Agurknytt

There are few things in life I love so well as cucumber salad:

We're having this tonight along with poached trout, potatoes and sour cream--a classic Nordic summer meal.

I'm not knitting at all. Instead, I am obsessively preparing for a new acquisition: this week my iPad 2, (64gb wi-fi white, for the curious) which I ordered through work, is supposed to arrive. I can't remember the last time I got more wrapped up in a consumer purchase. This beats out buying a digital camera hands down.

Since realizing that the object may be in my hands within only a few days, I've been combing the internet compulsively trying to figure out what (if any) apps and accessories I need for doing the work I need to do, and trying to determine to what extent I will use the iPad for entertainment purposes as well (such as keeping E occupied on our upcoming flight to the US).

After being initially overwhelmed by all the applications available, I've decided that I really don't need very much at all, and that I can probably do 90% of my work through Googledocs. Once I've had a chance to set up my working environment and routines, I'll probably post about what I've come up with as the perfect minimum for a person doing humanities research on an iPad.

There are two rather spendy accessories that I think I'm going to break down and buy. The one is the Zaggmate iPad 2 keyboard case, which looks like this:

I know that there have been reports of problems with one of the ports not being robust, but I've been pouring through reviews of this and other keyboard cases, and keep coming back to this one. The price is $99.00.

The other coveted object is a Tom Bihn messenger bag designed to be appropriate for an iPad:

The model is called Ristretto, and I would be using it to replace the Timbuk2 laptop knapsack that I've been using almost daily since 2005. I should be ashamed as a former Seattleite that I'd not heard of the Tom Bihn company before. Even though the price is pretty high, this is exactly the kind of company and product I don't mind paying a little more for. I wish the padded section for the iPad and the edge of the inside pockets weren't a different color from the lining, but I guess I can cope with that. The price is $110.00. I think that's about what I paid for the Timbuk2 bag, though, and I really do use things like this for years and years. I may actually buy the one sized for the 11" MacBookAir (the price is the same, but the size is 335 x 265 x 120mm versus 305 x 235 x 120mm nix that, for it to be of any use I'd have to go up to the 13" size, which is 370 x 300 x 120mm, which goes for $10 more), since I think it would work better for carrying A4 and US letter documents around, which I imagine I'll still do, even with the wonders of the iPad (paper grading... which I'm supposed to be doing right now as I type...). Here's the Youtube tour of the bag that the company provides. 

So call me a lame, self-absorbed consumer caught up in the Apple cult. I promise I'll try to keep it to a minimum with the apps and the stupid games.

Pusterom

I'm finding it harder and harder to get motivated to write for this blog. Partly it's because I'm not really doing any knitting right now, and I more or less think of this as my knitting blog. My life isn't really any different than it usually is, but maybe I've just started to feel less of a need to process it in writing. Maybe that's because living in Norway is starting to feel normal? I've started to gather a collection of acquaintances--people I feel comfortable chatting with at the bus stop,  on the ferry, or around the neighborhood. I'm mastering more of the routines of living in a bedroom community, and feeling more settled. At the same time I'm worried about my family for various reasons, and caught up in my work, and all the usual preoccupations that fill a person's mind during middle age. My online energy seems to be drawn toward my writing blog, Facebook, and the discussion forums I frequent.

Not sure where this is leading. Maybe I'll get back to writing more during the summer break? Maybe I'll regain my knitting obsession? Or maybe I'll actually finish another book manuscript this summer instead? Who knows?

ETA: well wouldn't you know it, but right after more or less predicting the demise of this blog, two topics started tumbling around in my head. Go figure.

The first is "stash" or more specifically my stash of yarn. There's been a discussion on Ravelry about the compulsion to buy more ("adding to stash") even when they don't have any purpose for the yarn. It got me thinking about my own consumerism. I had been noticing that my shelves of yarn were in disarray, so I figured this was a good time to sort through it all and take stock. Here's the grand total, including works in progress:

Any way you slice it, that's a lot of yarn. After I got it all laid out it didn't take very long to determine what I want to keep, and what I'll set aside to give away (probably to E's school for craft projects). I'd like to jettison it right away, but for now stowing it in a separate bag and putting the rest back on the shelves will have to do.

The other thing that has been bothering me has to do with the Eurovision Song Contest, which was aired last weekend. Of course I watched it with great enthusiasm and high expectations, but I was really disappointed. I won't go into how un-entertaining it was this year, but I do want to comment on the Swedish entry, Erik Saade's "Popular." Is it just me, or are the lyrics incredibly narcissistic and, well, just plain stupid?

I will be popular, I will be popular
I'm gonna get there, popular
My body wants you girl, my body wants you girl
I'll get you when I'm popular

I'll put my hands up in the lights
You'll see me dancing for my life
I will be popular, I will be popular
I'm gonna get there, popular

Spread the news, I'm gonna take the fight
For the spotlight day and night
I can't take this to the number one
Be someone before you're gone
Be someone before you're gone  

Gah! Is it possible to be more asinine? Is it just me, or is this song worse than the (rather funny) parody of Hannah Montana that was broadcast on NRK children's television earlier this year: "Æ e populær." And really, for musicality, I think the entry from last year's Melodi Gran Prix Junior contest, "Jeg vil bli berømt" was way better than Saade's, both musically, and in terms of the message. I'd much rather hear a preteen's naive dreams of fame than a cynical 20-something's lame attempt at appealing to the lowest common denominator of the widest possible audience. Yuck.

Uthvilt

Wow, that trip to Chicago really took it out of me. I've been sleeping in as late as 7 or even 8 in the morning all this week, and am only now starting to feel caught up.

I was delighted to come home to a blooming garden. Here are a few things that are springing to life in our yard:

This is the most exciting blooming thing, namely our apple tree, which was planted last fall. But there are also quite a few volunteer flowers that I'm very fond of:

This is hvitveis, the classic early spring flower that in some places here blankets the forest floor. We've just started getting a few clumps in our yard. I caught these on film just before KE mowed them down! Then there are these sweet little violets:

I totally love these, but I couldn't get a non-blurry picture since it was a pretty breezy day and I'm not a very patient photographer.

I also finally got around to taking some work-in-progress pictures of the two sweater projects I've got going. The first is that crazy pink mohair yarn that L in Eugene gave me:

I just have to knit the two fronts, finish the second sleeve, sew it together, then figure out what to use for the ruffle edging. I'm thinking of a green that matches the green accents in the yarn. It's a wild project for this drab gal. The other thing I'm working on is much more my style:

 These are the arms for the cabled pullover that I started two weeks ago. It's slow going on size 3mm needles with cables every sixth row.

In other exciting news, I think I have a new hobby! For the longest time I've been wanting to get into orienteering or geocaching or something like that, and yesterday when we walked to the grocery store we were met by some folks from the Nesodden sports club who were selling map packets for this season's "turorientering." Basically, they set up 70 "posts" out in the woods, mark them on the map, and then you walk around finding them and clipping them on a card (there's also a bingo card too for a lottery drawing). Here's the basic equipment:

It's such a totally nerdy thing to do! Today we went out and spent about two hours in the woods. In part we were on familiar trails, but the posts forced us off in new directions too, so it's a great way to get to know the area better. Here's our first every post sighting:

And here's E and I clipping our second family post (KE snuck off while we were relaxing and bagged a third post, but I'm saying that one doesn't count!):

(E did the actual clipping seconds before KE too this picture. I know it looks like I'm the one doing it here, but he did get to do it himself!) It was mostly fun, though E had a few hissy fits along the way, of course. 

Romanens rom

So I'm back from my conference and working out the kinks and jetlag from the trip. Other than the dancing, the conference was, well, kind of boring this time. I don't know what happened, but somehow I just never quite got into it. I did get a lot of positive feedback on my own paper, which was gratifying.

Right now, I'm desperately trying to pull together my MA-level literature seminar for the fall. I need to get the book order in asap, but there are still a lot of question marks. The course is NOR4410 "Samtidslitteratur" and the subtopic is "romanens rom." I'll have about seven novels that all use space/place in interesting ways. There are a few that I've already definitely decided to use:

1. Nikolaj Frobenius' Teori og praksis
2. Kari Hotakainen's Juoksuhaudantie [On the Homefront]
3. Dag Solstad's 16.07.41

Then there are a bunch that I'm toying with. I'm basically trying to limit it to the last 10 years, but there are a couple that are a little older than that.

1. Erlend Loe's L
2. Mikael Niemi's Populärmusik från Vittula
3. Hanne Ørstavik's Like sant som jeg er virkelig

And then, finally, there are some books that I've only heard of, but that might work really well.

1. Peter Törnqvist's Kioskvridning 140 grader
2. Mala Naveen's Desiland
3. John Erik Riley's Heimdal, California
4. Monika Fagerholm's Den amerikanska flickan 
5. Helle Helle's Ned til hunderne
6. Mette Moestrup's Jævnet med jorden

Crikey. I'm feeling overwhelmed and stressed out about making the choices. I think I have the primary theory book figured out, thanks to a conversation at SASS though: Ann-Marie Mai and Dan Ringgaard's edited volume of space/place theory, Sted.

No knitting to report. Or rather, there is, but I haven't taken any pictures and have too much work to catch up on this week to spend time blogging about it (or the rest of my Chicago trip)...

Fremmedgjøring

I've just been putting the finishing touches on packing for my trip to Chicago (almost forgot about my passport--yikes!). I have a very clever little change purse with separate sections for different currencies, and as I was scraping Euros and US coins and bills out of a drawer to take with me I was struck with the realization that American coins (quarters at least) looked strange and almost unfamiliar to me! For some reason (maybe the differing images for each state?), they look smaller and less distinctive to me. I've never had that happen before. American money is my money, but suddenly I was thinking "Hmm, where are all the colors and the holes in the coins?"

I think I'm going native...

Påsketur

I'm finding it hard to squeeze in blog posts these days. We went away for a few days to our neighbors' summer cabin on Hvaler, which was lovely. No photos, as I forgot to bring my camera. The weather was spectacular, as was the company, the food, and the setting. We took a day trip to Sweden, which was a disaster, though. E was really tired or something because he had a complete melt down that lasted for most of the trip. It was awful. He also ran out into a street from between two parked cars and was almost hit by a man on a bicycle. It was one of the worst moments of my life. Thankfully we got off with just the scare.

It was lovely to come home to an even greener yard. E had a buddy over to play today, and then this evening we got an SMS from his parents saying they'd just discovered that he has come down with chicken pox. Argh! Such bad luck, especially since I'm leaving for Chicago the day after tomorrow. We don't know yet whether the boy was infected at preschool or somewhere else. If it was preschool, then E should be coming down with it very soon. If not, we have a window of time.

My knitting is pretty uninspiring right now. I'm working on the cabled pullover, and still concerned that I chose too dark of a gray for it. I am also working on a project with some yarn that my friend L gave me last year. I found a pattern in Tine Solheim's book, Maskeball. It's not listed on Ravelry yet, but it's a short jacket with a ruffle, of all things. I'm almost done with it (huge needles) and am regretting that I didn't double the yarn. It would have been a firmer fabric, but since it's mohair there's virtually no chance of ripping it out and starting over.

Otherwise, I'm spending a lot of time looking into iPads. My trusty MacBookPro is on its last legs after six years of heavy daily use, and I am trying to figure out if I can downgrade and still meet most (though clearly not all) of my needs. Lots of research to be done. Don't be surprised, though, if I make a (calculated) impulse purchase in Chicago...

Motevisning

I actually have two sweater reveals today, plus an updated snapshot of one from last year. This wave of sweater pictures has more to do with the fact that I discovered a neat-o retro clothes hanger (and the thought that I could hook it over a rock in our yard) than anything else.

First up is the gray cowl vest:

I'm still planning on adding sleeves, but for now I think I'll get some use out of it over this new white tunic I bought. This lace weight silk-merino blend is just so exquisite, and still manages to be warm despite its gossamer feel.

Then today I finished the Francis Revisited in Noro Silk Garden:

It's a smidge tight on, but since there's silk in the blend I'm guessing that it will relax quite a bit once I start wearing it. In general I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out. It pretty much corresponds to what I had envisioned when I started the project.

Yesterday was a crazy day for me, with all those big deadlines looming: job application, US taxes, and a bunch of small publication stuff. I had decided I was definitely going to reward myself, and I have to admit that I went a little amok on my shopping spree. I bought a sweater's worth of yarn (Garnstudio Drops Alpaca in color 0506 dark gray), some new (cheap and practical) clothes, and a spring scarf, which happens to go with my blue Miss Honeychurch sweater from last year:

We're on Easter break here now, and then right after the holiday I head to the US to go to my beloved SASS conference. Can't wait: old grad school buddies, badly behaving senior colleagues, up-and-coming former students, fantastically supportive and nice senior colleagues, hilarious dancing, my dearest friends, what more could I ask? It will be a hoot to give my paper on The Troll Hunter as well.

Today was a really nice day. The sun shone, I did some cleaning, we went to the library and to the grocery store without incident, E got to visit a friend, KE got to go to a soccer game, and we all went out to Thai food afterward at our local restaurant. Now I'm just trying to stay awake long enough to watch an episode of Treme.