Nothing new here...

Elin, if you were a movie, you'd be a Groundbreaking Documentary

If you think documentaries are boring, think again. Like your movie match, you're an intelligent individual who makes people think. Documentaries span all sorts of topics, from the trivial to the profound. Perhaps your interests do the same, but one thing's clear — you're a smarty and you like to learn.

We'd guess you're the person at the dinner table or the water cooler who stirs up lively debates about the latest news or tidbits from the Discovery Channel. Part of you probably gets a kick out of creating controversy and getting people fired up about their beliefs. Another part probably likes opening people's eyes and sharing your thoughts. And for that, you get two thumbs up for trying to get to the bottom of things and making waves!

Lady Sphinx

You are a mysterious being, Lady Sphinx, distinguished by your deep wisdom, strength, and royal power. You've also got a special something that draws people to you — even if they can't explain why. Maybe it's because you're always immersed in thought, pondering everything around you — your music, the fashion scene, or the latest movies.

It's not that you need to be on top of everything, it's just that you prefer to walk a stable path through this life, and that's easier for you to do if you know what's goin' on. But beyond your keen awareness of the world, you also have a strong intuition — which is probably why friends and family think of you as such a sage goddess. This natural ability to just sense things makes you a great judge of character when meeting new friends, or attracting a new crush. So don't be afraid to use these otherworldly goddess powers to spark some love in your realm, Ms. Sphinx! Work that intrigue.

Your gifts make you alluring, but not too revealing. You'll always hold the secrets of life and keep 'em guessing. You've got plenty to show the world — so get out there and show them what you're made of!

Tickle.com

I can be sarcastic ... really!

You Have Your Sarcastic Moments

While you're not sarcastic at all times, you definitely have a cynical edge. In your opinion, not all people are annoying. Some are dead! And although you do have your genuine moments, you can't help getting your zingers in. Some people might be a little hurt by your sarcasm, but it's more likely they think you're hilarious.

How Sarcastic Are You?

My brain is purple

Your Brain is Purple

Of all the brain types, yours is the most idealistic. You tend to think wild, amazing thoughts. Your dreams and fantasies are intense. Your thoughts are creative, inventive, and without boundaries. You tend to spend a lot of time thinking of fictional people and places - or a very different life for yourself.

What Color Is Your Brain?

I've got Simpsonitis

Photo 1

Photo 2

It bugs me

I was reading the newspaper this morning and I came across an article about an "artist"! He's an old guy but somewhat known here in Iceland and they showed a selection of his works. Oh, my god. They actually call him a master artist and the only thing I could do was stare. Out of five works they showed, three of them were horrible. Not something I would be proud to show off if I had been the one to put this mess on canvas. This was someting that could have been done by a four year old and the funny thing is that then I would have applauded because that would have shown promise of things to come, but for an old guy to paint this and for others to call him a master artist is an insult to children. At four years they have already shown that they can handle a brush and simple images like persons and their surroundings, but here we have people applauding a guy in his sixties plus for finally achieving the same level of maturity as a four year old child. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

Photos

Just to let you know that I have just added some photos to my blog. Both from my graduation and also from the evening the girls and I went out. The links to the photos are here to the right and you don't need to sign in to view them, or at least you shouldn't have to.

Lazy is the word of the month

I always mean to be efficient at writing but then nothing happens. I think it's the heat, I can't do anything, can't even think one thought through. A lot has been happening lately. I was on TV, yes, as I wrote here before, but not only that I was on TV last night as well. And no, not the same program, now I was caught completely unawares. This is what happens when you show up early for a book signing. Norways most published author Margit Sandemo and the author of Ísfólkið came for a visit and signed books for hardcore fans. So of course I showed up, not one to let an opportunity like this slip from me and because I was there early I was caught on camera. It just isn't possible to show up for something like that and not be noticed. The nerd just got nerdier.
I went to see Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix on opening night. I think it is one of the movies I have to see again and again before I will be completely at ease with it. Obviously since I love the book so much I was disappointed with it in many ways. It was like watching a slide show at fast pace of the book. Not nice at all, some of the scenes I was particularly waiting for were hardly mentioned and some facts were distorted and the thread of the tale bent to suit the short cut through of the story. I am not saying it isn't good. It might be for those that haven't read the book cover to cover for months and it might be fine for those who haven't read the books, I just don't know how they viewed it. Many of the things that were alluded to showed obvious intent on the director and screen-writers that the audience should be aware of or know the story intimately so that they would know what was being hinted at. But all in all it was a quite short and shoddy work of an otherwise great book. In this instance the book is defenitely better than the movie.
On Friday night, I along with five other girls went out for a night. Enjoyed a lovely dinner at Hereford Steakhouse, and the company wasn't bad either. It was actually too bad that it had to end so soon, it was such fun. After we left the restaurant we made a short stop at the home of one of the girls where we continued to chat and laugh (some histerically and some more ladylike ;). I can't wait until the next time we go out. This is just too fun for words.
I am on my way to bed shortly, hopefully there will be peace and quite tonight. Obviously someone in the street has aquired an electric guitar and he has been trying it out in his garage. I mean he is somewhere in the street, and not even that close to us, but I can hear every fail note like it is screaming in my ear in this very room. Last night he was at this to almost pas mid-night, and I was not a happy bunny, and therefore a rather grouchy person when roused this morning to go to work. When I came home today, he started again and later tonight he was still at it. Right now, I don't here anything and I sincerely hope that someone has broken both his arms.
Until next time I can be bothered.

Now it's public knowledge too: I'm a nerd!

Yours truly was on television yesterday, in Út og Suður with Gísli Einarsson and now it is official. Everyone in Iceland know I'm a nerd. It was an interview with Oddur Helgason genealogist, and the man who I am working for this summer gathering genealogical information. I wasn't at home, when it was aired, and didn't get a chance to see it a wee bit later in the evening, but dear me, I was mortified. Actually, it wasn't too bad, because I was watching it with friends of mine, who comforted me. It was just a shock to hear myself on television. I never knew I had such a squeeky voice, it was unnerving. But they said that I didn't sound like that usually, I must have just been unusually nervous. Which I was. The interview was recorded the day after I came back home from Skotland, and my Icelandic was a bit rusty yet. It always takes me a while to get comfortable speaking Icelandic to strangers when I come back. When I came home, I heard that loads of people had phoned to tell mom and dad what a good job I had done, and that it had been nice to see all this. I heard the same when I went to work this morning as well, from people who had been watchin. It is amazing how many people actually watch that show, when I consider it a bit on the old-people-interest-show.
The biggest shock came probably when I went to the bank today, where I was getting a check made ready for me, where a woman came up to me and thanked me for a good show yesterday. She was really very kind and said that it was so nice to see how truly interested I was in genealogy and family history. But, yup, now you can almost call me famous in Iceland .... well, at least infamous. ;) Let's see where this leads to.

Graduation

There is so much to blog about I can't blog fast enough.
Well the main news is that I graduated on June 29th, Friday. It was a marvelous day, and a wonderful ceremony, very formal and festive. It was a day I never wanted to end, but that was after we got back to the hotel. Before I went up to Uni, I was so nervous I had upset stomach and nausea but after a few breathing sessions I finally calmed down and managed to finish getting ready. I met Claire up at the University where we collected our graduation wardrobe and tickets for family. Then we headed for a wee get together at the Celtic Department for drinks and to chat with some friends and teachers. At the ceremony itself, Claire and I got front row seats of the ceremony. I was in nerd heaven. My teacher of four years, Thomas Clancy and head of the Celtic department held a speech celebrating the life of gaelic poet Ruaraidh MacThómais who was receiving Honorary Doctorate from the University. Then the graduation walk began, 340 students receiving their degrees all one by one for more than an hour, wonderful. At the end of the ceremony Dr. Dauvit Broun got a reward for excellence in teaching and he so deserved it, he is such a nice man and a great teacher. He is the head of the M.Litt program I am joining next year, and he was even nice enough to enquire about me and if I would be able to study Old Norse next year. Such a sweet man. I also had a photography session after the ceremony with mom and dad as well, and then a few photos by my brother. Before we left for the hotel, we stopped by the gift shop where we bought a frame for my degree and a bottle of whiskey, that instead of saying The Famous Grouse, it says The Famous Graduate.
Then we headed for the hotel where mom served up a delicious cake before we went upstairs for a wonderful meal. We also got a glass of champagne to toast with and a bottle of fine red merlot from Chile. Five courses and I was beyond bursting. It was truly a great day.

It wasn’t until the day after that everything seemed to go down hill but that wasn’t until much later in the day and we had managed to do most of the things we had intended so there was nothing else for us to worry about. But the trouble at the Glasgow airport did put a dent in our last night in Glasgow. Because there was nowhere possible to get any kind of information from our airliner or media back home of what passangers of Icelandair were supposed to do or contact in case of something like this. Nothing at all. But no matter, we decided to just take things slowly, follow the news and not do anything rash. We finished packing and went to sleep. We all woke up at seven in the morning and the airport was still closed. It wasn’t until eight in the morning that they told us that the airport was finally open, but no matter where we turned we got no news from home if our flight was on or not. We did managed finally to see that the flight from Keflavik had left and so we decided to hurry to the airport in case they would be flying out as well. When we got to the airport, caoz was everywhere and all we were told to do was get in the queue, but they didn’t tell us how long it was or what the purpose was of us queuing at all. We had to walk a kilometre before we found a gap in the queue for us to stand in. Right next to us was a wee shop where I managed to buy some coke for the group because we had no idea of how long we were going to be there. Still we tried to reach Icelandair, Leifsstöð or anyone that might have some answers to us. I managed to find a wheelchair with the help of a very helpful police officer for my mom which made the wait a bit more bearable for her but it was still very difficult for all of us. Finally, by pure chance we got a phoncall from an acquaintance of my brother who told us that the Icelandair flight was scheduled to depart very soon. So I had to try to find someone to tell us what we were to do, finally found a guy who told me that we had to get there asap! We managed at the very, very, very last moment to get to the desk to check in for our flight almost having a heart attack on the way, then we had to go almost half the way back again to get to the International flight terminal. We had to walk across an inside bridge where the windows had been covered up, but it didn’t mask the intense smell of petrol- and rubber burning. We were basically walking right by where the car had crashed into the airport, not a nice thing at all. We made it to the gate where we were placed in a bus that drove us the last few meters to the airplane. At the gate we were even reproached for being so late, I was really taken aback by that. That was some cheek of saying that after everything we went through to get there and we even got there on time, but there was no assistance, no help, no guidance from anyone were we were supposed to go. Later we even got the news that the office back in Iceland couldn’t even reach their staff at Glasgow airport and certainly the staff at the airport had no clue what was going on outside. I was furious. But we made it to the airplane and home and I have never been as glad to come home as I was on Sunday July 1st.

But it is no lie to say that this was a historic trip. The first terrorist attack in Scotland! And the funny thing was, you wouldn’t have known about it if you hadn’t turned on the television, because it just didn’t phase anyone. Everything was business as usual, no hysteria, no panic, no it’s-the-end-of-the-world speech you know by heart from the Americans. Everyone was just as cool as ever.
But the main thing was that no one died and only one person got injured (and we can argue how much or not he deserved it) but we can be grateful that nothing horribly bad happened.
This did nothing to mar the memory of my graduation either, it was a beautiful day, which will live that much longer in my memory because of the events that followed.

Hmmmm, about time I let you know I am still alive

Yup, alive and kicking, mostly kicking on another website, but that one is in Icelandic so it is not for all to understand. There hasn't been much happening in my life since my birthday except I'M GRADUATING from the University of Glasgow on FRIDAY!!! I actually got my exam results a couple of weeks ago, so lazy me not writing about it sooner. I will be flying to Glasgow on Thursday and will be coming back home on Sunday, so, not a long trip, but essential. Today I also got great news for a nerd like me. At the graduation a Gaelic poet, Ruaraidh MacThómais is going to be receiving an honorary doctorate from the University. And right now, I feel like an idiot, going; ''Like, I'm gonna meet him, like, see him there like. Wow, like that would ever happen, I'm just like tickled pink to be there with him, when he gets that thing!"

I am so looking forward to friday, well, even just to thursday. Of getting back to Glasgow, I feel like I am going to THE land of retail therapy. I have been in such trouble with finding anything at all in the shops here, and no, it's not all for me. I have been trying to find birthday presents like the dickens (it's a phrase not an author of several celebrated books) here as well.

! But for your notice. Some of my close aquitances have been inquiring about this website. I am not going to make it sound as if I am so important that they broadcast the graduation just because it's me, but for anyone, who would like to enjoy the opportunity of seeing me being whacked on the head with a hat and lassoed with a scarf, please feel free to check this out:
Graduation 29th June 2007,
it's at 4 o'clock in the afternoon local time, and that would make it at 5 o'clock in Iceland.

An old, lazy git

It was my birthday on May 24th, and thank you to all those who sent me birthdaygreetings. I just turned 28 and I don't know if I can accept that.
It turns out I am a lazy git so it can't be true. I had a long discussion about the subject with a friend of mine and she agrees. Time flies and it flies really fast sometimes as most of you can relate to so I have decided not to follow time anymore and just go after my own intuition.
So I can hardly say I am older than 22 or there abouts which suits me just fine and is more in tune with my mental growth as well.

And since I have already confessed of being lazy, it will come as no surprise that it is my excuse of not writing anyting worthwhile reading recently.
There hasn't been that much to write about, except maybe my birthday. Nothing much happened on my birthday itself. I went to work, and got home. Then I invited my mom and dad out for dinner at Lauga-ás, which serves the most delicious food ever. Then surprisingly I went to the cinema with my friend and got to see Pirates of the Caribbean At Wit's End .. ooops sorry, that's at World's End. Enjoyed it immensely.

But mom and I decided, and because of a lot of phonecalls from family, to have a little get-together on Sunday, because there was not other time available.
Everyone is so busy these days, and we no less. So mom and I spent the Saturday preparing our feast, turned out we were baking for nearly ten hours, but it was so much fun. Then Sunday came and a whole lot of people came to see me. It was wonderful to see them. I even got a few presents and they were all very nice and thoughtful.From mom and dad, I got a nice picture to hang in my bedroom, and I also got from them 3 dishes (a dinner plate, a soup dish and a dessert dish) to collect for a set. The dishes are beautiful, elegant and very tasteful. They are completely white with no decoration but are sooo beautiful. They are called Nimbus and are the second down, on the right;

From my brother and sister-in-law I got a set of salt and pepper grinder and it also included curry. From my grandmother I got a nice wee statue of the Gemini, who never knows in which direction to go.

I got a nice necklace from my uncle and his family, with a small piece of lava rock in it. A box of chocoalte from another uncle and his wife. And my friends Guðbjört and Margrét I got a very nice little bag and beautiful earrings, of white glass pearls. The party it self was wonderful. OOh, I can't forget to mention that we had a chocolate fountain running which was a big hit. Must mention that it might not be the best thing to have in a party where little people are. My five year old niece was basically wearing the chocolate after a short while. It was hilarious but worrying if she got to close to you, you could easily have been drowned in chocolate in one of her hugs.

All in all I was very happy and it was wonderful to see so many come.
Now all I do is worry about my exam results. They are likely to be published on Monday and now I am not so sure I want them anymore. I have been checking on Websurf nearly daily since beginning of May and I just don't tink I want to know how badly I did anymore. They should just have phoned all ready and said "there's not a chance in h"#$$ that you are going to be gratuating from this University!!!" not drag this out for so long. So as of yet, I don't know if I am going to Scotland in 4 weeks time for my graduation or a hell of a retail therapy trip.

Dumber and dumberer ... is Bush an idiot?

Me likey

Star Wars Horoscope for Gemini

Like most Geminis, you are a playful little creature. You tend to be extremely curious, craving knowledge but sometimes having a short attention span. For the most part, you are charming and loveable. But at times, you can seem scattered and high-strung. Star wars character you are most like: Ewoks

What Is Your Star Wars Horoscope?

Unbalanced

It will probably not come as a surprise to many of you that I am unbalanced, but now I have the diagnosis from the doctor to confirm it as well. Yesterday, when I woke up and tried to rise up I knew something weird was going on. I managed to get up but I could barely walk, my legs were like jelly and I had no control over them. I managed to get to the doorframe and grab hold on it and from there to the bathroom where I almost keeled over. Cold sweat sprung forth all over my body and I felt terrible. I managed to get back to my bed where I laid down and couldn't move. If I tried to lie on either side it felt like being in a merry-go-round at a 100mph nonstop even with closed eyes. I did not feel well. Everytime I tried to move to take a sip of drink everything started moving so I decided to just lie there on my back and try to get my world under control. I managed to fall asleep until lunchtime. When I woke up I tried to sit up and went into the kitchen to try to get some more liquid into me. About twenty minutes later I went hurtling into the bathroom where I threw up everything I had had since waking up. Not fun. Mom called the doctor and he though I might have a touch of 'vertigo' (yup, like the Eurovision song from Malta), but he wanted to confirm it in case I needed some more doctoring (... like shaking). I went to the docotor and he said that I had most likely caught a virus that attacks my equilibrium and should get better in the next few days and I might expect another attack like the first one in 2- 3 weeks time when my equilibrium is healing again. It is sort of a self-adjusting mechanism that goes to work then. But right now, I am feeling better, I just have to take care when I get up and avoid any sudden movements or looking up or down. When I get ... I call it attacks or a touch of it ... I sort of get a touch of a headache and nausea so I just have to take things easy for a while, but I am not completely vegetated, I am alive and mostly functional.

Is this what is to come

+15°C / 59°F
This is as warm as it gets in Iceland, so we'll start here.
People in Spain wear winter-coats and gloves.
The Icelanders are out in the sun, getting a tan.
+10°C / 50°F
The French are trying in vain to start their central heating.
The Icelanders plant flowers in their gardens.
+5°C / 41°F
Italian cars won't start.
The Icelanders are cruising in Saab cabriolets.
0°C / 32°F
Distilled water freezes.
The water in Hvita river gets a little thicker.
-5°C / 23°F
People in California almost freeze to death.
The Icelanders have their final barbecue before winter.
-10°C / 14°F
The Brits start the heat in their houses.
The Icelanders start using long sleeves.
-20°C / -4°F
The Aussies flee from Mallorca.
The Icelanders end their Midsummer celebrations. Autumn is here.
-30°C / -22°F
People in Greece die from the cold and disappear from the face of the earth.
The Icelanders start drying their laundry indoors.
-40°C / -40°F
Paris start cracking in the cold.
The Icelanders stand in line at the hotdog stands.
-50°C / -58°F
Polar bears start evacuating the North Pole.
The Icelanders navy postpones their winter survival training awaiting real winter weather.
-60°C / -76°F
Myvatn freezes.
The Icelanders rent a movie and stay indoors.
-70°C / -94°F
Santa moves south.
The Icelanders get frustrated since they can't store their Brennavinn outdoors.
The Icelanders navy goes out on winter survival training.
-183°C / -297.4°F
Microbes in food don't survive.
The Icelandic cows complain that the farmers' hands are cold.
-273°C / -459.4°F
ALL atom-based movement halts.
The Icelanders start saying "it's cold outside today."
-300°C / -508°F
Hell freezes over,
Iceland wins the Eurovision Song Contest.

Going / Coming home

Finally, this academic year is finished or at least close to a finish. I still have to recieve my grades and graduate (hopefully). But I am going home tomorrow. I finished my exams on Wednesday and have been working my way up to packing and moving home for the summer. There isn't a whole lot to blog about here, not that much has happened while I was studying for exams and a whole lot less when actually taking them. Except it was quite thrilling when a studen's phone went off an hour into my last exam!!! Almost every single day I was studying for my exams the sun was shining outside my window and for a few days I even skived off studying. That was when my mom and dad dropped in for a few days to celebrate my dads birthday on April 13th. Yup, Friday 13th, and the date of the exam I dreaded the most, but actually turned out to be not so bad. It was truly nice to have them here and be able to assist them and do stuff with them and it was also very nice for them to be able to have a change of scenery for a while.
So I am going home tomorrow and I am unemployed for the moment as well. Possibly I even have to crawl back to my former boss and ask for a summer job if the job I was hoping for turns out to be a dead end for the next forseeable future although I do not doubt that it will become what it was meant to be someday. Until I have talked the to guy in charge I won't know if I will be going to work in the middle of nowhere at the post office. Stay tuned for updates.
I fly home tomorrow and should land sometime around noon. Can't wait to see my bed ... uuuh, family ... again.

Loosening tension

My final exam is tomorrow and trying to relieve some of the tension for it I went on the interent to check for a few QI episodes and I found one so hilarious that I have to share it with you.

part 1


part 2


part 3


part 4


Enjoy!

Oh, what a beautiful morning, oh what a beautiful day!

Yes, I think I am in a pretty good mood today. Although I do have a mountain of work ahead of me. I am back in Glasgow after two weeks back home, and boy it has been interesting. Almost every single day I spent at home it snowed, blizzard conditions and worse sometimes. Now that I am back in Glasgow, I am roasting. The sun has been shining like crazy since I came here and the temperature has been 12°c and above. Beautiful, except that the sun pays me a rather roasting visit later in the day, which means that if I am trying to study I have to block it out with heavy curtains.
But the reason I am in this lovely mood today is the news I recieved yesterday in my inbox. I got an e-mail from the Postgraduate Service at the University where they were informing me that they have accepted my application for M.Litt in Scottish Medieval Studies for next year, which means: One more year of 'wha gie's it!, and 'hughie-ing' and 'haggis, neeps and tatties'
Anyways, I am thrilled, ecstatic, floating on air.

A few highlights from back home;
March 20th - Had a wonderful dinner at my friends, Hrafnhildur's place, where I had the chance of seeing my friend Guðný Stellu, who is the busiest freak I know. I also met Bryndísi and Þurý, the two chicks that came for a shopping trip in Glasgow, with Hrafnhildi, before Christmas and who are still paying their visa bills from then! Brilliant guys.
March 23rd - I went to the movies, even though I had to pay the exorbitant fee of 950kr (7 pounds+)for the ticket. Went to see 300 and oh, my god, I loved it. I got so caught up in it, I wasn't aware of anything around me. I want to see it again soon.
March 30th - Then last friday was the pinnacle of my stay back home, where I went with my friends, Hrafnhildi, Bryndísi and Þurý for a girls night out. We started by going to a Witch shop in the city center where we had two hour lecture on various methods of 'the craft', we had lovely chocolate cake and herbal tea, along with the 'elixir of love' brewed especially for us, Bryndís and I imbibed 2 shots of that brew, just for extra ooompf. Then we were let loose in the store, where I bought a sack of runes and instruction manual, plus a dreamsymbol. Something that is quite appropriate for me. The friends were mostly into buying the herbal tea stuff, which is not me, although I did enjoy the tea they offered us with the cake. Well, after this experience we made our way to Austur-Indía félagið (The East-India company) where we had the most scruptious dinner ever, loved it. I was near to bursting but I still refused to leave a morsel left on my plate. Oooh, it was good. Then, as if this wasn't enough we went to The Celtic Cross, appropriate isn't it, a lovely wee pub on Hverfisgata where we had one cocktail. Again, I nearly had a heart attack because of the price, I was expected to pay for a wee (although wonderful) cocktail; 1300kr (10 pounds!), yikes. I just find it amazing that anyone ever goes out in Iceland to get sloshed. It's almost cheaper to just be a tea-totaller, although that can be expensive as well. But I had a lovely time, and my friends assured me that we will try something else and something just as fun during the summer. Can't wait. Guys, thanks for a lovely time, it was wonderful.

I'm home!

Oh, it is soooo gooood to be home again. Can't wait to go to sleep in my own bed again, because I am dead tired. When I came home Iceland was covered with snow. Beautiful to see from the airplane but not so nice when you had to drive through it, with cars zig-zagging in front of you, splashing the windscreen with slush. But we made it home in one piece. +
I am writing this blog on my mom's computer because mine is at my brother's. He is transferring all of my data from my old computer over to my new one. So I feel sort of alone right now. I sort of don't really know what to do, I want to start studying, because I have become so used to being studying all the time that I don't know how to do anything else anymore. But I really should also learn to take a well deserved break for a while now. I will still have enough time to study for my exams.
I am also trying to get used to my new glasses, there are still a few kinks I have to work out about them. I have to take them in for fine tuning soon, because they sit quite low on my nose, so that it irritates me and later in the day I get tired wearing them, because they sit to tight at my right temple. So right now I am sitting in my room with my sunglasses on because they don't hurt. It sounds so crazy writing about wearing sunglasses when it is snowing outside, but sometimes it is necessary.
Anyways, am thrilled to be back home. Hope I get the chance to see as many as possible and managed to study hard as well.