new boy

this week I'm spending time with these two guys in Århus; my step dad, Lars, and my brand-new two month old baby brother, Jonas. it's pretty lovely. Jonas is seriously cute and smiling more than he's crying, especially when I'm close by, which makes me so very happy. tonight I'm going to hit the town (yeah!) with some friends from way back when. Århus is known for all its white pride inhabitants, so I hope my guides will steer around those places.

wow. my brain is more than tired, because I have been working at this computer since 9 am. okay, now this post is over, I really better get something more done before I am off.

nordic memories: fixed

on November 29th I wrote about some memories in a post called nordic memories. this post is a correction.

I wrote about my great grandmothers' childhood, but apparently my brain doesn't remember everything equally well, because the incident happened to my great grandfather and not great grandmother. whoops...

expanding the story: the city where this happened is called Skarð and has been abandoned ever since it was depopulated. my mother told me that once in a while there are planned trips to the bygd, so descendants of the people who once lived there can see the ruins and get some kind of closure. I'd very much like to go there sometime, but it won't be for a while. I'm going to the Faroe Islands this summer, but those days are filled up with birthdays and parties, and I doubt that anyone will agree, or have the time, to go on this somewhat bleak journey with me. someday I'll have to go, though, since the family history fascinates me.

reading while it's raining

almost done reading King's Dreamcatcher on my Kindle, for which I haven't really had time during the holidays, so it's neat being able to just read and nothing else (apart from eating chocolate cookies).

my Christmas was one of the loveliest in a long time, and I think it has something to do with my state of mind; less weary and somehow more aware. my mother outdid herself with the Christmas dinner and just being at home was so cozy. we drank gin/tonics and red wine, and I was so full all the time that I didn't eat more than a single caramel, which is really weird for me. for dinner two days later I made the best goddamned leek pie I've ever eaten - felt so proud and full.

the days in between Christmas and New Year's were spent in Århus, in Lars' new two-storey apartment, with great food and homemade Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream. his girlfriend is 5 months pregnant with my new baby brother, so we drank wine on her behalf and smoked our cigarettes outside (she's a high school teacher, so she loves her wine/tobacco). we talked about names for the baby and no one agreed on any names, so I'll just keep my fingers crossed and hope he's not a Brian.

New Year's Eve was spent at Tine and Simon's place on Amager, and I had such a good time. it was my first time meeting some of their friends, so at first I felt so, so awkward. I think everyone felt a little bit awkward, but somehow everything is less awkward when someone points out how awkward it really is. after that both funny, sad and inappropriate topics were discussed until about 4 am. Hugh from England had studied something or other called Norse Languages or something like it and Hiroko from L.A. is married to a Dane, so the conversation switched between Danish and English a whole lot. Hiroko and David have just moved to Copenhagen from Fanø, and I'm pretty sure Hugh also lives here, so hopefully I'll get to see them all again soon. Tine has some photos of the evening over on MusicIsMySecret.

oh well, yes. now I'm going to eat some frikadeller with my mother's homemade pickled beets on rye bread and read Dreamcatcher. have a nice Wednesday.

last christmas

these are from last year when me and Niklas spent Christmas at Lars's in London. we baked three different kinds of cookies and made lemonade, but used light sugar (why does this exist?), so it just tasted too weird. fortunately Lars is a really good cook, so everything else tasted wonderful and looked pretty as well. I could eat that entire plate of chicken and rice right now.

last november

last winter (and some before it) my (step)dad lived in London, practically on River Thames. it had an amazing view of the inner city; you could see London Eye and London Bridge with the naked eye. these photos are from when my brother and I went visiting last November. I didn't feel so great last year, but I remember feeling very happy while being in the Seacon Tower. it also helped with lovely food and coffee and soda and all that stuff. I bought Fallout 3 and played for, I don't know, a million hours and then my save was deleted - WTH - and I haven't really played a whole lot since. it's an amazing game, so if you like gaming and haven't tried it (not likely) then do.

my dad moved back to Denmark over the summer, so no London this year. dang it. he now lives in Århus with his girlfriend and they're expecting a baby boy, so come April I'll have two brothers. it's crazy how little time it actually takes to make a human being - poof! new person! unbelievable.

later today we're going to look at an apartment with three rooms and a friggin' garden! yeah. fingers crossed.

lagkage

two months and one day ago I turned 23, and this is the cake my mother, grandmother and aunt made for me. I love birthday cakes.

SNEVINTEREN 2010, HELSINGØR

nu hvor vejret er så sindssygt godt og man er ved at smelte både inde og ude, synes jeg det er meget rart at få lidt perspektiv. så varmt som det er nu, så koldt var det også i vinter. så...

- nyd sommeren og varmen!

vinteren 2010.

jeg boede i min mors hus i Helsingør, da sneen lå tungt i nogle kolde og flotte måneder, og var tit ude i den idyliske have. der blev spillet mange indendørsspil, og på billedet spilles der musikquiz, som var ret svær; derfor de to facepalms. jeg fik også leget lidt i sneen, så der kommer nok lidt billeder af det senere. sne er noget helt andet i Helsingør end det er i København.

RUSLAND OG ØSTRIG

Kvinden fra gruppen Rivalerne, Rudolph Tegner, i baggrunden

Kærlighedens Mysterium, Rudolph Tegner, i baggrunden

De Tørstige Børn og Reden, Rudolph Tegner

Jordbundet, Rudolph Tegner

et delvist fredet hedeområde ved Dronningmølle i Nordsjælland, hvor der er fyldt med lyng, enebærbuske, får og statuer. det er et virkeligt godt sted at gå rundt. stedet hedder Rusland, men er også Tegners Statuepark. Tegners Museum ligger der også, men der var vi ikke inde. til gengæld kan man se mange af hans flotte bronzestatuer rundt omkring i landskabet. billederne er fra oktober 2010, hvor min mor overtalte os til at køre derud og endda lånte os en bil.

billedet med det store træ er Tobias' værk.

jeg har fødselsdag om meget få dage, og det er faktisk en ret underligt følelse at skulle blive 23. min mormor er på besøg hos min mor når jeg har fødselsdag, og dagen efter mødes (næsten) hele familien i Helsingør til mad og kage og alt muligt, som min mormor vil stå for, og jeg vil måske modtage en lille gave. yay! det glæder jeg mig ret meget til. noget andet fedt er, at Tobias' forældre vil forære os en tur til Innsbruck i sommerferien. jeg har aldrig været i Østrig, men:

... - jeg glæder mig ret meget!