I'm alive, honest!

Been a right busy week and a half. The first few days were spent attending the conference which was a thrilling experience, both due to the papers being delivered as well as the excitement over meeting all these famous people (within the realm of folkloristics) on a fairly equal basis...


Then Halldor and the kids arrived on the 16th, just in time for Iceland's National day. Us being the lazy unsociable gits that we are, went downtown really early, got the compulsory hot dog, balloons and pacifier lollipops, then after having the obligatory photo taken in front of the statue of Jon Sigurdsson headed over to the park where I and Halldor proceeded to sunbathe whilst the kids stood in queue waiting to get into the jumping castles (you know the airfilled thingies).. And then when all the processions started arriving downtown we made our way up to dads for a lazy afternoon there ;-)


After a number of family gatherings and numerous dinners the kids were then picked up by their dad and step mum (the 20 year old) on the Sunday. Leaving me desolately empty inside, strange that, I aught to rejoice having time off on my own and all that... Anyways, am now bent over books researching for my Masters dissertation in the National Library whilst the sun bangs down on the rest of the nation ;-) But hey I'm off to Japan in two weeks time !!!! Got my application off to the Japanese embassy in time, weird though, needed a heart x-ray, lung x-ray, multiple bloodtests and urine test just to apply for a research grant. Apart from shocking the poor physician to whom I took the document to be filled out, it also irritated him, questions like :
Colourblindness, normal or not normal? So do I have a normal colourblindness I wonder ;-)
If I were to get this grant, amazing and unlikely as that would be it would mean 18 or 24 months in Japan commencing either in April or October next year.. If I don't get it well, cest la vite ;-)

Smiling on Icelands national day

Smiling on Icelands national day
Originally uploaded by Gunnella.

Lovely being back in Iceland

Lovely being back in Iceland
Originally uploaded by Gunnella.

I love the feeling I get upon returning home, flying from the darkness of night in England into the dusk of the midnight sun in Iceland. I've missed the feeling and the colours !!

Yay I´m back..!

Yeah !!! Yay !! Essays finally written and handed over so time to catch up on pictures, well for tonight at least seeing as I´m off for a conference in Iceland tomorrow morning :-D

The photos are from Ragnars pre-birthday party, officially his birthday is the 15th of July but since at that time he´ll be in Japan we decided to hold a small gettogether for him before leaving for Iceland. I felt kind of guilty seeing as for two years running he´s not had a birthday party whereas his sister´s had great big ones.
It´s not entirely my fault though, actually through no fault of my own, seeing as at the time of his birthday he´s always at his fathers! Oh well, servees no purpose getting irritated. He had two friends over, needless to say, plenty of food, good fun and loads of smiling faces.


Anyways, will post more once I´m back in Iceland ;-)

Waiting patiently in a shop whilst mum peruses

Waiting patiently in a shop whilst mum peruses
Originally uploaded by Gunnella.

Mirror mirror on the wall, who's ....?
Originally uploaded by Gunnella.

Reflections... :-D

I´m singing in the rain..just singing in the rain, what a.....
Originally uploaded by Gunnella.

Colour coordinated ;-)

Colour coordinated ;-)
Originally uploaded by Gunnella.

Subject: FW: Plague

Comes from an authoritative source...
>
>
>
There is a dangerous virus being passed electronically, orally and by hand.
>
> This virus is called Worm-Overload-Recreational-Killer (WORK). If you receive WORK from any of your colleagues, your boss or anyone else via any means DO NOT TOUCH IT. This virus will wipe out your private life completely.
>
> If you should come into contact with WORK put your jacket on and take 2 good friends to the nearest pub. Purchase the antidote known as Work-Isolator-Neutralizer-Extractor (WINE).
>
> The quickest acting WINE type is called Swift-Hitting-Infiltrator-Remover-All-Zones (SHIRAZ) but this is only available for those who can afford it, the next best equivalent is Cheapest-Available-System-Killer (CASK). Take the antidote repeatedly until WORK has been completely eliminated from your system.
>
>
> This virus is DEADLY (Destroys-Every-Available-Decent-Living-Youngster).
>
>
> Update 05-05-05: After extensive testing it has been concluded that Best-Equivalent-Extractor-Remedy (BEER) may be substituted for WINE but may require a more generous application.

Madness Ensues, or just simply sues..?

Jovial laughter outside in the glorious Edinburgh sun :-( And here I sit sweating over sour sheep balls, rotten shark and the fact that I have to be the worst procrastinator on the face of the earth not to mention the fact that my computer has decided to play an evil game of hide and seek with me these days, hiding documents in farflung folders and flashing me with it´s blue screen of death, mocking the wee remainders of my near forgotten sanity whilst laughing maniacally inside!!

I have just spent all morning arguing (with myself and an imaginary friend) the point that Icelandic foodways are a very obvious representations of cultural cohesion. That the culinary syntax is of greater importance than the origin of the food, hence polish chocolate being as nationalistic as smoked lamb and that Icelanders abroad feel a greater need for expression the nationality and hence are more likely too attend culinary feasts such as Þorrablót than they would were they back "home".....

Why is it that the longer one works on a subject the more boring it becomes, not to mention simplistic, getting one dangerously close to the "bad place" (insert weird voice here) of over usage of jargon and the feeling of actually no point whatsoever having been made.

So much for last winters weightloss ...what´s been lost over a period of 9 months has now been regained over a period of two weeks, coke and choclate binging seem to go hand in hand with stressing and writing ... The funny thing is that the weight loss hadn´t been done by conscious effort, rather it has been brought on (I assume) by more regular meals, actually eating more, and presumably the love life has helped as well ;-P

A hectic week ahead, a boys birthday Pizza Party on Thursday (voluntaires welcomed ;-) then frantic packing before I leave poor Halldór in charge of the madhouse and head to Iceland for the conference......Yesterday I washed 5 machine loads, so most of our clothing is clean and ready and Elena is under Strict orders NOT to play dress up ;-)

I leave you with the very nationalistic Viking Kittens singing Led Zeppelins "Land of Ice and Fire" Just to celebrate the fact that we have hot water again ;-) Don´t ask...

I´m going slightly mad.....

When the outside temperature rises
And the meaning is oh so clear
One thousand and one yellow daffodils
Begin to dance in front of you - oh dear
Are they trying to tell you something ?
You're missing that one final screw
You're simply not in the pink my dear
To be honest you haven't got a clue
I'm going slightly mad
I'm going slightly mad
It finally happened - happened
It finally happened - ooh woh
It finally happened - I'm slightly mad - oh dear !
Ha ha ha ha ha

I'm one card short of a full deck
I'm not quite the shilling
One wave short of a shipwreck
I'm not my usual top billing
I'm coming down with a fever
I'm really out to sea
This kettle is boiling over
I think I'm a banana tree
Oh dear
I'm going slightly mad
I'm going slightly mad (I'm going slightly mad)
It finally happened - happened
It finally happened - uh huh
It finally happened - I'm slightly mad - oh dear !

Uh uh ah ah
Uh uh ah ah

I'm knitting with only one needle
Unravelling fast it's true
I'm driving only three wheels these days
But my dear, how about you ?
I'm going slightly mad
I'm going slightly mad
It finally happened
It finally happened - oh yes
It finally happened - I'm slightly mad !
Just very slightly mad !
And there you have it !