I received a past due notice from the university library this week. I owe them 80 nok and a Norton Anthology of American Literature. The book has been sitting in our front hallway awaiting its return since last month, but I haven't been on campus since just before my birthday.…
OWL: A Few Notes on Revision
Last night, I led what may have been my last Oslo Writers' League (OWL) meeting for a few months. At the tail end of an unseasonably snowy day, ten of us managed to make it to Cafe Fedora (our generous hosts) to discuss the third OWL anthology. At this point,…
Surprising Spring Snow Stuns Oslo
Native Norwegians stood stranded at bus stops, boots deep in drifts of white, scratching their heads and wondering how they could have been so wrong. Within the last few weeks, optimistically, gravel has begun to disappear from the sidewalks. Clusters of crocuses were planted in boxes outside apartment buildings and…
Questioning "Come and Get it"
It took me a while to process the question a friend posted on Facebook. Can some of my feminist friends please enlighten me as to why I would offend you by saying that a model in a photograph has a "come & get it" look? I turned it over and…
El Camino: New Mexican Restaurant in Oslo
It happened. A miracle. Someone (other than me) woke up one day and realized that Oslo was sorely lacking in the Mexican Food department. Yes, there's Taco Republica near the river, one of my favorite Oslo restaurants, but the cost of two tiny (albeit delicious) tacos there will make you…
I am egg.
I am egg. I am shell, white, yolk. I am fertilized. I am haven. I am universe. I am holding on. I am necessary. I am perpetual. I am passing the time and counting down, but also keeping a record of these moments. I am the only one who can…
Papa Quote: Terrible Beauty
As much as we're aware of the short term challenges of parenting a newborn, Jonathan and I are constantly considering what will come after that. After the incessant diapering, the breastfeeding, the sleep training and failures and subsequent exhaustion, the just-barely-managing-to-maintain-sanity-after-four-straight-hours-of-screaming, etc. We can't practice any of that stuff. It's…
Constructive Curiosity: A Camp Legacy
Last week, we lost Jonathan's grandpa, George D. Camp, at the age of 92. Unfortunately, we were unable to fly home to California for the funeral and memorial service, but we did have the chance to send something to be read at the memorial service. Jonathan and I talked for…