Ceci n'est pas un blog

OK, I didn't plan to take so much time off from blogging but, well, work and laziness and my utter lack of routine have conspired to keep me away. My job responsibilities have been expanding and the challenges along with them but it's all good and my team are amusing and excellent folks.

Spring has transitioned into Summer. Tulips have given way to pansies and the lush parks have become filled with hordes of bikini'd sunbathers and groups of friends grilling and playing Kubb in the park. I learned that the higher the magpies nest, the sooner Winter will end the more mild Summer will be. We had one week of high temperatures that broke 90 one day. Without a/c this seemed horrible but before we could stage a protest, Summer returned to sanity and temperatures in the 70s. I don't miss Summer in Texas. At all.

It's wonderful to be in a country that takes May Day (Labor Day) seriously. I didn't have to explain the importance of the labor movement to anyone Interestingly, there are at least two Unions here for high tech workers. We had a lovely brunch with friends complete with a custom, slightly tongue in cheek, soundtrack of the Internationale and Cuban anti-American songs. We were the only non-Norwegians there and it was a lot of fun having waffles, brown cheese, and savory treats. H played with a young boy, each of them patiently explaning in their own language what they wanted the other one to do. I also had some fun putting together a fun-things-to-do-in-Texas list for a young radical communist from work who went to the States for his holiday.

Also in May is the National Day, see Fjordward for pics, which we really enjoyed. It was surprisingly easy to get down to the Palace, wave at the royals, and see all the people in their traditional Bunad and suits. In most countries they parade their tanks and military might on their national day but Norway parades their children. It's really lovely. Fortunately the weather held and we had a very good time.

We had a bit of a shock recently. After signing a 3 year lease, our landlords asked for their apartment back. Their business surpringly relocated them back to Oslo from Stockholm. But, again, see Fjordward for pics, we were able to find a great place to move to. It's a short lease and more expensive but the place is perfect "us". And the owners are so nice, with two small kids of their own. The first time we met them, the lady of the house was wearing Che Guevarra socks and taught H to say "heart" in Norwegian. Coincidentally, our Bohemian neighbor, whom we adore, just moved after 8 years in various apartments in our current building.

The other day we noticed that Seamus was chewing his side raw. After a bit of research we found out that there is a drop-in clinic at the veterinary school not even half a kilometer away. It's a beautiful school, very old and ivy-league looking with old buildings and large lawns. It turned out to be nothing serious but he did have to wear the cone of shame for a week. And of you think a gigantic 145 pound dog gets attention, stick a satellite dish around his neck. People constantly would come over to gawk and offer their commiserations. Small dogs just bark and hide behind their owners.

We took H to see Swan Lake at the old Opera House, a 1950s building inside a mall downtown. H was great. She really engaged the plot, which we had told her many times and had seen on TV. So she knew all about the evil magician and the prince and the bad princess. Of course, being 4, she also would blurt out random observations like, "they're wearing tights" and "four swans holding hands". But she would also say things like, "he sat next to the Queen! that's bad!" She really liked it. During the intermission she was able to have a bit of chocolate cake and expend some energy playing, making the second half easy. We left before the final confrontation, which was great because the evil black swan is really the highlight and we saw that. So now we have a princess ballerina who still turns into WonderWoman to battle dragons.

Today is Father's Day. I am full of waffles and coffee. The sun which seems never to set these days (we have over 20 hours of sunlight that begins spilling into the living room and pooling on the floor arounf 3:30 in the morning) is hidden behind the rainy day clouds. I got two Murakami books from H for the day, maybe I'll start them during her nap after we walk the puppies and jump in puddles.

Note that there are some new pics posted over at Fjordward.

Last weekend we went to see the Richard Prince retrospective at the modern art museum. What a let down. Prince is an "appropriation artist" (his words). He made his name photographing portions of exisisting advertising photos, such as of the Marlboro man and blowing them up. He has a series where he photographed de Kooning's images of women and then painted over them adding only a bit of collage and child-like paint dabs over top of it. A series joke paintings with simple bawdy jokes stenciled onto canvas, sometimes over hundreds of cancelled checks that are mostly painted over, are incredibly popular. Recently one sold for $700,000 and was listed alongside a Rothko.

In talking about it afterward, S and I agreed that his work lacks several elements that we consider important in fine art: first that it has the power to impact the viewer emotionally or intellectually ideally being transformative in some way, and secondly, that it demonstrate a certain level of craft (or deviation from established technique). Most of Prince's work failed on both counts and all of it failed on at least one.

The interview film they had running in the reading room only served to re-inforce our impression, he came across as basically intellectually and technically lazy with the financial freedom to be the 15 year old boy all the time.

What was interesing was H's reaction to some of the permanent collection, she was completely unfazed by Damien Hirst "Mother and Child" which is made from an actual cow and calf sliced in half and floated in formaldehyde. She liked the garish gold and porcelaine oons statue of Michael Jackson with Bubbles, and seemed bored by the Prince retrospective. I thin she would like an interactive science museum where she could touch the exhibits or interact with them in some way.

I was very pleased to see many children under 5 at a museum which features so much nominally controversial pieces in it's permanent collection.

H and I play a game where we interview each other with a tinker toy or paper towel roll:
"What was your favorite part about the museum?", I ask
"I like the lady with the monkey and the butterflies and playing in the snow and the everything."
<taking the 'microphone' from me>
"Daddy, Daddy, Daddy. What did you like? What's your favorite? Why are you called 'Daddy'?"

Later we went to the mall and bought a little red sled, which was wonderful for us, since a stroller is pointless in the snow, and H has enjoyed sliding down (small) slopes in the park and dragging her hands along side her as she's pulled along. When we were playing with her in the drained and now snow-filled pond, a couple with two young kids came by to let the children interact with the dogs. It was very cute, I think they'd never pet the belly of such fluffy beasts before.

We didn't make it down to see the "surprise" gift for the King's birthday. It was to start at 11pm and we were exhausted from our day of park play.
"I'm eggshausted. My head and body and legs and feet."
It turned out to be a massive firework display set off right in front of the palace. While spectacular, I bet he liked the statue of his mother, unveiled earlier in the day, a bit better. The town has been filled with visiting Euro royals paying their respects on the King's 70th.

On a completely different note, the house sale is progressing. After months of waiting with no traction, then one one offer in hand, we suddenly got 3 more offers in one day. Bizarre. So now we are in a better position and hope to cast off the yoke of double-housing payments next month. Hopefully this will allow us to finish out our apartment with little things like a table and bookshelves.

Snow
H loves the snow. She stops every few feet to throw herself down or make snowballs to throw at me. She makes snow angels and then tramples them trying to get up and see what she has made.

We went shopping the day the snow came in sideways. We tried to push the stroller through the rising drifts and keep the wind and wet sticky snow out of our eyes. It was beautiful but difficult. We had tea and watched it snowing, coming down in lateral gusts, laying down a bright quiet blanket.

The next day was like a festival in the park. Children with every sort of sledding device imaginable gathered along all the high paths to come screaming down to their chatting parents. It was on this day that I met the New Yorker with the Newfoundland named Kelvin, one of a small handful of dogs larger than ours. When Tosca and Seamus wrestled, Kelvin would let out a thunderous bark clearly trying to say, "guys, don't play so rough, knoock it off".

The dogs love snow. A lot. They leap and bound and eat it and wrestle and generally exhibit more energy than at any other time. Tosca in particular can go into an atavistic celebration of her inner wolf, leaping upon her larger companion and rolling Seamus into a snow bank.

On one post-snow day there were at least 9 strollers or prams in from of a nearby bakery cafe. Our neighborhood is full of children and dogs. The kids in our building made snow forts almost a meter high somplete with flags for their back yard snow ball fights. The concrete futball pitch down the block has been cleared of snow and flooded to make an ice rink for people who don't need rails and have their own skates.

Fram
We went to see the Fram. This is the ship used by the polar explorer Nansen in his attempt on the North Pole and then later borrowed by Amundsen for his Antarctic expedition. Nansen is one of those superheroic men whose survival abilities and knowledge and drive are so far beyond anyone you will ever meet that they seem to be a different species. Knowing they could not break through te ice, Nansen designed the ship specifically to survive getting stuck in the ice and then planned to let the natural drift carry them close enough to the pole that they could ski in. It was quite fasinating but it definitely helps to have done a bit of homework before going.

We also went to the maritime museum next door. My wife has a bit of a fetish for shipping disasters. It was mostly a dingy building filled with aging models of freighters, the carpets threadbare and it's organization not entirely clear. They had a pleasant film showing footage from the lemgth of the Norwegian country side on a wrap around screen but even this felt a tad dated and designed more by the tourism board than a maritime curator.

The Fram and many other museums are out on Bygdøy, a rural/suburban peninsula connected to Oslo right near downtown. There are large open fields, horses, many many many museums, residential neighborhoods with a village feel, and some unspoiled forest just a few bus stops from city center. Our trip was affected by the absolute pouring rain that caught us on our way back (this was before the winter wonderland weather arrived.

Being Social
We aren't always very good at being social. But the wee miss H needs other kids and so I got involved in the office Jultrefest planning. This is a sort of post Christmas party that culminates in singing songs around the tree and calling for Santa who shows up (looking remarkably like the CEO wearing a white beard) to deliver small gifts. We had a good time and met a bunch of other parents at the office and H chased around a little girl named Ruby.

Since then, S and H have been in touch with Ruby and her mom and been to åpen barnehage (like a drop-in pre-K where a parent stays the whole time) for a play date. Ruby's mother, being an American emigre, has also been super helpful with advice. She's a former Montessori teacher who has done a metric tonne of research into all the various child care / education options.

Work
Interesting turn at work, my team and responsibilities more than doubled this week. At the moment, I think I will really like having the visibility into these additional projects and locations (a couple of the folks are based in the Linköping office in Sweden). It happened very quickly; perhaps 4 work days between "here's a possibility" and "it's a done deal".

Devon
Yay. Our books and art and few small pieces of furniture have arrived in Norway. Still at the docks, they should be delivered on Monday. We did have a bit of a scare though when we turned on the news and saw footage of a cargo ship listing heavily, containers being spilled into the sea. Containers exactly like the one holding our stuff and not unrealistically far. We spent 5 concerned minutes confirming that this particular ship was not on any route tat could affect us. However, a woman in Stockholm who is relocating to South Africa saw looters on the Devon coast "salvaging" her belongings from a container that had washed ashore.

Blog
Sorry for the long break between posts. It happens that way sometimes.

Had a big walking day today.

Went to the Albin Upp gallery that had been recommended but found it to be a little disappointing. The bulk of the space was a one-woman show and her work was so inspired by Picasso that it almost seemed like an assignment. I just didn't connect to it and the cafe there is supposed to be quite good but I felt scruffy and took a pass.

If there was a theme to the day it was Big Dogs. I saw them everywhere.

I went on walked to Frogner/Vigeland parkvia the antique market in Marjorstuen. Most of the vendors had already broken down their stands and were packing up. One lady was playing fetch with her beautifully trained black dog that looked exactly like our friends' dog Leo in negative but young and black and a little less chunky.

Frogner park is huge, the bulk of it is taken up by a section that had been given over to one sculptor who designed and created an amazing space full of dynamic statues in stone and bronze. Obviously this is popular with the tourists and there were groups of Germans and Japanese moving in tightly packed clusters. But this is also a great park for kids and dogs and both were out in abundance today. I bought a fresh hot waffle with jam and watched little scenes unfold: a tiny girl riding her bike for the first time, a young Japanese man approaching strangers to take his picture, a woman walking, not alone, but waiting for someone.

There was a family with three big Swissy dogs in the park and a man whose working model bi-plane drew lots of attention. I had never walked through the park to the Skoyen side until today and there by the school, on the edge of the park, was a permanent dog agility course. How cool.

I made the long trek over to the harbor and learned that all the ferries and sightseeing cruises are suspended until April on account of winter coming. It was the first visible sign that winter is to be taken seriously other than the constant conversation about the darkness, which honestly I haven't found to be a problem yet but I suppose it's still early days.

As I was out and about, I also went over to where they are building the new Opera house to see how it looks compared to the renderings and to get a sense of the scale. There are some pictures in my Oslo photo album (bear in mind, of course, that the structure is still very much under construction).

It's definitely more impressive in person but I still don't think it will become a symbol for the city the way Sydney's has. On top of everything else, it's not in the most photogenic spot and it's hard to get to. It's right by a highway with office buildings and a big hotel behind it rather than the iconic historic buildings a couple miles away. Coming from the main part of the harbor, I had to cross over the highway on a bridge with metal mesh walkway. I found it somewhat disconcerting to see the cars passing below me.

Tomorrow I'd love to hit the docks and pick up some fresh shrimp but we'll have to see if I can get up early enough. If not, I'll head north and check out the neighborhood where we expect to live. It's called Sagene (Sah-gen-uh) and I don't know too much about it except that people say it's nice and it's about a 20 minute walk along the river that runs by the office.

Every Saturday there is an open air antique market in the Majorstuen/Frogner area near the big park. I've been to the flea market in Grünerløkka, the more Bohemian part of town, and was interested to see how this would differ as it's in a fairly posh area near the equivalent of 5th Ave.

In some ways, there was very little difference. They both basically sell used items and much of it is very nice but not in the quantities and quality you would find in an upscale market. One had more immigrants selling and more old records and lamps from the 60s while the other had more incomplete sets of crystal and several sets of nice old gloves. But basically they are both fun flea markets with potential goodies for our new flat, wherever that may be.

But today's did have one advantage, hot waffles. A family had pulled in their pop-up trailer and was selling hot waffles with jam or nutella and coffee. Shoppers were drawn by the steam rising from the fresh pastry and the smell. The owner smoked and chatted with a customer as she busied herself, unhurriedly, with cleaning the wafle-irons. Some picnic tables had been set up and several folks sat quietly with their hot waffles rolled into a cone and filled with jam.

From there I walked the very busy main shopping avenue back toward St. Hanshaugen where I had another apartment viewing lined up. Bogstadveien, the 5th Avenue of Oslo, was packed with people in boots and scarves carrying bags of new clothes and looking, mostly, fashionable or young or sometimes both. Several people were walking their dogs, mostly small ones (the dogs), but also a really cute black and silver Huskie father and son.

After a very nice visit with the young couple who own the apartment (they were the sort of well travelled, pretty, and highly educated young people that only exist in movies) I headed home for an impromptu dinner of fishcakes (hey, it's Norway) and remembered that I wanted to share this sign from outside the office. Cracks me up.

I also had another coup today, my first transaction where a clerk didn't imediately switch to English when I spoke. I ordered something like "to vårroll kylling" and he confirmed that I wanted 2 and told me the total and counted back my change all in Norwegian. I should mention that kylling (chicken) is incredibly difficult to pronounce because 'ky' has a bizare and uniquely Norwegian pronounciation. Imagine trying to make a 'k' noise while saying 'shh'. Not 'shkilling'. You have to do the 'sh' and the 'k' together. Anyway, I got my two piping hot chicken egg rolls.

Even better in the language aquisition department is our little miss H who had lined up all her coins and was counting them, correctly, in Spanish. She's never had a Spanish class and must have picked it up from Dora-the-incredibly-loud-and-annoying-Explorah. Either that or she's been watching telenovelas on Univision when we aren't watching. Having been praised for this she calls counting coins the "uno dos tres game".