Småting

Just coming up for air after a major article revision that took me way too long to finish. Sometimes my work really flows, other times not at all. All my knitting has stalled, and I don't want to start yet another project for fear that will stall too. I did do a little easy knitting on the trip to New Mexico to use up my left over Noro Silk Garden, though:

I used up all the black that I cut out of the Noro raglan pullover that I made earlier this spring. There wasn't all that much, so the scarf is pretty short. And, as you can probably see, I have yet to darn in all the (many!) ends.
We've been having really muggy weather, alternating between sun and rain. The garden is blooming and cherries and berries are ripening. I love this time of the year. Unfortunately, E is still suffering from a lingering stomach virus, though today he seemed to perk up for the first time in over a week. I think he may be over the worst of it.

Otherwise, we're anxiously awaiting word on various job applications, and I'm engaging in big time escapist fantasy. Even though I love living here, I can't help but dream intensely of living some other life in some other place. Will that ever stop?

Oh, at work today I had an amusing little cultural exchange that reminded me that I'm an American in Norway. One of the administrators came to my office and said "Dette er ikke en purring men, jeg ville bare høre hvordan det går med den karakterbegrunnelsen..." (this is not a reminder, but I just wanted to hear how it's going with that grade report...). Hello, that totally IS a reminder! Norwegians are so indirect...

Fetisjobjekt

So the iPad I ordered back in May finally arrived yesterday, and I have been fussing around with it ever since. Yesterday evening I was a little frustrated and disappointed, mainly because of how difficult the on screen keyboard made the interface. But while we were in the US I purchased a Logitech Zaggmate wireless keyboard, which I decided to test out this morning. What a huge difference it makes! Suddenly using the iPad works like a dream. I'm a pretty writing-intensive user, and I really can't imagine using the iPad without it, after only a day.

So far I've purchased two apps: an enhanced ebook (Jack Kerouac's On the Road as it happens) and GoodReader, for PDF annotation. I have also downloaded a couple of free apps, like KindleReader, iBooks, the British Library Collection, StoryKit, and the demo version of a game called Drawn. Didn't find the game very engaging. The verdict is still out on the two ebook libraries. Not sure I'll do much with StoryKit either, but the British Library Collection is a fabulous resource for electronic versions of 19th century British books. For example, there are enough travelogues on Norway in it to make the start of a research project.

Lime

Just back from a short trip to the US to visit family. Very tired. But I did quite randomly just notice that my part of the hallway is shockingly color coordinated:

I know this looks staged, but it totally wasn't. When he was washing the floor KE hung up my fancy new Tom Bihn bag with the flap open for some reason.

USA

E and I are off to the US today for a quick trip to visit my dad, his wife, and to celebrate my Grannie's 95th birthday. I'm a little nervous, but excited for the trip.

I just got an email from my alma mater explaining that my favorite professor is retiring after having taught for 49 years. I think he almost single-handedly saved me from dropping out of college. He's such a great teacher...

Heklekant

Crochet sure is weirdly impressive. It really has the capacity to go just about any where, whereas knitting is much more controlled. I'm thinking about these differences because today is a holiday and so I took the opportunity to dig out one of my languishing projects and work on it a little on the patio in the sun this afternoon. It's the short jacket made out of the crazy variegated mohair yarn that a friend of mine in Eugene gave me last year. All the pieces were finished, so I sewed it together and started working on the crocheted ruffle edging:

Anyone who knows my tastes will know that I find this astoundingly ugly, but it's in fact so ugly that I might actually wear it (if I ever find the right thing to go with it, that is). I think the contrasting ruffle edging is either going to make or break it, but either way, it's amazing how much putting on even a little of the edging changes the look of the garment. Here's a close up:

This is crocheting three "dobbeltstaver" into each stitch of the first row of single crochet. The pattern calls for one more row (this time crocheting two into each stitch) to create the full ruffle. It's very easy and fun, really. I'm hooked (har har).

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.