on having a relaxed attitude to alcohol

it's approaching midnight again and again, i'm sitting here at the computer. we're having a big party this weekend to celebrate husband's 50th (it was back in february, but we waited (perhaps in vain) for better weather) and all of the plans and preparations are whirling in my head. thank odin for pinterest. and for being a list-maker. i'm off to germany tomorrow to lay in supplies (read: alcohol). because what party is complete without cocktails and wine and beer and cider? and a bunch of good food. although our weather is iffy and potentially not cooperating, it's going to be an awesome party.

and the child will have a party the weekend after, to celebrate officially leaving folkeskole for good, so i'll also lay in supplies for that as well. and some of her friends are having a party this friday and they've gathered up their pennies (almost literally) and given me a list of what to buy for them. yes, i have become that person we used to seek out when we were underage back in the day - that person who was old enough to buy alcohol and willing to do so.

buying alcohol for teenagers, you say, frowning. and yes, i say, smiling. because here in denmark, we have a relaxed attitude about such things. better to provide the kids with low-alcohol cider and "shots" in a bottle that have about the same alcohol content as wine and to know what they're doing and let them do it in a safe, gently observed environment, than to make it something that's taboo and have them sneak around. and what we find is that they don't drink all those ciders, they drink plenty of sodas (because we buy those too) and they laugh and listen to music. in actual fact, they're pretty darn sensible about it all. and that's because it's considered normal and not something forbidden and exotic and therefore appealing.

and we're not the only parents that are relaxed like this. pretty much everyone i know is. and it makes me grateful to be raising my child in a place where common sense still prevails. and cheap cases of cider are available just across the border. kind of like back when i was in college in south dakota and the low-point alcohol drinking age was still 18 in minnesota...

100 happy days :: day 92

zoomed in, low light photo, but you get the idea.

there's an election on in denmark.

and lotte rod apparently selected her name from the porn name generator.

that seriously cracks me up.

i might be simple like that.

but that doesn't make it less hilarious.

scenes from sankt hans - a scandinavian midsummer celebration

a midsummer celebration with pagan, hedonistic roots. burning a witch, a ceremony that once meant something positive and strong and feminine, was turned negative and anti-woman by, you guessed it, christianity. we talked about taking it back as a precisely a positive, strong, feminine act. i will no longer hold myself back from the fire, for fear of being sent to bloksburg (where ever that may be). embrace the witch, i say. and the light. and the long, midsummer nights. even if there was as little bit of rain, it wasn't enough to douse our pagan fires. it's a couple of days after the solstice, but it must have originally been in celebration of that. and here we are, still embracing the light and the sense of ceremony.

picture perfect morning

it was such a beautiful morning, i drove a long and meandering way to work, since i didn't have any early meetings. there was fog, but it burned off quickly and it was a bright, light fog while it lasted. absolutely gorgeous. it just gave me so much energy that has carried me through the rest of my day to have taken a little extra time to stop and breathe in the fresh morning air, say hello to some lambs and capture the beauty with my camera.

now the afternoon is cloudy and rainy, but it doesn't matter a bit, because i got to enjoy the sunshine while it lasted.

happy weekend, one and all!

when the storm clouds lift

i have been a storm cloud all day. it's one of those days where everything just feels aggravating. it's not that anything exactly is wrong, it just that it feels frustrating and pointless. it's surely more a symptom of SAD more than PMS and the grey, grey day didn't help. it also didn't help that the car was making a strange rattling sound. 

but things are beginning to look up. that rattling was just a non-essential piece that had rusted itself loose. we've ordered a new one and i can drive it in the meantime. sabin's class is doing a nativity scene this evening and we'll eat æbleskiver and glögg. and then i got a sweet mail from a new friend who works at the farm where molly came from in minnesota. in it, she asked me what i love about living in denmark. and that really helped. because i wasn't feeling much in love with anything today.

so, things i currently love about denmark:

~ that knowing danish gives you at least some ability to understand swedish, norwegian, dutch and german. at least the written bits.

~ the daily show on only one day's delay.

~ that it's not that long 'til the solstice and the light begins to return.

~ great drama. 

~ that a new julekalendar starts on saturday. (that's a christmas program that airs a new episode every day 'til christmas).

~ that the danes think christmas is on the 24th. this normally bugs the hell out of me, but this time, i'm looking on it as hey, two christmas meals!

~ going to sabin's christmas program and laughing with some of the other parents.

~ P1 - denmark's answer to NPR, only even better.

~ ny nordisk mad (new nordic food).

so a big thank you to jessica for shining a little light of positivity on my afternoon. i really needed that.

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this is great - a lioness photographs her own poo with a canon dslr.

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BBC radio 4 podcast on øresundsbroen.

i love how the professor says that lund university was built to swedify (read: civilize) the danes.

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articles on the new feminism keep cropping up. this time, about crafting.

and tho' i think the writing is absolute crap in that piece, there are some interesting things to ponder.

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the l boards on pinterest: ladders, lego my lego, let's play (this is work-related), looks interesting (mostly stuff to read with the occasional film), lysthus (my coming backyard refuge).

pictures in my head

before i set foot in denmark, this is pretty much how i thought it would look. it took me almost 15 years, but along a little winding road less traveled that i took yesterday to avoid a bunch of road construction on the main road, i found it. the very picture that was in my head. crumbling straw roof on a half timber house. idyllic cows munching contentedly on their cuds. don't you love when that happens?

a voyage of discovery

"it is an adventure like a voyage of discovery that is filled with experiences and unknown dangers." - jane balsgaard

there are so many echoes of the sea in jane's work. delicate boats of all kinds whisper of voyages made and ones yet to be taken. and despite being a child of the prairie, i let the sea breezes they evoke wash over me.

fantastic creatures that seem to be of the sea are suspended in midair.

a captured breath of sea air adorns a wall.

brushes and sticks lie in wait.

vibrant colors show hints of the beauty that will come.

and handmade papers luxuriate on a le corbusier....

more of jane's work here.

under distant skies: the art of jane balsgaard

last weekend i visited the studio of artist jane balsgaard. she's one of six artists that have their studios in a lovely old building in frederiksværk. a trained painter and sculptor, she has been working for many years with natural materials - handmade paper, bendy willow that she grows herself - materials that she gently twists into graceful, lighter-than-air shapes that seem to float.  i was especially fascinated by her boats. she allowed me to wander her light, airy studio with my camera(s) in hand.

jane balsgaard talks about listening to the willow as she works with it and about the point where she often allows it to bend her artistic vision to its will rather than vice versa. i asked her about the pieces she was sending to an upcoming show in chicago and how they would withstand the journey. she said the pieces are surprisingly durable. one had blown away from her last winter and she didn't find it 'til the snow melted in the spring, surprisingly not worse for the wear.

light, delicate sculptures of beautiful unique handmade paper, twigs and delicate fishline fairly float around her studio. they have a way of capturing an enigmatic moment, freezing it momentarily, but releasing it at the same time. the sculptures are elusive in their lightness, yet dense with meaning that feels like it's right there, waiting to be snatched up.

these columns on the wall gave me the feeling that they could capture light and channel it. or choose not to, according to their whims.

there is a blend of nature and fancy in jane's work. the two curvy works in the middle of this photo seemed to be in motion tho' they were still. i had a notion that they were singing softly to themselves and that i would be able to hear their song if it were quiet enough. and i kept thinking that they moved just as i looked away. for structures so light, they are heavy with potential meanings.

 this fantastic organic shape, kalabasbåden, suspended on the ceiling was part of an exhibition at the himmerlands kunstmuseum on års in 2009.

there was so much to look at, i could have stayed for hours. here's a hint of some fascinating feathery works that i will save for another post.

i had the feeling that this beautiful boat was already there, lurking within the willow and jane just called it forth, coupling it with her light and beautiful handmade paper.

for those in the chicago area, you're in luck, you can see (and buy) jane balsgaard's beautiful work for yourself in person at SOFA nov. 5-7, 2010 at navy pier.  she also has gallery representation in the US at browngrotta.

jane balsgaard's beautiful works have me thinking about art and artists and the lifetime it takes to hone a craft. has art made you think this weekend?

we interrupt this interview thing for some pretty pictures

just a note up front to all who requested interview questions...i am still writing your questions and if you haven't received them (tho' it's been a week), they are still on their way. it's just that i'm writing specific questions for all who have asked for them and so i'm taking the time to catch up on your blogs before i write. so please be patient and know i haven't forgotten you...and i really appreciate the response to this. it's so cool that so many wanted to participate!

and now, back to the pretty pictures from my day at the viking harbor museum in bork havn, denmark. it's a little tiny town on the ringkøbing fjord, nearly on the west coast of denmark. i can tell you that i wanted to move in and i will definitely be going back in two weeks when they have a big viking festival with 300 folks from all over the nordic countries who go around every summer dressed as vikings (gotta get me one of those gigs, i tell you)....

hello viking man!

the tattoo i want is something along these lines.

tho' this would make a good tattoo.  a little smaller, of course.

a chapel that must be a replica from the period just after the vikings accepted christianity.
it was a very cool mix of pagan and christian.
not that most of christianity isn't that.

building through traditional methods.

next up, basket weaving classes...

this viking lady was dyeing cloth with flowers she'd just gathered in the adjacent field.
she used alum (sp?) as a mordant - it's apparently a natural mineral, which i like the sound of (sorry for the preposition).
she said those yellow flowers were going to make a lovely green.
because my memory is like a sieve, i can't remember what she called those flowers.

check out the "j"
this must be MY room.
there is, after all, a loom! 

a whole selection of naturally dyed fabrics and yarns.
heaven, i tell you.
and the fur-covered viking beds with embroidered curtains.
very inspiring.

of course, as a viking harbor, they had some viking ships.

and that's your little tour from the weekend. interviews resume tomorrow and i will be sending out questions all week! there are some great interviews coming up, so stay tuned!

it's so hard to be a kid

we had a party today with sabin's entire class. a chance for her to say goodbye and also the birthday party we didn't have back in january when the weather was bad. the kids are mostly 10, sabin is the youngest at 9. they're definitely 'tweens now - not teenagers yet and yet no longer kids. the dynamics are more and more marked and yet more and more subtle.

we divided them into three teams and put them through that painful moment of choosing teams (painful if you're the last one left). but even before that, the dynamics were in play. i've never really had a sense before of anyone being teased or bullied, but i saw moments of it today. one of them really surprised me, because if you look at the kids, the girl who seemed to be teased would have been the one you thought was coolest and most popular, the other one i wanted to bully a little bit myself. i had a very hard time keeping a straight face when a classmate said to him, "sorry to ask, but are you handicapped or something?" i had honestly been wondering the same thing as he repeatedly, almost obsessively, poked the fire with a stick after being asked not to by both me and his peers. it was like he went deaf a little bit.

i watched kids clown their way out of embarassing situations. i listened to the surprisingly astute observations they have. i was astonished by their humor and facility with sarcasm (they are little danish kids, after all). i was touched by their kindness to one another (it wasn't all bullying and even the bullying was mild). i wondered at their tears (my own child, whose expectations were so high, completely melted down at one point). but mostly, i was bowled over by their energy.

and grateful that i don't have to go through it all again. it's hard to be a kid. but it's joyful as well.

living in a windmill or a girl can dream

my desire to live in a windmill is growing. there's something so romantic about them. and the idea of living within that rounded space just appeals. think of the decorating possibilities alone. a round dining table. built-in couches with loads of pillows around the edges of a big room, walls lined with books. when we went to see the loom the other day, this beauty was right across the road. nobody lives in this one and you could drive your car under it, but isn't it just so romantic? especially since i antiqued it in lightroom.

it was quite lovely, even in the snow.

then, we saw this one over in jylland. these people clearly ARE living in it and it looks wonderful even tho' its windmill bit is gone. you'd still have that fabulous rounded shape and all those stories, winding ever upward to a little room at the top, designed just for writing.

and there's this one down on møn. it has some bits of its windmill left. and i just love the almost russian onion dome shape of the top of it.

but i could also be talked into a lighthouse.

only in denmark

i was just watching the new digital channel for children with sabin and they showed this video. it's a puppet who, after a hard day at the office, likes to wear women's underwear. it then comes out that his colleagues all do the same. this could never happen in the US without everyone on the channel being hauled away to the electric chair. but i could not stop laughing. and i simply had to share. don't ever say the danes don't have a healthy sense of humor.

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