U r the nicest thing....

Flight

GUEST PHOTOGRAPHER: Árni Grétar

On a weekend of loss and chaos a Kría, or Arctic Tern, soaring through the heavens seems a thing of purity and grace. This tiny bird may fly, in it's 30 year life span, nearly 1.5 million miles, an example of constancy that seems lacking in our mortal lives. As our world grow more complex we do right to look to the skies and marvel at the beautiful wonders that have for millennia inspired us to dream of flight. Ethereal, impossible, perfect, a bird symbolizes what we can be when we allow ourselves to believe that there is more to this existence than our earth-bound hurts and trials. Peace to the souls lost during these maddening times, and may their spirits fly high for us all.

This shot, taken near Árni Grétar's hometown of Tálknafjörður is an essay in simplicity, and as evocative as the gorgeous ambient music he composes as Futuregrapher. Co-founder of Möller Records, he plays an integral part in advancing the ambient and electronic movement here in Iceland and abroad. Breathe deep, press play, and let his music help your own soul take flight.

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For more photos by Árni Grétar, search and follow "Futuregrapher" with the Instagram app.

Besotted

Grins like a besotted female because you just can't help it...

Out on a gorgeous weather in WSM

Elderly

I might think I know the world, yet, there is an entirely different part of life I see here. Back home, I've done charity for the hospice children, children with HIV, abused children and orphans. To think that the sufferings of children was the worst thing ever, I was wrong.
BEING OLD is the worst thing ever.
Being old AND lonely is as good as death.

You know what I see on a daily basis?
The elderly on their disable machines, some with jittery hands trying their best to grip the pen to sign their prescription, some with Parkisons, some with dementia, some with poor eye sight..... and so much more.

- A 63 year old male patient with back pain in need of a heat rub:
"Sir, do you have anyone to apply the ointment onto your back?"
"No, I live alone." He already uses two walking sticks to walk.

- An elderly man with hearing disability wanting to collect his Rx:
"Sir, may I have your surname please?"
"WHAT! I don't want any cream!"
He yells at me and gets a burst of laughter from the other customers behind him who did not see his hearing aid.

- Yesterday, I had an interesting encounter. A lady in her sixties came to the pharmacy to collect her Rx. After that, my colleague told me to walk her to Mark's and Spencers which was situated opposite my pharmacy. It usually takes a couple of minutes to get to M & S, but with this lady, it took a good 10 minutes.

Every step she made, she paused suddenly when she sensed someone else was nearby.
"Hold onto me, dear and don't let go. Other people walk too fast and I am afraid they will knock me down"

One time, there was a slide bump on the street and she panicked.
"No, No, I am very afraid to walk on it" And she pulls me to a dustbin, puts just one finger on it and say, "There, you see, I just need to put one finger here for balance, and I am fine to cross."

I had a chance to have a little chat with her while on this 'trip'.
"Do you have family here, maam?"
"No, I live alone here. That's why I go to M&S because they know me and will take care of me until my taxi arrives to go home." She continues, "I have friends in Weston, but it is not nice to bother them."

After the past 5 weeks of working, I just feel that the elderly were definitely more fragile than the unfortunate children. Also, two is better than one. Your partner may have jittery hands or stutter when he speaks, but at least he knows there is always someone standing next to him to help.

I must say, What an experience!

Welcome to Weston-Super-Mare!

Metal

As in any city in the world, big or small, some of us metro types forget that there's views worth discovering in those drive-through-on-the-way-to-the-airport suburbs surrounding our glamorous urban lifestyles. Though this might cause me hassle, I'm going to admit that Kópavogur is that kind of place for me, though they do have a new and really cool swimming pool/gym and will soon have a full-blown amusement park in the Smáralind Mall (here you can read Alda's opinion on it's very dubious arial footprint) though I'm having a hard time finding links to back that fact up.

For now, we'll let this picture do, of a metal shop with a very creative owner in the old west bank industrial/harbor area, right across the waters from our lovely beach at Nauthólsvík.

Have you tried Dynamic Viewing yet? Five new views in all. Use the blue tab at the top of the view page to check them all out

Secrets

Fears
Troubles
Nobody knows
Keep coming back like a Boomerang

I just wish I didn't know

Dedicated

Note: technical difficulties! Some of our photos are dropping out, which makes me sad (I'll not point fingers, but it might be a Picasa issue...) I'm fixing it as we speak.
We'll leave our armchair-architectural opinions at the door and just note that many of you who have taken the trip to Geysir and Gullfoss (live webcam!) via Laugarvatn have passed by this church at Úthlíð. It was consecrated in 2006 in memory of Ágústa Ólafsdóttir by her husband Björn Sigurðsson and as such has charming sentimental value that may make up for its (for me) shockingly out of place appearance in the heart of Iceland's historical Saga territory.

I jumped out of our car to take a picture while Óðinn, being an inquisitive five year old, decided, against my strict council, to see if he could take a run around the interior (literally.) Before I knew it I had followed him in and was actually comforted by how warm and comfortable the church is, with a large portrait of Ágústa on the south wall and a colorful modern tableau of Mary, Baby Jesus and a content-looking cow above the altar (painted by the architect, Gísli Sigurðsson, former journalist and brother of Björn) all framed with that natural wood so common in summer houses around the countryside. Before my little klifurmús could climb the final ladder up the bell tower, I was able to snap a few more pictures, have a short moment of silence, and gather him back out into the car. I'm glad he dared to try the door and entreat me to join him inside. Now I have much more respect for a building I would have simply written off as a roadside oddity otherwise.