overheard on the train

slightly autistic-seeming man to wife in serious need of a good shampoo:

wife going on and on about a friend and husband says, "i think you're tired of one another."

he then proceeds to ask how it was going with the friend's "economic ruin." no way to tell if that was a general comment or a money pit of a house.

then, suddenly, out of the blue, unrelated to anything in the conversation up to that point, wife says, "i think we have a CO2 friendly life."

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"so i had a talk with simon at the end of the day. he admitted it hadn't been a good first month in the IT support job, but said it was ok because he had decided to leave to pursue his passion...(long pause)...birdwatching."

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what have you overheard lately?

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originally posted on the julie project - april 29, 2009

against the sun

why is that they always tell you not to take pictures against the sun? i've been defying that every chance i get for awhile now and i have say that i totally disagree with it. i've had a lot of fun trying it and some good results. sometimes, with photography, you just have to experiment and break the rules. and sometimes, you just have to find a peaceful bench and unwind in the late afternoon sun.

you gotta check out the little honda rebel 450 my sister has for sale on eBay, not because i think you should get a motorcycle, tho' you are welcome to do that, but because of the very cool J.Peterman-esque way she wrote the description for it. she's so cool. she's also selling her flowbee and you gotta read the description of that one too. i sure wish she'd blog with me a little more often. that girl is funny.

have i mentioned that i love my job?

this is what's on my brain this week and why i'm not visiting all of you as much as i would like. instead of my usual late nights of surfing all the blogs i'm folllowing, i've been up late writing. for work! and it makes me so happy! i've had three days in a row of talking to inspiring people and i get to write up their inspiring stories of innovation and dynamic change.

and this place is so beautiful, that i just totally can't believe my luck life.

and today, after a morning of learning and enthusiasm and meeting new people who love what they do and are doing totally amazing, innovative things, i had a bit of time to drive a little ways down the coast and find the most beautiful little beach covered in these:

i can tell you that i am once again grateful that i'm gold, because that  bag isn't gonna be light.

i promise i will be by to visit soon, it's just gonna be a crazy couple of weeks. so please be patient with me!

she's at it again

remember the last time i came to oslo (i'm talking to all of my pre-BoN lovelies) how some moron apparently packed my suitcase, leaving out essential items like clean underwear and deodorant and footwear one could be seen in in public, but including things like knitting needles (when i don't even know how to knit) and three different kinds of perfume (that at least we understand)? well, apparently, she's been at work again...

1. she failed to pack my toothbrush, which i didn't discover until after the big-ass mall next door had closed and i was forced to brush my teeth with my finger and some toothpaste (which thankfully WAS in the makeup bag as usual--and i'd really like to know where my travel toothbrush is).
2. she ordered my tickets home for late friday afternoon, not realizing that friday is a HOLIDAY and therefore a day off in norway. and then, when i tried to change my ticket today, i discovered that on a holiday, norwegians apparently choose to flee norway via copenhagen, as there was NO WAY to move the flight up. not a flight to be had outta here tomorrow evening or friday morning, so i'll be the ONLY ONE IN NORWAY until 16:20 on friday.
3. that moron keeps insisting on speaking danish to clerks in shops (double lattes are allowed during austerity april) and waiters (so is dinner). this leads the norwegians to think that i have a prayer of understanding their response. which i don't.
4. she ordered a double latte after 4 p.m. this will not be good after restless swine-flu ridden sleep last night (coughing, couldn't breathe--ok, it might be the birch pollen, not the swine flu), but i need some beauty sleep!
5. she broke austerity april and impulse-purchased an album called little things (thinking perhaps it wouldn't count against the austerity april thing if it was just a little thing) by hanne hukkelberg . it's a bit weird (in a good, tori amos/regina spektor/marie frank kinda way) and although i think she's norwegian, she largely sings in english and swears in danish. which, on the whole, i like. and it was a nice price album at only 89.90NOK, which is close to free, so it didn't break austerity april THAT badly, or wouldn't have had she not also authorized the purchase of the new whitest boy alive. she apparently knows we like norwegian music.

lastly, she made me get a brownie with my coffee after 4 p.m., tho' arguably that might have been molly's fault.

overheard at the airport

waiting at the baggage carrousel. mid-twenties, very casually-dressed american girl speaking loudly to her asian-looking, yet equally american colleague, as if everyone around them couldn't understand english, just because it was norway.

loudly talking about how they would conduct an investigation the next day, playing a tape and trying to get the witnesses to identify an unnamed perpetrator.

"we've got to get the ID, but if they can't make the ID, it's not the right guy," she declared loudly in her flat, nasal r's. "the pic on the news is way more influencing than our 6-pack."

i pondered briefly what a 6-pack might be. and mused on why she seemed to be speaking of such a potentially confidential thing in such a loud voice. did she really think no one standing there understood english? or was it just more innocent than it seemed.

then, her bag came. a really giant duffel which she could barely lift off the carrousel. her colleague asked what i was thinking, "you got a body in there?"

"government buys me one size bag, i'm gonna use it." she responds, struggling to lift it onto a cart.

and then they left. i'm still wondering what a 6-pack is in this context. and if this has anything to do with those planes transporting terror suspects that have been spotted all over poland, macedonia and other places. i thought that business was over under the new and improved administration. hmmm...you never know what you're going to hear while waiting for your bags.

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originally published april 27, 2009 on the julie project