SMILE, even through your tears

Treasure your friends and and think of them from time to time. Sometimes they need you too!

Around the corner I have a friend,
In this great city that has no end,
Yet the days go by and weeks rush on,
And before I know it, a year is gone.

And I never see my old friends face,
For life is a swift and terrible race,
He knows I like him just as well,
As in the days when I rang his bell.

And he rang mine but we were younger then,
And now we are busy, tiredmen.
Tired of playing a foolish game,
Tired of trying to make a name.

"Tomorrow" I say! "I will call on Jim
Just to show that I'm thinking of him."
But tomorrow comes andtomorrow goes,
And distance between us grows and grows.

Around the corner, yet miles away,
"Here's a telegram sir," "Jim died today."
And that's what we get and deserve in the end.

Around the corner, a vanishedfriend.
Remember to always say what you mean.
If you love someone, tell them.
Don't be afraid to express yourself.

Reach out and tell someone what they mean to you.
Because when you decide that it is the right time it might be too late.
Seize the day. Never have regrets.
And most importantly, stay close to your friends and family,
for they have helped make you the person that youare today.

Fate or coincidence

I don't believe in coincidences, I just don't. So when there is something that tells me that there is more to something than there seems, I tend to listen and watch. I dream things and when they come true, I feel like someone is trying to tell me something that should matter. One moment in life and something happens but is discarded until it becomes relevant again, strengthened by a dream that came true and another that has yet to reveal itself of what is to come, seem to me to matter more than just a fluke or a coincidence. I do not pretend to be able to predict the future or understand what this is, but I have learned to listen to the cadence of the dreams and not discard them when they happen. I have told people about the dream and they all agree, green kitchen is a good thing, now I just have to hope that the stairs will end and although I was decending them in my dream, I hope the people in the dream will have to climb them and that they will reach their green kitchen in the end.
This blog is not for everyone to understand, and I appologise for it, but this is something I had to say, it is important to me. I just don't want to believe the things, my dreams and my heart have told me, are nothing. There has to be a reason behind this. I also don't want to influence in any adverse way the people concerning this dream, they have to find their "green kitchen" on their own, together or apart. I hope that the outcome of the dream will reveal itself to me soon.

P.S. dear friends and family
Thank you all for the wonderful birthday I had, it couldn't have been this nice without you. Love the e-cards from friends near and afar and the prezzies I got, I girl always loves to get prezzies.

It's my birthday today

I am twenty seven years old today. Jikes, time flies. I don't feel any older, but that is quite abstract saying, older than what, what I was yesterday or 5 years ago. Dear me, my memory is going bonkers, I don't remember anything about me five years ago. So lets drop the discussion.
Tomorrow I am going to have coffee and cakes with my family and closest friends, decided to have it small and nice and intimate as there is a lot going on around me now and a big party like I had wished for was not going to happen. So I am going to make the best of everything.
I mostly wish for my friends in Scotland, Sharon, Claire, Joanne, Laura and Katie to be able to Apparate to Iceland like they do in Harry Potter but I guess thats "still" just fiction. This is what happens when you want to combine the best from both worlds.
I have already gotten wonderful hi's and cheers from my wonderful friends who are now scattered around Europe and Iceland which have warmed my heart and brought a smile to my face. What more can a girl ask for.
Thank you my friends!

Busy

I just wanted to let people know that I am alive, kind of busy so that I won't be writing much now, that will come later. Have fun and Finland rocks!!!

Lost in Translation

I was thinking back to a few weeks ago when I was with my friends Claire and Jo waiting for one of our more challenging exams to start and what we were discussing. It had something to do with tin cans, and not the usual baked beans variety but the more larger ones. Now if I mention the name Mackintosh Confectionary every one in Iceland will know what I mean, and of course in my ignorant-foreign-people-way thought that this was the universal language for the well known candy. But no, they had absolutely no idea what I was talking about, Mackintosh? Does the name Quality Street give you a clue. Probably if you are Scottish (or British) maybe if you are Icelandic but not as much as Mackintosh. It is just so funny to find out what you have been born and raised to call or identify something foreign differently than the foreign place it originates from.
Another example: a pineapple (who's bright idea was it to call it that when in almost every other language (of the Indo-European strand) it is called Ananas or at least something that resembles it. But like my friend Gummi says, it would be just weird to call it Anas, grins. So for the same reason, let us respect the differences and quirks that develop in languages with identifying things in different ways in different langauges. We are all in this soup together.

Every girls dream

I am going to a wedding in July. In Glasgow! I got the wedding invitation today and I have already booked my flight. My friend Lewis is getting married on 11th July, 2006. I just felt that I must attend and this is something very special so I want to experience it. I will be surrounded by men in kilts, what is not to look forward there. Now I have to contact my Scottish friends to seek assistance in telling me what to wear and what to do. They are quite proper in Scotland regarding weddings, much more so than we here at home. I might possible have to wear a hat. That should normally not bother or bewilder a lady, but this lady might have a problem with it. You see, she finally got her hat, but it's ORANGE not really a wedding color and also I don't have anything wedding fancy to go with it, so now I have to go out and buy a new one, one that goes with fancy dressing. This is going to be fun and exciting.
I'll be going on Friday 7th July and I will be returning home 12th July, I know, I am cutting it quite closely, but it can't be helped because of work.

And speaking of work, today was my first day back at work, and I am beat. I feel like my body and brain has been put through a punching machine. My feet refuse to function properly and my brain has permanently detached itself from me for the rest of the evening. So now I am going to rest for the remainder of the evening and do something fun that doesn't require movement or brain activity.

At home and no idea what to do

I am totally braindead here. I am finally home and have no idea what to do, I am in the mood to do something but have no idea what, when or where. I arrived home yestarday, dead on my feet and shortly after arriving home I took a wee nap. Around dinner time we went to my brother's house where he gave us a wonderful dinner. It was his sort of birthday dinner celebration although his birthday was today. He got lots of prezzies from us and I think he was very happy with them all. But when we came home, I basically begged for mercy and threw myself into bed again, just before elleve o'clock and slept soundly until 9am this morning. And even though I had slept all night and a few hours yesterday I still managed to steal a catnap today, and again I am tired. But on top and probably also the cause for my sleepyness is that I have had continual headache since yesterday and it doesn't seem to want to go, no matter how many pills I pop.
But I am sort of ok now, the headache is bearable but now I have no idea what to do. I want to do something, or it is more like the feeling that I should be doing something. I just don't think I am yet used to not being studying all the time. Weird girl, it is almost like I am starting to miss school already. Weirdo! Just watch telly and enjoy being braindead for a while. I think I'll take this advice and watch good old Brain donors.

So excited I am sick

I swear I always do this. I am so excited about going home that I have actually made myself sick. I feel like I want to throw up. But there might also be another reason. The sun has been shining today without break and straight through my window. I have been tidying in my room since 3 o'clock today (still haven't finished) but I am done packing ... except the things that go in at the last minute. And since I have been dusting, throwing things away (2 and a half big black rubbish bags actually) and vaccuming/hoovering (whatever) I probably haven't been drinking enough in the head and the dust and all the crazyness around me. On top of that there is no wind outside so I don't get any breeze to keep the air circulating and right now I am feeling faint.
We are also waiting for our food to arrive, hope that it comes soon so I can start trying to get my body back to balance soon.

FREEDOM

appropriate hehehe. I finished my exams yesterday and I am so relieved right now, although it still hasn't sunk in yet, that I don't have to start studying for my next exam now. Árdís and I went out celebrating the end of the year and end of exams and we had a very very nice time out. Árdís was even so nice to treat me to dinner, thanks a bunch, Árdís oooo and I almost forgot, she gave me a wonderful exam-finished gift yesterday when I came home. Baking parchment and a toilet roll, everything necessary for a busy student (grins) and also "Scottish wit and wisdom" book for a chance to make me more scottish. Must say I can hardly understand half of what it says in there (and it still comes with explanations ahahhaha). She also gave me Good Food Magazine, the 101 collection of recipies (I think she is hoping I will feed her next year). It was great. But last night we went out to TGI Fridays, what is more appropriate than that and had a wonderful dinnar, I am still stuffed. Then we headed over for the cinema where we went to see She's the Man, which is actually a brilliant remake of the 80s film One of the Boys (sort of) and it was so much fun. And it wasn't just girls at the film but guys as well, and it was so noticeable when just the girls laughed or the guys or when we all laughed together, it was a great film. Good for both sexes.
I am now heading into the city center to do my final last minute shopping before heading home to tidy my very untidy room and clean everything and pack my suitcaseS to go HOME.
My friends in Glasgow, have a very very enjoyable summer (even though some of you have to slave over your dissertation essays) and I hope to see you next year and have a great time.
My friends and my family in Iceland, I look foward to seeing and hearing from you tomorrow and in the next few days. The girl is coming home!

ps. can YOU crack the code?

Drowning in consonants

I have Old Irish coming OUT of my ears now, not just into them. I am now swimming in Old Irish poetry, trying to make any of it stick in my head. I am on my sixth now out of eight, doing all right, but still it is doing me head in. I will be soooooo happpppppy tomorrow afternoon, when I will finally crawl from my last exam. I just hope I won't mix the poems together. Although I must say these are all very nice poems, and not too hard to remember (well the last three are the longest and so quite a bit to muddle through there, although he won't be giving us the whole of them, just bits). I sure hope he will be nice to us and not be very nasty in his questions. I think I dread the palaeography exercise (Old Irish manuscript reading) the most, as it is quite difficult to understand the scribes writings. Sometimes it is almost like reading a handwriting of a modern doctor but with crazy abreviations. And sometimes they can't even decide what the abbreviations stand for.
But after the exam, me and Árdís are going out to celebrate and possibly also go see a movie. Then on Saturday, the real, last minute shopping is going to take place along with laundry duty and tidying up the place, before I leave for the summer. Oh, dear, I am going to be swamped on Saturday. But I am soooo looking forward to going home, I don't care if I will be tidying my room until 5am in the morning on Sunday, because I AM GOING HOME.

ps. just to make you suffer like I am

Cride é,

daire cnó,

ócán é,

pócan dó.

------

He is a heart,

oak-grove of nuts,

he is a young man,

a little kiss to him.

Time flies

Time surely flies fast. In a week I will be home and happy having finished and survived my exams. It is amazing how the time flies. Usually, three weeks seem like forever, not so when you are studying for exams. Because when you are studying for exams, the week doesn't have seven days, it only contains the days between exams. Tomorrow is my fifth exam and on Friday is my last. I dread the exam tomorrow as it is in a very difficult subject, where most of the people taking it have Gaelic where I do not, thankfully I have a background now of Old Irish to assist me in figuring out the differences between the languages and to see how the Scottish Gaelic language has developed over the course of 1100 years. Yes, the period of the course is quite extensive and I have to know very many details of fricative, labial, sonorant and velar sounds along with phonemes, homophones and consant clusters (ng, nc, nd). I also have to be able to tell why there is s- in sé and why they changed from ch > dh and gh in words and how eclipses and lenition changed and diverged with the languages. I even have to be able to talk about the problems of understanding where the -annan in plural endings of Scottish Gaelic words comes from and what certain guys (like O Rahilly, Greene, Ó Buachalla and O Maolalaigh) have to say about it. Dear me, is there any wonder my head is ready to explode.

Lygilegur dagur

Þetta er bara búinn að vera ótrúlegur dagur. Fjórða prófið mitt var í dag, Early Gaelic Literature in Translation, og núna á ég bara tvö eftir. Síðasta prófið mitt er eftir viku og það eru svo bara níu dagar þangað til ég flýg heim. Sá tími getur ekki komið nógu hratt. Ég var í prófi í dag klukkan hálf tíu (hálf níu að íslenskum tíma) og ég sver, heilinn á mér fer ekki í gang svona snemma á morgnana til að taka próf, hann bara þver neitar að gera neitt af viti. En þetta var ágætt próf, ekki eins nastí og prófið á þriðjudag var í Belief and Culture in medieval Ireland and Scotland. Sver Joanne hefði getað drepið kennarann okkar eftir það próf, ég var hrædd við hana. En nei í dag, þá settumst við inn í prófsalinn aðeins í seinna lagi og við áttum að fá nokkrar mínútur auka af því að okkur hafði verið hleypt inn svo seint. Þegar ég var nýbúin að ganga frá öllum upplýsingum á próförkina og nýbyrjuð að lesa prófspurningarnar, var komin að þeirri þriðju á blaðinu þá fór brunabjallan í gang. Er ekki að djóka svo að við þurftu að yfirgefa salinn. Sem betur fer tók ég jakann minn með því að annars hefði ég króknað úr kulda. Þetta var náttúrulega bara fyndið því að um leið og við vorum komnar út þá byrjuðu allir að tala: quick tell me about this and that af því að við vorum náttúrulega búnar að sjá spurningarnar og gátum því ráðfært okkur við næsta mann. Enda eftir prófið þá kom í ljós að við höfðum allar tekið 7 spurninguna sem fjallaði um konur og "sovereignty goddesses" bara snilld. Við þurftum að bíða úti í kuldanum í um tuttugu mínútur áður en slökkt var á kerfinu og okkur hleypt inn aftur. Þannig að í staðinn fyrir að prófið lyki hálf tólf, þá kláruðum við tíu mínútur í tólf. Alveg svakalega undarlegur tími. Hef tekið próf hérna í þrjú ár og þetta hefur aldrei komið fyrir áður. En aftur á móti eftir próf og þegar við vorum að fá okkur hádegismat þá fóru sögurnar af stað. Ein hafði heyrt um eina sem hafði fengið nóg og nýlega eftir að prófið hafði byrjað hljóp hún út öskrandi "there isn't enought time" brilliant það maður. Það hefur liðið yfir nokkra og einn kastaði meira að segja upp þegar hann var í prófinu. Nú þeir sem ekki vita, þá eru þessir prófasalir frekar þröngt setnir. Maður þarf að renna sér þægilega léttilega í sætin og borðið á næsta aðila er upp við bakið á stólnum þínum. Í salnum sem við vorum í til dæmis rúmast 200 borð. Þegar þessi sem kastaði upp lét gusuna ganga, vildi það ekki svo betur til en að það lenti á næsta manni eins og hvaða önnur sæmilega gusa úr Exorcism. Ekki hefði ég viljað vera sú sem sat fyrir framan uppkastarann!!! Það er bara fyndið að heyra af þessum sögum eftir prófin en ég hefði nú ekkert á móti því að sjá einvhern sem er stressaðri en ég þótt að það sé ljótt að segja það. Það hefði bara einhvern veginn vegað skemmtilega upp á móti þessum degi.
Núna er ekkert annað fyrir mig að gera en að drífa mig áfram að læra fyrir næsta próf sem er á máundaginn. Sem betur fer er það eftir hádegi en mig hlakkar ekki til að fara í þetta próf. Ja, hlakkar til og ekki, þetta er í Historical development of the Gaelic language (hljómar síður en svo spennandi I know) en aftur á móti þá er þetta næst síðasta prófið þannig að ég get alltaf haft eitthvað til að hlakka til. Þá verður enn styttra þangað til prófin eru búin og enn styttra þangað til ég kemst upp í flugvél heim til mín.

Easter Sunday Dinner

Good Friday Dinner

Easter away from home

They say that it doesn't matter where you are the holidays still creep up on you. They do, but in my case I didn't notice them. Possibly because I have been studying for my exams and also that I have been able to go into shops everyday of the week and weekend no matter if it is Good Friday or Easter Sunday (weird). I am also more used to being aware of the holiness of the season when I have been home, its a lot more festive than here in Glasgow. But it still didn't get in the way of me having great food to eat (that I even cooked myself), althoug there wasn't much to it, just push the trays into the oven, grins). But staying away this holiday weekend from my family and friends gave me this thought, how do people celebrate their holidays away from home, I have always thought that the holidays come to you, that you make the best of it, but I see now I am wrong. It is you family and friends that make the holidays special, and it is with them that you feel the day is special and then you can fully appreciate what the season means.
Oh boy, didn't intend to get so mushy. I got an easter egg with a proverb that was mis-worded, kind of funny but not. Sá sem alltaf er önnum kafinn að gera góðverk hefur ekki tíma til að vera góður sjálfur (transl: The one who is always busy doing good deeds doesn't have time to be good himself) but in all actuality how is that possible so I think it should read The one who is always busy doing good deeds doens't have time to be good TO himself. Makes much more sense like this.

Wishing you all a very Happy Easter wherever you are!

I am just custie [kustí]

I can hardly believe it. I just finished my most difficult exam of all this year, Old Irish and I am calm. I was calm before the exam and during it, worked my way through and remembered to breath periodically and then we left. Strange, I would have imagined that I would either drown in despair in the next pub or shout to the world that I had survived Old Irish. No, nothing like that, I am still calm. I haven't shouted anything, come to think of it. I think I might still be in shock. It wasn't as horrible as we were expecting ... I mean it was do-able, but could have been much nicer. Three sections, and I went straight to section B, because I knew that if there was anything in the exam that I should be able to handle it would be in Section B - do a translation on a bit of Mac Dathó's Pig (great story by the way) and then there was this unseen translation. I know, just the term makes cold chills run down your spine and your hair curl, but the funny thing was I could figure out from where one of the passages was from, it was from The waisting sickness of Cú Chulainn and I knew that story very well, just not the part that was being asked about. I sort of got the gist of it but not more than that, but I am hoping that it will help bring my mark up anyway. And I left section A to the last minute, because it contained WORDS and I didn't want to do that. 10 words and you had to explain as much about them as you could, well ... let's just say I almost could. But I could do enough so that it satisfied me so right now I am just custie (which I found out today means = excellent).

It's my dad's birthday today, so I am going to ring home tonight when I think they will have arrived home. They were going out at exactly the time I cam home today, they were invited to a Confirmation (Ferming) of a cousin of mine. They get to go (or have to go) to five of these things this year, all of them are in April and I don't get to go to one. But hey, if it means that I get home that much earlier, who cares. I'll just have a mega party when I arrive home.

Well I am away now to be more or extra lazy, I am not going to do much studying tonight ... no really, I am not, just taking a little bit of time to organize things becuase I am going to have to go out tomorrow. Two revision classes and then I am going to the cinema for a little bit of pick-me-up and then I am going home to cook a marvelous dinner I bought at Marks and Spencers, yes I am going to have nice dinners on Easter, I even got a pork-crackling for Easter Sunday!

Tired, cold and drying

It has begun! I had my first exam today: Celtic Place-names of Scotland. It was a two hour exam, and we only had to answer two essay questions. That means panic, how are we supposed to write an hour long essay on anything regarding Celtic Place-names. So in the end I wrote for more like one hour and 35 minutes which seemed reasonable and then I just sat there and stared out into space. I answered these questions: 1) What are the problems and pitfalls of distribution maps of generic elements as tools for the scholar of place-names. And 2) What sort of evidence do place-names provide for the structure and function of the church in early medieval Scotland? I somehow managed to bullshit myself through these questions and when we emerged from the exam hall we headed straight for the pub to have a glas, a pint, a bottle ... whatever would do it for us. When we were leaving to go home it started to rain cats and dogs and probably a few hippos as well, it was pouring. I managed to get into Iceland (hehehe) before I drowned where I bought the necessities for survival (Coke Cola) and took a taxi home. When I got home, I was cold and wet and tired. Now I am actually starting to dry up a bit but I am still cold and now I am getting hungry. But I have to push on and learn for my Old Irish exam on Thursday, dreading that one. At 16:31 on Thursday you will probably hear me shouting from the rooftops from either elation or despair, and then you will not hear from me for a few hours as I will either be heading off to the cinema to award myself my hard work, or I will be drowning my sorrows over some more bottles. Wish me luck.

The Lady is finally a real Lady. I bought myself this hat today!

Posted by Picasa

I'm Merry oh so merry and very ...

I'm Meriadoc 'Merry' Brandybuck!



Drunken and lively, driven and strong, you're Meriadoc Brandybuck, more often known as Merry!

"You can trust us to stick to you through thick and thin - to the bitter end. And you can trust us to keep any secret of yours - closer than you keep it yourself. But you cannot trust us to let you face trouble alone, and go off without a word. We are your friends, Frodo."

Which hobbit in the fellowship of the Ring are you?

Take Other Caffeine Nebula Quizzes

Bachelorette!

I would never have thought in a million years, that I would label myself in this way or any other for that matter. I am just me. But I allowed my good friend Guðný Stellu to talk me into joining the girls of the Bachelorette page (www.piparstelpur.blogspot.com). Dear God, I have no idea what to write about there, but we will see how it works out.
Well among things I can think about that a Bachelorette would ponder would be guys. So when we was riding home in a taxi today I started wondering and looking around me. Now, I must say, for me, it is not the easiest choice to make. I am very picky when it comes to guys. I like them, tall, rugged, manly ... basically I go for the caveman everytime. The meterosexual guy just isn't doing anything for me or my imagination. I just really don't fancy a guy who thinks more on how he looks than I do. I want him to be neat, (smell nice, and definitely not reak of sweat from the moment he moves in the morning) but other than that I will take whatever. Bodily sounds should be included so that you know he is working right, a brain (and braincells at work) and just for extra measure, a killer stupid humor (to fit into the group) and a naughty twinkle in his eyes. hmmm. Oh, and don't forget a voice that would make you melt and a hillarious laugh, no sizzie laughter but a real bellyshaking, face-splitting, tear-down the cheek laughter. Rrrooowwwwrrrr. Ooo, must stop or my imagination is going to go into overdrive, I should be studying so no time for imagination. Unless it is about a very sexy teacher and .... mmm. STOP!