Front Lines Communications

You know it's going to be a good day when you wake up with your body being used as a pillow for three cats that weigh a combined sixty pounds. Even if I did have to clean up the catnip that someone managed to sneak into and make a mess with. And the hairballs.

GARRET

Look!
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Isn't he cute?! Do you want to go with me to pick him up this weekend? They said that he's going to grow up to be huge and that I have to start with training immediately and that he's going to be a big drooler so I should be prepared to deal with a lot of drool. But I don't even mind all of that because he's the sweetest dog I've ever met and he even gets along with cats! I think I'm going to call him Buck like the dog from The Call of the Wild.

Today I learned that Kinder Surprise are illegal in America because they're dangerous? This explains so much about this country.

I also learned that grilled peanut butter banana and Nutella sandwiches are really good and that sometimes it's okay to have sandwiches with two slices of bread. I absolutely draw the line at adding bacon though.

I did not miss trying to navigate the crowds of NYC while also keeping a handle on my stupid atavism at all. I'm just glad that I don't have to take public transportation that often. How are there so many people in this city? Why are there so many people in this city?

And are RompHims really a thing that actual people are doing? Or are they just an out of control meme?

Happy first day of summer! It has been so hot lately, I'm excited to be going back home to get a brief reprieve from all of this heat. I'm also excited for Midsummer's Eve and seeing my family again.

And also my first Fourth of July, though I'm not quite sure how to celebrate it.

JULIA [In Swedish]

Hi! I'm leaving tomorrow and I just wanted to see if there was anything you'd like for me to bring back for you?

GARRET

Thank you again for offering to take care of the cats. I really, really appreciate it and I know that they do, too. I've left the number for the place that I usually board them in case something comes up or you decide that you don't want to take care of them or something. I'm leaving early Thursday morning and I'll be back on the first. I bought a lot of that beer that you like and food, too.

And maybe when I get back we can look at some dogs? I want a big one, I think.

PROJECT: ASCENSION

I just wanted to say thank you to the agents who helped me, so thanks. And, um, is there a chance that my car is still where I left it or would the city have done something to it for going over my time at the meter? I've never had something like this happen before so I'm a little unsure about how this goes.

GARRET

Hey, are you busy?

I mentioned my search for a piano to my mother and she's arranged to have my Bösendorfer sent to me from Stockholm. This is convenient since it means I don't have to look for one myself and worry about having it in time for next term. It also means that I get to have my piano back again which is great since I've missed it very much.

I don't know how some of you can stand to drink so much. I had two glasses of wine for the first time in a few years and I did not enjoy myself enough to make up for the headache that I woke up with on Saturday morning. It wasn't even good wine, either, nothing like glögg or akvavit.

GARRET

So, my parents are in town for a few more days, apparently they've been here since last wednesday but I only found out on Friday. Anyway, they're not likely to visit the apartment, my father less so, but I wanted you to know just in case you come home and some tall blonde lady's here. Like I said, that's unlikely to happen but still.

Have you ever been to one of those The Way meetings?

OLIVER BRYANT

Hello, I have a question.

Totally not surprised with the winner of this year's Eurovision, he's so precious and deserved to win. And even though Bengtsson's performance was shit, Sweden still had the best song of all the Scandinavian and Nordic countries.

Does anyone have any experience with shipping a piano internationally? Since I'm going to be in NYC for the foreseeable future and not just for four years, I was thinking about either having my piano shipped to me from home or purchasing a new one. That way I won't have to fight for a practice room once school starts up again.

And Happy Mother's Day to those who celebrate it.

If you're not doing anything tomorrow afternoon and you like listening to good music, I'd like to invite you to attend my last recital of the school year. It's at 5 pm in Paul Hall at Lincoln Center. And it's free. There’s also a few other recitals happening later on that night, but I don’t have anything to do with those.

I don't know how many other people have been as invested in this as I have, but April the giraffe has really helped to keep me sane this past month. I've been preparing for my jury next week, and then finals the week after that, and April and her baby, along with a few live kitten feeds on youtube, have helped me immensely. I don't know how people managed to survive without live feeds of baby animals for so long.

Also, are the Godfather films worth getting into? Or should I just skip them and go straight to the books instead?

Are there any decent pizza places in this city that won't get salty and try to dictate my eating habits when I try to order banana slices on my pizza?

Is anyone else planning on watching Eurovision this year? I'm pretty sure Sweden is going to win.

P:A PEOPLE

Uh, hej. I don't really have time to make it out to your island or whatever, or else I would go to you to ask questions. But since I can't do that, this will have to do. I would like to go home in June for a week to celebrate Midsummer, and I know on the pamphlet it says that we have to have an escort for leaving the country, but I was wondering if it's possible to not have one? I'm sure you're all very nice, but I really don't want to explain the presence of an American government agent to my family. I don't even know how I would go about doing it.

Do you happen to have a piano on that island of yours?

Happy waffle day! Today I plan on doing nothing but eating waffles until I feel sick and attempting to figure out which summer programs I want to participate in.

For people who can [...] feel or sense emotions in others, how do you deal with it? Like, when you're stressed or anxious about something, how do you keep from letting the emotions of others affect you? I can't exactly talk about this atavism stuff with my therapist and it really sucks sometimes so I could use some tips.

I'm still surprised that Americans have yet to adopt the idea of fika. I feel like it's something that would be very popular here.

And I didn't know that I had road rage until I started driving in NYC.

GARRET

Do you like beef? Because I accidentally bought 220 pounds of it and I'm not really a big fan of red meat. Except for deer, I like deer.

Though I think the winter storm has been exaggerated I do appreciate the day off from classes. You would think that college students would have better control over their emotions, but alas.

Someone sent this to me the other day and now I can never look at my home country the same again. This is almost worse than that time in freshman year where I was asked on what I thought was a date but turned out to be a night spent putting together a bookshelf from Ikea.

As a treat for making it through the first month of classes and acclimatizing myself to having powers, I've bought myself a box of champagne truffles and a box of dark champagne truffles from Teuscher. If actual champagne were this good I might actually consider drinking it.

And because it's been suggested that I spend more time with other people, I'm looking for a roommate. If you're a fellow human being and you need a place to live let me know. My only requirement is that you don't eat my sweets. And you need to be able to tolerate living with three rather large, fluffy, friendly and affectionate cats.