The Gift

Twenty Years Ago on FITK

Fríða Frænka, an Antique Shop in the lower two floors of a house on Vesturgata, is a pleasantly over-stuffed collection of curios, furniture and household items.

The pack-rat genes that must be sharing my DNA have led me to this place every time I've been in Reykjavík. The mix of things here is more toward trash than treasure, but, like the shop's mythical namesake (Aunt Friða), it seems to be more of a celebration of the ordinary rather than the exalted.

Last Tuesday, while browsing through piles of broken and/or obsolete housewares, I wandered into a room that at one time had been the kitchen of the house. There on the pantry shelves was a pile of various fabrics: towels, cheap linens and out of fashion bolts of cloth. Being married to a weaver, I have absorbed some knowledge of textiles; when we travel together we inevitably end up in yarn stores and craft museums. Imagine my joy at finding an old Icelandic handwoven rug, with subtle hues from natural wools and organic dyes, a weft-faced weave done in a variety of traditional Scandinavian patterns. It was a bit dirty, had been mended at spots, and the colors on the face had faded somewhat; these flaws only added to its charm. Speaking with the shop's owner, Anna Ringsted, we discussed the piece, its possible origins, and negotiated its purchase.

The next day, on my bus ride to the airport, I noticed that the golden afternoon sunshine on the moss-covered lava formations had painted the whole panorama with the exact same colors as that rug, a rug which was now a gift to my wife, but not really from me. It was a gift from some long departed weaver, a gift of Iceland itself…

Annie said…

When I first moved to Reykjavik I lived in the attic above that shop. I remember feeling strange, like there were ghosts there, even though I didn't believe in ghosts.

Professor Batty said…

…If ghost can accompany material things, that place would be swarming with them… thanks for stopping by!

Kristín said…

Ghosts can accompany material things.
I love that shop. Used to pop in there every week when I lived in the neighbourhood.

UPDATE (2026): 8 days until Iceland!

Cropped Couple

I dreamt of an image I had taken on my 2025 trip to Iceland.

I don’t recall that I’ve ever had a dream of a specific picture before.

In my dream I was thinking that the image was really strong, that it might be good to have in a show.

In the morning I brought the image file up on my computer:

Not the greatest.

In fact, it was kind of a mess - confused and murky. But I still thought there was something in it (actually there were too many ‘somethings’), so I got to work.

A mild crop and lightening helped:

A tighter crop and some selective lightening helped even more:

Ultimately I went a lot tighter, eliminating reflections (including yours truly taking the picture), adding a poster effect, and doing a lot of work on the couple:

Now that was that image I had seen in my dreams. Whatever the couple was thinking will probably never be known, but they are lookin’ good.…

I had nano banana work on it, and then I added some final touches:

The woman seems happier, so I guess that’s a good thing?

Only TEN DAYS until Iceland!

Miscellany from Reykjavík

More previews of Reykjavík to get me in the mood for my upcoming trip:

Lost glove in the hedge by Fríkirkjan:

Airwaves attendees in Fríkirkjan:

My grocery store:

Hardy outdoor drinkers at Den Danske Kro:

13 Days until Iceland!

Bewildered Batty

Twenty Years Ago on FITK

The e-mail triggered it. It was a note from the place where I had reserved an apartment while at the Iceland AirWaves music festival. I had been "bumped" into a better one, in a different location (Garðastræti 40), just across the street from the Russian Embassy.

Cool.

And then the wild thoughts began: " …ohmygodimgoingtobethereinaweekandihaventgottenready
andwhatwillibringandidbetterpacktonightidonthavemyitinerary
figuredoutwhatifimissmyflightandwhatifeverybodyhatesmeandwhatifmyplanecrashes
andigetbeatupandwhatifthebandssuckandwhatif… "

Snap out of it, Batty. You've done this trip twice before, with far less planning and still managed to have a great time. You can really be a real worry-wart, you know. Your travel gear is nearly ready, your clothes are set, just relax and enjoy it. Iceland is fabulous, you'll do just fine, and almost everybody there is Lutheran (excepting the pagans, of course.)

5 Comments:

RS said...

Cool study! This was nice, seeing you in your habitat. I can see myself on your wall, along with the other Flippism members.

Comica said...

Look! There we all are! and Look at you in your trendy/rustic/ultra hip refuge.
Do you ever take that guitar down from the wall and pick a little tune?

Kristín said...

Is your study always this tidy? How can you find anything in there?
You do know what they say about a clean desk, don't you, dear?
About coming to Iceland, wear something windproof. The autumn winds have arrived.

Professor Batty said...

...Reshma, sorry about the Tequila picture, I just had to use it...
...Comica, yes, I do torture that guitar from time to time (if you look carefully you'll notice that you're up on the wall three times, in your various disguises)...
...Kristín, I'll be ready for Niceland, it was colder and just as windy in Minnesota today... my desk is usually somewhat neater...

...Everybody- the pictures on the wall are to remind me that there are real people out there in blogland, I hope my rantings can help make their days a bit brighter...

Kristín said...

Uh, sorry, the joke was that it's impossible to find anything on a desk this tidy - I don't hold with tidy desks myself, for the main reason that I never manage to keep my own desk tidy for more than five minutes straight…

UPDATE (2026): 15 days until Iceland!

Bæjarnins Before and After

Bæjarnins beztu pylsur:

This world-famous hotdog stand in Reykjavík was once open to the skies, open to the harbour and open to a view of Esja: vistas that added a special garnish to these tasty comestibles. Then the ground was covered in Icelandic lava bricks, now it is sheathed in imported(?) designer brick. Formerly bordered by humble and historic shop buildings, recent development has surrounded it with sterile “up-scale” designer outlets and exclusive-to-the-rich Pied-à-Terre.

While a lot was lost in the translation between 2015 and 2025 the pylsur, however, remain the same.

17 days until Iceland!

Icelandic Monochromes

Reykjavík in black and white:

Only 20 days until Iceland!

once i asked what love is like…

(Twenty Years Ago on FITK)

… and now I know.

The thing about love is that yes, I am certain I was in love before, but it was never like this. Before, I was always stressed, and panicking, and acting, and the reason for that was simple. There was no trust. I did not trust him, and I did not trust myself, and to be honest, I think he trusted me even less and himself not at all.

And I thought that was love, because that was what I was conditioned to believe, that when two people are attracted to each other that way, it must be love.

Except that it wasn't; it could not be love, any more than Romeo's crush on Rosaline was love. You may think it love when you will do anything to be with the person, and you may think it love when you will accept anything from that person just so that they will not leave you.

But that is not love.

If it is not love when you are only willing to take, it is also not love when all you want to do is give. There is no difference between putting your heart in someone's hands knowing that it will be broken and taking someone's trust and grinding it beneath your feet, merely flip sides of the same coin.

Nor is love about sex. Sex has become a commodity to some - a bribe, a laugh between friends, a fleeting pleasure in the night - and to tie love with sex is to head down the highway to disappointment, although there will probably be some love shacks on the way to heartbreak hotel.

Love is both all and none of the above; far more dramatic and far more prosaic. It is when you can place your trust in that person completely and receive trust in return; it is when you demand nothing and receive everything and the reverse is true.

Love is... symmetric. It has to be between equals who are content to be equal. By this I do not mean that both have to be equally intelligent or rich - only that none of that should matter. And like all symmetric effects, it has the potential to be everything.

And so I put my trust in you because when the sun comes out, the moon stands no chance at all.

~RS

Reposted

Reykjavík By Night: Street Scenes

Memory or Dream?

Reykjavík, October 31, 2025

24 Days to Iceland!

Trio in Iðno

In the coming weeks I’ll be setting the mood for next month’s Iceland Airwaves.

Three colorful faces I spotted last year:

Blue Lou

Freyja

Moina

27 days until I’m back in Iceland!

No Caption

Twenty Years Ago on FITK

Minneapolis, March, 1976