Interview: 5 years later

MMQ: What is different, now?
MMA: Well, everything, except me, and I still have my cat Victor. Ok, not that much. I can't tell.

MMQ: So...how IS it there? I mean, has it recovered?
MMA: WHAT?! NO!! Shut the fuck up. (What is actually said: some variant of 'well, you know, everything is different, blah blah blah' you stupid asshole why would you ask that jesus 'demographic changes' I can't believe I am saying this 'blah. and blah.' I hope no one wants to talk about this anymore.

MMQ: Were you there?
MMA: Yes. I evacuated. I boarded up my house like everyone else, and took 2 bags, a cooler with a porkchop sandwich, and my cat. I didn't go back for 7 weeks, and when I did, everything was dead and it smelled like it. And the same exact thing happened to every other lucky person like me who left when they did.

MMQ: Oh my god! Where did you go?
MMA: I went to Memphis, I went to Knoxville, I went to the Blue Ridge Mountains, I went to Milwaukee, I went to St. Louis, and Iowa, I went back and forth, I went home that wasn't home anymore, and I moved away. I moved away.

MMQ: (Silence).
MMA: (Silence).

MMQ: So, was your family okay?
MMA: (Can you see that maybe this isn't a good thing to ask, horrible fascination? They died hahahahahahahahahahahaha. just kidding! ) I say: 'Yes, they also evacuated. Their house is okay. There was no flooding on their street.' No, they are not okay, but they probably weren't okay before that, so really, it has nothing to do with this, and you don't care anyway. Goddammit.

MMQ: Aren't you sick with the intense media attention/lack thereof/anniversary attention?
MMA: I am sure I would be, except no one here notices or cares. It is far, far away. Sad when someone wins the Superbowl. Otherwise, peaceful.

MMQ: Why did you leave, anyway?
MMA: I needed a job, and, shit - maybe I just wanted to leave a bunch of stuff behind for a while. Maybe a long while. It is not true that you can't get away, unless the thing you are trying to get away from is yourself.

MMQ: That was a bit off topic, wasn't it?
MMA: Yeah, I guess.

MMQ: Anyway, back at the ranch: how are YOU planning to commemorate this dark anniversary?
MMA: I will write an introspective pseudo-interview while listening to some music. Tomorrow I will probably think about it while having some cigarettes. See, I am moving again, and don't have time to attend any prospective parties that no one is having, and thinking about it still makes me want to puke. Not in the sense that, geez, that was handled so badly politically, it makes me sick, but as in it makes me want to throw the fuck up. So, I think this and the smokes is enough.

MMQ: Hmmm, yes. You said you are moving again?
MMA: Yes.

MMQ: Interesting.
MMA: Well, it is only 10 blocks away, and has a garden.

MMQ: That sounds nice.
MMA: I think it will be.

***

Sunny days

It is still quiet in Oslo (I left for a while for a conference/a few days of vacation). All of July and most of august, oslonians retreat to their cabins by the sea (hytter), or travel somewhere else in Norway, or go to the beach in Denmark. Or something else. The point is, they are not around. They are partially replaced by tourists, many Norwegian, from elsewhere, but the population density is still down at least 70%. It is calm and sunny.

Summer this year...

Is better than last year. I like to say better because of how completely unquantifiable it is. It just is. It is more summery and hot and busy and full of blistering skies and all of that. I am not going to complain about being sweaty ever again. I am lying, of course. But let's all check in again in December.

Bear emerges.

Hello there. This carving (from the British museum from my recent trip to London) depicts a polar bear halfway out of the water. Charming! And has a cute face. Anyway, this bear remarks my return to posting to my blog, likely with small snippets and photos and such. If you would like to request something, say, a picture of a duck, just let me know and I will try to oblige!



Molly

Unhealthy snack foods of Scandanavia

Hey there. Since I have basically abandoned my blogging post for a few months, I decided that I wasn't going to bore you with a rehash of all of my summer experiences, but rather share with you some of the glorious and mostly unhealthy snacks I enjoy here.

(My summer has been great. It has been mostly rainy, unfortunately, but long long days and wonderful company.)

Ok, back to the snacks.

1. Mills kaviar. Norwegian. Designed to be eaten on bread with maybe some mayo, maybe some cucumbers, and maybe sliced hard boiled egg. Just shut up if you think this is gross - it is absolutely delicious and I will hear none of your naysaying.



2. Hobby candy bar. Norwegian. I have only eaten this once, not because I don't like it. But it is indeed strange AND good. Chocolate, some crunchy toffee bits and some additional crispiness, and a banana geleé. It is confused about itself, but is tasty and has a nice-looking label.



3. Biskvi. Swedish. Just about the most delicious cookie item. Some sort of very delicious, crispy shortbread with a chocolate mousse lump on top, all covered in dark chocolate ganache. No way to lose here. I couldn't believe how good this particular item was when I tried it.



4. Punsjrolle (sp?). Punch. Roll. Norwegian/Swedish/Danish/German/etc. This is a small roll of marzipan with a punchy-rum flavored marzipan wrapping (green) dipped in dark chocolate on either end. A serious candy for people that don't fuck around with their sugar. Guess that means me. Sort of Christmassy, but nice for any occasion.



5. Borek. Ok, technically, this is a Turkish food, but these are at coffeeshops and convenience stores galore. Like a greek spinach pie with respect to the filling, but more spinach-y, and less greasy, because the outer part is bread instead of phyllo. Here they look like a big, flat cinnamon roll but instead are savory spirals of non-cinnamony filling.




Well, hope you have enjoyed this brief update. It has reminded me to eat more vegetables before they are all imported from Spain. Take care, and until next time - I leave you with this gratuitous beachy picture of drinking from coconuts.

Summer in Oslo

The above picture is actually from Bergen, in the Spring. I hope it fooled you! No! It is NOT cold and misty here at all!

It's been awhile, and it's summer here. In between the last time I wrote and now, my friend Jane came to visit, and we had loads of fun.






Then I went to a conference and got the flu, but still had loads of science fun and got to see my friend Sara!



Then I went to Baltimore and had hay fever and more fun! Got to see my wonderful family and friends also. Reminder: Oslo is not actually located in the past/in a fairyland/near the North pole/in Viking Times, contrary to popular belief. It is a modern capital city, and most major airlines offer daily flights. Just to remind you.




The days are so long that I repent for always wishing for those extra 6 hours of daylight with which I could do innumerable things. I fall asleep when the sky is a dull blue, and I wake up to bright sunshine, and a confused cat, who has been waiting for food since 3:40 am.

It is calm and beautiful here. It is difficult to recognize the Winter city I got used to, so I will stop trying and just enjoy the way things are now, I guess. I have been going to the park with friends and alone, and each time is like attending some sort of outdoor festival, where the main festive event is grilling and playing football/frisbee/bocce/laying there/eating. So, like a basic day in the park. Except the people density is like we're all laying on the ground at Jazzfest in front of the Acura stage. Oslo is not playing around with its enjoyment of summer and vitamin D stores - bring a blanket and edge your way onto the sunny lawn.



I like how people are just full-out sleeping mostly naked in the park, shoes and possessions strewn around them carelessly...by people, I mean myself, of course. It is a nice time. Work is busy but good - the fjord is looking pretty sparkly (see picture above), so I walk that way from the bus to work.

Victor is fur-cleaning full time these days.

Easter weekend

It's Easter weekend in Oslo. Like any holiday weekend in Norway, it extends forwards and backwards from the actual holiday several days - so Wednesday was a work holiday, and Thursday, Friday, and Monday are national holidays. I have walked around, taking pictures at Vigelandsparken, some of which are posted here. Oslo has been completely deserted. Everyone fled the city to go to their cabins, or maybe Palma de Mallorca, or somewhere else where they can enjoy their hard boiled eggs and too much chocolate in peace.




Or so I thought! Today, Saturday, was the one glimmer of hope for me in the middle of this thick mass of holidays, as the GROCERY STORE was open today. So I went. And there were people everywhere. My corner was full of people: old people smoking cigarettes, young people giggling, children blowing bubbles, bums randomly talking to me, etc. It was more people that I have seen in a week, on my doorstep.

I didn't ask anyone where they'd been, since I don't know them, but I wondered anyway.






Everywhere I went, it was sunny and full of people and their children. There were multiple saxophone players, one 12-year-old boy carefully playing his electric guitar, and an accordion player. Glad to see the art of busking was simply shut down by the weather and not absent from the Oslo Experience. I walked down by the water, and after a while, I had to leave, because there were too many damned seagulls. Some people erroneously believe that seagulls are charming - that is untrue. They are simply less honest pigeons. The ones here are a little better looking, with nice grey markings, but are equally skilled at dive bombing people and, of course, are still an efficient source of birdshit.




Besides my grocery store, I found a big Asian foods market on the other side of downtown that was open, right next to a Halal butcher. So, naturally, I purchased a couple of red peppers, some coconut milk, Sriracha, and half a kilo of beef liver. That's right.



Sometimes, especially right now, I don't understand why I buy the things I buy. I suppose, in this particular instance, the liver just looked right: shiny, plump, reddish - just unbelievably meaty. I do like liver - this is just quite a bit of liver. This is one instance in which Victor will be of great help.

It is a little after 8pm, and a nice, pale golden light is filling the street outside. This will be delightful for several weeks, I think, and after that, I will have to think about getting some blinds so I can sleep. And after that, buying a UV lamp for next winter. No need to think about it now, though: Spring is more beautiful here because it takes so long to come.