A Saturday afternoon
Ulrika (who did most of the steering me from place to place in Stockholm) told me on the Saturday that she had uploaded audio from the seminar to the Humanisterna site. I looked for it but couldn’t find it, possibly because it’s hiding behind some Swedish words.
But in looking for it I found something else, which is one of the pictures Ulrika took of me while we were walking to her mother’s apartment where the atheist gender group met. That stuff in the background? That’s Stockholm.
Nice. I like your photos. In this one, you look quite Swedish — but that could be the background coloring my perception. I was going to mention that you don’t look too pleased to be there, but on closer examination you have a little smile — as if you knew you were going to pick up the Nobel that evening and yes, were well aware that it was deserved but don’t want to say so outright …
Mmmph. I know – I was going to say I was a lot happier than I look in that picture. I was, I was having a blissful time, but I always freeze up in front of a camera. I had to do a whole entire “photo shoot” the day before and I’m sure I drove the photographer to distraction. But I actually look less like a scary witch from hell in this picture than I usually do, so I offered it up.
Actually, you look about ready to storm a theist conference and throw atheist jibes at them. :)
Well I was! But actually I was on my way to a meeting of atheist feminist jibe-throwers, where I was wreathed in smiles the whole time.
:- )
It’s the first time I see a photo of you! For some reason, I thought you would have a ponytail and glasses like that cartoon drawing on the old B&W website.
Thanks for sharing. Right now I am watching the ‘religious reaction’ (why should we care?!) to Hawking’s statement that we don’t need god to explain things.
Good old Rabbi Jonathan Sacks trundling out to say the usual vapid stuff – science can’t tell us why blah blah blah; Ruth Gledhill elbowing Dawkins to notice how Deep Rabbi J Sacks is, Dawkins elbowing back to say what is so deep about that?
I know what you mean, Mukherjee. That caricature was the default mental image I had in mind for years too. I think it was a byline in the Guardian a couple of years back that finally let me replace the cartoon with reality.
Nice pictures, OB. And I’m glad you enjoyed the trip. Traveling for work is never as fun as it sounds like it should be, at least it never has been for me.
Bengtson, or Bengtsson is a top 20 surname in Sweden, was often changed to Benson.
The Norse, norsified latin, and Bendict (blessed) became Bengt, Peter became Peder, Paul became Per, etc … it goes on and on. Xtianity came late, and left early, as I like to say.
Names like Tor are on the comeback. Thats the good news.
And our lucky friend Athena gets to be called Athena. Now that’s what I call a name.
Nice pic, Ophelia. I never saw one of you before, and I visualised you by the incisive qualities of your writing.