Elderly man in Chiang Mai, Thailand. I recently overheard a conversation where someone proudly shared a photo of their grandchildren. The lighthearted response was a joke about the grandchildren doing the same in reverse: “Look, this is my grandmother. Isn’t she cute? Guess what she said today?” At first, it made me smile — but the thought lingered and slowly turned into a rather sad reflection. In some cultures, this scenario wouldn’t be far-fetched at all.
Street painter outside The Royal Dramatic Theatre in Stockholm. I’ve put together a Micro.blog Color Palettes page to go along with the Micro.blog Styles collection. You don’t have to use Micro.blog to enjoy the palettes, of course. Just rename the variables to match your own theme (you might need to do that even if you’re on Micro.blog). I’m currently using the mnml theme with the Swedish Sunshine palette. Each palette comes with styles for both light and dark mode.
Sign outside a house I once visited. This day started out with a bit of a challenge… The first client I visited had a (false) preconception about why I was there. I tried to explain, but she wouldn’t have it. Luckily, I’ve learned the value of a firm no. So I told her — it’s either my way or no way at all. I wouldn’t say we got into an argument, but we came pretty close.
My car with a flat tire. I was recently listening to a thoughtful interview with the wonderful Finnish singer Arja Saijonmaa. The conversation touched on something we can all relate to — life’s inevitable setbacks. She said something that really stayed with me. That every difficulty, no matter how overwhelming it might feel in the moment, often turns out to have a hidden purpose when we look back. What seems like a dead end can, with time, reveal itself to be a necessary detour — something that led us somewhere we never would have gone otherwise.
Right now, I’m sitting at The International Bar. It’s just around the corner from where I live. Every now and then, I drop by for a beer or two. I like the atmosphere. The staff is super friendly, and I often bump into some regulars. Like one guy — an aspiring author from Germany. We usually chat a bit about reading, writing, and whatever’s going on in the world. Always a good vibe!
I just finished reading Creativity, Inc. by Ed Catmull. I loved it! So interesting and inspiring. One thing Ed said that really stuck with me (among many others) was when he talked about sharing your work with others. He said: Don’t wait for things to be perfect before you share them with others. Show early and show often. It’ll be pretty when we get there, but it won’t be pretty along the way — and that’s as it should be.
Micro.blog has a neat built-in feature for creating a blogroll. It seems like quite a few people have missed this little gem — maybe because it’s kind of “hidden” under Design → Edit Recommendations. If you’re using Micro.blog, I highly recommend giving it a go. The recommendations can then be accessed by anyone through a Recommends [number of] blogs link on your profile (here’s mine). There’s also a Blogroll shortcode plug-in that lets you embed the list on any page you like.
My nephew, Sigge There’s one challenge most bloggers face: discovering their unique voice. And honestly, the only real way to find it is to just keep blogging. With a bit of luck (and a lot of writing), we’ll get there eventually. But keeping that voice alive? That can be just as tricky. It’s easy to get distracted by the glow of upvote buttons and traffic stats. That’s one of the reasons I really like the no likes, no stats approach.
Sign at a café in Chiang Mai, Thailand I really appreciate the new features available on this fresh little blog home of mine. I like how easy it is to create photo albums and track books. And I love that I can publish blog posts straight from my favorite text editor (iA Writer). I also appreciate not having some of the usual features. For instance, there’s no built-in analytics by default.
I’ve spent this Sunday styling my blog. Considering the Zen of CSS, I’d say that counts as a pretty impressive meditation session. As most bloggers know, it’s always a work in progress. A never-ending cycle of tweaking and playing around, but also a genuinely fun way to be creative while learning new things along the way. Recent changes Updated unique looks for the Books, Movies, Music, and Notes categories. Photos now appear without text on the main view.
I just read the post Thank you for being you by Ruben Verweij. He writes that his blog has just celebrated its one-year anniversary. Happy blogbirthday! 🥳 I think many bloggers can relate to that kind of joy. I know I can. A blog isn’t just a digital platform. It’s more like an entity — a close friend, a family member, even our better half. A blog is a buddy.
I heard on the Swedish news that our dear neighbors in Norway had a bit of a bummer the other day. About 40,000 Norwegians received an official message from Eurojackpot (a big lottery game across Europe) saying they were millionaires. Turns out, there was a sliiight miscalculation. The winnings had been calculated 10,000 times too high. Some people posted their million-dollar smiles on social media, only to be told later that they’d actually won just $11.
Yay, I got my ”IndieWeb is Punk” T-shirt today! 😎 This awesome creation is a perfect example of what the indie punk DIY spirit can lead to. It all started with Jamie Thingelstad publishing the blog post IndieWeb is Punk. I commented that the title would make an awesome t-shirt. Jim Mitchell picked up the idea, and within hours, it was a reality. Now, just a couple of weeks later, I’m wearing it here in Sweden.
With this new home for my blog, I’m still on the limited Micro.one $1/month plan. It’s a surprisingly generous setup, with neat features like book tracking and photo collections. Coming from Bear Blog — a wonderful platform in its own minimalistic “bear necessities” kind of way — this feels like a whole new world. Honestly, it’s a bit overwhelming, and very easy to get carried away. That’s exactly what I think has happened to me lately.
Junited 2025 is over, which means it’s time for JulyReply 2025! If you’ve been following my blog for a while, you might remember I did this last year too. Can we get even more participants this time? Let’s make it happen! 🤩 The idea is simple — and no, it’s not a contest or anything too demanding. It’s all about encouraging bloggers to interact by replying to each other’s posts.
I’ve been blogging for about 20 years now — give or take a couple of breaks along the way — and I can honestly say it’s one of the most rewarding things I’ve ever stuck with. Blogging has been a creative outlet, a tech playground, and, most importantly, a way to connect with people I might never have met otherwise. There are several reasons why I continue to love it, and each one has grown in meaning over time.
Photo challenge day 30: Solitude This is my final entry for the June 2025 Photo Challenge. And here they are — all my contributions from the month. It was my first time participating, and I absolutely loved it. Such a great idea! It’s been both fun and inspiring to come up with photo ideas every day, and a real joy to see what everyone else has shared too. 😍
I recently listened to a documentary about the artist Charli XCX. It featured, among others, the Swedish songwriter, producer, and friend Noonie Bao, who’s been with her since the very beginning. Noonie shared how happy and moved she feels seeing Charli’s success. Having witnessed all the hard work and dedication firsthand, she talked about how Charli stood her ground when others doubted her, always trusting her own intuition. As Noonie wisely put it:
Creating a rainbow logo or category styles takes me a long time. Too long, most people would probably say. As an amateur, I have to search for answers and do a lot of trial and error. But that’s not really why it takes so long. And it’s not about chasing perfection either. It’s because I find it relaxing. For me, it’s like meditation. A perfect mix of focus and calm.
I remember a house inspection I did a while back. Before I started looking around, I asked the owner if any of the bathrooms had been renovated recently. He said no. Then we got to the first one, and it looked almost brand new. When I mentioned that, he said: “Oh no, this must’ve been redone at least… let me think… five years ago.” Crazy! No matter how much money someone has, that kind of thing still blows my mind.