the view (of kittens) from sunday night

my new job is just great - friendly colleagues, a good atmosphere and exciting tasks - really it's everything i could ask for. but, is it terrible that what i miss most about being away from home during the week is the cats? especially these adorable kittens. i spent my whole morning with them. they will never be cuter than they are right now, so i'm trying to enjoy every second of it.

of course, i also miss husband, but him, i can talk to and i do, sometimes even more than once a day. usually, to try to make sure he listens to the podcast of the day's korte radioavis, which is radio's answer to the daily show - current events satire at its finest. we have to discuss it every day.

i've tried to make husband put the cats on, so we can chat, but it just doesn't work. even tho' scout is a talker and i'm sure he'd talk to me if husband would just put him on. meanwhile, the kittens are growing up so fast and i'm missing it. i wonder if someone is making a smart phone for pets?

one nice thing about being away is that mail accumulates and there were a couple of packages waiting for me - my latest cathy cullis brooch and the scarf i ordered from skinny la minx months and months ago. i wonder where it was hanging out all this time? if only packages could talk.

i don't yet have a laptop, but as soon as it arrives, i will do a proper catch-up here. but now, it's time to pack for the journey back to copenhagen early tomorrow morning (thank odin for the time change). it's so good to be over there again.

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what is up with all of the talk of finding your passion today and what if it's crap?

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south dakota is better than you think.

a new chapter

tomorrow, a new chapter begins and i am so ready! copenhagen, here i come! the job has already started off right and i've not even officially started. we had a little getaway to oslo as a family here during the autumn holiday and it was a pretty awesome way to kick things off! it's so gorgeous sailing up through the oslo fjord and the seas were completely calm. very cool introduction to the product! and i can't wait to dig in tomorrow!

new beginnings are so exciting, i feel a bit like a kid on the first day of school. i have a new alice in wonderland themed moleskine to use for my work notes and when i get to work, a new phone and computer will be waiting for me. i feel the old familiar autumn excitement i used to get when a new semester of college was starting up. new clothes, new notebooks, the smell of leaves in the crisp autumn air. i can't wait!

mystery show t-shirt triggers awesomeness

i joined gimlet (hint: they make several of my favorite podcasts) a few months ago and i selected the mystery show t-shirt. it arrived the other day with this letter, which is a seriously awesome piece of content marketing. i wore the t-shirt for the first time when i was hosting a drink & draw and i knew that it was going to be an awesome day. i have yet to tweet it, but i'm saving the photo of me in for a day when i have made a really momentous decision. because some days are like that. and superstitions might be real.

and if you want to understand the logo on the t-shirt, listen to episode 3. and if you want to get the jake gyllenhaal reference, listen to episode 5. you won't regret it, i promise.

here's hoping your weekend is awesome.

lost dream tacos

their eyes are open now. for the most part. the little white one with an orange dot on his head is a bit behind, but he's ahead of the others size-wise, so he's clearly been spending his efforts in other ways. i pinched a nerve or got something out of place in my lower back yesterday, carrying our old B&O stereo. it's very painful and i couldn't get in to see the doctor today (it's the autumn holiday and they're short-staffed), but i can get in tomorrow. so today i've been resting and trying not to do too much bending or twisting or driving, since pushing in the clutch is especially painful. i had a dream that husband tried to drive across a wide body of water where there was no bridge, expecting his car to float. it made it most of the way and only began to sink at the end. then we scrambled ashore and lo and behold, there was this guy there making the most awesome mexican food ever. i was just eating the most delicious chicken taco with charred peppers on top when scout meowed outside the window and woke me up. i've been sad about it ever since and i just can't shake the taste and smell of that food. such a vivid dream. and what with losing that delicious taco and the pain in my back (it's radiating down my left leg in occasional waves), i'm not in the best mood ever. and it strikes me that if people want to hear from me more often, they could let me hear from them more often and not just lurk on facebook. communication is a two way street. this is disjointed, i realize, but waves of back pain will do that to you. and all the cute kittens in the world don't seem to make that better. especially in the face of lost dream tacos.

recovering (and grateful)

i am ever, ever, ever so grateful to good, creative friends who make me laugh and who let me vent and swear and then make me laugh some more. and who pour me a glass of wine when it's needed. and sometimes even when it's not. i am grateful for these days where i have time to devote to the last details for making our local creative workshop/library/culture house awesome. i am grateful to super creative people to collaborate with - like the person who made this dinosaur on which i was allowed to paint the final details. i am grateful to people who are large in the face of smallness. it makes the smallness matter so much less. and i am grateful for husband and how he helps me stay on an even keel. and i am grateful that my new job is just around the corner. and i am grateful for glorious autumn days and even those that are a bit blustery. and for purring lap cats and brand new kittens. and for the pear tree and the last of the tomatoes. for molly (the cat and my cat love friend in cape town). and for not being in a holding pattern anymore. and for proper mexican food and especially tortillas coming to denmark at last. and chairs that are not boring. and nordic light. and men who do dishes. and for being seen for who i am and what i have to offer. for the way that wounds heal. for doors closing and other ones opening. for husband. and sabin. and the security of home and belonging that enables me to fly. and new clothes. and good friends. so much to be grateful for, life feels like it's overflowing. and it's about time.

enough

i know i complain a lot, but sometimes groups of women can be awesome to one another. there's no energy like the positive energy that a group of women can create when they want to. when someone needs support or a shoulder to lean on or just an ear, we can be there for one another. we don't need to have all the answers, sometimes what it takes is just to listen. to be there. to allow someone to be heard. to offer support and a hug. or even just to fill the air with the positive vibes that only creativity can create. sometimes that's enough.

mass murders and other disappointments

i've been searching for words about the most recent school shooting in oregon. although i do have strong opinions about this topic (get the guns out of the hands of the maniacs and everyone else), there are so many (kristoff, bruni, blow) who have said it better than i. or just look at these sobering gun death statistics that good assembled. or did you know that there have been 994 mass shootings in 1004 days? and there, on a guardian graphic, were the words platte, south dakota and six red bodies to signify 6 lives ended by a mass murderer (who also happened to be their father/husband). what will it take for change to come? how many people have to die over a misinterpretation of the constitution?

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i'm hoping that when my new job begins (october 19, i'm counting down the days), that the daily nightmares i've been having about the jerk who did away with my job in lego will go away. i think they were brought on by seeing him a week or so ago and having him nearly refuse to shake my hand in front of a bunch of people. it apparently weighs heavily on my subconscious, as he's been making nightly rude appearances in my dreams. 

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i'm also looking forward to my new job because it means that i have a good excuse to step down from the increasingly problematic local board i'm on. i've worked hard for more than three years and now our wonderful new library/community space is up and running. i can make all of the things happen there that i am interested in making happen (salon evenings, creative workshops in a creative space, debate evenings, board game evenings, spoken word, pecha kucha, etc.) through the other board i'm on. it seems the one that "governs" the house is falling to pieces. the chair of it has been through a horrible personal crisis and instead of stepping aside, has become a control freak who wants all the credit and doesn't want to do any of the work. another member of questionable graphics talent pushed his idea for a logo through without considering other submitted contributions. and the muttering person who is obviously bitter for having lived the wrong life has decided that it's enough that we serve some stale, donated chips and cheap box wine at the big opening reception this upcoming thursday (this despite that we had a 10,000kr budget for food). i am no longer proud of the work being done by the group, so i will be stepping down from it. and it will be an enormous relief. and i am a bit grateful to them for feeding the characters for my novel.

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and speaking of that muttering deficit person, i noticed today that she had actually had the nerve to switch places in our creative workshop with someone who was on holiday, taking the better spot by the window and the better cupboard for herself. there is a chance she agreed it with that person, but it still seems really underhanded to do it while she was away. how can grown women behave like this?

teeny tiny birds

i spotted these charming little vintage hand-painted birds at a flea market the other day. the woman who sold them to me thought they were from india. each of them has its own little quirky personality. i was only going to buy a handful, but then the nice lady said i could take them all for 100kr. there are no two alike. so much fun to get a whole collection in one go. i'd love to know the story behind them. i tried googling, but didn't really find any info. i just found a few of them on etsy from someone who thinks they're german. i'm pretty sure they're not. what do you guys think?

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you want to have these people over to dinner.

charlie's latest masterpieces

our charlie outdid herself this time - having four gorgeous kittens! one looks so much like frieda, only she has white paws, then there's a little frankie tuxedo cat with white paws and lastly, two of her usual - white with spots of color (black and orange) on their heads. so sweet and wonderful! it makes us so happy to have kittens. and charlie's are always easy to find homes for. i'll admit i'm already scheming ways of keeping the little frieda look alike. i do love torties.

great spaces :: the library

it seems like people haven't really discovered all of the best spots in our new library yet (ok, it did only open on monday). that means that i have this long, beautiful table down at the end all to myself. right next to the outlet. with quasi-employee rights to make a pot of coffee (i'm here a lot, so i feel like one of the family), i can settle in to do a little writing and research on a couple of articles. the new library is in an old building - first it was a school, then it was the city hall and the library itself even used to be here. and now, after a major refurbishment, it's back again. and although i didn't know it in these surroundings before, i'll hazard a guess that it's better than ever. it's light, bright, fresh and there's not a boring chair in the house.