September 2007

MOST EXCELLENT COFFEE SHOP
Vox Pop, on Cortelyou Rd. in Brooklyn. We discovered this place about halfway through our visit and could happily have spent the rest of our holiday hanging out there – in fact we almost did. We went back there daily for the superexcellent coffee [quite a rarity in NY, as we found out] and not least for the offbeat and sometimes radical reading material. Including the postcards. They even help people self-publish for a song!

MOST TOURISTY ACTIVITY
Grey Line Sightseeing tours – the Uptown, Downtown and Brooklyn loops. EPI was not easily sold on this one, considering it below his dignity to sit on top of a bus like a common tourist, but YT – who had taken a similar tour in London years ago – insisted. In the end EPI enjoyed it as much as I did, if not more.

MOST DELICIOUS BITE TO EAT
Pastrami on rye at Katz’s Deli. It’s famous – and for good reason.

MOST FANTASTIC PLACE TO CRASH
Our Bed and Breakfast in Brooklyn. I can’t praise this place enough! The hosts – Sue and Michael – were absolutely wonderful: easygoing, helpful, fun to be around, and intuitive to our every need. The bed was amazingly comfortable, and the numerous little details – DVDs in the hallway, bottled water in the fridge, soothing sound simulator [‘rainforest’, ‘ocean’…] in the room, little baskets in which to place our toiletries to take to the shared bathroom, gel pens at our disposal, bookshelf in the hallway … lifted the B&B experience to new heights. And the breakfast was fabulous.

MOST TIME SPENT IN ONE NEIGHBOURHOOD
SoHo. Mostly shopping, but also dining. And meeting with Cassie.

MOST DELIGHTFUL SURPRISE
The amazing friendliness of almost everyone we met. People went out of their way to be kind, helpful and fun, and the service in every restaurant we went to was phenomenal. I loved the people we met – I would happily have taken every one of them home with us. [Except maybe the crazy guy on the subway who insisted on showing us in great detail on our subway map how we should get to our destination, but only because he smelled kinda bad].

MOST DOSH HANDED OVER TO A SINGLE COMPANY
The lucky recipient of most of our [substantial] expenditure was UNIQLO, closely followed by Apple.

MOST SATISFYING PURCHASE
The cute little ankle boots with a bow in the back, from Steve Madden.

MOST ALARMING
The invisible yet very evident divide between blacks and whites. An American friend used to say that she believed racial tensions would be the downfall of America. I don’t know if her prophecy will come to pass, but the tension was palpable.

MOST CONFUSING
The New York City subway. Why do some trains on some lines only go to some stops, and then only at some times? Why are the lines marked variously by numbers and letters, and then only some numbers and letters: 4, 5, 6, R, W, Q …? And why can’t they just make up a map like the one of the London tube?

MOST ENJOYABLE STROLL
Walking along Fifth Avenue in Brooklyn last Saturday. So many delightful shops and restaurants!

Ok, that’s enough. Still suffering from jetlag, so it’s time to hit the sack. I’ve posted some photos to Flickr for anyone who’s interested. G’night!

PS Weather is rainy and windy. 10°C [52F], sunrise at 7:26 am, sunset at 7:08 pm.

On our last night in New York, we had dinner with Ó [EPI’s daughter] in an atmospheric little Cuban restaurant in SoHo. Afterwards, we wandered up to Washington Square which was teeming with life … we were drawn to a corner of the park where a small crowd had gathered. Two guys were sitting strumming on guitars, a guy with a bongo drum sat nearby and a girl was doing a brilliant rendition of Summertime. As we came closer we saw that the girl had clearly just been passing through, heard those guys and started singing … she had on a jogging outfit and her backpack lay on the ground next to her.

When Summertime had finished, another guy in the crowd launched into a version of That’s Why They Call it the Blues, after which the girl with the backpack ad-libbed an incredible blues number that she and the guitar players made up on the spot. Everyone was completely in awe, and yet both she and the musicians and everyone else was caught up in the magic of the moment and just so … happy. And it dawned on the three of us that we were in the midst of a fabulous impromptu concert that was developing in a completely organic way.

Soon another guitarist joined the crowd – an older man, probably in his sixties, very intense. At first he just sort of stood on the periphery and joined in the strumming, but suddenly he asked if he could do a song. He then launched into one of the most powerful protest songs I’ve ever heard – I wish I could remember the lyrics, or even his name, because he was phenomenal. Clearly he was in town for the protests launched in connection with the UN assembly, and I can say without hestitation that this guy was one of the most brilliant lyricists I’ve ever heard [and as you may recall, YT is a huge fan of excellent lyrics].

When he’d finished, he immediately launched into a recital of a poem along the same lines, also phenomenal. Everyone was completely spellbound listening to him. An even larger crowd gathered – different people, of all races and from all walks of life, and everyone listened. As soon as he’d finished, the guys with the guitars started playing Imagine and almost everyone joined in. It was incredible, magical.

Anyway, we’re back home now and the weather that greeted us when we stepped out of the airport terminal was enough to make us turn and head straight back to New York. When we left the temps were probably in the 30s C [80s F] and we came back to stormy, rainy, grey weather – as uninviting as can be. Unsurprisingly, both EPI and I are still there in spirit and not only because of the weather – the city, with its electric energy, quite simply got under our skin.

I can’t wait to go back.

We’re in for more stormy weather in the east, with winds dying down in the south. More rain tomorrow afternoon. Currently 10°C [50F] and sunrise was at 7:24 am, sunset at 7:12 pm.

Well, as you’ve probably surmised from my absence, we’ve been having a dandy time here in New York City. I’ve done a lot of shopping, and while EPI has been off doing civilized cultural things like picnicking in Central Park with his daughter and going to the MoMA, YT has been … um, shopping.

I realize that having spent such a large portion of my time here raiding the shops may make me seem terribly superficial; however I assure you I’m actually very cultured. For as one of my aunts used to say, what are department stores other than museums exhibiting the wares and artifacts of our modern civilization? In other words, the Museum of Natural History or Bloomingdales are essentially the same thing, apart from the fact that one has old stuff behind glass, while the other has stuff that you can examine and try on. [Incidentally, this theory also applies to boutiques, and American Apparel, not to mention my new favorite store, UNIQLO.]

So I currently have a lot of modern artifacts stuffed into shopping bags, made doubly satisfying by the fact that all of them cost about half of what they’d cost at home. So - very practical, too. In fact, I figure that with all the money we’ve saved buying clothes and stuff here, we’ve pretty much paid for our ticket already. Something we may wish to note for future reference .

This is not to say that I haven’t seen any old stuff, mind … spent about half a day at The Met and about ten minutes inside the Guggenheim [they’re renovating, so hardly any of their galleries were open]. Also, we’ve gone out for dinner a lot. Last night, for instance, we had a great meal in an Indian place called Leela Lounge … the food was great and the ambiance also, until around 11pm when they started clearing away all the tables all around us, leaving us stranded in the middle of the dining room like some forlorn island in the middle of an ocean of, um, floor [you can see how cultured I am, I’m even coming up with clever metaphors]. Turns out there was a private party moving in, of which we uwittingly became a part [we still had wine left in the bottle, so they couldn’t very well kick us out] and part of the occasion was a book launching. We sort of got talking to the author by accident and had a very enjoyable conversation about writing, publishing, agents, and so on, and felt very cosmopolitan while we were at it.

So anyway, on the whole it’s been great. This evening we went to see a musical … hedged our bets and went for Spring Awakening, which had won the Tony for Best Musical and which was well done as expected, but really nothing to write home about [or blog about, for that matter]. We then took in the spectacle that is Times Square at night, along with about a million other people, and despite the fact that I consider myself a worldly sort of person who’s been around a bit, I still stood gaping at the sheer audacity and size of the billboards around that place. Makes you feel so small, somehow. You know? In a humbling sort of way.

As for the weather - HOT today, just the way we Nicelanders like it, at least for a few days before we head back home to the rain and storm, which is what they’re having back on the ice cube as we speak. About 15°C [59F] currently.

Well, our New York visit has been going swimmingly, and just this evening EPI was delighted to discover that he has a church named after him here. It’s called the EPIscopal Church of New York. He’s now walking around all important-like in flowing robes and has started growing a beard like all significant deities.

Meanwhile, we’ve pretty much covered all the sights - the only things we have left to see are the Empire State Building and that metal bull thingy down on Wall Street. Whoever said we’d need to make another trip to New York to be able to take in all the sights was plainly wrong and living on another planet entirely.

But lest you think our days are spent rushing around from one tourist attraction to another, here is a picture of some new friends we made today. Just to prove that we are making some time for socializing.

It’s so nice to meet the locals, wouldn’t you agree?

The weather has been kinda cold, but it got a bit warmer today and it’s due to be warmer still tomorrow, up to 26°C. The New Yawkers keep telling us that we couldn’t have asked for better weather, but they don’t know that in Niceland we don’t get no heat and we’re feeling kinda deprived.

Went to the Brooklyn Book Festival today*. I thought I’d check it out, maybe listen to a reading or two, peruse the wares that vendors were peddling, perchance see if any of the publishers were interested in translations of Nicelandic literature. Had the idea that I might get the odd polite nod and smile, a raised eyebrow or two and then a kind brush-off. I never dreamed of the overwhelmingly enthusiastic response I’d get from virtually everyone. ‘Iceland?? Oh, wow - we’d love to see some stuff from Iceland … Iceland is so big right now.’

But we knew all that - right?

Went to a concert this evening at the Village Vanguard - Paul Motian trio was playing. EPI was really psyched to see them as he’s a big fan of both Paul Motian and Bill Frisell … YT is less of a fan but I was definitely up for the experience. Have to say, though, that I was primarily struck by how apathetic they were towards the audience, i.e. they did not interact with the audience at all. They came on, made no acknowledgment that there was actually a full house of people sitting there watching them, played a set for just over an hour during which they only looked at each other - never into the audience - and never uttered a word of thanks or took a bow or anything of the sort between songs. When the set finished, Motian spoke a few words in which he basically tried to get people to stay for a second set [which cost an additional ten bucks] at which they walked away and did not come back for an encore. Sheesh! I mean, they played well and everything, but to not even acknowledge for a second those people that paid money to see them and were totally enthusiastic and positive, came across as incredibly ungenerous and ungracious. Guess they were just too sexy for their clothes, or something.

Weather here is pretty cold, I’m told … it just turned, three days ago, from being super-hot and humid. And now, if I stay up a moment longer, I’ll need toothpicks to keep my eyes open, so t’rah for now!

*Actually, Sunday. My time settings are all screwed up, as is my biological clock.

So we’re all geared up for our trip to the Big Apple tomorrow - meaning that, in true Nicelandic fashion, we’ve got two mammoth, half-empty suitcases lined up, ready to be filled.

It’s the modern-day version of the Viking raid.

If by chance we have any time left over, we may pop in to see an exhibition or two. Maybe even a concert.

Our timing is perfect, because today was awfully blustery and, well, downright cold. Whereas tomorrow, with any luck, we will be walking around in short sleeves and sandals. Oh, bliss! Incidentally, have I mentioned that getting out of Iceland about once a year is absolutely essential to one’s mental health? Truly, it is. Currently 6°C [43F] and the sun rose at 6.46 am, set at 7.58 pm.

I am completely embarrassed to tell you how long I have just spent trying to access songs in AAH’s iTunes library, with the purpose of moving them over to my iTunes library on the same computer. In fact, I am mortified. I don’t even know why I’m typing this right now. [Undoubtedly some weird compulsion to confess, which has plagued me all my life - why wasn’t I born a Catholic?]

I started by trying to email songs to me. That didn’t work well, as it took forever and my webmail only allowed 10 mb to be sent at a time, which meant that the 60 songs I wanted would have taken me, oh, until the end of the decade to transfer. I then tried to upload the songs to some website, as instructed by AAH [who was inconveniently absent], but that was taking forever, and I thought pfft! surely I could come up with a better plan that.

So I got out the external hard drive and attached it to the mac, tried to copy the tunes over onto it - but to no avail. At that point I got EPI involved, seeing as he’s a mac man and spends all day every day working on a mac - I figured he’d have it sussed. Nope! He was as completely mystified as I was by the fact that the files wouldn’t copy - they always do on his machine. In the end it was duly blamed on the fact that I have two accounts on mine, and he only one on his. [Whatever.]

That brilliant plan aborted, I decided to try to copy the songs over onto a memory stick. Success!! That is, until I logged into my own account and tried to move the songs into iTunes. Rejected. Every last one. Can you believe it? I couldn’t.

Still - being a super-sleuth, I just couldn’t help thinking, “There has to be a better way. Yes. There simply has to be.” And you know what? There was. After spending virtually all evening trying to crack the puzzle, I finally figured out that I could access AAH’s files [the ones that aren’t locked, mind] through the hard drive on my account.

So now:

Save me - Aimee Mann
Happy Valentine’s Day - Andre 3000
Hey Ya! - Andre 3000
Baby Boy - Beoncé
Gone Going - Black Eyed Peas
Where U At - Kanye West
Upgrade U - Beoncé & JayZ
El Tango de Roxanne - Moulin Rouge Soundtrack

… and lots more. And now I gotta run, as I’m picking up the Princess from the Ball and she turns into a pumpkin at midnight. And who wants to be a pumpkin sitting outside Broadway?

The other night, EPI told me a completely absorbing story about one of his cousins. His mother, EPI’s aunt, was quite young when she had him, so the cousin - we’ll call him J - spent a lot of time with other relatives, particularly his maternal grandparents.

J’s mother eventually went abroad to study and met a man [Icelandic] while there … they fell in love and when they came back to Iceland, they set up house and the new man adopted J formally. From that point on he made J’s life hell. During J’s late childhood and early adolescense he inflicted serious psychological abuse, systematically undermining J’s self-esteem and confidence until he was an emotional wreck and displaying seriously harmful behavior towards himself.

At that point, one of EPI’s other aunts intervened. Clearly a remarkable woman [in more ways than one], she saw what was happening and instead of turning a blind eye or denying what was going on within the family, she put her foot down and announced that J would now come and live with her. Which he did. Almost immediately, he turned himself around, started showing an interest in learning, found a new enthusiasm for life, and eventually went to live in the US, where his cousin - son of the aunt who adopted him - was living.

He hasn’t moved back since. He’s made a good life for himself in the States, is successful, and sometimes comes to Iceland for visits - but he has never wanted to return permanently. He’s become an American citizen and has even changed his name so there’s not a vestige left of his Icelandic identity, except to those who know him well.

EPI thinks this is kind of strange. I absolutely do not. I totally get it.

AND THE WEATHER IS …
It kept threatening to rain this morning, with odd bouts of drizzle that stopped pretty much as soon as they started. In between, the weather was fantastic - sunny with just a slight breeze, and a hint of a chill in the air to remind us that we’re well into September. I went for a run along the sea and it was beautiful - then I went for physio followed by a dip in the hot pot at the Laugardalslaug pool - and it was still beautiful. Right now it’s 9°C [48F] and sunrise was at 6:38 am, sunset at 8:09 pm.

Incidentally - the best thing I heard today was about all the people worldwide who have pledged to make September 11 a day of good deeds. What a wonderful display of good triumphing over evil!

Spare a thought for poor EPI, who for over a week now has returned home from work to daily reports about the body count chez YT. That’s right: rather than being greeted at the door by a loving wife wanting to hear all about his day, he is bombarded with detailed updates of the silverfish casualty list, including how many were found in the bathroom or the pantry, the precise locations of the discoveries, and the degree to which the individual bugs were alive or dead.

It’s a fascinating subject, and one of which I never grow tired. EPI is not quite so enthusiastic - although being a good sport he will indulge me by lending an ear, so long as I make sure my reports do not coincide with the subject of food entering his mouth. That’s where he draws the line. It’s a satisfactory agreement, and one we have grown quite adept at keeping, I daresay.

The poison used by the pest control people has no smell and is not visible in any way, save for the fact that the silverfish come out of their hiding places at night, crawl all over it, and presto! are too weak to crawl back in. Which [according to the PCP, who were consulted for an explanation] is why we keep seeing them during the day. It’s not the most delightful sight to behold - but I will tell you that a weak, floundering silverfish is a lot less icky than a creepy, slithery one [as Rozanne so succinctly put it in the comments a few posts back]. Somehow they manage to lose the creep factor when they cease to slither. [Hm. Someone should do a study.]

So now I’m happy to report that I saw the last live silverfish yesterday morning, and have not seen a single one since - not even last night when I stumbled home after a wedding party [kidding! about the stumbling - I actually crawled - no, not really] in the middle of the night, when it was pitch dark and I switched on the light in the pantry. Which has to mean that every last one has come out of its hiding place, and has now been killed by the horrible colourless, smellless toxins lining our walls. Right?

IT’S BEEN A STRANGE DAY WITH CHEQUERED WEATHER
Sunny spells, interspersed with showers, and westerly winds. Went out for a run this afternoon and it was quite bracing, what with the sharp sea air and the hint of autumn crispness in the air. It’s currently 9°C [50F] - the sun rose at 6:32 am and sunset was at 8:16 pm.

NB I realize I may come across extremely gleeful about all the dead silvefish, but I assure you I’m not. I don’t like having all this death in my house. I just happen like it more than the alternative, as I’ve explained before.