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Martin Rundkvist's blog. Archaeology, skepticism, Sweden. And books and music and stuff.
Dr. Martin Rundkvist is a Swedish archaeologist, journal editor, public speaker, chairman of the Swedish Skeptics Society, atheist, lefty liberal, bookworm, and father of two.
Category: Introspection
A pop musician's and a mathematician's twenties are a precious part of their life. During those ten years of early adulthood, there seems to be a residual childlike creativity or randomness in the brain at a time when a person...
Posted by Martin R at 4:20 PM • 19 Comments •
Category: Introspection
In close to five years of blogging, I've never talked specifically about my drug abstinence, though I've mentioned a few times that I'm tee-total. So I thought now I might say a few words on the subject.
Posted by Martin R at 8:20 AM • 54 Comments •
Category: Biology
These spring and early summer evenings, when the light never really fades and the blackbird sings its heart out... They fill me with a nameless urgency.
Posted by Martin R at 8:20 AM • 3 Comments •
Category: Travel
A funny intermezzo caught me Saturday on the train from Brussels to Liège. Across the aisle, two young pretty lesbian couples were seated. And they spent most of the ride necking furiously. I suppose that as a het male I...
Posted by Martin R at 2:42 AM • 5 Comments •
Category: Introspection
Maybe it isn't such a good idea to tell your kids they're anything else than just plain Joe & Jill. Because regardless of how talented (or not) they are, it is clearly possible to live a happy life without standing out in any way.
Posted by Martin R at 8:20 AM • 39 Comments •
Category: Books
I'm now in that state of summer leisure mixed with the responsibility of providing entertainment for the kids that causes a man to forget what day it is of the week. And so a week's fun is no longer...
Posted by Friendly Scibling at 4:26 PM • 9 Comments •
Category: Skepticism
Why are we here? Why do we live? What is the meaning of life? These questions are poorly phrased as neither "why" nor "meaning" has a distinct definition. To begin with "why", it can refer either to the cause of...
Posted by Martin R at 8:20 AM • 28 Comments •
Category: Children
This adolescent boy, barely into sexual maturity, is being nasty to girls about their budding womanhood.
Posted by Martin R at 8:20 AM • 13 Comments •
Category: Introspection
Being a married man and a father of small children, I am very rarely alone in the workday evenings or weekends. Indeed, in the past five or or six years, my capacity for sustained self-entertainment (yeah, yeah, OK; "nudge, nudge")...
Posted by Martin R at 9:56 AM • 22 Comments •
Category: Homeownership
The houses in our new neighbourhood are clones of one basic design: an L-shaped single-story structure with a fenced yard inside the angle of the L. The main entrance (1) is on one of the L's outer long walls. The...
Posted by Martin R at 8:30 AM • 4 Comments •
Category: Introspection
I have made peace with the passing of the 70s. I no longer feel that the 80s is the default present decade during which everything still happens. But let me tell you, Dear Reader, in my mind the 90s still...
Posted by Martin R at 8:20 AM • 13 Comments •
Category: Introspection
"I was moved by the humanism of Karol Wojtyla, Pope John Paul II, to pursue theological studies."
Posted by Martin R at 8:20 AM • 101 Comments •
Category: Introspection
On my way to work in the mornings, I pass the hibernation grounds of the Saltsjöbaden Boat Club. Boat owners are currently busy getting their craft out of the water and onto scaffolding on dry land, as the Baltic...
Posted by Martin R at 8:20 AM • 5 Comments •
Category: Introspection
My current ten favourite things:Books Boardgames Podcasts Tea Sunshine Archaeology Sleep Nookie Music E-mailAnd yours, Dear Reader?...
Posted by Martin R at 3:25 PM • 10 Comments •
Category: Introspection
A much-publicised trial in Falun, Sweden is giving me a funny feeling. The man on the stand has confessed to the murder of a woman and a small girl, and is also charged with the violent rape of both and...
Posted by Martin R at 11:12 AM • 11 Comments •
Category: Introspection
Which of my stuff would I try to rescue if the house caught fire?
Posted by Martin R at 8:50 AM • 18 Comments •
Category: Archaeology
At the mention of the word "wanker", the speaker suffered a full-body spasm.
Posted by Martin R at 8:50 AM • 13 Comments •
Category: Introspection
"That guy who talked so much, and the Chinese girl -- did they get it on?"
Posted by Martin R at 8:50 AM • 8 Comments •
Category: Introspection
Autism-spectrum disorders may largely be due to an accumulating genetic predisposition to systematise.
Posted by Martin R at 8:50 AM • 14 Comments •
Category: Introspection
I was momentarily lifted out of my middle-class academic pond and dropped into an upper-class business-orientated swimming pool.
Posted by Martin R at 8:50 AM • 2 Comments •
Category: Blogging
Blogging is the single most appreciated contribution I make to the world.
Posted by Martin R at 9:05 AM • 8 Comments •
Category: Introspection
I'll tell thee everything I can; There's little to relate.
Posted by Martin R at 1:05 AM • 15 Comments •
Category: Introspection
I'm going Medieval and feeling pretty good about it.
Posted by Martin R at 9:05 AM • 17 Comments •
Category: Archaeology
Many people who excel at something do so by concentrating on a few tightly defined areas of interest. A colleague of mine once explained to me that she has a narrow-gauge mind (Sw. smalspårig). I like that expression a lot:...
Posted by Martin R at 9:05 AM • 4 Comments •
Category: Introspection
One thing I've never fought about with my ex-wife nor my wife is money. This is no mean feat asBoth ladies are somewhat Bohemian souls with a taste for fine shoes and ladies' fashion. I have never made much...
Posted by Martin R at 9:05 AM • 5 Comments •
Category: Introspection
A gifted friend of mine suffers from a continuous psychological dilemma. He wants to be more productive and become somewhat famous, but he's pretty lazy and there isn't anything in particular he really wants to do. So, despite being hugely...
Posted by Martin R at 4:11 AM • 6 Comments •
