2/11 Our first Superbowl together in Manhattan, and quite likely the last I’ll be watching while not an American citizen. Better learn the rules, and the anthem, while I’m at it. The rate of repetition with which I’m exposed to those rules – once per year – is not quite enough for me to actually get them.

Made a video of J playing a violin piece. I need to get more fluent in the language of video editing, it’s a skill as essential as being able to write a few coherent paragraphs.

2/10 If we were able to sit quietly in a room (Pascal), there wouldn’t be a room to sit in.

2/9 J is doing a comp sci class from Harvard. It has an opening video featuring a duck in all sorts of comp sci situations – on a screen, as a punch card, etc. The video is so professionally done I cannot believe it. It would work well as the opener of any high-caliber TV show. This alone would be impossible in Europe.

2/8 Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea, a museum piece. I was curious whether it would be something for my son, but I think rather not. I find it impossible to read at face value. What’s interesting is not what is happening, but how the mind of the author and the audience are different from ours. Captain Nemo appears like a wireframe of human drives, yet that was enough to make him into this memorable figure.

2/7 One night in Newburgh, and now back in Manhattan.

2/6 It is deeply unsettling how much I seem to forget the essence of J whenever we’re apart for a few days. I’m always surprised when I see her again. I recognize it all, I’m so deeply familiar with her, yet without her I have zero access to that familiarity.

2/5 Of course my kids remember how in 2017, when I flew to Nebraska to see the solar eclipse, while they were in Sweden, I promised we’d watch the 2024 eclipse together. I tell them that I didn’t expect they’d be living in Sweden then, and they feign responsible understanding. Of course it’s not possible now. And I feel I should have made it possible.

2/4 Last night together. It tears my heart how my son tries to be strong and serious about it.

2/3 Check-up of my daughter’s ears at the piercing studio. Hot chocolate with mini marshmellows. Geo-caching, but Did Not Find. Bought hard-core epoxy glue to fix the telescope, which was a serious mission due to the everlasting large-scale construction in downtown Gothenburg. Another round of magic. That I would lose was clear, as the kids team up against me. And my son won this time. Then watched the first round of the Swedish Eurovision qualification. My son records everything for J, and posts it dutifully.

2/2 Had a row of three seats at the window, slept three or four hours, unbelievably. Another two hours after I got here, before picking up the kids from school. I drop into nano sleeps while my son builds another planet on the big screen. I manage to stay awake during our evening-filling game of magic, which I lose, and my daughter wins.