Happy New Year

Well, I guess I can start wishing you all a happy new year, because it already is 2007 in Australia, we are just a little behind here in Iceland. Hope you enjoy the future!

'Allo 'Allo

I have been home now for three weeks, and hardly done anything that I meant to do but done a lot of things that I hadn't planned on doing. Before Christmas I was too busy to even think about my essay, although I managed to squeeze in a three hour session where a few hundred words got added to the text. But except for that I was busy with preparation for Christmas as well as two days I spent working at my old job.
My Christmas was wonderful. Full of good food and prezzies and family. Boxing Day (Annan í jólum) I spent with my family at my uncle's house, again enjoying good food and playing Trivial Pursuit with my brother and two cousins. My brother won us this time. We also played a little Monopoly although at that time we were exhausted and stopped before it really started.
Since then I have been spending my days struggling over the essay. Two days, 500 words a day, and now the essay has reached 6700 words. I am quite pleased with myself, especially since I have been watching 'Allo 'Allo series 1 - 4 during the time I have been writing the essay. It always manages to lift my spirit. It is simply spectacular. But today I finished the series and am now finishing the last episode of Le comte de Monte Cristo. And I am beginning to find it strange the way every time I watch a film in a foreign language I start thinking in said language, like now, the thing that I most want to do is speak French.
I got a book from Amazon yesterday. It's the first Harry Potter book but it is in Irish. It is Harry Potter agus an Órchlach (or the Philosopher's stone). I can read it, I understand the words but not the sentences, because I have never learned modern Irish, so I am not always sure of the meaning, but I get the gist of it. Soon I will be getting the Welsh version of it as well. The Gaelic version will be added as soon as possible but the scheduled date for publication is not until summer of 2008.

The Yuletide lads - part 15 - THE END

On Christmas night itself
- so a wise man writes
- the lads were all restraint
and just stared at the lights.


Then one by one they trotted off
into the frost and snow.
On Twelfth Night the last
of the lads used to go.


Their footprints in the highlands
are effaced now for long,
the memories have all turned
to image and song

By Jóhannes úr Kötlum / Translated by Hallberg Hallmundsson
Pictures/Copyright©Olafur Petursson

The Yuletide lads - part 14

Candle beggar

( Kertasníkir )

The thirteenth was Candle Beggar

- ´twas cold, I believe,

if he was not the last

of the lot on Christmas Eve.

He trailed after the little ones

who, like happy sprites,

ran about the farm with

their fine tallow lights.

By Jóhannes úr Kötlum / Translated by Hallberg Hallmundsson

Pictures/Copyright©Olafur Petursson

The Yuletide lads - part 13

Meat Hook

( Kjötkrækir )

Meat Hook, the twelfth one,

his talent would display

as soon as he arrived

on Saint Thorlak´s Day.

He snagged himself a morsel

of meat of any sort,

although his hook at times was

a tiny bit short.

By Jóhannes úr Kötlum / Translated by Hallberg Hallmundsson

Pictures/Copyright©Olafur Petursson

The Yuletide lads - part 12

Door Sniffer

( Gáttaþefur )

Eleventh was Door Sniffer,

a doltish lad and gross.

He never got a cold, yet had

a huge, sensitive nose.

He caught the scent of lace bread

while leagues away still

and ran toward it weightless

as wind over dale and hill.

By Jóhannes úr Kötlum / Translated by Hallberg Hallmundsson

Pictures/Copyright©Olafur Petursson

The Yuletide lads - part 11

Window Peeper

( Gluggagæjir )

The tenth was Window Peeper,

a weird little twit,

who stepped up to the window

and stole a peek through it.

And whatever was inside

to which his eye was drawn,

he most likely attempted

to take later on.

By Jóhannes úr Kötlum / Translated by Hallberg Hallmundsson

Pictures/Copyright©Olafur Petursson

S.O.S work

An exhilarating day ... I am dead.  I got a call today from my old workplace, begging me to come to work.  Since there are so few that know how to do the job, they phoned me, because one of the girls was home sick today.  And since I am as good a person as I am, I couldn't say no, so I ran back home from the store we were at got ready and got the keys to the car from dad and ran out.  Got to work just after 2 o'clock.  I had brought comfortable shoes and my mobile charger with me, because my phone went dead, but as soon as I came in through the door at work, I was busy.  Couldn't even change shoes and couldn't start charging my mobile until just before six.  I didn't even get the chance to say hello to people before five o'clock and then not everyone.  And the few others that I passed on the way, barely noticed me because they were so busy, and others were so busy they didn't stop to think that it was a bit weird that I was there.  But it was soooo coool, being back there.  Seeing allt he guys, my boss couldn't stop hugging me for coming to their rescue.  And I didn't even do that much or so I felt, but no matter that because I feel beat tonight.  I met Þorgeir, Helga, Björk, Halla, Ásu, Ingibjörgu and my good old buddies Siggu and Brynju, it really was a reunion of old friends.  Loads of fun, and maybe I will get to experience it again if possible.  And even better I got a prezzie when I left, because I had been working there.  I did open it up when I came home but I can't say what it was because I don't want to ruin the surprise for others, but my advice, if you are not going to open it when you get it, put it in the fridge before Christmas Eve.

The Yuletide lads - part 10

Sausage Swiper
( Bjúgna krækir )

The ninth was Sausage Swiper,

a shifty pilferer.

He climbed up to the rafters

and raided food from there.

Sitting on a crossbeamin

soot and in smoke,

he fed himself on sausage

fit for gentlefolk.

By Jóhannes úr Kötlum / Translated by Hallberg Hallmundsson

Pictures/Copyright©Olafur Petursson

The Yuletide lads - part 9

Skyr Gobbler

( Skyr gámur)

Skyr Gobbler, the eighth,

was an awful stupid bloke.

He lambasted the skyr tub

till the lid on it broke.

Then he stood there gobbling

- his greed was well known -

until, about to burst,

he would bleat, howl and groan.

By Jóhannes úr Kötlum / Translated by Hallberg Hallmundsson

Pictures/Copyright©Olafur Petursson

The Yuletide lads - part 8

Door Slammer
( Hurðaskellir )

The seventh was Door Slammer,
a sorry, vulgar chap:
When people in the twilight
would take a little nap,

he was happy as a lark
with the havoc he could wreak,
slamming doors and hearing
the hinges on them sqeak.

By Jóhannes úr Kötlum / Translated by Hallberg Hallmundsson

Pictures/Copyright©Olafur Petursson

The Yuletide lads - part 7

Bowl Licker

( Askasleikir )

Bowl Licker, the sixth one,

was shockingly ill bred.

From underneath the bedsteads

he stuck his ugly head.

And when the bowls were left

to be licked by dog or cat,

he snatched them for himself

- he was sure good at that!

By Jóhannes úr Kötlum / Translation by Hallberg Hallmundsson

Pictures/Copyright©Olafur Petursson

The Yuletide lads - part 6

Pot Scraper

( Pottasleikir )

Pot Scraper, the fifth one,

was a funny sort of chap.

When kids were given scrapings,

he´d come to the door and tap.

And they would rush to see

if there really was a guest.

Then he hurried to the pot

and had a scrapingfest.

By Jóhannes úr Kötlum / Translation by Hallberg Hallmundsson

Pictures/Copyright©Olafur Petursson

Spoon Licker

( Þvörusleikir )

The fourth was Spoon Licker;

like spindle he was thin.

He felt himself in clover

when the cook wasn´t in.

Then stepping up, he grappled

the stirring spoon with glee,

holding it with both hands

for it was slippery.

By Jóhannes úr Kötlum / Translation by Hallberg Hallmundsson

Pictures/Copyright©Olafur Petursson

The Yuletide lads - part 4

Stubby
( Stúfur )

Stubby was the third called,
a stunted little man,
who watched for every chance
to whisk off a pan.

And scurrying away with it,
he scraped off the bits
that stuck to the bottom
and brims - his favorites.

By Jóhannes úr Kötlum / Translation by Hallberg Hallmundsson

Pictures/Copyright©Olafur Petursson

I look like a lamb and I got shot

Yesterday I got a perm, so now I look as cute and curly as a lamb.  But I like it, it's all bouncy and nice, and give's me a kind of stupid cherub-y look as well.  And now, today I got shot ... well, I got A shot.  I went to see my orthopedic surgeon about my knee and he gave me a shot in an attempt to delay further surgery.  It should help but he felt that it would be inevitable that I will be having surgery possibly sometime next year.  The issue is to postpone it as long as possible for me to complete my year at Uni and gratuate before it becomes an issue.  My leg is a bit numb now, around the knee, it is to be expected and it is also a bit sore, which he told me it might, but that it was a good indicator that the medicine was working.  Hope so, because getting a shot underneath your kneecap, is not the most pleasant experience, am just thankful there weren't more shots, although I should be accustomed being treated like a pincushion.  But I am willing to do anything if it helps.

The Yuletide lads - part 3

Gully Gawk

( Giljagaur )

The second was Gully Gawk,
gray his head and mien.
He snuck into the cow barn
from his craggy ravine.

Hiding in the stalls,
he would steal the milk,
while the milkmaid gave the cowherd
a meaningful smile.

by Jóhannes úr Kötlum / Translation by Hallberg Hallmundsson

Pictures/Copyright©Olafur Petursson

The Yuletide lads - part 2

Tonight the first Yuletide lad comes to town.

Sheep Cote-Clod

( Stekkjastaur )

The first of them was Sheep-Cote Clod.

He came stiff as wood,

to pray upon the farmer´s sheep

as far as he could.

He wished to suck the ewes,

but it was no accident

he couldn´t; he had stiff knees

- not to convenient.

by Jóhannes úr Kötlum / Translation by Hallberg Hallmundsson
Pictures/Copyright©Olafur Petursson

Yuletide lads - part 1

Let me tell the story
of the lads of few charms,
who once upon a time
used to visit our farms.

They came from the mountains,
as many of you know,
in a long single file
to the farmsteads below.

Grýla was their mother
- she gave them ogre milk
-and the father Leppalúdi;
a loathsome ilk.

They were called the Yuletide lads
- at Yuletide they were due
-and always came one by one,
not ever two by two.

Thirteen altogether,
these gents in their prime
didn´t want to irk people
all at one time.

Creeping up, all stealth,
they unlocked the door.
The kitchen and the pantry
they came looking for.

They hid where they could,
with a cunning look or sneer,
ready with their pranks
when people weren´t near.

And even when they were seen,
they weren´t loath to roam
and play their tricks - disturbing
the peace of the home.

By Jóhannes úr Kötlum / Translation by Hallberg Hallmundsson

Home

I arrived home on Friday, but I am sick. I woke up early on Friday morning with blocked nose, coughing and feeling rahter poorly. But I was going home, and nothing could stop me. My bags were heavier than hell, but I managed to bring them down the two flights of stairs by laying the bigger and more heavier one on the stairs flat and dragging it down. I arrived at the airport at 8 am, and luckily there weren't many checking in before me and it later turned out that there weren't that many on the flight either. My two luggage bags were in all 53kg and I also had to check in a smaller one that was almost empty, so a few extra kgs can be added. My flight was delayed but only for a short while, and I arrived home just a few minutes later than originally scheduled. I was so glad to be finally home. It was amazing, and I fell asleep shortly after arriving at the flat. A few hours later I was woken up by my niece, she was sooooo happy to see me finally. She didn't let me go anywhere she didn't follow. After they left I unpacked my suitcases and then I just left everything where it was and went to sleep, the rest could wait until I felt better.
So for the last few days I haven't been doing everything I planned. So this is me trying to make it all better.
My dear friend, Claire. Wish you all the best for your birthday ... that was yesterday.
And I am going to start my Yule tide lads program again, because of popular demand ;)
Well, happy holidays to you all, and rest assured you will be hearing from me again soon.

Coming home for Christmas

I am coming home tomorrow, in less than 12 hours my flight leaves.  I am soo looking forward to it.  I finished school just before four o'clock this afternoon and came home to pack my bags and tidy my room.  Dear God, it was difficult.  I actually had to re-pack at least twice, because I had to take stuff out, so that I could get more important stuff home for Christmas ... like Christmas presents!  That still wasn't enough I still had to pack a parcel with stuff for my friend Árdísi to ship home for me, because there was no way in h$%& that I could take it all with me.  This comes from letting me loose at a shopping mall.

But who cares, I am coming home weather Icelandair likes it or not.  I really think they should give me a blank card when it comes to baggage allowance, since I fly so often with them.  But anyway, I am getting tired, have to wake up at 7am tomorrow and I will be seeing some friendly faces around twoish tomorrow.  See you then.

Cinema blog continue

I am coming home the day after tomorrow.  So Árdís and I used the opportunity to go for a good meal, a cocktail and a movie.  So I want to add to the list of movies I have been to see at the cinema since october 26th.

27/10/2006 - Don.  A Bollywood film with my favorite actor Shah Rukh Khan.  It was amazing, thrilling and surprising.  Can't wait to get it on DVD.  And it was quite fun to go see a Bollywood film at the cinema, firstly you get loads of strange ads, about matchmaking websites and how to transfer money home to India and secondly, it's not easy to sit still in a cinema when you want to go boogie with the music.

22/11/2006 - Casino Royal.  Hadn't meant to go see it, not because I didn't believe it was any good, but because I just didn't feel compelled to go.  But since plans changed for my friend Árdísi, we decided to go see it.  It was really good, surprised me how good it actually was.  Liked it, and recomend it.

26/11/2006 - Pan's Labyrinth.  In Spanish, which I don't think many realised, but it was very good.  But I am a person that when it comes to something looking gruesome I tend to laugh out loud at the absurdity of it and I don't think it was quite appropriate with this film.  But it is very .... undescribable, I just have to tell you to go see it, then you know what I mean.

29/11/2006 - Stranger than fiction.  What do you expect when you see the name Will Farrell as lead act in a movie.  Something spoofy.  Not this, it was a very sweet movie in a quirky sort of way.  So you get this lovable goofy Will Farrell, but he doesn't over-act like so many other 'comedians' when trying to do more serious roles.  Seriously good, go see it before Christmas, it might just surprise you.

6/12/2006 - Flushed Away.  Who doesn't love cartoon.  Well, this is from the creators of Wallace and Gromit, and I just love them.  This isn't the plasticine characters but a computer animation but they still manage to retain that sort of plasticinie-y feel to them.  And the humor just cracks you up every time. Scrabble!

There was a tiny period where I didn't go to the movies, because I was busy with Uni work and also there wasn't anything that special I wanted to go see.  But this means, that I have gone to see eleven movies in the three months I have been here this term.

Good girl!

Shipwrecked

Can someone explain this to me?

A submarine is called a boat, but other boats are called ships.  Why?

Confusing!

Television is dangerous

Be careful; Watching QI while drinking coke at the same time can be leathal, you could drown.

Note! I could have said water, but then you would think I'd be lying, because you know me.

The Merchants of Bollywood

It has been a while since I have really blogged, but that is because I have been swamped at Uni, and not had much of what you could call a social life. Had my nose burried in books for three weeks or more. But yesterday I looked up out of my books and I got a visit from Iceland. A friend of mine, Hrafnhildur arrived in Glasgow on Thursday with a couple of her friends and they came to see me and spend the day with me. I showed them my school and my neighbourhood, then we went out for a wonderful dinner at Ashöka, before going to SECC to see The Merchants of Bollywood, a Bollywood musical, portraying famous Bollywood scores from films.


For two hours I had terrible time of sitting still and not break out in a sing-a-long. I knew almost all of the songs by heart. It was amazing, and so thrilling, and my shoulders were going crazy along with my head swinging back and forth to the beat of the drum... not advicable though, because now my neck and shoulders are inflamed and they hurt.
I bought the cd with the show's music, just for the hell of it. It was really funny at times and really cool and wonderful to watch, most of the time my head was swinging from left to right, up and down, because there was so much to be seen and notice. With all the hand and finger movements that were at times really difficult to see, it was just so mesmerizing.

Why don't you people grow up!

ps. Árdís manaði mig í þetta!

No chocolate covered bananas ... yet

I felt it was time to let people know that I haven't kicked the bucket yet.  You might consider me to be a basket case but otherwise I am fine .. mostly.  My stress levels are up by a few hundred percent, I have never felt myself under as much stress in the last three years as I do know.  I blame the dissertation for that mostly.  And this month seems to be taking my stress levels through the roof (although since I am on the second floor it hasn't a long way to go).  I am hoping to be going to see Cats at the King's Theatre tomorrow.  The only cats I can tolerate and am not allergic to are the theatrical variety.  Then I have to finish my work on a presentation I am giving in Medieval Welsh Literature for Thursday.  I will be talking about the oral tradition and how the views of Kenneth Jackson and Sioned Davies clash on their interpretation of the oral tradition regarding the Pedeir Keinc Y Mabinogi (or the four branches of the Mabinogyon).  Lost of fun stuff there.  Then I have to start my essay, that I have to hand in on December 4th, but I want to get it out of the way as soon as possible.  Especially since I will be getting a visit from my friend Hrafnhildi and a two of her friends as well with her.  I will be going with them to see the Merchants of Bollywood on the 24th, a very colourful Bollywood musical, the first of its kind.  For every Monday morning I have to translate from Old Irish a page of Fingal Rónáin (or Rónan's kinslaying) for the Advanced Early Gaelic texts course and I usually have a translation assignment from Middle Welsh to contend with as well before Monday or Thursday in the latest.  The funny thing is that I am actually quite enjoying this all.  On top of this I am doing my best to strenghten the economy of Britain with my christmas shopping.  The good news is that this week the St. Enoch's square Christmas fair opened up, and I went to take a look at it today.  It was a bit windy and rainy today so I didn't take a very good look at everything, found the most exciting part in seeing one of the vendors trying to eat a croissant while holding onto the tent over his stall from blowing over.  Who says men can't multitask.  But I will definitely be going back and taking a better look at the wares.  I am also waiting to see if I will be getting any chocolate covered bananas again.

6 weeks and 3 days

It has been six weeks and three days since I came to Scotland again, and during that time I have gone to the cinema six times. Lets start at the beginning;

20/9/2006 - Snakes on a Plane. Not what you would normally think to go see. But turned out to be stupidly entertaining, not least in watching the audience reaction to it. Yes, there were other people there than just Árdís and me.

27/9/2006 - The Sentinel. Michael Douglas and Kiefer Sutherland ... oh, and don't forget Eva Longaria. Oh, sorry, already forgotten. Don't know what she was doing there, taking a vacation I think, at least there was no acting involved here. The movie itself, quite forgettable.

4/10/2006 - World Trade Center. Never in my life would I have thought to go see this one in a cinema. Strange what you do when you can go to a cinema cheaply. It was actually very good ... in a bad sort of way, since this was based on real life accounts of people who survived 9/11 at the towers. A sweet film and not what you would expect with Oliver Stone at the helm.

11/10/2006 - The Devil Wears Prada. Never liked Meryl Streep, so it was ok to see this film. You are sort of supposed to hate her. Worked for me. Liked the film, the casting was good. Wouldn't mind seeing again. But a very conventional and the ending forseeable as always in films such as this.

18/10/2006 - The History Boys. A film based on a play by Alan Bennett. All right, it was very funny in the beginning, and the end was quite interesting but it is sort of what I call a pointless thing. Doesn't really have a purpose, not in the beginning, the middle or the end. It just is.

25/10/2006 - Marie Antoinette. A very grand film, and for a lack of a better word 'flott!'. Entertaining, but on some instances it just seemed endless, but that was done on purpose and you figured out what the purpose of it was, so it wasn't very annoying. The only thing to remember here is that it is a film and not a documentary. I liked it.

This is turning out to be the Grandest Movie Year of all four.

Ikea

A new Ikea store is opening back home in Iceland, huge monstrosity of a building in the middle of the lavafield between Hafnarfjörður and Garðabæ. Said to be around 20.600 square metres and the largest in Iceland at the moment. Now, since I went to Ikea here in Glasgow, I felt that I should in honour of the opening of the store at home, put a picture of the store here on the web, although I must say, I didn't quite manage to fit it all in on the photo, so there is something missing from both sides. And it is has a ground floor and a first floor as well, so take that into account.

Continued online tests rant

Well, I have to admit it, I just can't get enough of these fun online web test.  Now I have discovered a new one, highly entertaining and quite interesting as well.  This site calculates how well you are matched to someone according to name, I must say the outcome is just interesting to say the least.

http://www.crushcalculator.com/content/love/585878527

Try it just for gags.

Nerd tests

I don't know why, I always fall for these tests.  I like taking them, but I hardly ever publish the results.  Why!  Well, I think of myself as quite nerdy but when I take these tests I never come out nerdy enough for me to want to publish it.  It is obviously not enough to by all the Star Trek series except the Original one or study Gaelic and finding it fun.  Well, I probably broke the record for nerdyness on Saturday.  Or even if it wasn't nerdyness it was lazyness that promted me to buy this contrivance (ísl: apparat).  This is just brilliant and it is a Can Cooler.  It actually cools for you one can at a time, takes some time but it still works perfectly well.  Perfect for coke or beer cans and the perfect epitome of lazyness on my behalf of not wanting to bother with getting up and going to the kitchen to get a cool can of coke.  Now instead, I need to wait for at least an hour for the can to have cooled sufficiently for me to drink the beverage.  Still, I couldn't help myself when I saw it in the shop, sitting there at a lousy 10 pounds.  Who knows, maybe this will be the Christmas Present this year?

In other news, apparently Glasgow is again mentioned on the news as being the most dangerous city in Britain and that's where all the drunks are as well.  Sort of understandable the latter one, it's Monday and I am back at Uni after the weekend and where was I most likely to be found during that time, yes at class.  No, really, last week I spent 2 and a half hours at Uni and 4 hours at the pub.  Today it was, 2 and a half hours at Uni and 2 hours at the pub, see, it's balancing itself out.  And makes Welsh so much more fun.

Life on campus

My fourth year is beginning at Uni and that means that I have been staying in halls for as long.  Through these three years and now for the fourth year beginning I have lived with many interesting and strange people.  Unforgettable peopel really, like first year flatmates,  Hamza, which is not his real name, but the name he gave us in case he didn't like any of us.  Laura, my friend and future doctor.  Lewis my friend who invited me to his wedding this summer and Dinesh.  I lived with Dinesh the longest, he had the room next to me for three years.  He just moved out this summer and I don't really know where he moved to, he is a bit tricky to keep taps on.  Must find out though.  But well, since he moved out and him not being a person for cleaning much, has left more than three years of accumulative stuff in the kitchen that has not been cleared out by the professional cleaners gotten in during the summer, even though they say they will throw anything left out.  Two more years, and seven more different occupants mean that they left things as well.  Well, finally something was done about it.  The new Senior Resident in the flat is Gemma and she got boxes for all the stuff to take out.  Now we just needed to get dirty and sort out what we were going to ship to Dinesh and what we were going to throw out.  We dug in one Saturday afternoon and boy was there a lot that was thrown out yuk.  We even went through the fridge, since we had been finding stuff in the cupboards that had expired a few ... well I was going to say months but I can just as easily say years.  The fridge was a frightening place to visit.  We threw out eggs since May 2006 and an undated half opened can of tuna in a box, we threw the box out as well.  Not to leave out the ham from 2005 and some interesting stuff from 2004 that we didn't even recognize any longer.  But finally we were done, and now we can actually use the kitchen without being afraid of creepy crawlies and other much scarier things. 

First day at school

This must be the strangest first day of school I have ever had.  I had my first class at ten in the morning, where I met my good pals, Jo and Claire.  The class was Advanced Early Gaelic Texts, which as you can assume involves old Irish stories, much fun.  Especially since all our old irish knowledge went flying out the window, which was not easy since we were sitting in a windowless room.  After class we headed over to the QM Union where we had light lunch.  Then an hour later Jo left us to go to class.  Claire and I, decided to move and went over to Jim's bar where we sat for the next hour chatting away about all or nothing, waiting for Jo to return.  She finally found us and we continued to sit there drinking and making merry for another hour, before Claire and I had to face our next challenge of the day.  Introduction to Medieval Welsh, sounds as exciting as the title of the course.  I think I actually got a wee cultur shock while listening to my teacher reading up a few sentences.  How in the world am I going to be able to lisp like that without sounding like drunk.  Well, after we staggered out of our first introduction of medieval welsh, me and Claire met up with Anne and went directly to the next pub.  We kind of needed it then, and there we sat for two hours just talking about everything and strange things, some stranger than others.  So the day ends with me having been to class for two hours and to the pub for four hours.  Productive day, wouldn't you say.  A good beginning of the year ahead.

This is one brilliant ad

Good girls go to heaven, Bad girls go to Govan, and Breahead and IKEA

I just have to blog about my day, even though it is almost 2am in the morning.  Árdís had obviously seen my blog since last night because she texted me this morning, asking if she couldn't come with me to Breahead.  Of course she could, it is always fun to have someone to shop with.  So we decided to take a taxi to Breahead, but when we saw how many were waiting for a taxi, we decided to go on to Byres Road and hail a taxi from there instead.  When we came out of the Botanic Gardens we saw this huge line of people waiting for taxis, so there went our brilliant plan for the day.  I finally realized what was going on, a game between Celtic and Glasgow Rangers, not a good day to rely on taxis.  We ended up outside the subway station and Árdís was clever enough to go and ask them how they thought we might have the best chance of getting to Breahead.  She told us to go to Govan and take a bus from there, there were frequent bus trips to Breahead.  Both Árdís and I weren't quite sure if we wanted to go to Govan, not really the best place to be in, but since it was daylight we said what the hell and got on the subway.  Thankfully the bus station was just right outside the subway entrace so now we only had to find the right bus to take us the rest of the way to Breahead.  It worked, we went even past IKEA superstore, which I must say, is quite bigger than the IKEA store back home.  Finally, we were at Breahead, and we could begin shopping.  We had lunch and then we did some massive shopping, .... well, Árdís did so a bit more than I did, although not by much, for now anyway.  Well, we had finished going through all the interesting stores in Breahead and were heading home, when Árdís wanted to stop by in IKEA as well and buy some much needed items for ther room.  So we took a little walk over to IKEA, and entered a huge, massive building on two floors.  We had to take a number of turns around the store for her to find what she needed and some of the stuff wasn't even in stock, that's frustrating, especially when you are unlikely to come here again (at least not right away).  But in the end everything worked out for her, and I even bought myself a new lamp for my desk, much smaller and lighter than the monstrocity that I had before it, ... and it is pink.  And finally we found our way out.  Took a taxi home and got home just after 7pm.  Which means we were walking and shopping for almost eight hours.  Not bad, you might say I have lost a few (quite a few) pounds today ;) It truly was a brilliant day, and I was so proud of us with our bags scattered over the floor of tha taxi on our way home.  This is what I call shopping.

Collision course

"Ég fékk flugu í höfuðið í dag"  I got a fly in my head today.  Doesn't mean that I got a bright idea, but that I actually got a big waspy buzzing fly in my head.  Collision course with a big black noisy thing.  Luckily it didn't stick to my head and flew away afterwards ... I think.  But damn I nearly got a concussion from it.  Flies, are remarkably noticeable when they fly into you.  And the feeling is quite revolting and disgusting, almost felt like I had to go home and take a bath.  Creeepy.  Luckily I didn't meet up with my neighbour "the squirrel" in the garden on my way into city center.  Lord knows what he might have done since a fly was bugging me.  Probably he would have eaten my shoe.  Scots ... strange beings.

I must say I haven't been doing much since I came to Glasgow.  Been a real cow really, because I haven't even gotten in contact with any of my friends yet.  I am just sooo lazy, I can not be bothered.  Right now I just feel like I need my space before the hassle of school and essays starts.  It's sort of like one of the headlines in one of the newspapers today "I have the spirit of a lie-in", brilliant quote.  But I have been spending like crazy, although I do feel the prizes here have been going up.  Scotlands economy is obviously doing so well since I came here, they think people can actually afford to spend now, so they have increased prizes to line their pockets.  Are they in for a surprise next year, I think.  Actually it is quite disturbing what I saw on the news last night, apparently if you are a Scot and want to buy your own home, it's not going to be that easy.  A home (not necessarily a house, could be a flat) today in Scotland costs more than 4 - 6 times more than the average wage in Scotland.  (4 - 6 sinnum meira en meaðllaun Skota yfir árið er).  Shocking!

Tomorrow I am thinking of breaking out of habit and actually do something I haven't done since my first year of studying here.  And that is to go to Breahead.  It is a huge shopping center just out of city center, near the airport, which means the taxi fare is going to be steap, but I really want to go there.  I sort of decided that I would go there this year, sometime this summer and I feel like I should go before school starts for real, so that I don't feel like I am slagging off.

Well, now I am off to watch the telly. 

It pays to be early

Well, I am back in Glasgow now.  Left home very early this morning and got to the airport among the first travellers.  It truly does pay to be early.  Mom and I spent last night trying to fit everything I was going to take with me into one suitcase, but in the end we decided to distrubte things rather evenly in two suitcases.  And it turned out that I was fifteen kilos over in luggage, and at any other time it would have cost me a fortune but thankfully the office was closed so she let me through without paying for the excess weight.  She was also very understanding when I said to her that I was going abroad as a student.

I arrived at my room around 11:30 and sort of managed to plug the computer in and let mom know that everything went as it should have.  I also saw Árdísi for a few minutes before I crashed.  Now, usually I don't have a problem with the time zone difference, but somehow today I was totally out of it.  I put the alarm for two o'clock so I wouldn't sleep through the day and wake up tomorrow.  But of course I hadn't thought of the time difference, which meant that I would be waking up at three o'clock instead of two.  Fortunately Árdís woke me up half past two with a message.  So I managed to drag myself out of bed and into town with her to shop for the most necessary things until tomorrow.  I really hope that I will be more lucid tomorrow.  There is still so much that I have to do.

I have glimpsed one of the new guys that will be staying with us.  He doesn't seem to be very ... social.  But that might change, once we get to know each other ... maybe.  Also, I think the French guy is still here, not to pleased, because he seems to be hogging the fridge and many of the cabinets in the kitchen, the problem when you are left alone here for the summer you tend to spread out.  And Dinesh is gone, he has moved out and a girl has replaced him in his room.  I don't know yet, who or where from or anything or if she is a Senior Resident like Dee was.  So, all in all, this seems to be the start of a quite interesting summer.

This is going to be it for now, the food just arrived.  I am going to see how much I can manage, my stomach hasn't quite landed yet, and I am sort of queasy right now, but I think it might be because of lack of food.  Write you later...

I love comments

I just love reading the comments about Rockstar:Supernova.  It has the most hilarious spelling of words ever.  I know people are in a hurry to get their points of view across the message board and some are not as good in english as others, but it is still funny.  I have three comments here that I read sometime last night and tonight about the show and especially about Magni's performance.

This one obviously from Iceland ,,I watched the Vake"  which is just brilliant, and thankfully not written with a w because that would mean Magni was dead and we were watching his coffin on live television (wake = líkvaka).  But this is actually a reference to the tv channel Skjár 1 who had a "Support Magni" theme episode before the episode was aired.

I have no idea where this one came from, but funny none the less; "the hole of Iceland", and some fellow commentator asked if that was anything like the black holes found in the galaxy.  Could be a spelling mistake (the whole of Iceland) or something more.  A classic!

And now, last but not least. ,,He was just as grate as ever"  well... I truly hope his voice doesn't grate, I think he sings great!  He is after all Magni-ficent!

Saying goodbye to old friends

I don't know what to do anymore, last night I finished watching all seven seasons of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.  I was watching the final minutes of the last episode and the tears just came and came, I cried a whole river.  It's just one of those shows you wish you could still be able to watch, like, what came next, how does this turn out and so on and so forth.  It just doesn't stop after seven years.  But I must confess, due to my watching Star Trek, I sort of missed watching Rockstar:Supernova ... but I still managed to vote.  I voted for an hour and managed to vote 150 times.  I know, I truly am that weird, that I would actually count how many times I voted.  But it will be curious to know if the power of Iceland has reached America again.  Iceland might not be big but it is powerful, go by a geyser and we will blow you away! 

But the funny thing is, I have heard it from more than one, that they won't vote for Magni in the final episode (if we even can) because, they don't want Magni to win and leave Iceland.  Rock on!

My croissants ... beautiful aren't they

 

Half-baked

Oh'boy, what a day this has been. It started early, to say the least, well at least it started early on my scale. Some idiot had ordered a telephone wakeup call that was put through to our telephone instead of his, so I truly hope the (adjective too foul to write down) slept in. Then I got barely an hour or so more of sleep before I had to get up and get ready for the first appointment of the day. A documentary about genealogy and I was in it. There are some German guys here making a documentary about Icelandic genealogy and family gatherings. I was only there for about two hours where I was in the background while they were filming and photographing the genealogist I work with, Oddur. Just before I arrived at Odd, I got a phone call from the location of my next appointment ... THE DENTIST! Dreaded word in my vocabulary. Don't get me wrong, I love seeing my dentist, he is a wonderful man, I just hate going to see him in the official capacity, although that is the only time I see him. He's been my dentist since forever, has seen my best and my worst, well ... mostly my worst. I am quite skittish around dentists, or the drill, actually. Yes, well, back to the phone call. I had to reschedule today so I was quite pressed for time, so I had to run from Odd, back home, have some lunch, brush my teeth and then get to the dentist. I spent nearly an hour at his office, thankfully most of the time in the waiting lounge and only about ten minutes with him. He had to remove some tartar that had gathered around my teeth, it was so much I felt like he had removed my teeth and not just the tartar. Took some pictures of my teeth and said that I was getting away for now, I just have to be a good girl and keep my teeth happy and healthy until the next time he sees me.
After the dentist I hurried back home, and then later took mom to the doctor, because she was feeling very poorly as a tendon had knotted or clamped together in her lower back and it led straight down her leg so it was very difficult for her to sit or walk or do anything really. The doctor fixed her, or at least he stuck her with a needle a few times with a muscle relaxant and a small amount of local anaesthesia so she is feeling better.
When we arrived home I got the very bright idea to save todays dinner and bake. I baked croissants with beikon-cheese, ham, and chive filling. Just brilliant.

Ps. Now the plan is to stay awake ... AGAIN and watch Magni on Rockstar: Supernova. I am also going to do my part and vote for the guy. Then we will see what happens tomorrow night. This is getting quite exciting.

Something to blog about

Just came hom from the cinemas and now I have something to blog about.  Last night I stayed awake until 3 am to vote for Magni on Rockstar, like any true Icelander should have been doing last night.  And then, of course, it was buisness as usual ... work! at ten in the morning so I was not sleeping beauty this morning when mom woke me up.  Shortly after coming home from work the sms messages started pouring in.  My friend Árdís had two tickets for the opening film for the Icelandic Film Festival, it was to be a gala event.  Two big Hollywood movie stars were going to be there along with two guys responsible for the movie being made.  So, now I can say have rubbed elbows with some pretty big names, or more like been back to back with one of them.  The film was Factotum starring Matt Dillon ... and Marissa Tomei (although she is only about five minutes in the whole of the film) they were the ones that showed up ... nice PR job.  Lily Tomlin was also in the film, a much bigger part than Marissas but she wasn't there.  A few of the Icelandic film and acting elite were there as well, Friðrik Þór director and producer and then Randver Þorláksson from Spaugstofan was in the row in front of us.  For me that's like meeting Robin Williams so I was more impressed with him than the big Hollywood names. Now my friend loved the film, couldn't find a fault, loved it to pieces and noticed every little detail.  Me! I am not so deep thinking about films .. and can sum up critisism in three words IT IS CRAP, and a good way to prove that I should never ever go to anything that is labeled as a film festival, it just doesn't agree with me.  But Árdís my friend, thank you for the invitation, I always enjoy going to the cinemas with you even though it is sometimes not really my cup of tea we are viewing.  You can drag me along anytime, and this evening was a good start to what is to come this winter.

 

For now I am staying awake to find out how the voting went and see if we (the whole population of Iceland) managed to keep Magni from the bottom three and see who is really going to be sent home.  This is getting interesting people1

Strange dreams

I don't know what to think anymore. Last night I had the weirdest dream of all. I was going camping! Yup, it just doesn't get any stranger than that. That is something anyone who knows me will know that will never ever happen. And it didn't happen in this dream either. I had the camping equipment ready... I thought. Went to the spot with the people I was camping with, but as it turned out some parts of the tent was missing and all sort of stupid idiotic thing that could go wrong when camping. So I was in some strange way always rushing back and forth trying to get all the right things for this durn camping, with not so much luck. I was getting frustrated as hell and was mumbling all through my dream, that I was never ever going through this again. I think I was almost home, having forsaken going camping that I finally woke up from this nightmarish dream. Me ... camping, not until hell freezes over.
I like to think of myself as one of the few humans that evolved from sleeping on the cave floor to sleeping in a bed. It's like ... progress! The of survival of the smartest.
And if ever I go camping, I will not accept anything less than this sort of thing:

Suraj hua maddham

I fell in love with Bollywood films, about three years ago, when a good friend of mine Hamza, introduced me to Kabhie Kushie Kabhie Gham. A truly spectacular movie that I have watched so often, or listened to the music so often that I have lost count. So I wanted to invite you to get a sneak peak into the Bollywood world I have been sucked into. This is a very slow, compelling romantic song, that I just find wonderful.

Windows Live Writer beta

I always have to try out new things, especially when it is something tech or computer related.  So I was browsing through www.cnet.com when I saw an article about a new software from Windows.  I liked the idea and so now I am trying out the product.  It's the Windows Live Writer beta version.  Where, in a similar Word application you write your blog, can also insert pictures and maps (at least from Windows Live Local) and then upload them to your webblog.  I am quite curious about how this will work out.  I am just too easy when something new pops up on the technological horizon. 

Damn I wish Start Trek wasn't just a brilliant show.

The hi and goodbye weekend

Last night was fabulous although a bit strange. I went out to dinner with my friend Árdísi, whom I have barely seen this summer. Quite a change, from seeing her almost every single day of the week while we are in Glasgow. We went to Friday's, had nice dinner, although the service and the food are both drastically different from Glasgow. Then we went to the cinema which is in the same complex as the restaurant. I allowed my friend to select the movie and she chose Miami Vice. The movie theatre almost killed the movie off before it began, they played such a lullaby music before it began that it was amazing I wasn't snoring before the film began. The movie itself was ok, although I felt it was more like a lengthy televisionmovie rather than an action film. But all in all it was a wonderful evening.

Tonight was a bit different. I got a call from my friend Margréti, who is leaving tomorrow for Sweden, and she came over for a wee last visit. Oh, I miss her already. Her sister left last Sunday, so it has been quite strange, these last few weeks. On top of that, they are selling their childhood home, and won't be coming home to it at Christmas, for the first time. They are kind of homeless now. And I find this so strange to think about as well, since I trace my childhood roots to this home as well, so it is kind of saying goodbye to a whole era. And it is kind of hard, because when I moved, I didn't loose contact with my old home, because my grandmother moved into our old place and my friends were just across the road. Now the memories are no longer fixed within the confines of walls and windows and rooms, but only locked in our memories. Margrét and I spent quite a few moments remembering so much about our childhood and our antics, and how things can bring forth memories again. It is strange how things can make the memories more vivid and more tangible when holding them and how easy it is to loose them.
I just look forward to seeing my friends again at Christmas, they help to remind me that Christmas is about being with friends and family and not to worry about the future because I am blessed that I have them.

Good advice for the Verslunarmannahelgi

Friends are the riches of the world

Tonight was a sort of a goodbye time for a friend of mine Guðbjörtu. She is leaving for Norway on Sunday, early in the morning and tonight was sort of the only time available for us to get together for a goodbye ritual. They came bicylcing in the hot weather and were quite exhausted after the ride, which I can understand. I showed them pitures from the wedding and also the video clip of me dancing, I have to highlight that. There does exist proof that I danced at the wedding. Then for old times sake we decided to play a little game of Monopoly. But just before we started Margrét, Guðbjörts sister, drew a little notebook from their bag. It was a little notebook from when we were little girls. Everything in it was written by me, and I must have been around 7 or 8 years old when it was written. It truly is a most wonderful jewel of a present I could have gotten. We were rolling around the floor basically of laughter, as this was the most hilarious thing we had seen in a long time. The spelling mistakes, the word use, the seriousness of it. It was done during our time of newletter making, I probably have from them somewhere similar notebooks. We were obviously praticing our icelandic and trying to be a little bit grown up as well, playing news-reporters, with little less then success.
Oh, dear old friends, nothing is more precious, because they have all the same embarrassing stories from youth as you did, and you remember each other hickups while growing up.

Glorious food

Oh, I just had the most wonderful time with my friends Margréti and Guðbjörtu yesterday. We haven't seen each other for quite a while, and soon, all three of us, are going to be in three seperate countries. They are going to be lucky enough to just be barely four hours apart, one in Sweden and the other in Norway, but I will be an ocean away again in Scotland.
We went out to a new restaurant here in Reykjavik, called Indian Mango, it is amazing. Wonderful indian food, we had fish and chicken and bread and rice and wine and beer and dessert and a lot of water as well. We stayed there nearly three hours and didn't feel rushed at all, just brilliant in all ways possible. We went in with stomachs rumbling and came out near to bursting, but the night wasn't over yet. We next headed to the best ice cream shop in Iceland Álfheimabúðina, where we had icecream ala Bragðaref with assortments of icelandic candy added to it. Then we sat in the car talking and laughing and reminiscing of old days and speculating about the future. All it all it was the best time in a long time we have had together.

Star Trek rediscovered

I started watchin Star Trek Deep Space 9 again, I am now on season two. It is amazing how I can watch these episodes again and again. I love the philosophy and the characters and the idea of Star Trek, and I just adore the Ferengi Quark, his philosophy is so bizarre but brilliant. I found this on the web, I was not nerdy enough to jot it down myself. THE RULES OF ACQUISITION

1. Once you have their money ... never give it back.
3. Never pay more for an acquisition than you have to.
6. Never allow family to stand in the way of opportunity.
7. Keep your ears open.
8. Small print leads to large risk.
9. Opportunity plus instinct equals profit.
10. Greed is eternal.
13. Anything worth doing is worth doing for money.
16. A deal is a deal ... until a better one comes along.
17. A contract is a contract is a contract (but only between Ferengi).
18. A Ferengi without profit is no Ferengi at all.
19. Satisfaction is not guaranteed.
21. Never place friendship above profit.
22. A wise man can hear profit in the wind.
27. There's nothing more dangerous than an honest businessman.
31. Never make fun of a Ferengi's mother ... insult something he cares about instead.
33. It never hurts to suck up to the boss.
34. Peace is good for business.
35. War is good for business.
40. She can touch your lobes but never your latinum.
41. Profit is its own reward.
44. Never confuse wisdom with luck.
47. Don't trust a man wearing a better suit than your own.
48. The bigger the smile, the sharper the knife.
52. Never ask when you can take.
57. Good customers are as rare as latinum -- treasure them.
58. There is no substitute for success.
59. Free advice is seldom cheap.
60. Keep your lies consistent.
62. The riskier the road, the greater the profit.
65. Win or lose, there's always Hyperian beetle snuff.
75. Home is where the heart is ... but the stars are made of latinum.
76. Every once in a while, declare peace. It confuses the hell out of your enemies.
79. Beware of the Vulcan greed for knowledge.
82. The flimsier the product, the higher the price.
85. Never let the competition know what you're thinking.
89. Ask not what your profits can do for you, but what you can do for your profits.
94. Females and finances don't mix.
97. Enough ... is never enough.
99. Trust is the biggest liability of all.
102. Nature decays, but latinum lasts forever.
104. Faith moves mountains ... of inventory.
106. There is no honour in poverty.
109. Dignity and an empty sack is worth the sack.
111. Treat people in your debt like family ... exploit them.
112. Never have sex with the boss's sister.
113. Always have sex with the boss.
117. You can't free a fish from water.
121. Everything is for sale, even friendship.
123. Even a blind man can recognize the glow of latinum.
139.Wives serve, brothers inherit.
141. Only fools pay retail.
144. There's nothing wrong with charity ... as long as it winds up in your pocket.
162. Even in the worst of times someone turns a profit.
177. Know your enemies ... but do business with them always.
181. Not even dishonesty can tarnish the shine of profit.
189. Let others keep their reputation. You keep their money.
192. Never cheat a Klingon ... unless you're sure you can get away with it.
194. It's always good business to know about new customers before they walk in the door.
202. The justification for profit is profit.
203. New customers are like razortoothed grubworms. They can be succulent, but sometimes they can bite back.
211. Employees are rungs on the ladder of success. Don't hesitate to step on them.
214. Never begin a negotiation on an empty stomach.
218. Always know what you're buying.
223. Beware the man who doesn't make time for oo-mox.
229. Latinum lasts longer than lust.
236. You can't buy fate.
239. Never be afraid to mislabel a product.
242. More is good ... all is better.
255. A wife is a luxury ... a smart accountant is a necessity.
261. A wealthy man can afford anything except a conscience.
263. Never allow doubt to tarnish your love of latinum.
266. When in doubt, lie.
284. Deep down everyone's a Ferengi.
285. No good deed ever goes unpunished.
286. [Quark's rule] When Morn leaves, it's all over.

The Big Day

We took it easy in the morning, woke up slowly and just enjoyed relaxing a bit. Took a shower and around 11am started dressing and putting make up on. The Wedding started at 2pm so we went to Chows on Byres Road first for lunch and then headed to the church. The weather was really nice, although it was a bit windy, which is quite unusual in Glasgow, but as long as it isn't raining everyone is happy. We arrived at the church, a beautiful church, and stood around not knowing what to do with ourselves, I didn't know anyone. I had seen his parents once three years ago, and they were dressed decidedly different then than now. So it wasn't until Lewis showed up that I actually felt relieved, we said our hellos and I introduced him to Hrafnhildur. It was obvious that he had been practising with her name and it was quite impressive to hear him say it, he got it in the first attempt. The ceremony was nice, although way different from back home. The priest didn't allow any pictures to be taken during the ceremony, which was not very nice, because, even though the guests didn't take photos he might have allowed the hired photographer to snap some pictures but NO. We felt the priest was a bit creepy. The hymns sung and the passages read were really weird and I am sure there were a few things gone awry in translation because some of the verses really made no sense. Also it was all a bit chauvinistic, where she should obey and sit in his shadow and all that kind of stuff, and the priest actually stated that this was the right kind of wedding ... a heterosexual union. All very really religious stuff and all, something that we as Icelanders (unless we belong to the Krossinn) kind of shy away from. Not very up our alley so to speak. But it was nice and probably something that they are used to. I managed to take a few pictures of the bride and groom .. or Mr. and Mrs. Meek outside the church in the wedding car (Brúðarbíl), really cool, car and the Bridesmaid and Best man also had their car. Then Hrabba and I grabbed the first taxi we could hail and went home to collect the presents and Hrabbas camera before going to the reception and dinner. The reception was held in the Hunter Halls at Glasgow University, which for more than just strange for some of us because we were used to sitting there during our exams and this was something new. We sat at the Crocus table, every table was named after some flowers. We sat eight at our table, Hrabba and me, and Jo (a girl) from Australia, Alaine (pronounced Alan), ? (can not for the life of me remember his name), Naomi (called Nimh), Monzie Olaf Ragnar (half Irish, other half both Norwegian and Swedish) and then there was Fraser who sat on my right at the table. The first course was a starter course of Salmon paste and salad, with oat bisquit, bread and butter. The main course was chicken wrapped in bacon and cheese filling wiht mustard sauce, also potatoes and vegetables. The dessert was just heaven, it was a chocolate dessert in a wee cup, not quite a mousee because it was much more smoother than that and with bit of whipped cream as well. Lovely. You would think that this was enough, but no, there was also coffee, tea and after dinner mints. After that the fun started. It was a bit daunting to watch, but after the first two dances, I hurried out onto the dancefloor, because I wanted to try it, and Alaine was nice enough to draft Ewan into service as my dancing partner. I got to dance the Highland Fling dance, called "The Gay Garden" (translated as Glaði Garðurinn and not the other way). It was incredibly fun, but darn it, I was not exhausted after it, I was dead. I felt a few times like my legs would cave from under me, this dance lasted like five or six minutes, but it felt like it was never ending. I really wanted to dance more, but decided not to because I felt me knee go wonky, also a few minutes after my dance I started to get bruises on my knee, not too good. Hrabba got to try as well, her partner was Fraser and she got to dance the "Spin the Barrell" which was one of the first dances I got to try a few years ago. It was fun watching her being twirled away like I had been then. Then there was a small break where they served the wedding cake and sandwiches. The bar had also opened, so people could by cokes, wines and spirits, not to mention water. This is probably the only wedding I have ever been to where water was the most popular beverage. 2 litre bottles were just flying off the shelfs by the dozens. Then we said goodbye to the newly weds and then started dancing again, or watching the dancing at least. The ceilidh lasted until 11:30pm and then we said goodbye to both sets of parents and headed home to pack for our journey back in the morning.

Bollywood Scotland

The fourth and last day of shopping started with us in Marks & Spencer, sort of where we left of from yesterday. Hit a few of the nearby stores as well and then had lunch at the Pizza Hut, where we got a starter course, main course and dessert with pepsi and free refills for under ten pounds. When we had finished all our shopping in the city center we hit the Little India part of Glasgow. Always such fun to go there and browse through exotic material and clothes. Hrafnhildur even did some bargain shopping, she now has material for two Salwar Kamees, one royal blue and the other light peach with white as well. Since we finished shopping we came home around five-ish and while Hrafnhildur was browsing on the internet I fell asleep. Woke up around seven and she was nowhere to be seen. She had snuck off to her room for a wee nap as well. We then got dressed and put on our pretty faces and went out to eat at a very nice and cozy restaurant called Ashoka on Asthon Lane. Brilliant food and brilliant service. Hrabba said she was waiting for the moment when everyone would start singing and dancing on the tables and chaning clothes a la Bollywood films, it was that nice. A few days ago I saw in a bookstore that they had The Ashoka Cookbook, and really wanted to buy it but decided not to. Well, they were selling a copy at the restaurant so we decided to buy a copy each. Now I decided to be a pushy tourist and asked the waiter (who was just funny and very nice, and misunderstood me whe I was telling him that I wanted to buy the cookbook and he brought me a toothpick instead), but yeah, I asked the waiter to sign my book and he did, the manager signed Hrafnhildur's copy. And possibly because we left a very generous tip we got the cooks autograph as well and his picture is on the back of the book. So this was just brilliant dinner for us. When we left the restaurant it was starting to rain so we basically ran to the next bar, not much else to run to there, it was kind of crowded, possibly because they had live music and it was a tiny bar (didn't know they had tiny bars in Scotland), so we went to The Loft, huges place and hardly anyone in there but a nice respite from the rain and we had one drink before we went home after a very satisfying day.
At home we wrapped the wedding presents into beautiful wrapping paper and than I got gray hairs trying to figure out something nice to write in the cards. No wonder they invented Hallmark.
But tomorrow is the big day and I have go my camera ready, my clothes all picked out and the are presents are waiting for delivery. By Gods might and will it is gonna be a beautiful day.

Fortune for 30p

Day three of shopping went better than expected. We started by walking to the Subway, because even though it looked like it might rain it was nice enough that we wanted to be out in the nice warm weather. We stared in Buchanan Galleries, where we had light lunch and then we hit the shops. The shopping bags soon started to pile and we went through all the shops in the Buchanan Galleries and then down Buchanan Street all the way to Marks & Spencers on Argyl Street. At that point the shops were starting to close so we decided enough was enought, since continuing would mean breaking and entering, not to mention looting. Because we were at the complete opposite end of town where we wanted to go for dinner we took a taxi there. The destination was All You Can Eat China Buffet, where we spent a good while of the evening and took it slowly. On the way out, we saw a jar full of Fortune cookies for 30p so we had to have one each. But we didn't open them yet, because we had an appointment with Cineworld to keep. We bought tickest and got really good seats where we fit with all our shopping bags and sat and waited. It was Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest that we were coming to see and boy it is great. I laughed myself silly, probably someone noticed as well. Oooh, and Árdís! There is a new Orange Wednesday's add with Steven Segal, brilliant, they also had the classic of "Bob, c'est ton oncle". From there the evening and the film just got better and better. Don't regrett these three hours of my life.
When we came home we opened our Fortune cookies, mine read "You will soon be surrounded by good friends and laughter", I liked that one, Hrabbas read "Take advantage of an upcoming opportunity" so it will be interesting to see what is in store for her. So, can you trust a Fortune bought for only 30p, but whatever the outcome it was worth it and also just for fun.
Well, am off to bed now, have to get up early tomorrow again for the last day of shopping.

Day Two: Edinburgh Adventure

We took a taxi to Queen Street Station just before 11am today and bought tickets to Edinburgh. Usually the train ride takes about 50 mins, so we were quite optimistic of having a good time of shopping, but no. Due to engineering work at the last stop before Edinburgh Waverly Station we had to take the scenic route into Edinburgh and entered it "from behind". This took us 2 hours so we were quite late at arriving in Edinburgh so we just threw ourselves into shopping like crazy people, although I didn't manage to spend very much. I did managed to buy myself a feather-hatlike-comb-y-thingy that I can possibly wear at the wedding on Tuesday, but I think I will need some imagination to pin it to my head and expecting it to stick. So...we'll see. We stopped at Hard Rock Café for lunch and then continued shopping. I was getting quite tired after being awake for 20 hours the day before and waking up early today. Also shopping, takes a bit of steam out of you, so when we stopped at La Senza I left my friend browsing and took a pose by one of the shelf-rack thingies they have and took a nap. SURVIVAL TIP: When waiting for someone in an underwear department a push-up bra is a very good pillow to use for a nap. Comfy, but soft and cushiony. I was almost tempted to buy it as a travel cushion.
We tracked on and on and on, we probably walked most of Princes Street in Edinburgh and let me tell you, it is not the shortest street in the world. When we reached the end we decided to go to the next street and walk by the pubs and on towards a Moroccan restaurant that had Belly Dancers perform on Saturdays. The pubs we walked by were just brilliantly well named, quite appropriate for Scottish bar-humour. The first one was named Bad Ass, which was next to Dirty Dick's and further up the road was Filthy Mc Nasty's, and if you don't believe me, I took pictures to prove it.
We finally found the Morrocan restaurant and we were the first in off the evening. We ordered delicious food, I took a dish of chicken with dried apricots and almonds with coriander and cinnamon, while Hrafnhildur had Chicken something with a kind of salsa sause and salad and rice. Very nice, when we had almost finished our meal more people had started to arrive, and it was then that the belly dancer started to dance, so we decided to have desserts as well just to have more time to watch. Hrafnhildur also ordered some Moroccan Mint Tea ... it tasted and smelled just like Wrigleys gum, I found it hilarious, but just too confusing to drink.
We ended the night by taking the train home to Glasgow just before ten o'clock and are now getting ready to go to bed. We will continue tomorrow shopping and I hope I will be able to buy something more tomorrow. I would feel a bit stupid for taking a huge luggage bag with me and actually not buy anything to fill it with. That is something I am not known for.

Update on Glasgow Trip

Last night when I had said goodnight to Hrafnhildur I went to see Dinesh. He is still here, not moved out yet. I was very happy to see him again, and we talked for a long while about our families and what was happening in Sri Lanka. After a long while of chatting I finally said goodnight to him and went to my room and to my very very nice bed, where I slept like a log until 9 am (8am Icleandic time) and shortly thereafter I realized my mistake. Well, Hrabba and I had sort of decided to wake up at 9am to take the 10 am train to Edinburgh, everything fine with that except, I think I forgot to ask her to change her clock before she went to bed or at all throughout the day. So, right now I still think she is asleep. But that means we will be going to Edinburgh an hour later than we had originally intended but that is no biggie, just a funny screwup. The sun has started smiling through the clouds, it is supposed to be a lot more cloudy in Glasgow than Edinburgh today, so we are hoping it will be nice there. Also I need a jacket, so I am hoping it won't be to cold or rainy.

Dead on our feet

We have been awake now for roughly 17 hours and quite exhausted. As soon as we landed in Glasgow we went straight to my place. Ooh, that has such a nice ring to it. We took a little breather there, deciding what to do before we headed into the city center via the subway. We started with getting something to eat, so that we wouldn't drop dead from lack of substance. Then we hit the stores, did major shoppings at Boots, so I think they will soon give us the key to the city. Then we swept through St. Enoch Centre with our credit cards and finally ended at TGI Fridays around six o'clock for early-ish dinner. Managed to crawl into a cab afterwards and finally collapsed in front of the television watching the newest addition to my DVD collection.
Tomorrow we aim to take Edinburgh ... and of course after that, the rest of the world. News on that later.

PS. Damn am I glad that Magni didn't get kicked out of Rockstar: Supernova first. Hope he does well.

Going to a Wedding

I must say, that by getting more and more blog sites I seem to have much less to say. But hey, it's fun. In barely five hours I have to wake up to go to the airport. Why ... because I am going home to Glasgow for a few days. My friend Hrafnhildur is coming with me to keep me company. We leave tomorrow and come back home to Iceland on Wednesday and the wedding is on Tuesday so it's gonna be a busy schedule for us. We are even going to try to go to Edinburgh on Saturday and just mainly to have lots of fun.
I am going to try to blog during our trip but we'll see if that is actually a viable option or not.

Other news;
I stayed up last night to watch Rockstar:Supernova just for the fun of it and also to be able to keep up with conversations today at work. I also felt I should vote a couple of times, just for the sake of calling myself an Icelander. Personally, I didn't like the song Magni sang, mostly because it has such a limited vocal range in it and I know Magni can do a lot more, but still he did manage to get the crowd, but in no way like the way I have seen him do it. I just truly hope that he won't be eliminated at the first round, because this is a great opportunity for a guy from Iceland. Good luck, Magni.

Another one

Elin has a new blog. Yes, another blog. Like I don't have enough of them, but I am just so popular. But don't worry I will not be quitting any of the other ones. But since a lot of my friends and acquaintances have been signing up for MySpace so I had to get one too, especially since they won't allow me to keep tabs on my friends unless I sign up. And I am just way too nosy to not sign up. The link to the new one is here on the left side or at LadyElin , come and take a look.

I also finally got money from my loan institute, so that now I can start living the good life and spend money without having major issues about not having enough money on my account for the next kreditcard bill. But such worries are over for now. Unless I managed to spend it all in the next few months, which if I do ... Skamm Elín!, not good. But I won't.

I woke up very early this morning, the sun was shining through my blinds into my room. I was completely bathed in sunlight, it must have been about four or five in the morning and I just kept thinking how nice this was. I really like waking up with the sun in my face and knowing I can go back to sleep for a few hours before going to work. It invigorates you. I miss this when I am in Glasgow. People keep asking me how I can go to sleep or even sleep during the summer time because of the sun, but it is just something so nice to have everything light around you when sleeping, it makes the sleep lighter, softer and more relaxing, no doubt about it. I am so relaxed.

It's a sad, wretched life

I hope I will never become as pitiful as the people I saw last night. I went with my friends to a pub in the city center last night, to say goodbye to a friend of a friend, who had been visiting Iceland for a few days. I have never gone "pubbing" in Reykjavik before, even though I am 27 years old, it was just never my "thang", so to speak. But I have also been living for 3 years in Glasgow, so I have been to a few bars and pubs, so I kind of know what to expect. But nothing, prepared me for what I saw. If I have said, that I find it quite bad in Glasgow, it is much worse here. In Glasgow the only thing you have to be aware of is, where you go, like if there are a lot of neds around the place or if it is sort of shady. But here it was enough to stand on Laugavegur and be afraid of your life. I don't like this kind of brutal way the people here are "entartaining" themselves. Dólgsháttur og læti. I didn't even feel safe where I sat with my friends, and if you had to get from A to B inside the places you basically, didn't get to be nice and polite, you actually had to just wade, and climb over people to get there. Ewe, uck, touching people where you don't know where they have been! Not something a Lady likes to do. Because I was tired, but mostly because I wanted to get out of there, I excused myself early and went outside to wait for mom to pick me up I saw way to much of Reykjavik city life than I ever want to do again.
Drunk people, holding hands so drunk that even though they aim for the broad side of the house, they still miss it because they are so wobbly, almost getting hit by a car at the same time. Walking over moving cars, yelling at everyone that walks past, laughing histerically because they find their own drunkenness so damn funny that they end up puking their guts out in the next flowerpot. This is so sad, and wretched, a selfmade hell for these people that find this exciting and something to hunt down every weekend. I hope I never become this human garbage that I saw there last night. Scary!

What a day

I finally recieved my official exam results letter from Uni, so I hurry with it to the Loan Institute (afectionately known as LÍN ... or not) to hand the letter in so I can get some money, so I can go party. Well there is this sort of air-duct on the street itself, where you walk and because some lousy jeep parked right in front of the door, I had to cross this duct. Well, not good news. Those who know me, know that I only walk in loose fitting long skirts so now you can just call me Marilyn Monroe of the 21. century, because like in the famous picture taken of her in a similar situation, my skirt flew right over my shoulders. Hopefully not to many noticed. But like my friend said, it must have been a real kodak moment for those that did.
Well the day isn't over and what do you think happened when I came back to work.
This morning a customer gave me candy, but not ordinary candy. It was candy that colors the teeth and tongue bright blue. We were hoping a co-worker would "gleypa við þessu" take one for himself but no, and here the bad things turned worse. Coffee-break and we left the candy lying around, thinking that another person who knew about it would say something for the chosen few that were not to have it, but no she didn't. I came back from coffee-break earlier than my two cohorts, and I got a light shock. One of the candies was missing, so I asked her who took it. It turned out to be our boss. Oooops. I run back outside to tell the girls, almost having a heart-attack at the same time. The look on their faces, was ommigod, and we burst out laughing like crazy people. We went inside and looked in through the office window of our boss trying to see if he had eaten it allready. Then the next in charge caught us where we were hanging outside our bosses door, so he took us inside and we asked our boss if he had had any candy, and he sheepishly said yes, and then grinned. Then he stuck his tongue out at us, and it was bright bright blue. We laughed so hard that I still ache in my jaws, thankfully he wasn't going to an important meeting or anything, and he could see the humor in it as well, so he laughed as well, but damn that was so embarrassing. But at least it taught him not to sneak into the candy bowl unless you know what you are getting.

I am soooo lazy

I didn't think I would be this lazy. Since coming home I have hardly written anything, and nothing really interesting. Even though I have been trying to and I have no trouble finding stuff to write about, but as soon as I sit down infront of the computer, I am dead. I just came home from a cafe shop, where I met my firend Árdís and some of her friends, as it was her birthday today. Soo much fun, because I had almost met all of them at one point or another, which made it all easier for me.
Another point I want to get across. I'm a nerd, and I like it. I am now sitting infront of the television watching a show my mom taped for me while I was at the birthday party. Yup, can't miss something as exciting as this. Now, some of you might think Lost, Prison Break, Amazing Race, Project Runway, Americas Next Top Model, but NO. It's Secrets of Stonehenge. I am such a nerd, and I am loving it.

A few older news;
17th of June, our Independence day was celebrated as usually with rain. Although it didn't rain the whole day, and not overly much, but still, tippically shitty Icelandic outdoor celebration weather. I went to the city center with my brother, sister-in-law and niece, walked all over the Miðbæ and then bought my niece a nice balloon and saw a few minutes from a stage show of Lazytown, before we headed over to Grandma's for coffee and cakes. Later we all headed home, where mom cooked wonderful food and we ate until we were "so sad we could spring" or near bursting anyway.
Day after I went shopping, woowee I like shopping. First with mom and dad, and then they left me alone in the shopping center where I waited for my friend to show up and we continued. We were bying a wedding present for a friend of mine. We finally decided on very nice things for the home, that I think everyone could be pleased with.

I still haven't started reading enought for my dissertation. Mostly because I like cramming things and ideas into my head, and I haven't had the time to do anything like that in any seriousness. So I am still trying to regulate myself a bit, but it just doesn't seem to be working, because there always seems to be something that comes up.
But I will have to start soon, considering how long it has been since I came home, and time flies, so it isn't so long until I leave for Glasgow again, that I will have endless time to give to the dissertation so it is soon that I have to put myself into the get-going-girl mode before I go crazy with selfblame of not having started earlier. It is just always so easy to say, oooh, I'll do it tomorrow.

Dazed and Confused

I have been waiting for my exam results for more than a month now. Every day, since I came back home I have logged into WebSurf at Uni to see if there is any news. Until yesterday, nothing happened. And today, I got my final exam result. Which means I now don't have to check WebSurf every day any longer, which means I am out of a job. Now I have no idea of what I should do when I go on the internet. I do the usual check my e-mails, but lately there has been nothing exciting going on there and when I am at work, I don't have much time to devote to my friends on msn, and in the evenings I am too tired to lift a finger and almost everyone is off-line as well. So now I have to find myself a new hobby. But I already have one. I passed my Old Irish exam which means they are going to let me continue into fourth year so I can now start working on my dissertation essay. FUN!
Will write soon to let you guys know how I am going with it and if I still have my sanity.

So far so good

I had a really nice weekend. On Friday I got to see my friend Margrét, she just came home from Sweden on Monday, and had been working all week, but was going to stay awake so we might get a chance to see each other and Guðbjört, her twin sister. I came by their place shortly after eight o'clock and we took a wee game of Trivial Pursuit Disney in their kitchen. They also gave me a birthday present that had been delayed a bit because she hadn't been able to get home before my birthday and Guðbjört hadn't had hers on her when she was dropped off from her trip, when she came to my birthday party. I got amazing stuff, perfume, a book with photographs from India and wonderful photoalbums made from old sarees. And we spent quite a bit of the evening remembering old times, when we were small and a lot more simple thinking than we are today, somewhat at least.
Yesterday there was a family day at the local Farmyard Animal Zoo thingy we have here in Reykjavik, sponsored by my company for the people who work there. Even Stephanie from Lazy town was there to entertain the children. My niece was awestruck watching her, but she sometimes had to put her hands over her ears because there was too much noise. We walked about the park, and saw the collection of old antique cars there and my niece took a ride on the slides a couple of times as well, almost dragged me on one as well, but I resisted ... I didn't want to get stuck halfway down. ;)
After we left the park we went to a motor show, where they had on display crazy cars. It was amazing, Porche, Ferrari, Mustang, special made, custom cars, and motorcycles, boats, plains and helecopters. It was nice. I saw a 49" tire, it almost reached me at the shoulders, I would not like to have to climb into that car, I must say. But I do like cars, as long as it is not Mitzubishi, Suzuki, Subaru or Porche I am kind of okay.
And today I went SHOPPING, ohh, it was soooo nice. I spent M O N E Y ! ! ! I bought a birthday present for my friend, I bought a very nice Eva Peroni hairband for my self, and some shampoos and thingys. OOOh, it felt nice. I think I might be a shop-aholic.
Later we went to my uncle's for a wee birthday bash, he turned 50 years old a week ago, but he was in London at the time with his family so we didn't see him then. We gave him a nice painting and also a wee gag gift just for laughs, although it turned out his sons beat us to it.
But I have to say, it has been a very nice weekend.

It only takes a minute to screw up your life. It takes a lifetime to build it up again.

People make mistakes, that is why they have erasers on pencils.

Cry a river, build a bridge and then get over it!

I bought a painting

I went with my mom and dad and grandmother for a Sunday ride yesterday, we ended up in Hveragerði, in Eden to have coffe and cakes. I was the best idea in a long time. There was an exhibition by an artist, my favorite, Bjarni Jónsson, and he does beautiful paintings that appeal greatly to me. A few years ago I was lucky enough to aquire one of his paintings and I have since treasured it greatly. Well, yesterday I got painting number two. It is called the Elf City and it contains such incredible depth and perception that I was captivated by it. I almost lost the opportunity to get it if I had been a minute too late to ask for it. Thankfully it now sits proudly on my wall, right in front of me, where I can disappear into unknown worlds for hours on end in search for inspiration and tranquility.