When Bumbershoot was for families, before they started charging full price for children over five, I introduced my kids to a lot of good music.
Monthly Archives: February 2016
Cell Phones in Iceland
When I travel internationally, I always buy a local SIM card (unless it’s a very short trip). Even when I’ve had cell phones with international calling plans, the roaming or international data charges were much more expensive than just getting a local card. I wrote a little bit about this when I went to China last year, but of course most of my international travel in recent years has been to Iceland. So of course I was very happy when I Heart Reykjavik saved me the trouble of writing up a post about buying Icelandic SIM cards. She’s pretty much covered everything.
The only thing I would add is that while Siminn is usually the best company, I had a terrible connection when I went to the Eistnaflug festival in the Eastfjords. I ended up switching to Nova, which for some reason seemed to work better in that region.
So, if you’re traveling to Iceland and trying to decide what to do about your phone, read this:
Why You Should Consider Buying An Icelandic SIM Card For Your Trip To Iceland
Corner Office
Me, I work at my kitchen table and look out at my neighbor’s deck. But I suppose this would work for some people.
A Martial Arts Tea Party
My daughter turned seven in December, and of course, she wanted a party. She didn’t want too many people; she’s a fairly quiet, shy girl of the fairy princess variety and the thought of inviting the whole class was as overwhelming to her as to us. So a tea party seemed just the thing. We called a local tea house famed for offering its guests tiaras and discovered our imaginations stretched further than our budget. My requirement that the whole house be clean before we host a party at home was met with a declaration to call the whole thing off. Then we thought of the dojo. My husband teaches at a martial arts school mere blocks from the tea house; the birthday girl was taking her yellow belt test days before the party, and The Princess in Black is her favorite book. Thus was born the Princess in Black Martial Arts Tea Party. Continue reading
Gojira Reflected
Gojira is one of my favorite bands. I’ve seen the band twice now, and hope to see many more. I’ve only seen about half a dozen of the Gojira movies for which they are named, but I’ll get around to the rest eventually.
I love the band’s name because it is so apt. On the surface, a giant monster mindlessly stomping everything. On reflection, a statement on humanity’s self-destructive tendency to separate itself from the natural world. Here, Gojira is flattening a Seattle audience at Studio 7 in 2013 rather than atomic-era Tokyo. But the image quality is just as bad.
What’s your favorite Gojira movie? Favorite Gojira album?
Elsewhere on the Web
January was a bit of a slow month, since I spent most of December visiting family and entertaining kids over the holiday vacation instead of pitching new stories. But I wrote a few things that showed up on the internet, and if you’re interested, here they are. Continue reading
2015 Reading Challenge
Last year I set a reading challenge on Goodreads. I think it was for 35 books, but I hit the goal in September and raised the bar to 50.
Not to fifty!
I read a lot of middle grade and romance books, which tend to be short, so it inflates my count. At the end of the year, Goodreads made this cute little report on my reading habits that I thought would be fun to share here on the blog. After a bit of futzing around, I’ve given up on trying to keep the cute formatting. Sorry about that. I tried to make up for it by inserting links to related blog posts. Anyway, here’s what I read last year.
TOTALS
53
books
14,920
pages
SHORTEST BOOK
32 pages
Snow White Stories Around the Wo…
MOST POPULAR
4,144,142 people also read
The Hunger Games
LEAST POPULAR
2 people also read
Fashion Manifesto: The Guide for…
MY AVERAGE RATING FOR 2015
HIGHEST RATED ON GOODREADS
The Gang of Four: Four Leaders, Four Communities, One Friendship
4.50 average
You read 53 out of 50 books.
106%
Devin Townsend
Devin Townsend at Studio Seven in Seattle, January 2013. Alas, the blurry black spot at the right of the image was the best image of a mosh pit stuffie I got.
An Evening with…
It’s probably a little out of character for me that I rarely attend authorial events. I’m not sure why I buy plane tickets and concert tickets but never buy speaker tickets, but there it is. And I’m discovering that it’s an unfortunate habit, because this winter I have twice been the grateful recipient of speaker tickets from thoughtful friends. Continue reading
Seattle Opera Frost Fest
c/o Seattle Opera
Most of my paid writing covers the intersection between the arts and family life, and I am in the middle of crafting a pitch on introducing kids to opera, so Seattle Opera’s Frost Fest on February 6 is right in the center of my wheelhouse. Unfortunately, that day I have appointments and activities scheduled from 10 am to 10 pm, and I’m double booked for a big chunk of that time. Maybe some of you can take my place and tell me how it goes?
Details after the fold. Continue reading
gemma D. alexander 