greenland is ice :: home :: new bike

on the flight home, my plane was basically following the sun--i could hardly sleep with all the amazing views.

this is my new bike all put together. haven't thought of a name yet. any ideas?
i feel like an official copenhagener with only three gears. yes, only three gears.
being home is great except i have been slaving on my thesis and that is hard work.

commuter views

Every day on my commute I am amazed at how great the bike-riders look here. There is such a great diversity of types of bikes, types of riders, bags, helmets, hairstyles, you name it. Sometimes I take sneaky shots of people who are extra cute and this is my collection of spy-rider-portraits. I especially like the older lady with the striped shorts. Her outfit is stylish and screams vacation! And the guy with the cleaning supplies. Love to see a man with a scrub brush on his bike. Oh, and notice the yellow box on the bottom indicating this gal's sleek, biker-business-briefcase. It gingerly rests upon her rack with nothing to secure it. The Danish commute is so civilized, you don't have to fasten anything down and prepare for treacherous urban conditions.

new bike

Click To Play

i came to copenhagen with no intention of buying a bicycle because i have a great bike that does the job at home. but, on my commute there is a store where beautiful custom bikes are sold and after many days of passing it, i thought i would go in for a peek. i don't think it's practical to have a dutch style bike with a swoopy skirt bar in seattle because they are not great on hills so i expected to like the bikes, but not fall in love. you always get what you don't expect and now i am soon to be the owner of a lovely 3-speed, navy blue, chain-guarded 2007 bike made by fancy bike-maker rasmus of Cykelmageren. It's not custom, but they build their standard frames in Denmark, get painted in Denmark and I'll be bundling my babe and taking it on the plane only partially assembled. it turns out that prize money i won for the JA! postcard is just enough to cover the bike after I get my VAT back. just imagine! happy early graduation to me! can't wait to show it off. if you go to the website, i got the frame that is boxy, but has a skirt bar (w/ brown brooks saddle).

d-snap dedication

As I was riding my bike this weekend I hit a bump and my precious d-snap camera went flying out my bike basket into the air to land in the bike lane where traffic was rolling and I actually ran over it with my tire. I was appalled. I screeched to a halt (my breaks have taken a turn for the operatic worst--yet are still operational), I parked Rally and I ran into the bike lane to retrieve the my tiny pixel-preserving friend. I wasn't surprised to find that the mini-tanker worked just fine and has ever since. That thing is so steady, I couldn't have a better camera. Tyler is the one who discovered them so he deserves some credit, too. Yea! D-snap rocks. I mined my photos while taking a break yesterday and found that I actually have quite a few portraits of the darling thing and that is what you see above(the one with my face is thee dsnap rope around my neck). I wanted to put a dsnap in the center with flames or a halo, but that piece of artistry is not required to get ready for my thesis presentation to the Research Center tomorrow. So, I cut it off at simple montage(sound of flower wilting).

oh frankie and deer haven

this weekend i rode my bike up the coast to Klampenborg, basically did the Arne Jacobsen tour (gas station, theatre, restaurant and beach/waterfront). it was beautifully overcast and the clouds kept in the warmth from the previous days. the pic is of Dyrhave (Deer HAven?) which is this incredible nature park with herds of deer. mostly deciduous trees, to it was kind of like walking in a forest of skeletons. didn't take enough pics on the digital, but when i start developing real film, i will be flooding the blog with eery black and whites of Deer Haven.

And, this is what a Frankfurter looks like in København. still the tiny bun and not dressed in it's coat, but laying next to it. this time i opted for a pile of cripsy onions. crunch!

hot dogs go home at night

wow. i had a big night of learning.
on my way home from Danish Films with English Subtitles night at the DFI , I saw this:


then i realized:



but i also wondered:



and lucky me, my guy was there. but he told me he is going to vacation to Juttland, or moving there. i couldn't really tell. i hope he comes back. he said he owns three carts and works everyday. his wife died 4 years ago and the dog stands are kind of his life. the one i saw heading home is part of his fleet. and he will actually speak a little bit of danish with me, which is really cool. i had a medister.

cykelbro

beautiful cycle bridge (peds are welcome, too) from Islands Brygge and leading to mall with bike lanes and McDonalds. i just don't know what to believe anymore. not open sundays.
and then in picture two, if you look right in the center, across the water, there is an enormous pile of debris. i think they must have demo-d a building and that is the rubble waiting to be taken away. i don't know, but when i am out my bike around town, it's piles of trash like that, that really suck me in. i must be a crow.

all tucked in!

Click To Play

get busy on your bike

rally raleigh!

yea! a bike. i have never thought of bike riding as an act of assimilation. copenhagen has helped me change my tune. it's fast and loose and everyone respects the bikers--no honkin' horns or birdies, it's all waving and waiting for the guy on the bike. it's great. so, i've joined the ranks and i am a virtual wind of change. truth be told, i am bit timid compared to some of these folks. the real wind of change is the breeze that each biker makes as they pass me on cph's generous lanes that can fit 3 abreast in most places!

still looking for lodging

finding a place to live is frustrating at home where i have a regular cel phone and speak the language. to offset that empty yucky feeling of not finding what i want, i decided to make a video narrative out of my apartment search. now it is like a little game--i record what happens, well, my impressions of what happens and make a tiny show. it is sort of like a home improvement show and at the end, i will have several episodes--i hope not too many--documenting my search. cross your fingers for a happy ending.