I found this cafe last week when going to the movies with my old friend Frida. We were going to Hagabion in the afternoon and wanted to get a coffee before the movie. The café inside Hagabion was closed and we were both disappointed. We took a walk around the block and found this place called Starcups on Plantagegatan where I am sitting right now writing this story. It is not anything like Hedbergs Bok och Musik Café in Visby. But it is quiet and they have wireless internet. In other words: A new Dreamday hideout. Time has come to finally wrap up some old stories.
When I first came to Visby to work at Riksutställningar in August 2008 I had problems finding something to do in my spare time. I guess I was going through the same phase as I did during my first weeks in Albuquerque. When I got off work at five in the afternoons I had endless evenings with absolutely nothing to do.
This was during my so called pre-Hedberg-times, of course. It is in those moments that you sometimes make desperate decisions. Mine was to sign up as a volunteer at a small Cinema called Roxy on Adelsgatan in Visby.
Around the same date as I signed up, there was a short-film festival going on at the cinema. I was easily convinced to go. But for the first film I was late for some reason and had to sneak inside the dark theatre to find myself a seat. In the break before the next film I noticed I had chosen a seat next to an old man. And in the next second I saw his socks. It said ROXY on them with big letters. They were almost glowing in the dark. I don´t know from where it came, but all off a sudden I turned to the man and said: Nice Socks! That was the beginning of a long conversation about feet and a new friendship.
Roxy did not turn out to be my saviour, eventhough I was happily surprised that the sock man was actually working there. After some weeks in Visby, things took care of themselves. Like they always do. I found Hedbergs cafe by chance. I met many wonderful people. And my mind would once again wonder off into some odd project. May it be Karl-Gustav, Albuquerque, Visby, or even my old Gothenburg. It is all about finding peace in your soul to be able to think and write freely and to notice the people and the stories around you.
The autumn passed by quickly as new routines were formed. And my new path in life seemed to be pointing in just the right direction. Every once in a while a Dreamday question would pop out from my mouth at work. And every third week I kept going to Roxy to sell tickets and exchange a few words with the sock man.
This did not change my life all at once, but slowly, without even noticing at first, the Dreamdayproject started to follow me as it never had before. At Riksutställningar, Hedbergs, Roxy or wherever I was at the moment I could not look at any situation without seeing it through a pair of Dreamday glasses. Every situation became a potential Dreamday scenario. And every person was a Dreamday. Even the sock man.
So on my last day at Roxy it was his turn along with his machine-man-trainee Ulla, as well as Rosita, my co-worker at the ticket counter.
Rosita was the first one out on the dreamday catwalk. Her dreamday is a quiet day with good food and people around her.
Next one up on stage was Ulla. Her dreamday would be to read a new book by the author Jonathan Kellerman.
...and the sock man?
Well at first we went back to the machine room where he showed me all the tapes and the machines and how they worked. He told me he had worked as a machine man in different movie theatres all his life, except for the time when he was a UN-soldier a long time ago. He told me he had worked on the very last night at Röda Kvarn in Stockholm, showing the very last movie, before they closed down many years ago.
He told me stories about a dog he was taking care of from time to time who had sat down to poo in the middle of a crossing one time so that they had been blocking a street filled with cars.
And he told me about his mother´s chairs that had been sold on an auction after her death and that Hedbergs Bok och Musik Café had bought them and that one day he had found himself sitting on one of them...
And the Dreamday question?
I finally got to ask it of course. I have it all recorded, my evidence of yet another Dreamday... Not that I had to record it really, because I remember it by heart, and I think I always will. But when coming this far in the story I took the decision to keep it to myself.
When I was trying to write it down I just could not find a tool, small and delicate enough, not to hurt this vulnerable dreamday. That is why this one will remain a secret, at least for now.
And if you are curious to know, just take a look around you. The world is full of sock people. You might not notice until you happen to sit right next to one. When you throw out a random question and take time to listen to the answer, very carefully. However, sometimes these sock people can be difficult to spot. Because when I think about it, the last way to recognize them is probably through their socks.
Thank you Visby for all the people that I met and the stories and the secrets that you gave me.
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