mandag, maj 01, 2006

My week in review: a post with no constant theme

Well, it's been some time since my last post, as things in my life have started to pile up. But that doesn't mean that my life has been boring. No, there have been several events worth noting. To add an educational component, I'll title each event in Danish.

1) Mavepine. Yes, I have discovered an amazing secret. If you have a small health issue, and think, 'I'll get that checked, when I have time', and then you don't get around to it, but it's o.k., because the issue has gone...well, it might come back with extra symptoms. Like, in my case, stomach pain (mavepine). I don't recommend this to any of you, it's really no fun. On the other hand, it did give me an excuse to lie in bed for a whole afternoon in the fetal position instead of working on my project. I personally don't think it counts as procrastination if there is genuine pain...does it?

2) Dejlige gaver. I recovered from my sorry state with help from a few kindly folk...or rather, like a modern Blanche DuBois, 'I have always depended on the kindness of bloggers'. I listened to an eclectic, beautiful cd sent to me by Devil Mood, and pondered the accompanying Frida Kahlo card (Frida is always good to have around when one's mind is on the topic of physical suffering). When I was feeling a bit better, I continued writing in questions and ideas in a small notebook sent to me by Maddy, shared the wonderful accompanying chocolate with Thor (hence only the wrappers making it into the photo), and looked longingly at the rest of that amazing package which I will be enjoying later. In addition, I was able to get a glimpse of Detroit, sent by DayByDay4-2Day. They were all, in short, very lovely gifts (dejlige gaver). Tusind tak!


3) Lommetyveri. This last Friday, I decided to accompany Thor home on the train instead of biking. As I was boarding the train, there were suddenly four or five men helping me to put my bike on the train. It was very odd and somewhat disconcerting...Danes do not help people with bikes, you're expected to be able to get your bike on the train yourself. I didn't know what to make of it. Until the next day, when I realize that I had been the unknowing victim of pickpocketing (lommetyveri). So, I've been cancelling cards, and ordering new ones. Of course, the first thing the pickpockets did was go and take a fairly substantial amount of money from my bank account, which is interesting seeing as I had a negative balance in my account at the time. Lesson learned: I should be more discreet when entering my code, and not keep my cards in such an accessible place. The chocolate being gone, I drowned my sorrows in tea and buns with lemon curd.

4) En blog tilbage fra de døde. Yes, that's right, a blog, back from the dead. A good event to counterbalance some of the negative stuff was the news that my friend James has restarted his blog, which had been on hold for a few months now. James is the person who inspired me to start this blog, and is sort of my blogging mentor. Unlike me, he does cool things like keeping up-to-date on current events, and writing about his opinions on the real world. I highly recommend that everyone visit. Now. Or after you've read the rest of this post anyway. And maybe commented. He's also taken part in today's Blogging against Disablism, which I highly recommend looking into. Go visit the Goldfish to see what others have done.

5) Min projekt. I'm assuming no translation is needed for that one. Is this item good news or bad news? Pretty good, I think, but I'll know more in a week or so. Now, I'm off to continue pulling conceptual threads together; the genre set of blogging, speech act theory in blogging, broad and narrow folksonomies and their implications for uncovering alternative viewpoints. Vi ses om lidt! (See you soon!)

14 kommentarer:

Vanessa sagde ...

Sorry you weren't feeling well, and about the pickpocketing.. canceling cards is such a headache!

Meow (aka Connie) sagde ...

Pickpockets are sooooo sneaky. I hope you are able to recover the money, and cancelling all your cards is such a nuisance. Hope you are feeling better now, and that your week is on the improve.
Take care, friend ... Meow

kimananda sagde ...

Vanessa, I'm feeling much better now...but I totally agree about cancelling cards!

Connie, I hope the rest of my week is better, too. I think it will be. As for not trusting anyone, I'm not too worried about that. I've thought before that I should find a more secure place for my valuables...and then didn't do it. And I was in the busiest train station, at a very busy time. So, while I wasn't asking for it...to a pickpocket I probably was asking for it, actually!

Meow, I won't be getting all the money back, which is a huge bummer, but I'll be getting some (a bit under half) of it back. Otherwise, I'm all right. And, I just got your postcard...thanks! Look for it to appear on this blog as soon as I have time to post again.

Sangroncito, Denmark is no more fairytale than anywhere else. And I don't know how to say 'bad apples' in Danish (well, except literally, 'onde æbler')...I'll have to check that one out!

Blue, I totally agree with you. I had the same experience with having a mobile phone stolen when I was in London. In each case, I had no idea that anything had happened, and when I did realize, my first thought (after the initial shock of the loss) was, 'wow, that was cool...they really knew what they were doing!' I'm pretty sure I know exactly how it went, and it involved seeing me use my card to buy a train ticket (to get my code...I'm not as secure as I should be about not showing my code when I type it in), seeing where I put my cards (they went straight for it, ignoring everything else in that pocket), waiting for me to get on the train, then asking Thor if this was the right train to the airport...which it wasn't, so they had a reason to not be on the train...basically, they were pros. I suppose, if I had to get pickpocketed, at least I can say that I didn't fall for amateurs!

Anonym sagde ...

Sorry about the pickpocketing and the mavepine! Let's hope that May only brings good things to you.

James Medhurst sagde ...

Thanks for mentioning my blog, Kim. From your blogging mentor (ulp! - big responsibility).

Stranger sagde ...

My 80 year-old grandmom came to visit me here in Copenhagen a few years ago. She was pickpocketed too. A few weeks later she got a package in the mail--someone found her wallet (still containing driver's license) and turned it in, and the police mailed it to her in the US! Impressive. And funny: the wallet contained a "Baresso" cafe punch card (Baresso is like Starbucks)with a few holes punched...but my grandmother didn't visit and Baressos during her trip...

mary bishop sagde ...

Is there anything worse than interpreting a behavior as an act of kindness and finding out it was a ruse created for the sole purpose of perpetrating a crime!

Once, while driving, a man pulled up to my car waving frantically and shouting that my tire was wobbling and was going to come off. I pulled over as he did and nothing was wrong with my tire..he wanted to know if I was single and if he could have my phone number...good samaritan became lusty Lothario.

kimananda sagde ...

Thanks Neil, I think May is bound to look up. At least when it's done, I'll have most of my exams and such over with.

James, no pressure, just do what you do naturally and the mentor role will just happen, yes? :-)

Mr. American, my vote has been cast. I look forward to seeing which pic wins.

Maddy, I'm feeling much better, thanks! And it would be cool to fool the pickpocketers, but I'd settle for just not getting pickpocketed again, to be honest.

Kelly, your poor grandma! It's great that she got her stuff (plus a bit extra) back. I had a roommate when I was in Lisbon who had the same thing happen. Someone stole her purse, took out the money, and threw it somewhere, where it was found and given back to my roommate, with all the cards, passport, everything. The theives in this case clearly just wanted the cash.

Mary, I must say, I didn't view it as an act of kindness, it was just weird. As for your Lothario, were you available? Were you interested? I can't imagine I'd go for something that unsubtle, but you have to give him credit...how else was he going to meet you?

x sagde ...

what creeps! it's one thing to steal your purse in cold blood and another to be pretending to be helping you.
Oh and we use the same brand of lemon curd. xx

Devil Mood sagde ...

Oh no, pickpocketing...that's terrible :( Thank God, they didn't hurt you or anything, they were actually kind :P how ironic!

I'm glad you had some lovely presents to compensate and that the project is going well.
When I have a stomach ache I drink chamomile tea...but of course it must depend on the amount of pain you're in...

erin sagde ...

Pickpockets in Denmark? Never in my wildest dreams...

kimananda sagde ...

Hi Chloe, that lemon curd is good, huh? I would go have some now in honor of your comment, but then I'd have to go buy bread.

Ms. Mood, it wasn't that kind of pain (more like a 'I've just 5 million sit-ups' kind of pain), but I was drinking chamomile tea anyway. The chamomile didn't do much, but the heat was very soothing.

Erin, I hope, then, that this post will make your wildest dreams that little bit wilder! ;-)

Anonym sagde ...

Ah les pickpockets danois qui aident les cyclistes! pas cool! Jeg er ked af at hore det. Jeg haber du har det bedre. glader mig til at spise brunch avec toi pronto.

kimananda sagde ...

Hi D, and I thought I was linguistically challenged!
;-) Jeg glæder mig også meget til vores brunch. Beijinhos!