Just a Moment

 

Photo from Gratisography.com

I am not a morning person. I do my best work at night, after the kids have gone to bed. I have to get up early to get my kids to school, but I do it in a fog, and my kids know not to expect more from me than transportation. This morning, I dropped my seventh grader off at school, and as she walked away, noticed for the first time what she was wearing. Athletic shorts and cowboy boots, an outfit almost guaranteed to generate teasing, even at her liberal, be yourself, everyone’s a snowflake school.

Thingvellir

 

For centuries, Icelanders congregated here to administer all national government business. It’s hard to imagine anyone floating the kind of BS that fills the halls of democracy today in a space like this. But who knows, humans are often capable of more than I can imagine.

Recent Work

Photo from Gratisography.com

It’s not the most professional image to accompany a list of recent publications, but it beautifully illustrates the haphazard nature of late summer freelance work. You’ve got the tools, you’re getting the work done, but there’s a certain … something … that’s missing. After an intense spring, I backed way off this summer. I did a lot of camping, made it to a couple music festivals, caught up with some friends (and my kids!) who wondered where I’d been all spring. I made deadlines and maintained connections with key clients, but I didn’t pursue new work.”Taking it easy” doesn’t mean “taking time off,” though. Here’s what I published in late summer.

Strokkur

The first time I went to Iceland, I took a Golden Circle tour, as you do. The tour guide explained.

Old Geysir doesn’t go up anymore, but Strokkur erupts like clockwork.

 

Admit it. You laughed, too.

Cool as Sin

This one time I was in Reykjavik and Sin Fang was playing an unadvertised show in an art gallery to promote a friend’s artwork. The performance was good but the sound was shit and that night I stepped outside of my own life and got to be a cool insider, leaning on an art gallery wall with my wine in a plastic cup and criticizing the mix. It’s the sort of thing that only happens (to me, at least) when you travel.

Gamli Gaukurinn

 

The metal scene in Reykjavik is described as “small but active.” But the one random Saturday I was ever in the city (not for a music festival) there happened to be a small metal festival taking place to raise money for new gear at Gamli Gaukurinn. Active indeed.