying up late. Yesterday I ran 7.5km’s and I’ll do the same today. Summer is on the way!

Off to Australia!

Man, so busy. So slack. Off to Australia on Friday (woo!) for 2 weeks, super super excited.

The past 2 weeks have been crazy with work, so we got to blow off some steam over the weekend. I wound up at a party in this big art space in the textile district south of Stockholm. Giant warehouse, illegal bar, great music and loads of fun. Today I recovered by enjoying my friend Henrik’s birthday fika and watching Geelong take down the Hawks (1 game too late IMO) and drinking beer.

Sunday’s in effect!

So happy I can watch AFL albiet a day later, but it’s better than nothing! I’m also 3rd in the tipping comp (why do I ever back Collingwood, useless), so look out. I think Fi will have to take some tips off me again to help stay in the league…

I haven’t taken any photos for a while. I did go on a photo mission with my collegue Johnny, but I wasn’t happy with any of the shots. At least I have my film cameras here now, so it’s like shooting for the first time all over again, great fun.

That’s enough blabber, I’ll be seeing you all at the end of the week, until then… hej dåg. x

My last weekend in NYC

Hi everyone! I’ve been super slack (again) at updating my blog, even though there’s so much to tell you all. I guess it’ll come out when I’m back in Australia and Stockholm, so for everyone else visiting my little slice of the internet, this is for you.

One week to go.

This is it. My last weekend in New York City for who knows how long, hopefully not too long. I love this damn city. The past few weeks have been hectic at work. I bought a pair of trainers and started running again. I can’t believe how good it feels to run after so long. I stopped running about 12 months ago when I began riding to and from work. Since moving to Stockholm, I’ve done little to no exercise, so running is where it’s at. My apartment has a gym on the 21st floor, and I feel sort of bad by saying this, but nothing beats running on a treadmill overlooking up town New York. Just gazing out the window, listening to Drum & Bass and running a few miles. It’s addictive, and I’m glad to be active again.

On Wednesday I went to Madison Square Garden to see the New York Knicks play the Orlando Magic. Mad game. Knicks lost, but there was one hell of a 4th Quater where the Knicks came back like 20 points. My new hero is Nate Robinson. Absolute glue of the team, smashed 30 points and he’s only 5 foot nothing. It was also pretty cool to see Spike Lee hustling the Magic from the sideline! Check it below.

That’s him in the brown coat.

This week we’re planning to go and see the New York Rangers play. I can’t wait to see my first real live NHL match. It’s a dream come true! I just wish I was saying this when Wayne Greztky, Mario Lemeuix and Pavel Bure were still in competition. They were my childhood idols. Photos to come.

Today was one of my last days to go walkabout, and I wanted a nice pair of sunglasses to replace the unreplaceable (still) Alexander McQueen sunglasses I had for many years, but stupidly left on the ground and walked away from like a naughty child. I’m happy with these for the mean time…!

I also managed to stumble into some strange Japanese store in SoHo and all of a sudden was meeting 2 week old babies and speaking terrible Japanese. The store keeper, who was cheekier than me, thought I was Japanese and spoke to me in Japanese, but I made it clear I had no clue what she was talking about. Turns out she has been in NYC for 35 years and was turning it on to get a sale. NEW YORK SHOPPING!

Tonight is Saturday, and my last Saturday night, so we’re going to hit the town and tear it up. My good friend Justin (the host with the most) is going to take us somewhere on the West Side to some little joints he knows. Locals only type deal. Speaking of local’s only, even though I’m far from a local, I’ve been spending most of my weekend evenings drinking at a little haunt on the LES. Great staff, excellent drinks and cheap like the budgie. No tourist priced majito’s here. In fact, I think I almost drank for free last night thanks to Alex the super awesome pommy bartender who kept me company while the rest of my apartment slept like babies. LIKE BABIES. When in Rome, sleep in Stockholm.

Work is great. I love the NY crew. F-i is all about family, and it’s a definite family vibe in this place, but I’m sure no one goes out after work, and like a true Aussie, I’m the one grabbing beers at 6pm and distributing them to the whole office, who in turn look at me like some crazed alcoholic, when in real essence, I’m not, I’m Australian, and Australian’s DRINK BEER AT 5PM ON FRIDAY!!

Anyway, I’ve got a big night ahead and an even bigger day tomorrow. Sorry my posts are lame. We’ll speak for real in a few weeks.

Love you all.

A week and a bit in NYC

Hello!

Well I’ve been working in NYC for a week and a half. Monday was President’s Day, which is a day America celebrates George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. Not bad for the rest of us as we get a 4 day working week. Woop!

I had a great weekend. I walked across the Brooklyn Bridge to Brooklyn, and back to Manhattan over the Manhattan Bridge (and yes, the penny did just drop), and also pounded the pavement of downtown Manhattan. Make sure you check all the photos over on my Flickr stream.

Saturday was the Australian’s in NYC benefit for the Red Cross at the Australian Hotel on W38th. I met up with a friend from Melbourne who is in town and we drank Cooper’s, Boags and more Cooper’s whilst watching the latest NAB Cub AFL match and signing Australian rock anthems. Very traditional indeed. The place was absolutely packed with ex-pats and lots of conversations were going on about how people came to be in New York, how bad the fires were and how we haven’t heard much about it since being here. The pub played lots of photo slideshows of the disaster and it was touching to see the Australian’s dig deep when the time came.

Apart from these two stories of high importance, I’ve been working very hard, coming home and crashing. Well, except for the few nights where I’ve been cooking. I could be working on the moon and it wouldn’t matter. I long for the weekends so I can explore the metropolis. This weekend I will be heading over to Chelsea and the gallery district to cop some culture, as well as trying to rest up from the week that’s been. My friend Stu (the guy who designed NiceProduce.com) is here in the city and we’ll be hooking up and heading to Harlem on Saturday night to hit a jazz bar in Sugarhill. Rad. Another friend of mine, this time from Stockholm, Filip, lands on Friday, so there’s plenty of people to run around with over the course of the week.

Also, good news for those who don’t already know, I’ll be returning to Australia in April for 2 weeks, let’s catch up.

Until then, it’s back to work!

Peace!

F-I NYC, Day One

Today was my first day at FI New York. It was so nice to finally put some faces to names of people whom I’ve been working with since December. The office is warm and carries a great vibe. It’s amazing being here, it’s definitely a dream come true.

My spot is second row from the front, and first left. Here is the development floor where all the super nerds to super amazing things. Downstairs is the designers dungeon, and I’m taking this from the mezzanine. You can see the kitchen and the long table where we all gather for breakfast each day.

So, I hit the ground running, picking up where I left off from my work in Stockholm, there’s definitely no time for tourist nonsense. It looks like every morning I will be joining the march down Broadway with the rest of the suits, cops, hotdog and coffee vendors, and lost puppies. My apartment is right on Wall St, and the gloom of a global recession reeks on our street! I haven’t seen a smiling face apart from those in my office!

This is a shot from Franklin St where our office is. We were heading out to get some Pho today, how good! I have been acclimatised to the weak selection of Asian cuisine in Stockholm that I’ve forgotten that the rest of the world loves Pho, also that New York City has absolutely anything and everything awaiting at your disposal. Yay!

Mmmm. Pho with the Fi Developers. US$5, probably the only thing I’m going to eat from now on, considering on Saturday I had a $15 cheeseburger, which, after tip and tax was US$20 converted becomes AUD$29! Ouch!!

I’ve started to feel a bit crook so sorry for the lame post, but I should be in bed. I’ll let you all know how my week unfolds.