dot dk | An American in Denmark

Change of Address

May 24, 2009 11:44 pm // 1 Comment

Since I moved out of my parent’s house, I’ve moved around quite a bit. The longest I’ve stayed in the same place was my house in North Bend, outside Seattle, where I lived for five years. The second longest stay has been my apartment in Christianshavn, where I’ve lived since April, 2006, shortly after moving here. For most of that time I had the place to myself. Lisbeth moved in with me in March of last year, and then Ellen joined us in Febrary of this year. And although we could certainly have continued to live there, space was getting a bit tight.

This weekend we moved to a very new (and less central) apartment. The new neighborhood is calledÂ Ã˜restad, which I wrote about over two years agoÂ here. Back then I thought it was the last place I’d find myself living, but… a lot has changed. Read More →

Posted in: Denmark, Personal, Pictures

Ten Weeks

May 17, 2009 3:08 pm // 2 Comments

Posted in: Ellen, Personal, Pictures

Storm

April 26, 2009 10:10 pm // 5 Comments

It’s spring, and the weather is fantastic. I don’t know if spring in Denmark is just plain fantastic, or if it just seems that way because the winters are so long and dark, but either way, it’s a big relief when spring arrives. And yet a Storm arrived a week ago.

Lisbeth’s sister Hanne and her boyfriend Kaspar had their first child last Friday, and so we went to see the new addition. There seemed to be a little uncertainty, but it looks like they’re going to name him Storm.

It was a big shock for us to see him, for several reasons. For one thing, he’s sure to steal Ellen’s thunder, and so we basically see him as a threat. And to make matters worse, he’s the first boy in Lisbeth’s family since her older brother Mogens was born, so that’s a pretty big event too. Read More →

Posted in: Personal, Pictures

And the baby goes into the box…

April 21, 2009 12:40 pm // 3 Comments

Up until today, we haven’t spend much money on baby stuff. We’ve been given a lot of things, and that has helped a lot, and much of what we’ve bought has been used. We saved at least 4000kr or $700 by buying a used baby carriage.

But today, we bought a brand new baby-related item: a bike trailer. (It wasn’t terribly expensive by itself, but they really get you for each accessory, of which there were plenty.) We really wanted something that would allow us to get back on the bikes. Walking with a baby carraige is nice, but it really limits how far we can go.

We were a little worried about the whole idea, because they don’t even make bike helmets for babies this young. But we found a brand that has a very clever accessory. It’s sort of a hammoc with a safety harness, so, in addition to the suspension on the trailer, the baby itself is suspended. It works really well. There are some rough spots and bumps on the way to the beach, but with the hammoc, the suspension, and slowing down before each bump, Ellen slept most of the time.

Posted in: Ellen, Pictures

Doomed to repeat it

April 2, 2009 11:24 pm // Leave a Comment

“Practices of the unscrupulous money changers stand indicted in the court of public opinion, rejected by the hearts and minds of men. True they have tried, but their efforts have been cast in the pattern of an outworn tradition. Faced by failure of credit they have proposed only the lending of more money. Stripped of the lure of profit by which to induce our people to follow their false leadership, they have resorted to exhortations, pleading tearfully for restored confidence….The money changers have fled from their high seats in the temple of our civilization. We may now restore that temple to the ancient truths. The measure of the restoration lies in the extent to which we apply social values more noble than mere monetary profit.”

Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933, in the midst of the Great Depression

Posted in: Politics, The US

Six long weeks

March 30, 2009 10:00 am // 1 Comment

Ellen is six weeks old today, and is a very different creature from the one we first brought home.

She stays awake longer than she used to during the day. She also sleeps more at night, which is great. She slept for nine hours a few nights ago.

But more importantly, she’s more alert.Â Â She likes to be where the action is, and she shows interest in things around her. She can’t use her hands well enough to grab ahold of things yet, but you can tell she’d like to.

She’sÂ more vocal too. When she gets excited about something, her little arms and legs start moving faster, and a few seconds later she makes a loud sort of squak. It isn’t much, but it’s her own voice, and she knows it.

Posted in: Ellen, Personal, Pictures

Over to the dark side

March 29, 2009 12:31 am // 3 Comments

I’m proud of my pictures. And one of the things I’m most proud of is that my pictures are largely un-manipulated. Sure, I adjust the contrast and crop images here and there, but overall my pictures are straight from the camera. That is to say, I don’t use Photoshop. Or I didn’t anyway.

Recently I decided to try it out. I figured what the heck — what’s the worst that could happen? I did this mostly because infants are messy creatures, and I had a lot of pictures that would be nice if it weren’t for some peeling skin or a glob of snot.

The least ethically questionable way to use Photoshop is to use it to fix red eyes or and remove power lines. But that’s like the samples that drug pushers hand out. You figure well ok — just this one time — but soon you’re rifling through your collection, looking for blemishes and power lines to erase. The next thing you know, you’re erasing churches.

Posted in: Pictures // Tagged: photoshop

The Frog at four weeks

March 16, 2009 5:46 pm // 3 Comments

I swore I wouldn’t do this. I swore I wouldn’t post batch after batch of baby pictures. I’ve always been annoyed by people that send out more than one picture of their newborns.

BabiesÂ are just not interestingÂ to look at. They are often notÂ even pleasant to look at.Â So sending out one picture is understandable, butÂ two is pushing it. I don’t even want to count how many I’ve posted.

But several things have happened that I didn’t expect: Read More →

Posted in: Ellen, Personal, Pictures

Four years to manhood

March 4, 2009 11:59 pm // 3 Comments

When I was a little boy… well, I hated it. I hatedÂ being a little boy.

I didn’t like being treated like a child, andÂ I didn’t like being dependent on my parents for money, food, and transport.Â But I alsoÂ hated the way I looked. I hated having boyish features, and IÂ resentedÂ havingÂ aÂ boy’s voice.Â I couldn’t waitÂ for my voice change, toÂ grow a beard, to have myÂ own money, cars, and house. I couldn’t wait toÂ be a man.

I speculated about what the ideal age for a man was, and I decided it was forty-four. When you’re forty-four, I reasoned, you’ve really arrived. Read More →

Posted in: Personal