The Terrifying Traffic if you're Ten

I had a very unexpected motivational experience today: Apparently I wont get my study loan unless I officially finish the last semester. This means I'll have to finish off my f#$%&ng Process Report. Money as motivation. Now that's something new for little me.

These news, however bad they seemed at first sight, produced enormous amounts of endorphin in my brain and led me skipping up the Nieuwe Binnenweg towards Rotown for a spot more suitable for hard core report writing (central heating, internet and beer, what more can you ask for?).

One the way I passed a little boy, maybe 6 or 7 years old, standing at a zebra crossing, looking frantically to right and left, waiting for the passing cars to stop. None of the cars even slowed down, so I touched his shoulders. "Kom maar", I said and gave him a little push.

After crossing the road I gave me a look of a mixture of gratitude and fear and ran away.

Cute.

Encounters at the hairdressers

...
i: so, yes, I want highlights.
a very strange woman from the Dominican Republic: highlights, this? (points to her pitch black hair which has something like 5 yellow highlights)
i: no, more subtle ones to make the root dissolve into the rest of the hair. I just want to look naturally blond.
avswftDR: yes yes nature blond.
i: ok?
avswftDR: yes yes, i make nature blond.

Very strange woman from the Dominican Republic mixes the haircolor.

avswftDR: root or all hairs?

i *wtf, wasn't I getting highlights? Ok, whatever*: only the root please


Very strange woman from the Dominican Republic dyes the whole hair


avswftDR: you want blowdry?
i: no thank you, doesn't really work with my hair. I'll be like a scarecrow
avswftDR: yes yes

Very strange woman from Dominican Republic blow dries Inga's hair. Very strange woman also brushes the curls and sprays it with a ton of hair lack. Inga becomes like Shirley Temple with her finger stuck in a power socket.

avswftDR: Is 75 Euro.
i: Erm, allright. *Hands avswftDR two 50 euro bills*
avswftDR: I have no more change. *gives Inga 22,50 euros back.*
i. Ehh... ok... thanks?
avswftDR: bye bye. Good day.

But still, the haircut aint that bad in the end:

Superlatives

My nail is falling of my middle finger on my left hand. It sucks and the new nail is the weirdest thing I've ever seen.

My Process Design has started and I don't have a client. I'm the laziest KaosPilot there ever was.

I sit and stare at my inbox, reloading every one and a half minute. I'm the saddest person in the universe.

I've watched way too many Grey's Anatomy episodes in the passing week. It's the most unreasonable thing I've ever watched. Still I am addicted.

And Teitur is the best fitting soundtrack that my life could have.

I truly believe that I was a pioneer:

http://www.mmedia.is/rafkris/inga.htm

Together we're never alone...

The Faroese government has decided to lend us 300 million Danish Kronas.

Somehow this feels like getting a lone from your 11 year old brother. Two years of his pocket money to pay your traffic fine of 15.000 ÍSK...

...annað meiri háttar skemmdir

I know it might be a bit hypocritical of myself, throwing stones in a house of glass like this, but this article here almost offends me. Not the article itself of course, and I feel sorry for the stakeholders of Gjögur Bridge, but if you are getting paid to write for the most read Icelandic newspaper, you certainly have to hold some kind of language standard. There are a couple of easily spotted declension mistakes, in addition to spelling mistakes, typos and just bad language in general.

Maybe the mbl.is should introduce some sort of proof-reading programme in their work?

Ik ben een blonde IJslandse meisje. Wat kan ik voor jíj doen?

Big, bold headlines with the word IJsland somewhere amongst other Dutch words are no longer to be found on front pages of newspapers. No longer are there articles, written by bitter owners of IceSave accounts, requesting that de blonde IJslandse meisjes, the blond Icelandic girls, work for the debts of the nation by baby-sitting, gardening or free prostitution (is that a value exchange?). But the news of our financial crash are nowhere near to be forgotten. Lectures of school give me the poor girl-look, wedding guests in Germany make jokes about the deceased economy of Iceland and Mahir from the Tyrkish Café on the ground floor of my flat just laughs, shakes his head and puts my money back in my bag when I insist on paying for my coffee. Then he brings me a beer and says: "Save your money, little girl. Don't worry, be happy!"

At least I'm not chased out of bag-shops on Strøget...

Don't matter...

When one has a dry blog spell it's hard to start again. So much has happened since last blog, I've moved in with Unnsteinn, the Icelandic economy crashed and a man got shot in front of school. But I wouldn't know which topic to choose, how to write, what to say. So I'll just post a photo of me and my new glasses.

Winter Fashion 2008

This surprisingly sunny summer made a severe interval in my blogging archives; one just doesn't get the urge to blog while at home with friends and family.

However, since my sports interested was awoken from it's 22 years of hibernation today when the handsome team of Icelandic male handball players took their Spanish colleagues to the bakery*, I've decided to continue my blogging career.

I think it'll be save to predict two following things:

• All handball teams in Iceland will be full with enthusiastic kids in the coming fall.
  
  
• The male hair-fashion will change dramatically, see following picture:

*To take to the bakery is an Icelandic expression which could be translated as to kick ass. So, the handball heroes kicked their ass; 36-30. Yeah!

Vert et blue...

I cannot help it. As much as my secretly stingy heart hurts when I pay my rent, which has jumped from 32.000 Icelandic Krónur to 45.000 Icelandic Krónur since I moved here due to currency changes, I just cannot hide my little grin when I read headlines like "10 years of affluence on a halt". For a decade now, and probably more, we, Icelanders, have been amongst the richest of richest. We've be able to afford grand cars, gigantic villas and meals consisting largely of pine nuts and truffles.
Don't get me wrong, there are of course some downsides to our sudden shrinkage of wallets. But I also think it is extremely healthy to the average ostentatious lifestyle of an Icelander. And not to forget the benefits of the environments. Instead of polluting LandRovers the nation is now digging through the clutter in the garage, locating the bicycle somewhere under the 3 almost-unused gas BBQ and the trampoline the children wanted last summer but are now tired of. Instead of buying the latest model of iPods every fortnight and throwing the old one away with all it's single-use plastic and aluminum the consumers take care and try to make things last a bit longer.

Sadly the nation is barely more green because of the longing to be green. They're just green 'cause they cannot be blue anymore. But at least the color is green...