View from the Operaen

This is the view from the Opera House and that is the Queen's compound (partly under renovation) in downtown Copenhagen. You see, the Opera House is actually on an island across from one of the inlets/canals in the city. There is water everywhere. You'd have to look at a map. Denmark is funky country of small islands and waterways between the Black Sea and the Baltic. That's why shipping and Naval activities are so important there.

Stunning

These 3 amazing chandeliers hanging in the lobby of the Operaen were designed by some famous guy, Olafur Eliasson, from Iceland.
Did I mention that Maersk guy paid $500,000,000 for this place? And he didn't even want it named after him? THAT'S WHAT IMPRESSED ME. Over here, it would be called The WASTE MANAGEMENT OPERA HOUSE, or some such B.S.

In that picture below, inside that beautiful curved wood is the main peformance hall. I thought that was so very unique and beautiful. Some of the kids actually went to a live performance while we were there with their host families. That was a cool thing. There was time for each student to spend with their hosts doing whatever that family had in mind. Some went to Art Museums, extra castles, Viking ship museum and I went on my geneaology expedition!

This is the 2 year old opera house in Copenhagen. There are five floors under water, so you could say it is floating, in a sense. The shipping magnet Maersk, donated the funds. Actually, that's not the guy's name, but the company name. It reminds me of the Sydney Opera House Ginnie posted, but the architect is Danish.






We were treated to an exclusive backstage tour by the famous Wagner tenor, Stige Andersen (Danish). He is pictured above in Tristan and Isolde with his ex-wife. Their daughter, Mette-Marie is one of the students we were visiting. This was one of the highlights of the trip for many of us.

Changing of the Guard

One day we were eating lunch in the plaza of downtown Copenhagen, and the Queen's guard marched by playing their instruments. Apparently, when the Queen is in, the parade takes place every few hours when the guys change duty.

This was actually a little movie Boy15 took but apparently that doesn't transfer to Blogger, like You Tube does.

This is my boat

This is the 31 foot sailboat the Danish family in Rungsted Harbor so graciously gave me to live on for two weeks. The cabin is much bigger than I imagined it would be, and was stocked with breakfast, lunch and snack items. We had dinner together every night on the "big" boat, their family of four recently moved onto. I definitely got 'sea legs' when on land, the feeling of rocking especially when sitting down. One day after going to the bathroom in a castle, I asked if the castle was floating. I was really rocking.

New Beirut

This our new family favorite You Tube video. Boy15 played mandolin in this cool little number last night at a high school event. We all love this song now, and he did a fantastic job. The kid who found and conceived this is pretty cool, too. Or is everyone else onto it?

Danmark

My plan was to do a post about my recent trip to Denmark, but I have forgotten how to Edit in Html, the photos aren't uploading properly, and my patience is wearing thin. Know that I will be back when I have some free time to post more about the wonderful trip I made with Boy15 in March.

Vibe and Me

This is me with Toke's mom, Vibe at her home in Niva. She is a lovely, well-educated, high intensity lady. She has lived in the States and travelled extensively. The families we met were considered the wealthiest in DK, very gracious and wonderful hosts.

Vibe and her husband Jesper invited Joanne (another chaperone) and me to dinner at her home. It started about 9 p.m. and ended quite late. It was a great evening.

Why I Joined Weight Watchers

Hiatus

Just to let you know, not to get any kind of weird attention, I'm taking a break from blogging for awhile. I'm just not into it at this point, and need to focus on other things for awhile. I will be visiting your blogs *if you have one* as I would really miss that more.
Thanks for listening to me.

Interview from Chicago Tribune

I copied these interview questions from a Trib interview with Paul (?) Bourdain. Don't really know who the guy is but I heard he's on the Food Network:

Most luxurious feature in your home: plasma TV

One thing on a wall in your living room: family photos

One thing you have in your house from your childhood: besides the entire house, a little tea cup and tea pot I found stashed away in a back hallway

Just how swanky is your kitchen: haha. Worse than what you'd find almost anywhere

Oldest thing in your refrigerator: Worchestershire sauce

Where do you eat most of your meals: big dining room table from my childhood, recently refinished

Favorite household chores: none

Most high-tech gadget or appliance in your home: Sliver phone I don't know how to utilize

Best furniture bargain you got and where you got it: free computer desk from FreeCycle

What reading material would we find in your bathroom: many issues of Sports Illustrated

One thing on your nightstand: clock radio

Blankets or comforters: blankets

Do you do any friendly snooping when visiting the homes of others: I probably have looked in a medicine cabinet or two, but it's not a regular thing. I don't go to that many people's homes

Opinion of TV's in the bedroom: absolutely not

Most expensive thing in your home: plasma TV

Do you close your window curtains/blinds at night: close them

Weirdest thing about (or in) your home: we have a Harry Potter closet under the stairs

Dollhouse

This is what I have been working on tirelessly (?) for two days. That's me taking a well-earned nap on the bed, ha. I've been fascinated with dollhouses since visiting the Museum of Science and Industry's dollhouse display when I was less than ten years old. It seems like there are two there (but perhaps they are different museums). One is a huge Victorian traditional dollhouse with details so exquisite it could make you cry. You walk around it and must stayed behind the velvet ropes. I think it is decorated for Christmas during the season. The other, and this may be at the Art Institute of Chicago, is small windows behind glass with separate dollhouse rooms. There are little steps in front of each display for children to see in better. They are both amazing.

My house is, well, mine. A gift from my husband a couple of birthdays ago.

Christmas 06 and 07

Oh what a difference a year makes. My brother in law Chuck, my dad, Boy13 and I last year above and this year below.

Goodbye Toys, Goodbye Games

I should have done this a long time ago, but it's hard for me to get rid of things. Just a habit formed in childhood, when everything unneeded was shipped to the attic. That makes for a really full attic.

I have offered these items on Free Cycle, a nifty on-line community where you can give or receive things for free. I think it is available anywhere in the country where there's a moderator willing to monitor it. I got a nice computer desk a couple of days ago, and have picked up items for clients, too. This is my first offer (see I don't like to get rid of stuff).

It took a long time to go through that toy box. I had to ask the boys to identify which figures were Pokemon, Digemon and Yu-gi-oh so I could sort them properly. And yes, I kept some of their toys. What for, I don't know? Sentimentality? Because I know they will bring memories for the kids in the future? Grandchildren? Yikes I can't believe I said that.

More B-ball

Here is Boy13 leading the team onto the court (I think they start with the shortest). His team is winning a holiday tournament and will play the championship game tomorrow at 5:00. It's a 30 minute drive from home, not too bad. I may not go tomorrow night, as in a competitive game he won't play. I like the other kids, but I've spent the last 3 days watching them play.

I hear the thumping of a bass drum in the back room. Supposedly Boy14 and his friends are jamming here everyday, but I don't hear anything that sounds like music. They have taken over several rooms in the house, and so tomorrow it's time for them move onto someone else's house.

I feel like I am already getting behind on my vacation 'chores'. I still have to vacuum Boy19's room while he's away, do something with my dollhouse (I'll show the results if I get anything done), get some pictures printed and maybe scrapbook them, clean out the toy closet so I can turn it into something more functional like 'music closet', finish reading "Reading Lolita...", etc etc.

I've had some bizarre dreams lately involving Eva Longeria (that's how she spelled it in my dream), Katie Holmes, Bridget Moynihan and Tom Brady. It's either the Valerian root tea, or perhaps too many bad gossip magazines.

Embracing My Age

I've been enjoying my reading glasses around my house until my mom commented I looked liked Aunt Myrtle. Aunt Myrtle was my very eccentric childless great aunt on my mom's side. My mother was the only child among her mother and her three sibs, so she was kinda special. It's hard to describe Aunt Myrtle but maybe this vignette will help: whenever we visited her farm in Minnesota or later the house in town, she sat down at the piano, lifted up her reading glasses from her ample bosom where they rested and launched into a mediocre but enthusiastic rendition of "How Much Is That Doggie In The Window" and insisted we sing. Once while taking the required photographs at the end of our visit, she approached with a large powder puff of make-up which she slatered all over my sister and me, like a 1920's Hollywood director. I'm not sure this is the image I want to evoke with my reading glasses.

I've been kicking around the last two days, organizing the house between ball games. I'm easily distracted so it takes a long to get a task done. For example, while working on the living room I had to go to the dry cleaners, eat pumpkin pie, look through photo albums, re-arrange my scrapbooking supplies, send several emails, print off my annual holiday memories. I also found it's been so long since I vacuumed, I forgot how to turn the sweeper on.

Redbirds

Here is my contribution to the ornament photographs. This is Boy13's favorite team, the Louisville Cardinals. My sis is so hoping he does go to college at L'ville so she can see and feed him every week. A simple fantasy. She indulges him with everything Lousville, pillows, sweatshirts, t-shirts, pj pants, blankies,...

The next photo is somewhat of a tradition of using different monikers on the packages. My brother started it years ago with his hysterical football inspired quips.

The three boys debuted their latest homemade video last night, entitled The Ups and Downs of Kenny Chesney. It was inspired by a goofy cowboy hat Pat got for Boy14
($2) as a joke. His new guitar was featured as well as a laser light and funny dental scene (using those awful fake teeth they found in their stocking). It was pretty hilarious.

Poshlust redux

Okay, I missed the boat on Poshlust. It is more or less false attractiveness, maybe garish posing as beautiful. It could also be false importance, false cleverness or someone who is a fraud. My first thought was pink flamingoes, but better yet, those giant blow-up turkeys people put on their lawns, robbing our last sacred holiday, Thanksgiving, of its quiet simplicity. I really could almost handle the cardboard cherubic pilgrims posted on schoolroom doors, but a blow-up turkey, come on. Poshlust!

Poshlust

I'm going to put another Nabokov term into my own words. It is kind of a juxtaposition of two discordant things; in Nabokov a picture of a happy baby picture next to a person about to get beheaded. We've been watching old Seinfeld episodes, courtesy Boy14 Christmas present, and were discussing the family stress around the holidays and George's father screaming out, "Serenity Now." That's poshlust, to me.

Upsilamba!

Christmas must entail at least one new book and with it, a renewed enthusiasm for reading. My book is from my sister and is called Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi. I think I had vaguely heard about it sometime in the past year, and it is capturing my imagination and broadening my understanding of the world so far. I had the mistaken idea that somehow putting women in veils and robes would strip them of all individuality and personality, but luckily this is not the case. I am meeting some extraordinary women through the pages of this novel.

Upsilamba is a word from Vladimir Nabokov's Invitation to a Beheading. Possibly an invented word, the girls in the novel each have their own meaning for it. It became part of their secret language, these Iranian women who are covertly studying Western literature in secrecy. I'm sorry to say I am terribly underread, and haven't even read Lolita.

On another note, has anyone ever listened to Josh Groban? The name evokes images of John Mayer or even Michael Bolton, but that he is not. I believe he sings in Italian and English, another language anyway. A client of mine introduced me to him and burned a CD for me. I was in a Josh Groban mood today, I guess you could say.