"Just make it cheerful!"

John has been helping me out with my blogpost of today, he named my title "Just make it cheerful". That was also the answer to my question: What shall I blog about today?

Although it might seem like I have run out of creativity, that is not the case, my levels are just a bit low today. I have great plans though, since i´m planning to make a festival, a Bombadil festival! Or an author-night, I haven´t really sorted out all of the tiny details yet. What I would like to achieve is a big get-together where Bombadil-authors will get a chance to shine and read from their books or books-to-be. I would like to have liveband playing and people enjoying themselves! And of course to spread the word of Bombadil, maybe we can reach some new youngsters that would like to publish their thoughts and ideas! This head of mine is not just a hat rack, believe it or not!!

A few things has changed in the Bombadilian way of working lately; we´ve decided that we shall start having old mentors helping new mentors with the mentoring bit of being a mentor. The old mentors that are helping the new mentors that are learning to mentor shall be called Super Mentors. I was just asked to hold an introduction about the mentor-role, since we are getting new mentors =). And then a rather important question sort of popped into my mind, will this introduction make me a Super Mentor? What is expected of a Super Mentor, will I have to wear my knickers on the outside of my jeans? Will I have to get Super sight and save people from burning buildings?!

I hope not. I haven´t got the figure for blue tights and certainly not the courage that might be requested in heroic situations such as the one mentioned above. Plus I can´t stand heat, I don´t do tans, just deep red.

But if it´s required to chat a bit about the feelings of being a mentor, how to develop a manuscript and how to aproach an author, I´ll sign up straight away!

All for now,
Over&Out
/sara

From Switzerland with love

I've been out of the office for a few days this week, visiting the British Council at the UN headquarters at Geneva.



I went to see their "Turning the Tide" exhibition at the Palais des Nations. We are planning a collaboration with them which should be launched soon. More details to follow!

We still have snow, but I am assured that spring is on its way. The Bombadil vegetable garden is expecting a delivery of topsoil in the next few weeks, so assuming the ground ever thaws out, I can start to grow Swedes. And other vegetables, of course.

In other news, the Bombadil dog currently smells like the epitome of mustiness.

Busy, busy, busy

Lots of things are happening with both the moon-mine and Bombadil these days, and there's a lot of snow. I had expected the water sample results to have arrived by now, which they haven't, but instead a couple of guys from the Russian embassy was here wednesday to discuss how they could help me get Russian partners involved. Very nice chaps, and positive. The cause moon-mine is soon 100 persons strong, too, and the architect Daniel Monsén has started drawing plans for the moon-mine, focussing on a Tintin Centre that we aim at to celebrate Tintins travel to the moon. Oh, and with IQUBE we are looking at economical measures and forecasts to strengthen the company, as well as some very interesting ideas on how to make the intranet more interactive and useful for mentors and authors.

Cold but sunny

Hello everyone

Today it was brrrrr in the morning when I was going to work, 13 degrees cold. I don´t like that att all, but one good thing was that it was sunny outside :-)):-)). And it snowed again on Monday afternoon and through the night. John was going by car to the airport at Arlanda in that snowy weather, as he was going to Geneva. But he arrived safely!

Look at the picture taken from my office window and how it looks like with all the new snow.

Right now I´m setting an English book, and are doing some small changes. It is funny to do this and it will even be more fun when we get the book in our hands :-)). This book is a new print book.

Today there was a lot of people here to visit Bombadil and the Moon-Mine project. It is always nice when people come to visit us, wherever they are from.
Sara is working with a lot of things and specially with "The world book day", look at the homepage to see more info about that. And all of you out there send us your stories!

Today I will go home earlier because I will go to a knitting café in Nora, it will be fun to meet some other people who also like to knit.
Tomorrow I will bring some apple pie for us so I must not forget to bring the apples with me home.

Have a nice day.
Mari (Pixie is not here right now)

Welcome to our new partners

Today a company in Stockholm called IQUBE became a shareholder in Bombadil. Yes they are the ones we have referred to in the blog over the past month or so. IQUBE will be a wonderful compliment to Bombadil in that they have expertise from a wide range of companies and are especially good att structuring and networking! You can read more about them on www.iqube.se
Welcome, Iqube, to the world of Bombadil!

It´s snowing!!

So yes, it´s Monday and the weather is disapointing (suprised?!). It started snowing again, after a week of sunshine. Since all of us have kept our fingers crossed, hoping for some spring to arrive, today´s change of weather kind put at least me off a bit. But hope is the last to leave us someone cleaver once said, and I will not be put down by traditional Monday-weather. Before I would, but no. My hope is still with me!

Tomorrow John is going to Geneva, very exciting! He will be meeting up with some important people that are involved in the big "Turning the tide" project, but as well he will aparently be introduced to some people from UNESCO who started the worldbookday in 1995. Which is VERY exciting since John is the brain behind the 24 hours Worldbook-book that we are attempting to make. It might be a very long Worldbookday at the 23rd of april, but I guess it´s quite cool to be able to put on your resume that you´ve made a book in 24 hours! Quite cool indeed.

Personally I´m a bit nervous, speaking of the Worldbookday. My little baby-project for the Worldbookday is to get libraries and their visitors interactive in their local library. This I think partly can be achived by having people participating in a writing campaign. Basically we are encouraging people through their local library to send us novels, short story´s and poems on the topic "Me&books". Then we´ll publish the national Librarybook of Sweden! I´m not worried about the concept, but about people getting involved, I´m relying on the librarians committment, so yet again, fingers crossed. I like librarians, they are nice so I trust that they will do their best to get Swedish library visitors to contribute!

All for now,
over&out
Sara

Bearly there

So, Bombadil has acquired a bear.



As Niklas said in his blog yesterday, he and I went to the mine to collect a water sample. He went into the mine whilst I stood at the top of the shaft waiting for the inevitable loss of life that would surely follow. Strangely, the whole operation came off without a hitch. So I had hauled up the water container on the end of a 40 metre rope when when Niklas asked me to send the rope down once more.

"What else are you sending up?" I asked.
"I've found a teddy bear," the reply floated back up. "It's badly wounded."
"It's extremely heavy," I pointed out as I heaved on the rope once more.
"Ah, it's quite waterlogged..."

Does anyone know if Rolf Harris is still at Animal Hospital?

In other news, the Bombadil Dog currently smells like elderly pantaloons.