Year-end Clearance

… life is a series of people wanting to be touched, and of people making big bad mistakes in the name of lust.   ~Maria Alva Roff

Lately, numerous and varied cultural artifacts have been impinging on the Professor’s suggestible cerebellum. The pine-paneled garret which is Flippist World Headquarters has been filling up with works about Philosophy, Art, Iceland and Women. I’m going to open the mental spigots and let impressions flow out in a chaotic torrent. Bear with me if you find this post lacking coherence.

My bathroom book of late has been The Oxford Illustrated History of Western Philosophy edited by Anthony Kenny, a reasonably concise summation of the last 2500 years of “Western Thought” or, as I would have titled it, How We Got Into This Mess. All the great philosophers are studied, all are found lacking and yet, perversely, political systems have been built on those inflexible ideas. In an oblique way, that book dovetails with another book I recently read: The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable by Nassim Taleb, which deals with improbable events and their consequences. Taleb, a financial analyst, posits that current “risk-modelling” is based on logically false premises; that isolated and unpredictable events have more important consequences than does historical analysis. Extinction events (meteor impacts, super-eruptions, thermonuclear war) have more long-term impact than the usual cyclical upheavals of existence. Setting up financial systems with players “too big too fail” ignores this phenomenon, not only doing nothing for stability, but actually insuring a more devastating collapse when a rare “black swan” event does occur.


A conversation I was having last year in a Reykjavík bistro had turned to blogging. Silja, my companion that afternoon, had asked me how my interest in Icelandic blogs started and what were some similar themes I found in them. I mentioned that all of those blogs were written by women and that although most of them were Icelandic by birth, each of them had spent part of their childhood abroad. They each felt, to varying degrees, estranged from the Icelandic culture. Most of them, at one time or another, had suffered with “commitment issues” with men, although I said that didn’t think that was related to Iceland as much as it was a commonality of “Generation X”. I recently re-read the book of that title by the Canadian author Douglas Coupland and although the book is old enough to drink, its themes of alienation still seem as relevant today as when it was published.

It would be a mistake to read too much of Coupland’s anomie into any specific blog (conflict is necessary in almost any literature, satisfied people make lousy writers), most of those Icelandic bloggers we discussed that day have made significant changes in their relationships in the nine years since I discovered them. Their sometimes amazing stories have been recorded for posterity on the internet; some of these bloggers have even made the transition to the physical reality of a book. Alda Sigmondsdóttir, blogger and professional writer, has even published four. Her latest, Unravelled, is a tale of personal and political intrigue. I haven’t read it (yet) but it has been getting good reviews.

A book which I have read is Maria Alva Roff’s incendiary 88 (her second.) Having actually spent some time in intense conversation with her during the time she was writing this book precludes the chance of a dispassionate review. I’ll just say that reading this slim volume is nothing like a genteel browsing through a personal memoir, it’s more akin to diving into a psychological mælstrom. “Alva” taps into some very deep primal forces in an internal monolog which takes place in the span of 88 days, the time between her reaching the age of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s death to the “end of the world” as predicted by the Mayan calendar. The numerology is explained in the link; not knowing it might throw an unprepared reader for a loop—not that that is a bad thing! You can order it through this link. Maria was also recently featured on BBC radio talking about women in government (starts at 10:35).

In her book Maria touched upon being a single mother, a theme which has been haunting me of late. Films as disparate as Hitchcock’s To Catch a Thief, Ben Stiller’s new The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (great Iceland scenery) and most of the Wes Anderson ouvré use missing or remote fathers as a central plot device. Grace Kelly’s character in Thief is searching for a father-figure (Cary Grant) as much as she is a lover. Stiller’s Walter Mitty character has not only suffered the loss of a father but he finds himself enamored of a single mother and her son. Wes Anderson’s most recent film, Moonrise Kingdom, has an orphan and a girl whose father is estranged to her as motivations for the action. At my own family Christmas gathering this year there more single mothers than those who were married, a situation that would have been almost unthinkable in my youth. Where are the men? What is the philosophy behind that situation?

So, what does all my this rambling mean? Things change. Philosophy, the tenets of which civilizations are built upon, has changed, albeit slowly, over the centuries, often with unforeseen consequences. Modern life has increased the rate of this change, but the needs of the human organism haven’t kept up with them. There is a true revolution in human communication going on, however. My medium of choice, blogging, has been declared dead on more than one occasion but blogs still persist, at least as a personal platform for short-form essays and stories. Interpersonal communication is threatened by instant media such as Twitter and Instagram, while the Facebook juggernaut seems to be losing steam. Peoples’ tastes change but very little culture ever really disappears, at least within a human lifespan. Those marginal aspects of culture just get smaller. The coming year finds FITK as another blank slate. I have no grand design, much less any short term plans. I may revisit my fiction (a sequel?), and certainly will continue the photo-illustrations, but as far as written content is concerned it will be anything goes; as it has been so it will continue.

Thanks for stopping in–regulars and lurkers. A very special thanks to all those who have inspired me in the past and continue to do so. Here's a toast to those isolated and unpredictable events, as well as of those mundane, all those things which make life the miracle which it is.

Þetta reddast.

Inspiration

It is the spark that makes a blog (or any other form of writing) work. "When you're hot you're hot", as the old song goes, but when inspiration wanes sometimes you have to borrow a little. I'll "borrow" inspiration from almost anyone if it moves me- even if it moves me indirectly or counter-intuitively. Of course sometimes (like yesterday) I'm out there on my own without a net or anyone else to blame for my excesses.

But there are several blogs that I keep returning to- they're in my links, most of them I've followed for years; some of them have nearly stopped posting, while others have evolved over time- slowly changing as they explore new areas.

From the very start Flippism Is The Key has had an Icelandic component. Like a fiend with his dope, and a drunkard his wine, I need my Iceland "fix". One of them has, by her constancy, influenced and inspired me; only recently have I begun to realize just how many of my posts were unconsciously modeled on hers. Maria Roff, at Iceland Eyes has steadfastly given the world a photo and a paragraph or two about Iceland nearly every week for the last four years.

Think of a regular travel book. By its nature, it is usually a commercial or semi-commercial endeavor; none have the kind of depth that this blog has, and few have such clear examples of Icelandic life- it's as if you had your own personal guide. the other blogs listed each have their own approach- some very informal, others more personal, all of them are a treasure.

Occasionally I'll run into people who can't see the worth of blogging, or even understand what a blog is. I'll direct them to these blogs, and to Maria's in particular. Some old co-workers of mine recently traveled to Iceland and used these blogs for ideas- they had a wonderful time, and in a way that would have been hard to duplicate by going on a package tour.

So, when Maria recently called for stories and photos from people who had visited Iceland, I was more than glad to send her mine.

Thanks Maria, for keeping your window into Iceland open so wide, and for so long...

Chillin' with Phil and Maria

TWO Icelandic media events in ONE day!

Now that I am less than a month away from returning to Iceland, I find that the frequency of Icelandic references that impinge on my consciousness are increasing. Seeing as the temps here reached the high 80s yesterday some Icelandic chill was definitely appropriate.

I consider Phillip Roughton to be the top Icelandic to English translator alive.

The Icelandic Roots genealogy group sponsored a Zoom meeting with him yesterday concerning his translation of the Halldór Laxness novel Iceland’s Bell (Íslandsklukkan). I've been a a fan of Phil’s since I read it back in 2003 when it was first published and have followed his literary efforts ever since. The meeting was well attended with over 30 members from around the world, most of whom had actually read the book. Roughton had, in his navïeté, started this translation while still in college, only later to learn that some Icelandic scholars considered it to be untranslatable. Fortunately, he persevered (for 9 years!) and the world is a better place for his efforts. He was aware of my Laxness in Translation site (he called it “beautiful”!) after I gushed (like the fanboi that I am) over his efforts.

Maria Alva Roff is also a translator and is also old blog-pal of mine. We’ve interacted numerous times over the last 21 years and met in person several times, most recently in 2022. Yesterday I listened to a podcast she did with Anna Liebel in 2023 about “burn-out” in Icelandic society. The podcast takes a while to get going but by 10:00 one gets to the Icelandic portion. It is always a treat to hear Maria’s insights about Iceland.

Milestone

Any excuse for a party.

This blog is “officially” ten years old today (actually it started in April, 2004, but those early experiments have long been deleted.) With over two thousand original posts by yours truly along with dozens of contributions by others and reposts. As my late mother used to say to me: “What's the matter with you?” I had no answer then, nor will I offer one now.

While I can’t guarantee another ten years, I will do all I can to finish the serial fiction. In the mean time, who knows?  Revisiting the neglected Flippist Archives for sure.  Another visit to Iceland (in the summer of 2015) is looking likely. I will definitely be in the Mt. Horeb area this fall, and a jaunt to the BWCAW isn’t out of the question for this summer, either.

Thanks for the support! Everyone who has contributed, commented and even visited Flippist World Headquarters (tours available!) has expanded my world immeasurably. I've enjoyed reading all the books published by the bloggers I have been following: Annie Atkins' To the Left of the Midwest, Maria Alva Roff's 88, Shoshanah's (Ex)hausted, and several titles by Alda Sigmondsdóttir. Look for a review of her novel Unraveled Wednesday.

And, finally, here's a big 'takk' to Auður. Without her initial (and continuing) inspiration there would have never been a Flippism is the Key. 

Fish Leather and Dreams of Iceland

Fashion, Skólavörðurstígur, 2004

For all you dreamers out there...

It's been a while since I've done an overview of the Icelandic sites I've been visiting recently. There seems to be a resurgence of interest in Iceland, at least in the blogosphere. I've found several new sites and some of my old faves have been especially inspired lately. So, without further ado and in no particular order, respectfully submitted for your consideration:

UPDATE: All of the below links are now (2020) defunct except for the Pascal Pinon ones.

The Saga-Steads of Iceland: A 21st-Century Pilgrimage< by Emily Lethbridge, a 31-year-old Cambridge-based academic researcher. She is really into Iceland, past and present- a true fanatic.

Rósir og hraunbreiður (Roses and Lava) by Unnur Birna Karlsdóttir (Google translated) offers an intriguing look at Iceland and modern life.

Nancy Campbell is a writer and printmaker currently living in Siglufjörður.

I've mentioned I Heart Reykjavík before. This site keeps on getting better, an absolute must for anyone traveling to Reykjavík for the first time (or returning- things are changing rapidly.) Auður has the scoop on food, fashions and fun.

Maria Roff's Iceland Eyes has been especially fine lately with insightful essays complementing her eclectic photography. An honest portrayal of Iceland and also full of ideas of things to see and do.

Jono's Otto's son blog is from another Iceland-dreamer, he lives in Northern Minnesota, but has a genetic connection.

I'd Rather Be In Iceland by "Eva Lind" (no, she isn't Inspector Erlendur's daughter) says it all in the title. Hopelessly infatuated.

wdvalgardson's kaffihus is the blog of another "Western Icelander", the author is a true author, and his posts are exceptional- not for short-attention spans. His posts on Halldór Laxness' The Fish Can Sing and Paradise Regained are featured in the Laxness in Translation site.

Finally, that teen-age girl-group Pascal Pinon is touring Japan (What were you doing when you were 17?) in support of their album, with a new "Japan-only" EP. The link takes you to an index of sites related to PP. Don't forget to check out Ásthildur's home-made video including clips from their younger sisters- very dream-like!

Small Favors

Another post about the loneliness of a long-distance blogger. Well into my seventh year, nearing 2000 posts (with a little help from my friends!) the itch is still there, although dreams of world domination have devolved into a more realistic "one-reader-at-a time" scenario. Most of the bloggers from 2004 which I have followed have given up. I don't blame them, writing to an audience of 20 or 30 is a Sisyphean task, but it does have its rewards.

Maria Roff at Iceland Eyes has been showing us intimate glimpses of her Iceland for seven years, recently she has been specializing in macro photography. That's an interesting concept. How is Iceland at a microscopic level different from the rest of the world? She's also been writing the "Great Icelandic Novel", excerpts of which may soon follow. She had a personal blog before this one which she allowed me to read, if the new work is anywhere near the quality of the old it should be smashing.

Tavi Gevinson has been mentioned here before, she has a new blog/magazine aimed at teen-aged girls titled simply The Rookie and it is simply tremendous. Not just for its content, which so far has been exemplary, but also for its format: most commercial sites could learn a thing or two about effective presentation from this site EDITED BY A 15-YEAR-OLD.

There are two Japanese sites I frequent, Mitsufi Friends is a blog by a baker in Tokyo who simply chronicles her experiments and exhibitions, with occasional side trips. Her impressionistic style is partially due to the fragmentation of Google Translate, but no words are needed for the photos of her whimsical pastries. A very, very personal blog.

The other site is "Yowayowa Camerawoman Diary" which has received widespread exposure on the internet due to the enchanting "levitations" photographs in which the author/photographer/model, Natsumi, captures the sense of flying in various Japanese locales. These images can be taken on many levels, from a simple escape to a profound sense of yearning. This is capital A "ART." There should be a HD slideshow made from this series- I could watch it for hours.

UPDATE: As of 2023, all the above bloggers are inactive.

Back to School

Chapter 10 of Search For a Dancer, a serial memoir about a week I spent in Iceland in 2022.

“ …sometimes you are called to do something that you may not even enjoy all the time, but that compels you in both internal and external ways to take part in… ” ~ Maria Alva Roff, Iceland Eyes

Maria is another sprakkar.

I had met her (virtually) through my early blog, and then in person in Reykjavík on three other occasions. At times I had consciously emulated the style of her Iceland Eyes blog but hers was far more refined than mine back then: she featured illustrative pictures, insightful essays and ruminations on her life in Iceland. Maria also has a site that features short stories and memoirs. She went on to publish two books, one a picture book of Reykjavík, and the other an intensely personal account of 88 days in her life; she spent an hour with me on one of those days!

But I’m getting ahead of myself.

I woke up Wednesday morning completely refreshed. Any lingering traces of jet-lag were gone and by now my morning routine had been established: coffee, cereal with fruit and milk, checking email and the weather, then heading out to the pool for some laps and socializing. It was a bit colder that particular morning, the temps were just below freezing and there was a thin film of ice on the pond across the street from my digs. It almost made me wish I had brought a warmer jacket. The paving stone sidewalks were a bit slippery but I made it to Vesturbæjarlaug without managing to break my neck. At the pool I did manage a few laps and then I just indulged myself in trying out each of the different soaking pools before returning to my usual 38-40°c hot-pot.

My lunch date with Maria was at noon at the Reykjavík University building, 3 km from the pool. Fully warmed, I left the pool about 11:00, got dressed and headed out on foot, past the University of Iceland campus, through Vatnsmýri, past the city airport, and skirted some new apartments under construction before turning down Nauthólsvegur, the old road to Nauthólsvík, where the British forces had a landing site in WWII. It was a road I had been down before: on my first solo trip in 2004 I had been hijacked by a quartet of nurses who were drinking behind one of the boathouses there. It was a lonely and desolate place then but now the University of Reykjavík campus dominated the scene with its stunning new university building. I went in and took a few pictures while I waited for Maria.

I was a bit apprehensive, the last time we met she was in the midst of a personal crisis and when I left her on that day we were both on the verge of tears. Now she came walking down a corridor in conversation with a fellow student. Ageless, she seemed happy and glad to see me. She had to talk over a few things with her companion before we could get coffee so I waited, wondering what that young person with her would think of me: an odd and doddering old duck waddling in this ultra-modern pond.

When her conversation with her colleague ended she came over, apologizing for the delay. We got our coffees and found a window seat where we could talk without distraction. Maria is a different sort of Icelander, she grew up in California and moved back to Iceland when she was older. There are other people here that I’ve met that have had similar experiences. The Icelandic diaspora is real, many Icelanders move away with their families for years and then and return. The children grow up with two cultures imprinted upon them, perhaps many of them became bloggers to find a place where they can discuss and come to grips with this split reality. Maria’s California roots are expressed in her positive outlook on things; after talking with her a while her sense of being able to do anything was apparent. She talked about the publishing her books (“I have a book in this library!”), and she suggested that I should also become a published author (the internet doesn’t count.) I mentioned that I had been in California earlier in the year and told her that her short stories about her life there had piqued my interest about the area where she had lived near Monterey, a place that I had explored (in a rented Ford Mustang) last winter.

We talked about our families and how we both had two children. Hers were a bit younger than mine but also grown. We discussed the death of blogging, about what a glorious time that had been but how things had changed. She stopped posting after her blog was ‘scraped’: the content had been stolen and put on another blog. She had even found evidence that it was someone she knew! I’ve had images taken from mine in the past but no one has had the gall to copy mine verbatim (or is it that they had better taste?) I mentioned the idea of sprakkar, and how most of the Icelandic bloggers I had followed years ago could fall into that category. Recently, I had been thinking about what my objectives, if any, were in that strange new world of social media. I told Maria one of my theories: the reason I had followed so many younger women (and not just in Iceland) was that I was looking for a daughter that I never had. She gave me a look of surprise and then a smile of acknowledgement. I went on to say that since that time my sons have both married so now I do have daughters.

There was a lull in the conversation.

Out of the blue she said: “I’m 52.” Older than I was when I started my Icelandic sojourns. Maria had the appearance of a woman of 32, the spirit of a woman of 22 and the wisdom of a woman of 72. We had talked for about an hour when she said that she had to go—she had a project she was working on—and it had been great talking. I concurred and left her to her pursuits, with a good feeling about our meeting.

I sometimes feel as if I’m imposing on people with these odd tête-à-têtes.

Once in seven years isn’t too often, it seems.

                              i become what you want me to be

UPDATE: Here is a music video that was, in part, inspired by my various meetings with Maria:




Search for a Dancer Index…

Wednesdays in Iceland - #1

Hjartagarður

Eight weeks from today I’ll be back in Iceland for a little mini-vacation—catching some culture on my favorite rock in the North Atlantic.

In light of that fact I’ve resurrected my Mondays in Iceland series, but now on Wednesdays. These will be a bittersweet visits, my attempts to recapture the magic until I can be there in person. My one-bedroom apartment (with kitchen) will be my home base. We’ve lost a lot in the four years since my last trip. The Iceland Airwaves music festival is but a shell of what it had been pre-Covid (and pre-Brexit) and my theatre options are fewer now. The charm of the Old Harbour, which has been under ruthless attack for many years, has almost completely succumbed to the cancers of commercial development. Construction of new commercial buildings and hotels isn’t a bad thing in itself, but the uninspired and charmless architecture displayed there could have reflected the culture and heritage of the area in better ways. It has displaced the very things that brought visitors to the area.

One such casualty was the short-lived but much beloved Hjartagarður, the heart garden, a grass-roots “pop-up” park that existed for a while, starting in 2009. My long-time blog-pal Maria Alva Roff posted the picture below and wrote extensively about the park and its meaning for the people of Reykjavík, its creation and its destruction:

A Hilton Canopy Hotel is there now. The once-vibrant courtyard is now a sea of gray concrete. There have been efforts to rebuild it, but without success. I’m usually not impressed by graffiti art, but what once adorned the walls around Hjartagarður was exceptional; vibrant displays of craft, passion and emotion:

Nostalgia may well be a sucker’s bet but my 25-year obsession with Iceland has enriched my life in many ways. The country and its people and culture have been a pleasant obsession; my attempts here are to make some sense of it all and to share with you, dear reader, some of the joys of my discoveries. These posts may be rambling but they are simply a way for me to prepare for my return, Rick Steves would probably not approve of this approach.

Icelandic Stories

Over the last few months I've been discovering (and rediscovering) some Icelandic sites and blogs; all of them telling stories- each in their own fashion:

Reading in Reykjavík, by "Bibliophile" is a first-rate book blog with a twist- every Friday she posts an Icelandic folk tale and encourages readers to retell it in their own words, helping to keep the oral tradition of these stories alive. Check out her other blogs too- her food blog is wonderful.

Midnight Shoveler is the blog of Nathan Hall, a composer and Fulbright scholar, on a fellowship in Iceland. Great coverage of the classical scene, especially choirs, along with general trips around the rock.

The Dog-Days Queen is Abi Cooper, a young woman from Somerset who is a rabid Halldór Laxness fan and lives and works in Reykjavík. Lots of photos and stories of her adventures.

I've been following Maria Roff's Iceland Eyes for almost 7 years now, she's recently redone her award-winning blog, including a dynamic view option. Years of posts, photos, and links make this one of the most informative blogs about Iceland. A must for someone thinking about a visit.

The Welsh/Irish artist Annie Atkins has been mentioned here many times, the Little Pinch of Salt is one of the few blogs you can read from beginning to end- just like a novel. She's back in Iceland for a little while, the first link is a good example of her elegant, bittersweet writing style, the second displays some of her photographic talent.

Last, but certainly not least, is I Heart Reykjavík, a new web site by Auður Ösp, offering pictures and short stories about the sights and "scenes" in Iceland's biggest city. Auður has a "wealth" of knowledge about the city and expresses herself with a quirky writing style with a perspective you'll seldom find in a guide book. She's worked in the travel industry for years.

Unraveled

A Novel About a Meltdown

By Alda Sigmundsdóttir
Enska Textasmiðjan, 2013

Another book written by a blog-pal! This time it is a full-fledged novel by Alda Sigmundsdóttir whose blog, The Iceland Weather Report, was certainly the most accomplished Icelandic blog published in English. It reached its peak in influence during the Icelandic banking crisis of 2008. Alda found herself thrust upon the world stage, giving interviews and commentary to a wide variety of international media. I’ve followed her since 2004 and have referenced her work in numerous FITK posts. Alda has written three other books, all of which were well-received, I've read all of them except Icelandic Folk Legends, and some of those stories I’ve read on her blog.

That said, it was with not without some trepidation that I picked up this book. As I got into it, I soon discovered what I had suspected—it wasn’t the type of book I would usually read. It is a dysfunctional relationship novel played out over the background of the Icelandic financial meltdown. At times it could even be considered a “bodice-ripper.” The main character, Frida, is a free-spirited young Icelandic woman who ends up in a loveless marriage with the UK’s ambassador to Iceland (who is also hiding a couple of big secrets). Things are further complicated when Frida takes an interest in hunky Baldur, a former investment banker who she meets in the remote Westfjords.

Alda’s writing is clear and direct; her descriptions of Iceland and Reykjavík give this book some depth and shows how the people of Iceland were affected during the crisis of 2008. A good companion to this novel is her first book, Living Inside the Meltdown, as well as her exceptional blog posts of 2008-2009.  In contrast, the main character, Frida, is somewhat shallow and her lovers are (except for the sex scenes) lightly drawn.

The book did hold my interest although Maria Alva Roff’s 88 was more to my tastes—a wild ride covering some of the same territory but with a vastly different approach. Auður Ösp's earlier blogs (non-fiction), while not polished, give an even more intimate look at modern Iceland. Each of these writers/bloggers captures facets of Icelandic life in their own way. Their collective charms must be working as I have remained a fan of their writing for ten years!

Icelandic Book Reviews

Links to FITK reviews of books by Icelandic authors:

Alda Sigmundsdóttir

Arnaldur Indriðasson

Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir

Bergsveinn Birgisson

Bragí Ólofsson

Guðrún Mínervudóttir

Hallgrímur Helgasson

Halldór Laxness

Hildur Knútsdóttir

Jón Gnarr

Jón Kalman Stefánsson

Kristín Eiríksdóttir

Kristín Omarsdóttir

Maria Alva Roff

Oddný Eir

Olaf Olafsson

Ragnar Jónasson

Sigríður Hagalín Björnsdóttir

Sjón

Yrsa Sigurðardóttir

Þórbergur Þórðarson