Blog

A few days ago EPI decided to surprise me by bringing home a DVD about Joni Mitchell. This because, although I no longer speak in Joni lyrics on a daily basis (as I used to) I still think she’s one of the greatest artists to ever walk this earth. And YT is not someone...

As expected, today we have resignations en masse among teachers. Daily activity in the schools is still in utter chaos, with some teachers showing up, others not, and those who did show up reportedly feeling like crap because they’re betraying their colleagues. Plus...

Well. AAH trotted off to school this morning in the winter darkness like a trouper, only to return 45 minutes later because none of the teachers in her school had shown up for work. In Reykjavík, 80-85% of teachers stayed home to demonstrate their pissed-offness at...

Happy to announce that I’ve bounced back from my people-weary state thanks to a good night’s sleep and a long leisurely breakfast with the family. Phew! People-weary is not a good way to travel through life. Being one of those SAD* things. EPI and I cosied up in our...

Today I went to view a garret room I was thinking of renting, to enable me to write my rants without the inevitable distraction of Overflowing Laundry Basket or Dishwasher Screaming to be Emptied. It was all very bohemian and small, but the downside is that it would...

Yikes! The first proper snowfall of the season – and were Icelanders prepared? Heck, no. Going for a short spin last night was like a throwback to my Toronto days, when five snowflakes falling caused massive delays and pile-ups on the expressway. The traffic...

“So tired ... of always being sick and tired...” la la lalala... There was a time in the not-so recent past when you could not go anywhere without hearing that song playing, which in was sort of OK because it’s not bad as pop songs go. Except maybe when you’ve heard...

One by one Iceland’s oil company bosses come crashing down from their pedestals like the infamous statue of Saddam Hussein. By dinnertime yesterday I’d lost count of how many had resigned from this board or that board, or severed ties with this company or that. Am...

Iceland’s teachers – those faithful public servants whom we entrust with the education of our children – are back to the drawing board. The strike resumed at midnight when it became clear that they had rejected the mediation proposal and there was nothing new in the...

Well, Esso has come forward with a public apology presented in a full-page advert in today’s Morgunblaðið. Call me a cynic if you will (if you shall if you must…) but I’m slightly nauseated by the shameless manipulation of the thing. What we have is a large photograph...

Still crouched in the corner. This is so very rudimentary and charming, like the being-online version of the Russian chandelier*. Nothing like a little return to basics to break up the complacency and make one appreciate one's creature comforts. Started by taking...