This is a brief overview of my biggest hobbies and interests. On occasion, I do some other things than develop games, such as eating and cooking, playing games, taking photos, sailing, playing soccer and reading about space.
Food
I love food and am a bit of a foodie. Fortunately NYC is an amazing location for food from all around the world. It’s also a big melting pot where people and food mixes in fantastic ways. So I am spoiled when it comes to food from different cultures, fusions and the latest experiments. We also have a great kitchen where I cook most days. I love cooking, and when I have the time and energy I try out new recipes and experiment.
My wife and I have been vegan since December 2019. My veganism comes from three points of moral, health and environment:
- I don’t like the idea of animals suffering for my “benefit”.
- It is great for my health! I feel better, blood values are top notch and I have more energy. Watch the “The Game Changers” documentary, it’s a great eye opener.
- A plant-based diet is much better for the environment than a diet with meat and dairy.
Considering these three points for veganism, I can only wonder why I didn’t go vegan earlier.
The arguments against veganism are really only culture, taste and convenience:
- Cultures change, they always have. Altering them in the direction of veganism while maintaining their cultural identity is very doable.
- I like the taste of meat, fish and dairy, but I also like the taste of plant-based food.
- In many places, veganism is extremely hard, there’s simply not any realistic vegan alternatives. But, in NYC it’s very easy to be vegan.
- B12? Just take a supplement.
For me the arguments for veganism outweigh the arguments against it by all measures. I am still flexible when I am traveling or at a party, eating vegetarian if there are no vegan options.
Games
I am a hardcore gamer and with a big passion for developing games. Read “The games that made me” (Part 1) and (Part 2) for some of my thoughts about gaming and development. Even with games as my profession, I also consider this to be one of my hobbies and interests. Join me on Steam!
Photography
Photography is one of my newer hobbies and interests. I bought a Canon Rebel SL3 in December 2019 for myself. I love it and so does my wife. Now I am playing around with it, learning and improving. Hopefully I will have some photos to show everyone one day. Meanwhile, here are some old photos from the aftermath of Sandy 2012, taken with an iPhone 4.
Sailing
To me, sailing is a lovely mix of relaxation, excitement and freedom. I used to be a member of the Hudson River Community Sailing, and I have a US Sailing certification for J/24 sailboats. Unfortunately I don’t have a lot of time for it, but I hope that I will one day.
Soccer
I love soccer (football)! Playing and watching. I am a Djurgården supporter! And I have played soccer since I was a kid, started out playing in Smålandsstenars GOIF. Our team was exceptional, but I was never that good and I quit playing when I was a teenager. However, after University, I started playing soccer again. I played in multiple amateur teams (Korpen) in Sweden and I was the team captain for the Starbreeze soccer team.
Moving to the US was actually great for my soccer playing. The level of soccer is a notch lower compared to Sweden, so I could shine! Avalanche had a team that played at Chelsea Piers and once I got used to playing 5-a-side I was scoring for fun. We also played in some charity tournaments when the opportunity came.
Nowadays I play as much soccer as possible. I play mostly at East River Park where I have a group that I have played with every Saturday since 2014. As long as I can keep up with the 20 year olds, I feel great!
Space
Space has always fascinated me. I consume all books, tv-shows, movies and games in a hard science fiction setting when I can. Even better is reality! And I watch every documentary about space worth watching and I read books on the topic as much as possible. When I worked at Starbreeze, I took classes in Astrophysics, Astrobiology and Astrogeology at Uppsala University. Free education for the win! But I’m just a happy enthusiast, and this is just one of my hobbies and interests. But one day I hope I will be able to integrate this interest into my game development.
Tabletop role-playing
As a teenager I played a lot of tabletop role-playing games. I am covering this briefly in “The games that made me (Part 2)”. Even though I am not playing much tabletop RPG nowadays, I still consider it to be an interest of mine. If I find a good group to play with again here in NYC, I will jump on that instantly. I have “The Expanse” and “Tales from the Loop” in my bookshelf waiting to be played.