The new beamline at MAX-lab I911 called Cassiopia was open yesterday to much fanfare. There were over 100 people, including a Danish minister, someone from the Swedish Science Foundation and people from the big drung company AstraZenica. It was a great contrast the Nuclea Physics program, where we would be lucky if everyone from the group in Lund turned up to the inauguration! It made me look forward to the opening ceremony for the Australia Synchrotron Project. Hopefully it will be on time and on budget like the Canadian one that will be commissioned in November when Greg and I will be there.

Well, I got the great job in Melbourne that I was after. Accelerator Physicist for the Australian Synchrotron called Boomerang20. I will be starting work here in Lund with my new boss Greg LeBlanc, an American married to a Swede, as he is also here at MAX-lab. I am really looking forward to returning to Melbourne, I have come to realise it is my home, but it took being away from the people and places for me to realise this. It will be a busy summer here in the Northern Hemisphere before heading home. I have a holiday to Rome coming up over the Kristi himmelsfärds dag 4 day weekend, then a conference at Duke in North Carolina the day after I get back from Italy. On my way to the conference I will visit Kevin at the JLab in just south of Washington DC. Then, when I get back from the USA, we have about three groups of Aussies coming to visit, including T, David & Kirsten as well as Marty, Amy's buddy from RMIT who will go to Legoland with her!

This not to mention Amy's concerts this weekend and her trip to Bologna at the same time I am in Rome (that is why I choose Italy, not wanting to miss out!). Margareta is coming down from Göteborg to see the concert tomorrow and I will make her an Aussie meat pie when Amy goes to the after party with the orchestra. Life is never dull...

I rode my bike to work without gloves for the first time this year. That's all.

I don't know if it's the sick feeling I'm getting as a result of the impending war my country is taking part in or what, but I just want to be back in Australia with my family and friends. Maybe I'm just looking for comfort during a bad time. At the moment I have this sense that my work overseas is done, if it was ever going anywhere in the first place. I feel like I could make a better difference in the world building communities and churches and places of learning in Australia, rather than pursuing shelfish travel and work goals. I hope that I can get over this feeling and try to make a difference wherever I am in the world. One does tend to feel helpless and small when world affairs are overwhelmingly unjust and sad. I pray there will be minimal blood shed as praying for peace now seems hopeless to say the least.

Last night we had a really good prayer meeting at Mark and Jules. We discussed the meaning and method of prayer and did some readings and praying. There are some really inteligent and well read people in the Internation Church of Lund, it is great to be a part of it.

I had a great chat with Dad on Saturday. He said something I hadn't heard in a long time. We were talking about my future career choices and he said, "what ever you do, aim high." This had become a bit of a cliché, but I hadn't heard it for so long, plus there is of course some value in clichés otherwise they wouldn't become clichés, I guess. So, I will take that advice to heart and not undersell myself. I will use it to motivate myself to get the most out of life that I can. Thanks Dad.

Ok, well that wasn't much of a blog effort so far. I have put all of my attention to the old fashioned version of bloging: with pen and paper. I have been doing the couse from the book called The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron. I'm not sure if it had anything to do with it, but I made very fun cooking video with Annelies on the weekend, in next to no time, which I thought was very creative. There were lots of cuts and split screen, rotating screen and slow motion type effects. Long shots which cut to close-ups with no break in the action. Loads of fun. Check it out on BoPro. I kind of like this blog when you think of it thing. No need to have everything regimented and regular. I will just post when I think of it or when the inspiration comes. Like most people I guess.