By JK, on October 6th, 2011 I was fortunate enough to do some business-related travelling to London recently, and looking for an additional adventure to tack on, I decided to explore the volcanoes and fjords of exotic Iceland. Wherever I go I tend to gravitate toward bookstores, and when I can, I’ll report back on my adventures here (see reports on Bookstores of San Franscisco and on my trip to The Strand in NYC). So as I rambled through downtown Reykjavík where I was staying, I stopped to wander through the shelves and snap a few photos for inquiring minds here.
But first, a little context: Iceland only has a population of around 320,000 (not much more than the population of my suburban hometown!), and are fiercely proud and protective of their language and culture. They even have a language board that invents Icelandic equivalents for new words (like cellphone or email), so that English doesn’t creep in. (And further, after they got their independence from Denmark, a large number of Danish words were expunged from the language.) Yet even with such a small population, Reykjavík had 3 bookstores in the downtown area (2 part of what seems to be the major chain, Eymundsson) each with several [...]
By JK, on August 18th, 2011 Dear gentle readers,
You may have noticed a dearth of long-form content round these parts. You are very right, and I’m afraid that may be the way of things for a while. Let me offer my apologies, and some reasons. The main one: This chick named Liv Spencer is monopolizing most of my free time. Who is Liv? Why my tween non-fic writing alter ego, shared with the v. talented Crissy Calhoun, with whom I’ve co-authored 3 seminal masterpieces (Taylor Swift: Every Day Is a Fairytale, Love Bites: The Unofficial Saga of Twilight, & The Miranda Cosgrove and iCarly Spectacular!) If these are not on the shelves of tweens of your acquaintance, click on those links and get your credit cards ready. Given the time sensitive nature of these books (though no doubt the springy pop-country anthems of Ms. Swift are ones for the ages), they tend to be pedal-to-the-floor endeavours. Our latest project, and the main source of my blog absenteeism: a companion to wildly popular mash up of Gossip Girl, Veronica Mars, and Desperate Housewives that is Pretty Little Liars. (Do you watch it? Do you want to go over the minutiae of Aria’s often-ill advised fashion choices or [...]
By JK, on June 21st, 2011 My earliest childhood memory is of sitting in a circle of peas in my parents’ backyard garden. The memory is bright, leafy green shot through with sunshine — somehow overexposed, like real memories often are. Even now, I can still feel the lingering warmth of that summertime encirclement.
Happy but humble beginnings.
Almost 25 years later, I’m finding my way back to that garden. It started last summer, when, with the determined change that follows a break-up, I decided I would grow things. Lacking a garden and inspired by Gayla Trail, I assembled some pots, a few seeds and seedlings, and I let the planting begin. (I wrote a post about it, finally understanding Thoreau’s wonder at growing beans.) When those first sprouts emerged, I felt a sense of awe at this miraculous yet mundane event unfurling before me. It was a feeling long forgotten, lost sometime after that pea circle and my sickly yogourt cup bean plant in my early primary days.
My budding fascination was unexpectedly nourished by my father, who, until recently, had taken a gardening hiatus similar to my own. But in the last few years, he has picked up his spade once more, and bragged about [...]
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