Saturday, June 05, 2004
Reykjavik 11:30pm 28 May, from ninth floor of our hotel:
Reykjavik, same location, at 1:00am - the sun never quite goes away completely...
Taken by yours truly, the miracle of digital photography... Many more IcePictures to come over the next few days. Stay tuned..
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Reykjavik, same location, at 1:00am - the sun never quite goes away completely...
Taken by yours truly, the miracle of digital photography... Many more IcePictures to come over the next few days. Stay tuned..
this entry's permalink
Friday, June 04, 2004
90% Of Brilliance...
...is just showing up. Words of wisdom from nerd-savant Woody Allen. This explains, I think, why I'm going to work today with a headcold. : - )Another possible explanation is....
presenteeism (prez.un.TEE.iz.um) n. The feeling that one must show up for work even if one is too sick, stressed, or distracted to be productive; the feeling that one needs to work extra hours even if one has no extra work to do.
Invisibeth! What Have You Done? Be on the lookout for my cleaning lady, Elizabeth Duran de Rojas, aka Invisbeth because she was recommended by Doug Krehbiel and for the first three years I never saw her. She was here yesterday and my toiletry bag is nowhere, nowhere, nowhere to be found! This is so incongruous and strange that I keep thinking I'm going to wake up from a surreal, non-linear dream. But if you are reading this, chances are high that I am indeed awake. I probably won't bother Invisibeth. I'll just order another toiletry bag online. : - ) In this congested twilight frame of mind I'm having all sorts of sudden insights... Go figure. Iceland pics coming this weekend. Happy Friday!this entry's permalink
Thursday, June 03, 2004
meanderthal (mee.AN.dur.thawl; th as in thin) n. A person who walks particularly slowly and aimlessly.
biostitute (by.AWS.tuh.toot) n. A biologist who supports a company or activity that is harmful to the environment.
—biostitution n.
rurban adj. Combining aspects of both rural and urban or suburban life.
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biostitute (by.AWS.tuh.toot) n. A biologist who supports a company or activity that is harmful to the environment.
—biostitution n.
rurban adj. Combining aspects of both rural and urban or suburban life.
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Is a sore throat nature's little 'Stop' sign? : - ) It hit me last night, so I slept through the alarm. No question of staying home, alas, research deadlines beckon, will waltz into my cubicle within the hour.
I invited many of you to join Orkut last night, a really cool on-line friends network. Imagine a game of 'six degrees of separation' in cyberspace, where the members of the human chain join circles with message boards based on interests - rock music, hiking, foreign travel, opera, anti-war, or create your own circle. The idea is meeting new people, for either friendship or dating, through mutual interests, and through a chain of trusted friends. There are also many foreigners, a great opportunity for language practice. Enjoy. this entry's permalink
Wednesday, June 02, 2004
Abolish the penny! Finally, a 
Tuesday, June 01, 2004
Return From Smokey Bay..
That's what Reykjavik actually means in Icelandic, named by the Vikings for the steaming geysers and springs they witnessed when they first sailed there. This trip was my 80th foreign trip and my 22nd European trip. Iceland was the 34th country I've visited, and the 13th European country. Finally, I've now spent 6.41% of my life abroad, which is 2 years, 10 months, and 6 days. Now you see why I do research for a living : - ) this entry's permalink
Monday, May 31, 2004
Epilogue: I'd Rather Be Blue...
And so our Iceland adventure ended, with an otherworldly, refreshing dip in the warm, milky, mineral waters of the Blue Lagoon. It's about 4 feet deep and the floor is sand and white clay-like material. It really seemed to have soothing, beneficent qualities. And now, I must off to sleep my friends
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Spin Spin Reykjavik
Lava Fields and Ash-and-Snow-Striped Mountains...Our jeep trip yesterday took us inland to the ´southern highlands,´ an endless mountainous expanse of volanic wastland that reminded me of the sets of "Lost in Space," the 1965-68 TV classic, not the cheesy 90s movie. This lasted about 8 hours and included an opportunity to bathe naked in a steaming natural pool with air temperature of 40F and a strong wind. We declined. Over coffee our Icelandic guide (a moonlighting TV cameraman) and a fellow tourist from Denmark gave us an earful about Iraq and US behavior in general. The guide was trying to hit on the tourist, and made a point of dropping me and Mom off first. Lunch was haphazard, they failed to inform us it was bring your own.
In the evening, while Mom rested at the hotel, I took the stick-shift car for a three hour spin around Reykjavik, visiting landmarks, stopping to stroll through the sleepy streets lined with adorable colored houses. I searched for wierd Icelandic food, but to no avail. Guess I wasn´t destined to savor rotten shark and pickled ram´s testicles. Darn. Today, we visit the Blue Lagoon on the way to the airport, should touch down around 6:40pm at JFK and be home at 8pm. Very nice break, and now I can stick shift. Mission accomplished! this entry's permalink
Sunday, May 30, 2004
Iceland is Green, and Greenland is Ice...
Land Man A Lawyer... That´s how you pronounce today´s volcanic destination-scape, Lanmannalaugar. We got up at 7:30am (only a paid excursion could make us stick to this), and will be driven by jeep into Iceland´s formidable interior, starting in the Þjórsárdalur Valley with a stop at the Hjálparfoss waterfall. Also on the menu are active volcanos, bathing pools in lava fields, explosion craters, and spooky volcanic mountains. Full report later. It´s very, very sunny here again today, supposedly a rarity in these parts. Count us as lucky. Hope you´re enjoying the same, wherever you are... "Who are you going to believe, me or your own eyes?" - Groucho Marx"
"Some cause happiness wherever they go; others, whenever they go."
- Oscar Wilde
"In each human heart are a tiger, a pig, an ass and a
nightingale. Diversity of character is due to their unequal
activity." - Dr. Jamrach Holobom
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