February 2008

More shameless name dropping

February 12, 2008

So old Eric Clapton has finally agreed to bring his guitar over to do a bit of strumming for the locals next summer. Around the campfire, like. Old Eric is a regular guest here in Niceland, visits every summer to indulge his passion for salmon fishing, but until now his guitar has been conspicuously absent. [...]

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Reykjavík – home of the laid-back slacker

February 11, 2008

So, dreamy Gael Garcia Bernal is in town to do a play that opens at the Reykjavík City Theatre on the 21st of this month. Tilsammans. YT: [to EPI over dinner] I read this interview with Gael Garcia Bernal in the paper yesterday EPI: who?YT: you know, that Spanish actor … no, Mexican … you [...]

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And visitor number 200,000…

February 9, 2008

… is from Sherbrooke, Quebec, and came through on the oh-so mundane search ‘iceland weather’. Congratulations you lucky people!!! Thing is, I’m guessing they’ve already moved on and so won’t be able to claim their prize: an Icelandic Þorrablót dinner for two, replete with pickled ram’s testicles and singed sheep’s heads. Served in a trough. [...]

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A short tale about a long night

February 9, 2008

Yesterday I woke up at 4 am after 2.5 hours of sleep to discover that Daughter was not yet home from the school formal she’d gone to. It was [is] the major event of the year at her school. Everyone had Thursday and Friday off, and the day began early with a premiere of the [...]

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There is nothing quite so wonderful as money

February 6, 2008

Really, I’m no fun these days, what with my nose immersed in books and glossaries and excruciatingly dull sample texts*. So in lieu of my sparkling wit and exuberant demeanor, allow me to share with you a short video created by a reader who visited Iceland at Christmastime, a video that explains precisely why we [...]

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Anyone have a spare indictment lying around?

February 5, 2008

I’m taking my translator’s certification exam next week and have been doing a bit of studying. Have discovered that I’m feeling pretty confident when it comes to the specialized employment contracts, the various nuances of the EFTA agreement, various bilateral treaties, the diverse aspects of the banking industry, the global warming reports, the Competition Authority [...]

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Today marks a year since my mother died.

February 4, 2008

My wonderful cousin Signy called from Canada to check in, see how I was feeling. I’m feeling fine. I was a bit wary, a bit observant of myself, on the alert. But truly, it was just another day, although memories of the events that occurred one year ago today passed through my mind. I wasn’t [...]

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What do cream puffs and bloated bellies have in common with dead cats?

February 2, 2008

I was somewhat surprised yesterday to discover that three of my favourite days of the year are already coming up right after the weekend: bolludagur [Cream Puff Day], sprengidagur [Eat Salted Lamb Until You Burst Day] and öskudagur [Ash Wednesday]. This happy trio marks the beginning of Lent, and as you’ll probably know Easter comes [...]

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