And...I'm packed.

VACATION!

I will be EXACTLY* LIKE THIS for the next week.

*Well, not exactly, as will have different swim suits (black bikini for formal occasions, two others for casual) and have lost some weight, and will be on a different beach entirely, but hey, semantics aside, the idea remains. Ass in sun. Flip. Repeat as needed. Kindle loaded with 80 books.

does this happen to you?

There you are, thinking that your life is in place, perhaps boring, perhaps staid, but fairly settled, and then suddenly shit starts popping all around you, all at once, all stuff you desperately want, or things that are challenging, and your stomach is tense and you can't take a deep breath because it's all rather freaking exciting and why couldn't all this stuff have spread itself over some time instead of happening at once?


Yeah, that.

Does that happen to you? Maybe its just me, my tolerance for boredom and ennui has gotten so ingrained that the minute stuff starts happening, I go all blooey?



I feel like those toys you had, when you were a kid, a little creature on a spring, that you push down and it sits and after a few minutes the spring unwinds and suddenly the little creature goes POP and springs into the air and bounces away.


No details, nothing reportable to report, but yippee and yahoo and bouncy bouncy bouncy. Maybe the coming of spring is exacerbating things, I don't know. I just feel this year is gonna be a good year.


(Well, bouncy after a couple days as today's workout will cause me great soreness tomorrow, especially in my arms from the CHEST PRESSES FROM HELL.)

back in the saddle again

Well it seems Spring has sprung here in Oslo. The weather is frikkin' GORGEOUS. I have had my bike out for almost two weeks, I think everyone is freaking out at such an early early spring. Last year at this time I was definitely still bundled up in my coat.

That doesn't mean I won't be in it again, of course, the weather can change on a dime, but I am enjoying my feet being free of socks and I hereby declare that from now until fall I am Officially Tights Free. No more tights for this girl.

All of Oslo is outside right now, and most of them are congregating at the coffee house beneath our apartment. Oh the conglomeration of hipsters and trendsters and faux blondes with nerpy little purse dogs....it's quite the scene. (I like my apartment, and I like the location of the neighborhood, but some of the people around here? A bit too Kardashian for my liking.)

It has been so NICE being on my bike again. So much fun. I am braver now and am riding on the roads, following the car rules, the wierdest one for Americans being the one that at a crossroads, you yield to the right. So there's no stop signs, and not that many stoplights, you just yield to whoever comes from the right, even if you are on what looks like a bigger road, someone can come shooting out of a side road right in front of you, so you have to watch out. So I have to constantly remind myself of that.

Anyhow, besides the road riding, the BEST part is that I am SO much stronger than last year and I can totally handle the hills that last year kicked my ass. I am really rather proud of myself, and a bit surprised. I just assumed those hills would always be hard and would kick my ass. I don't know, I didn't really think that I had made progress that was measurable in such a physical, noticeable way, you know? And now that they are not quite so hard (I'm still breathing hard, of course, but damned if my legs can't handle it so much better!) I can range farther and push myself a bit on the bike riding. This is a real sea change for me, because last year I really had to force myself to ride the bike and psych myself for the hills, and now I just go up them, and it ain't that bad.

Pleased as punch, I am, and now a whole new, faster, and non-bus way to get around town.

I love spring and summer in Norway. I put up with fall and winter just for this.

texture

IMG-20120322-01172.jpg, a photo by karlakp on Flickr

I rather like today's outfit. A skirt made from vintage textiles I got in Amsterdam years ago, a vintage cardy, my grandmother's brooch and lace. I like the textures.

I haven't felt like blogging lately.

Well, what I mean is, I'm never near my laptop when I feel like blogging, and then, when I am near it, I don't feel like it.

Conundrum.

So, just fyi, I'm alive, all is ok, Spring is springing, I brought my bike out of storage today and will commence riding it tomorrow. The roads are dry and clear. I can't wait.

I hit the H&M Marni collection last week, bought too much of it, but it was really good quality. The sizing was a bit wierd and opposite my body (it had big waists, skinny legs and really tight arms, while I have a small waist, normal legs and muscular arms) but the silk tops are FABULOUS and well worth the cost, as are the shoes and the oh so awesome jewelry. Now I just need spring so I can show off in those pretty sleeveless silk tops.

Just bought a new stove for the Austin house, after a 5 minute internet search and an email. Amazing how fast you can spend a lot of money, in so few words. Whatever, the tenants are getting a really nice stove. The old one was pushing 30, I bet, so it's well time for a new one. How much you wanna bet the fridge is next?

How are you?

not for US release.jpg

not for US release.jpg, a photo by karlakp on Flickr.

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A movie advertisement. They will have to change the title if they want to release it in the US. Imagine all the offended conservatives and Christians confronted with such language! (Puts her hand to forehead and faints)

IMG-20120304-01139.jpg

IMG-20120304-01139.jpg, a photo by karlakp on Flickr.

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Art in Sandefjord.

IMG-20120303-01126.jpg

IMG-20120303-01126.jpg, a photo by karlakp on Flickr.

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Classy european dinner party.

Dr Seuss tree

IMG-20120301-01100.jpg, a photo by karlakp on Flickr.

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Sad little urban Oslo tree awaits Spring.