on interviews and antiques and other random thoughts

maybe because i am myself now an antique of sorts, it feels entirely different to go to an interview today than it was when i got a part-time job at a gannett paper during college. i've just got so much more experience now. and a network that means something. i just speak about myself and my experience in an entirely different way. with authority, even. after all these years of feeling i was faking it (they actually taught us how to do that at the U of C), i actually know what i'm talking about now. that said, i feel really good about the interview, even if i don't get the job, it was a good conversation that gave me a lot of much-needed energy.

and afterward, i hit all the antique stores on ravnsborggade in nørrebro, which was wonderful and just what i needed to clear out yesterday's case of SAD. i never did ask the price of the old ship above, but we know how much i love ships, so i'm going to print out this picture and place it around the house with the address of the shop where i saw it, as a hint to husband. although we agreed not to do christmas presents, maybe he could make an exception since it's effectively recycling and doesn't represent the manufacture of new goods, which should fit nicely with his inner thomas friedman.

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a couple of notes regarding the danish news...lots of fuss over the death of jørn utzon, danish architect most famous for the sydney opera house. i find the fuss a bit much since he was never really accepted in denmark, which was why he had to go to sydney. it's always the way that when someone does well, they're suddenly accepted and loved and claimed by their homeland.

the other news of note in denmark is the collapse of something called IT Factory in a huge swindle by its director, who has absconded with 500 million danish kroner ($90 million USD) and disappeared without a trace. they've actually got interpol on the case. who knew they were real? there is much whining and expression of surprise, especially by the banks and investors who were involved, but i find it difficult to feel sorry for any of them. there are just so many people out there doing so many dodgy things these days, who can keep track?

and one more thing...on monday, the front page headline of berlingske, which is denmark's answer to the NYT, concerned the fact that danish actors have started to use agents. yes, i realize it's a small market and that perhaps it's business news that they weren't really using agents before, but seriously, is that worthy of the front page? aren't there people darfur being slaughtered or starved or something?

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and i leave you with a teaser...tomorrow, i'm going to have a meeting with two of my favorite people. they also happen to be two of the most creative people that i know. and hilarious. one of them was accused by three children in first class on a gulf air flight last year of being mr. bean, so that should give you some idea of the level of funny here. more stories about them tomorrow.

call me crazy

i was just reading what possessed me and i decided that my goal for the weekend is to get randomly called crazy lady in public, like P. did. i'm so envious. these are the things i aspire to.

i started actively working on it yesterday, albeit quietly, to myself, mostly in my own head. it happened when i was standing in the grocery store and i found myself putting a small can of fois gras in my basket, followed by an ordinary loaf of toast bread. with all kinds of conflicting hormones coursing through my body at the moment, i was simply unable to exercise any impulse control whatsoever. at least it was only a $14 can of fois gras and not those fabulous purple furry bumper boots they have down in the shoe store for $360. and say what you will about fois gras, it is the food of the gods. i don't care how they treat those mean old nasty geese, i say bring it on. preferably with a nice fig jam on the side. heavenly. and because i didn't eat it all yesterday, i get to have it for lunch today too. lucky wannabe crazy lady.

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my interview yesterday went very well, at least from my perspective. the job would be interesting (tho' i fear the pay is a bit low) and it's a company i know because i worked with them on projects in my previous job. i've always been impressed with how the people who work there seem to get along in a very real, genuine way and have a good creative atmosphere. that would be way cool. they were interviewing others, of course and will let me know next week whether i have a second interview. i'm pretty sure i will. oh, and did i mention that i actually did the whole interview in danish? pretty cool.  the only drawback would be little or no travel. that might make me very sad in the long run.

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in other evidence of craziness, i made an impulse stop in ikea yesterday on the way home from the interview. one just shouldn't do that. ikea is something one must psyche up for. you have to be mentally prepared when you go there. and you should also be hungry, because of the relentless (and vaguely evil) allure of the meatballs. it was so crowded in the cafeteria that i actually resisted the call yesterday. which was good because then i wouldn't have had room for the afternoon fois gras snack. 

typically, i took the entire tour, because i am utterly unable to resist the cultural pressure to follow those damn arrows. since we're finishing the writing house, that was ok, because there ARE a lot of good decorating ideas in ikea. but why couldn't i just skip to downstairs and get the boxes and fabric that i came for? seriously, i wasted like 45 minutes. why don't i value my own time more than that? and then i bought 12 meters of these cute fabrics:

i wonder what to do with them now...KIDDING. actually, i'm going to make a moderny (as in not grandma-agtig) quilt out of them. ever since i got heather's wonderful patchwork , i've been wanting to do a modern take on a quilt. so i'm going to make a top out of the three fabrics above and then back it with a big fleece which i also bought in ikea, sort of a fast-track quilt for use in the writing house. do you think if i leave the damn computer i can get it finished today? i might be able to if you dare me to try. i'm motivated by a challenge and not very self-motivated. so what do you say? can the crazy lady make a quilt in a day?

UPDATED:  see how far i've gotten?  

and although it's awfully cold out there, i used my writing house to lay out the strips! it's even farther than it looks above because it's all pinned together now. i just have to sew it all up. but first, a bath, because i got really cold out there! that fleece that's beside it will be the backing...it matches better than it looks like it does in this pic, i promise.

and by the way, here's what color it's going to be in the writing house when it's done...a gorgeous, rich, vibrant turquoise (it doesn't look as good in the pic as it does in reality):

moo moo and an interview

a big thank you and a big hug to everyone who left sweet comments and sent sweet emails about yesterday's post. i think that a big part of why i shared our sorrowful news is that i knew i would feel that rush of love and support from near and far.  you guys are awesome. i don't know what i did before i had all of you.

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today, i'm going to a interview for a real job. after doing the consulting thing for nearly a year, i'm ready to be an employee again. i need the structure of going to an office every day. and i especially need daily human interaction with other adults who are not my husband or the teachers at sabin's school or the grocery store checkout people (who are often not adults, if i think about it). and i need someone else to be responsible for calculating the VAT, that drives me mad.  i'm wearing my favorite gap dress (quite akin to the audit dress ), awesome wolford tights (which of their tights are not awesome, i ask you), my big-ass celebrate obama ring and the new chanel no. 5 eau premiére. so it can't possibly go wrong.

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last evening, after a 9:30 p.m. cup of licorice tea to soothe my throat, i was wide awake until well after midnight. but it was only partially the tea. it was largely because of moo cards. beautiful little mini calling cards with your best pictures on them. and you can actually upload 100 pictures at a time (which takes awhile, i can tell you) and get one card of each picture if you want! i went a little mad ordering sets of the Summer of Fun for the kids for christmas and then of course, some just for me. oh, and i downloaded the blurb booksmart software and started working on a book (or two)! tangobaby did both of these things long ago and has been encouraging me to do so for ages. i felt a little stupid for not knowing what moo cards were, so i never really got around to it. but now i have, big stylie! and i have to say that it was so much fun, i'm not sure what i was waiting for!

here's one of the pictures i used on a moo card, just as a teaser:

aren't they pretty? festive bottles of absolut, all dressed up for the holidays in the copenhagen airport.

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and one more thing to share before i go fix myself for the interview...i found a few minutes on tuesday afternoon to visit the wonderful norway designs in oslo, where i bought the coolest cards by darling clementine . i feel very inspired to make some gocco prints after seeing these cards.

ok, gotta run....