Vi ses Californien

Photo courtesy of Thor.

Kære Californien,

Jeg har været her hos dig i næsten en måned, men nu skal jeg tilbage til mit andet hjem i Danmark. Jeg savner dig allerede, og haber at vi ses igen snarest muligt.

(Dear California, I have been here with you for almost a month, but now I'm going back to my other home in Denmark. I miss you already, and hope that we will meet again as soon as possible.)

Birthday 43 things

At the request of the delightful daphnewood, I have compiled a list of the 43 things I would like to do before I die. It was not easy - in fact all the odd moments in the day, in between visits to various relatives, were spent (with helpful suggestions provided by him and him)trying to think of things that I really feel I must do in my life. Perhaps I was taking it all a bit too seriously because I am now the ripe old age of 37, and should get a bit more of a move on. Though they do say that life begins at 40. And I am the patron goddess of procrastination. So, without further ado, before I die, I would like to...

1) learn the words to the Danish version of 'Happy Birthday' (there are several verses.)
2/3) get my Portuguese back to where it was while still continuing to improve my Danish.
4/5/6) visit all the continents...at this point, this means South America, Antarctica, and Africa (I was in Morocco, but for less than a day, so it doesn't count).
7) own my own house.
8) have a job where I earn enough that I can afford a mortgage.
9/10/11) have articles or papers published in at least 5 academic journals, 5 large-circulation publications, and the Weekly World News
12) retire before I'm 80.
13) learn how to build websites by building my own.
14) learn how to take professional quality photographs.
15) get a tattoo.
16) make my own cross-stitch designs.
17) learn to meditate.
18) live to see and enjoy my 101st birthday.
19/20) travel around India and China.
21) learn to speak and write Mandarin Chinese.
22) be family reunified (this relates to my visa status in Denmark).
23) stop procrastinating so much.
24) get into better physical shape.
25) find a job that I look forward to going to almost every day.
26) complete a PhD.
27) decide what I would like to do a PhD in.
28) radiate self-confidence.
29/30) see more of California and the rest of the US.
31) stop worrying so much about all sorts of things.
32/33/34) learn to knit, crochet and weave cloth on a floor loom.
35) earn enough money to hire someone to clean my house for me.
36) learn how to network at social events.
37/38) learn to make kung-pao chicken and clam chowder.
39/40) read José Saramago and Peter Høeg in the original.
41) see Citizen Kane.
42) have more patience with people.
43) appreciate how many things that I wanted to do could not be included here because I've already done them.

Oh, and fourlegged...tag, you're it!

HNT on the California Coast

Last week I was without internet access on Thursday, but the result is that this week's HNT offering can have a nature/road trip theme. Here we are dipping our feet in a creek somewhere outside of Mendocino. The accompanying dialogue to this photo was something like the following...

Me) Hey, come over here so that I can get a picture of our feet.
Him) No. You're not interested in our feet. You just want to get a picture for half-nekkid Thursday.

And of course, that was exactly why I wanted the photo. So yes, it's official. I am an half-nekkid junkie.

So, where am I from again?

The guy at the Safeway checkout counter near my home town (who from his accent clearly grew up in a non-English speaking country) the other day said to me, quite confidently, 'You're from England, aren't you?' I answered, I think bemusedly, 'No, I'm from here.' And then added, for honesty's sake, 'But I have lived for a long time overseas, including in England.' 'Oh, so that explains it' was the response.

And then I have spent the last few days wondering how much I can read into this. Keep in mind that I have, shall we say, issues with my own American-ness, as the stereotypes that people have of us are just so negative (and the general tendency of Europeans to equate Americans with the American government does not help). One result of this is a particular fascination with/revulsion of my most noticeably American feature, my accent. And what is that accent? Well, on occasion, Americans comment that I have a bit of an English thing going on (for the past 7 or 8 years, my main contact with native English speakers has been with Brits of one variety or another, and I have picked up quite a few British expressions), which is generally viewed as affected or pretentious. The English of course find me American, which seems to be equated by many as by definition aggressive or just generally unpleasant. So, you could say that my accent is the worst of both sides of the Atlantic, joined into one voice. But, I sound clearly American overall, I would say.

When I have previously been mistaken for someone from somewhere else (which has only happened to me when speaking Portuguese, BTW, never in an English speaking context), I have been overjoyed. But I didn't feel that way at all this time. I felt just really and truly...bemused. Why is that? Is it that my anti-Americanism is really just a misplaced desire to fit in? Of course, I am and have always been quite proud to be a Californian ('state-riotic' as my brother and I call it) and a San Franciscan. So, perhaps the test would be to try and have the same experience, but in another state, and see what happens.

And, most importantly, does this mean that I am finally becoming so ex-pat that I am no longer a native anywhere? I hope not, as I am proud of where I'm from (on a local and state level, if not a national one). But perhaps it is inevitable.

Hand of God?

Well, o.k., it isn't the hand of God...but it is the hand of a guy named Thor, so perhaps the hand of a god. It was taken as I was attempting to get a hand-less picture of the top of Saint Peter and Paul Church while at the same time relaxing on the lawn of Washington Square Park. After a while, I did manage to get the pristine picture, but this one is really more interesting.

It's good to be back home, and the hand of Thor is a sign that I have now been joined by the boyfriend, which means that my visit has moved from 'hanging out with family and shopping' mode to 'intensive tourist' mode. Highlights today included the ferry building, wandering around and eating lunch in Chinatown, a stroll through some of North Beach, Union Square, and a bit of Market Street. Pretty good considering we started relatively late, and went back home to the 'burbs in time for dinner.

Moving over to the dark side

I am quite pleased to announce, that I have left the light of the force and now embrace the dark side. Or perhaps I have left the dark side and found the power of the force, depending on who you talk to. Yes, as of a couple of days ago, I have gone Mac. A 12" PowerBook, to be exact. With superdrive and extra memory.

This was not an easy move. I can remember that one of the first computers I drooled over, back when I was young(er), was the first Macintosh - I had been quite fond of the Apple 2 series, such as 2E and 2C as well. But then I ended up hanging out in a circle of programming types, and they instilled in me the idea that Apple is evil - presumably because it's harder to customize, which shouldn't have been a problem for me as I don't usually do much of that with my computers...but the damage was done. I happily scorned Apple for many years. And then....

1) IPOD. I just simply couldn't resist.

2) My boyfriend replaced the house computer with an IMAC, which got me back into using the things, then...

3) I found that my previous notebook was not current enough to play Sims 2. This meant that it had to go (well, had to become my backup computer as it turns out). And then...

4) Shockingly, as I had a very tiny notebook, and would settle for nothing with larger than a 12" screen to replace it, Apple was actually my cheapest choice.

So now, I am much poorer, but in return, I have a much faster machine, a larger keyboard...and Sims 2 (though alas I could not afford the 'more time to play computer games' module). I also have widgets, which are so super-cool that they should probably have their own post.

Does this mean that I am now officially evil? Or that I have finally seen the light? Or what?

Sensational(ist) HNT

I must say I'm not convinced by this Half-Nekkid Thursday contribution. However, I'm posting it anyway in the hopes of contributing to science, or in order to capture the attention of someone at the Weekly World News.

As you can see, this is my right arm. The things on them seem obviously mosquito bites...but could also mean that I'm growing a new set of breasts. Although I have never heard of or known anyone else who has had this condition, I am all ready to sell my story to the tabloids for big bucks. 'Woman grows extra breasts, blames alien visitation.' More than that, I am ready to take myself out on the lecture circuit to talk about the experience. The questions raised are intriguing (well, to me anyway) - how big will they get? Will I be able to join the 'I love my tatas' clique twice if I want? It could even spawn a meme...how would your life change if your arm suddenly sprouted tits?

Alas, I will never have the answers, as they have now pretty much gone away (this picture was taken about 2 weeks ago, in anticipation of possible fame, or for HNT, whichever) and my arm has gone back to normal, adding a bit of weight to the mosquito bite theory. But I remain undeterred - if anyone knows any tabloids who will pay for pictures of mosquito bites, please let me know!

Pilgrimage to Powell's

I spent the last long weekend with friends in Portland, Oregon, sort of a mini-vacation within my vacation. And as anyone who knows, knows, going to Portland is really all about going to Powell's City of Books. For anyone who doesn't know, Powell's is the bookstore that takes up a full city block (I'm talking now only of the main location on Burnside, not the other stores, or the cooking and gardening Powell's, or the small outlets at PDX). I have spent many an hour on many a trip to see my Oregonian-dwelling connections, just wandering from department to department (well, room to room, but each room being larger than many bookstores I've been to.)

Interestingly, I've found that I can no longer bring myself to buy anything at Powell's (or at any other bookstore for that matter), and can't quite figure out why. I keep thinking that the selection isn't what it used to be, but it could also be that I am now searching in different, more specialized areas than I used to. Or it's just a combination of moving too many times, and weeding out masses of books each time, and more efficient use of my local library. But, in any case, let my minimalist stinginess affect you not, and viva Powell's!

Visible to the nekkid eye

May I present, my first Half-Nekkid Thursday entry. This was originally going to be the first publicly seen photo taken with my new digital camera, but it was not to be...have you ever tried taking a picture of just your own eye? I don't really recommend it. Instead this is from a picture taken back when I was living in London and just visiting Copenhagen a lot. My boyfriend asked me to send a photo, and I was determined, so after probably dozens of attempts, I managed to get one of myself that looked kinda moody and yet made me look reasonably attractive at the same time. Here is a small part of it. Look for the whole pic to appear soon - it's much better than the one currently in my profile, and I suspect will become my profile pic eventually.

The joys of jetlag

Yep, I've been posting even less often than usual lately. My excuse? Jetlag - I know I only left Denmark yesterday, and arrived in California, erm, also yesterday, but no matter. To make up for my greater lack of posting regularity, I offer you this lovely timepiece. Yes, if I had only had the patented jet lag watch, and had watched it slowly change zones during my 24 hour journey (yes, it took me that long, in fact a bit more, largely due to a delightful 5 and a half hour layover in Detroit, but I digress...), I would not be in the least jet-lagged now. Not at all. Not!

Anyway, stay tuned for posts on all the wonders of my beautiful home state...as soon as I figure out what time it is, really.