-4° Celcius and we're gathered outside in 38 degree hot pots in bathing suits, watching the pretty lights twinkling in the steam.
Compliance
Bridge in the Mist
-4° Celcius and we're gathered outside in 38 degree hot pots in bathing suits, watching the pretty lights twinkling in the steam.
Motion
This is a shot I took of the crazy big rollercoaster at Tivoli in Copenhagen. I just really like this pic...it took super timing plus dumb luck to get the riders in the frame.Tivoli is very cool. The Cardigans were playing the night I was there and I think their music is sexy. I have promised Valentina to take her there soon. Maybe for a weekend this summer.
Growing up in California means other countries are always really far away unless you're talking about Mexico or Canada which somehow don't count. To me, California is the End of the World, the Edge of Civilization, the Final Frontier. I think most people would agree. When I stand on a cliff on the side of Highway 1, that famous winding oceanside road you've seen so often in the movies, and stare out to sea I think to myself This is it. There's nothing else but water for forever and forever and forever and then I remember Japan and how it's called the Land of the Rising Sun and that makes sense because that's where the world starts up again. Getting out of the US from California takes a lot of time and a lot of money and a lot of time zones. It's a little intimidating, I guess.
From here, in Iceland, I can jet on south to Europe whenever I want, really. And I want to do it more. I've only been to England and Copenhagen so far. What, I ask, is up with that?
Tomato
But (as Pee Wee Herman himself said, "Everybody's got a big but[t]") now Orkuveita Reykjavíkur, the only heat and electricity supplier to the Reykjaivík area (aka: The Monopoly) has raised rates and stopped offering discounts to hothouse growers. The cost of keeping our wonderful, burgeoning hothouse horticulture thriving is going to go throught the roof. I've always thought that if Iceland could only promote and encourage hothouse farming we could become models for island-self-sustainment, as well as encourage a new generation of fruit and vegetable-loving Icelanders, healthier and happier on the whole. But no.
Oh man, first we find out it's cheaper to buy an Icelandic leg of lamb at digdug's rival store, Whole Foods, than it is here where we are almost overrum by the beasts, but now it's gonna cost us like $3.00 for a single, locally-grown tomato (and I'm barely exaggerating here!).
On the bright side, cold tap water here is always clean, always super chilled and always glacial-stream good to the last drop.
(photo courtesy of this site)
Star
The tabletop at Kaffi Hjlómalind that I've decorated. A lovely thing I'm very proud of...oh, and that's real gold leaf in the center, my friend :-)
Happy New Year!
I culled this pretty pic from Friday's Fréttablaðið. It was taken the night before, on the 30th, during a fabulous pre-New Year Fireworks show at Öskjuhlið, upon which sits Reykjavík's Pearl, a definite must see for any visitors to the city.
I didn't get a chance to take any photos on New Years Eve, but I was lucky enough to be invited to a party at an apartment with a huge bank of windows overlooking the Grafavogur neighborhood. Until you experience for yourself the overwhelming barrage of beautiful bursting lights and shiny sparkly short-lived stars that fill the skies here at New Years Midnight, it's impossible to comprehend. Next year I'll get that perfect shot! In the mean time, try googling 'New Years Eve Reykjavik' then select 'images' from the google toolbar. That'll at least give you an idea.
Thanks for the last year and Hope everyone is swinging with a smile into 2005: a new year, a new hope, a new chance to grow and live and shine.