The Holidays come to an End

We are just finishing 2+ weeks of holiday social events. There were only two days that it was the three of us on our own - every other day or evening involved a brunch, lunch or dinner celebration of some kind. There were even several events we were too busy to attend. Not a spare moment to be homesick. We have been ice skating every day for the past three days and plan to continue as long as the ponds and lakes are frozen and there are places to skate. Tomorrow is back to early mornings and off to work and school. We have been sleeping unusually late for over two weeks. The three of us have been together without even a short break for over two weeks - no major upsets or breakdowns!

The Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek

One of our favorite excursions while in Copenhagen was the The Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek. I have just uploaded the pictures to Flickr.

The Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek (Glypto-, from the Greek root glyphein, to carve and theke, a storing-place) is an art museum in Copenhagen, Denmark. The collection is built around the personal collection of the son of the founder of the Carlsberg Breweries, Carl Jacobsen (1842-1914). The museum collections include classical Egyptian, Roman and Greek antiquities, Romanticist sculptures, and paintings, as well as Golden Age Danish art. The Etruscan collection is one of the most extensive outside Italy.

From Wikipedia

I need to start processing all the holiday pictures today. This week will be a time for reflection on 2008 and of planning for 2009. Right now I need to rest up from all the late nights and social events. It has been a marathon and it isn’t over yet.

The Christmas Newsletter

There is a holiday tradition in the USA of the Christmas Newsletter. I used to think it was quite cheesy, but over time I have found myself enjoying the ones we receive so much that I have reconsidered the form. Here is my take on it. Perhaps this will become an annual thing even after we return... I can’t commit. Again, please forgive the typos - I crank these things out in less than a day.

Special Holiday Edition of PB’s Newsy News (360kb pdf)

Notes from a very busy December

The past three weeks have sped by in a blur. The speed effect has to do with the amount of travel, obligations and deadlines that packed my schedule. It all started with midterm grant report deadlines on December 1 and then meetings, presentations and seminars at UiO and AHO on the 3rd and 4th. A restful Friday, then a Juleverksted* (Christmas workshop) with friends on Saturday and off to Volda to meet with Torill on Sunday. After two days of a seminar in Volda, I flew back and the next day attended the Nobel Peace Prize Ceremony. In between all these events, I received notice that a journal article I had written was being emailed for revisions and I had just over a week to turn it around. December 11th involved laundry, packing, gift wrapping and package mailing (to Virginia) before we left to take the Ship to Copenhagen. While in Copenhagen I got news that a conference proposal that I had submitted in late November had been accepted. We returned from Copenhagen Sunday, December 14th and I hit the ground running on article writing and final Christmas preparations. Done and Done. Phew! School is out and we are all three officially on holiday. The only thing left to do is the grocery shopping for the Christmas celebrations.

In the background of all this, B’s mom has been very ill and my mom has just had her 4th surgery on her hip. It’s going to be a strange holiday this year and we are planning as many social engagements as possible to keep from getting homesick and fretting too much.

*Juleverksted: any combination of making cookies, cards, presents, wrapping, or festive foods, etc.

Christmas in Copenhagen

Last weekend we took the boat (DFDS) to Copenhagen. Tivoli was dressed in a brightly lit Christmas market and the entire city was even more charming than in the summer. One of my favorite excursions was the Glypotek - I’ll try to post the Glypotek pictures tomorrow. I finally bought another cable for my camera so that I could download pictures so I have a bit of a backlog...

The Peace Prize Ceremony

Nobel Peace Prize Celebrations

I have uploaded my few decent shots to Flickr from the ceremony yesterday, but I don’t have time to describe the event right now. We’re off to København (Copenhagen) this afternoon and I have presents to wrap & ship to Virginia and packing... I will have much to tell when we return Sunday - it has been a very busy and productive time lately.

The Ferry Life

The kiosk on the ferry from Nesoddtangen to Oslo.

Pilgrim at Bottle Creek

We ran a couple of errands yesterday and went by the library to check out some movies for the weekend. There is a free bookshelf outside the main entrance to the library and we always scan the shelves before we leave. Bjørn spotted an old treasure, Pilgrim at Tinker Creek. It seemed serendipitous to me, so I took it.

I don’t often re-read books, so revisiting Tinker Creek has been a delightful reawakening of thoughts and senses long left to atrophy. My 47 year-old artist self is reconnecting with my 22 year-old artist self. A difference of 25 years. A quarter of a century. This was one of those books that you were expected to read as an artist of that period and most definitely required if you were an art student.

I have only gotten as far as the first couple of chapters and already my sense of sight is renewed. I see everything differently – finer grained, more in focus, macro and micro. My perspective is once again altered. Everything seems more precious and fragile and fleeting than even a day ago. How amazing that a few pages of text can do that to me. The language is rich with complexity and imagery. It is no wonder that it won a Pulitzer.

The content of the book seems so much more urgent and important as we witness scientific discussions about climate change and attempt to do our own small part to help. It also seems prescient when so many of us have given over our lives to devices and hardly take time to gaze beyond the screen. The Tinker Creek kind of detailed concentration and focus of observation is impossible when the cell phone is ringing. Perhaps it is even impossible simply with the device in your pocket – a sliver of consciousness and concentration always diverted.

To be continued…

Annie Dillard (official site)

Tinker Creek images on Google

PB’s Bottle Creek

All the news that’s fit to PDF

PB’s Newsy News (300kb pdf)

I’ve been a bit delinquent on the words about life in Norway to go along with the pictures of life in Norway, so I cranked out this newsletter for friends and family today and sent it off by email, so please be forgiving of typos and bad grammar.

A Spoof Too Good Not To Post

The New York Times - Breaking News, World News & Multimedia

The Invitation

Data forensics [in the landscape]

For the next three days I will be here:

Data forensics [in the landscape]

A practical workshop with Martin Howse and Julian Oliver.

With an emphasis on the active construction of hardware and software apparatus, the Data forensics workshop will apply practical tools, techniques and theory to analyse [un]intentional data emissions within the city of Oslo.

Happy Happy Day

Need I say more? How shall we celebrate today?

Self Portrait in the City (Oslo)

Self Portrait in the City (Oslo), originally uploaded by PB Hastings.

har det bra...

I am so sad over this news.