Seven Weeks

And so ends my travels and studies in Iceland. I'm now in New York City, which I will call home for at least a year, perhaps more. I unfortunately did not book time back home or in Seattle, a decision I am somewhat regretting. The city hasn't yet eaten me alive just yet (it's only been two days...), but the move from Reykjavik to NYC is, not surprisingly, staggering.

I know this blog has been rather fragmented, I simply didn't have the time to update on a regular basis. I didn't even get to talking about my studies! Oh, shucks. Suffice it to say, Iceland was a wealth of experiences and a distinctly weird way of finishing my undergraduate. Indeed, there are people and events that I shall never forget.

And, of course, if any of you (ie people who know me in real life, or various channels of virtual life) find yourselves in New York, do not hesitate to look me up! contact me here: perstare [AT] gmail [DOT] com.

I JUST HUNG OUT WITH ANTON NEWCOMBE FROM THE BRIAN JONESTOWN MASSACRE!

Hakarl

Back in Reykjavik

I saw Bjork and Matthew Barney at Sirkus last night! Most of you know I'm pretty indifferent towards Bjork, but I must admit that actually seeing her was pretty cool. I guess the trip is complete now.

Grimsey

Holar

I am now in Hólar, a very small town (er... village?) in northern Iceland. It is achingly beautiful, small, and smells nice. When I say small, it's not like how Anacortes or Bellingham might be considered "small"; it's small as in we have to go to a neighboring town to buy supplies. Small as in it doesn't have a main street. It does, however, have a plethora of horses (there seems to be more horses than people). I miss the city muchly, but I find tremendous peace here. I've gone from the distracting restlessness of Reykjavik to the soothing, almost monastic regularity of Holar. I've taken to some lovely routines. I feel incredibly focused here - I can read for hours, wander about the valley, feed the horses, and write. I'm so far removed from everything - moving to New York, grad school, even Reykjavik itself has somewhat faded.

And so we go North...

!!!

Okay, so two things...

1) I just saw Jón Birgisson of Sigur Rós hanging out at a coffee shop, who showed me that

2) I'm on the front page of Morgunblaðið, the largest Icelandic newspaper.

I swear I'm not making this up.

Critical Mass Reykjavik! (pt. 2)

=)

Critical Mass Reykjavik!

Earlier this evening, I was taking coffee in downtown Reykjavik and saw a fellow postering about the coffee shop. I didn't pay much attention to him until my eyes fell on the words "CRITICAL MASS," which excited me to no end.

Let me back up a bit. For those of you who don't know, starting early this year I started attending Critical Mass, the monthly international bike ride. It's something I very much look forward to for several reasons. It's not organized, in fact it's relatively chaotic. There is no set agenda, route, destination, or political position. Critical Mass is simple: bicyclists coming together to ride bikes. Another beautiful thing about Mass is that it happens in hundreds of cities all over the world (so there is a very decent chance that there's a ride near you). I was saddened, however, to find that Iceland has yet to set up a ride and that I would miss this month. Imagine my surprise when I found that not only there is indeed a ride here, but that this is Iceland's first ever Critical Mass! Though I suspect the ride will be considerably different from what I'm accustomed to (Seattle's Mass, specifically), I am completely ablaze with anticipation!


We are traffic!


My whip, a Schwinn Frontier. The bike has a less than favorable past - a couple friends found it abandoned in a nearby pond, likely the mishap of a drunken adventure (or something). On the other hand, it was free. Anyway, people ride really lame bikes here, so I'll fit right in!

(psst - anyone know why the pictures are cut off?)

The Solstice

I probably should stop waiting to upload these videos. Anyway, the solstice was really epic. A group of us went to downtown Reykjavik to see Amiina, an Icelandic electro-classical (I just made that up) quartet who has recently found a more international audience. A most enjoyable evening. After, we went to Cafe Cozy, which, as we discovered quite a while later, was a gay bar. But our group, about 20 people, basically took over the bar, effectively ruined their shtick last night - oh well. Later in the night, I climbed up a 200-foot construction crane to get a better view of the city. The view was just incredible (if a little terrifying) - completely unobstructed and likely one of the highest points in Reykjavik. Undoubtedly the most memorable summer solstice.

Arrival, no shower

I probably should explain that before I left for the airport, I was sitting in a car for an hour in 85 humid degrees of terror then sat in a plane for six hours. When we finally found University of Iceland, we were told that the showers were not available to us (yet).

Going to Iceland

The title of this blog, I realize, is a bit of a pickle. It implies that I will be in a constant state of travel without actually arriving. Of course, I fully intend to make my way to the northernmost (June 18th to August 4th).

The title of this blog takes its name from a Mountain Goats song. The Mountain Goats are known for, among other things, series of songs that appear across many albums. One such series, the "Going to..." series, is, as described by Wikipedia, "generally about needing to get out of a place and/or thinking life will magically improve by moving somewhere new."