Søndag = Sunday

My dad was raised in Denmark before meeting my mom in the states and settling in her cozy little home state of Iowa to raise our family. Nearly all of the Sogaards (my grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, extended family and friends) live in Denmark speaking Danish. Since journeying there solo for the first time and spending three weeks with them all this past summer, I returned to Chicago with the need to speak more of the Sogaard's native language.

My hope to improve upon my Danish is shared with my sister, Katrina, so we are using Danglish in our writing. We haven't officially agreed on this, but she wrote a facebook comment to our aunt in this combo-ed language the same day I emailed our grandparents in the same manner. It's damn hard, but I changed my browser default language to Danish. Google translate is just a click away. I've realized all of this is the best way to learn when I can't be surrounded by Danish or afford to take a class. 

Next up, speaking Danglish with Katrina so that we, as well as my 3.5 month-old nephew, Axel, can learn even more. And guess what! Our DK/U.S. Sogaard family is growing even more now as my cousin, Lise, and her husband, Emil, are expecting a baby next year. There may be an ocean between us, but we are as close as family gets. 

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A few things: 

• MOVE- watch this and then remember to do that 

• Visit my kick ass cousin Kimi's blog Dip Beneath Lazers

• My friend, Pat, shared this Iowa Public Radio story with me about the Danish word and concept of "hyggelig" (cozy). 

• GO BEARS!

Vincent Cass

Vincent's Painting Class 

via The N.Y. Times

Cutie and the Boxer

I watched this documentary today & enjoyed it to the last drop. Yes!

Joanne Woodward & Paul Newman

 

I love looking at pictures of this couple. 

Jack the Fox

The Act of Killing

This documentary... I am speechless after watching it. Incredibly disturbing and eye-opening. You have to see it.  

Watch parts 1-3 of The Daily Show interview with director Joshua Oppenheimer here. 

E. E. Cummings

xvii.

Lady, i will touch you with my mind.
Touch you and touch and touch
until you give
me suddenly a smile, shyly obscene

(lady i will
touch you with my mind.) Touch
you, that is all,

lightly and you utterly will become
with infinite ease

the poem which i do not write.

-E.E. Cummings 

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             OK!

Today, Thursday

Feet up, the day's responsibilities are complete and so I treat myself to a little drink I like to call the I Love My Sister. It's one part seltzer water, two parts Christmas schnapps-- a vodka schnapps infused with spices and fruits that my sister and I made in December. 

A few share-worthy posts from around the web:

• A blog post on traveling light from the blog Queues in Haskell

• Motorbike Girl Gangs in Morocco

• My roommate just introduced me to the app "Flappy Bird" on his phone. I can't resist telling you about it. 

"Flappy Bird is a condition of the universe. A condition in the sense of a circumstance, but also in the sense of a blight, a sickness, a stain we cannot scrub out but may in time be willing to accept. A stain like our own miserable, tiny existences as players, which we nevertheless believe are more fundamental than the existence of bird flapping games or machine screws or the cold fog rising against the melting snow in the morning" - CNN

Hehe! 

Broad City

down with everything else... 

UP with BROAD CITY

Not only do they have their own Youtube page found here, but they also have their own show on Comedy Central now. Watch the first episode here.

Saturday Night

Sitting up in my room back at mom and dad's while their Danish Christmas party goes on down below. I'm choosing to spend this time listening to Beyonce and Lorde, drinking beer, and reading White Teeth by Zadie Smith. I'll sneak down soon to gather a tray of curried herring, pork roast, red cabbage
shrimp sandwiches, risalamande, and whatever the hell else there is down there! Very thankful to be back on this good Iowa soil for Christmas. Fang is curled at my feet in her new favorite blanket. She shutters every now and then from what I imagine to be her bird-chasing and ballroom dancing dreams. 

Amen! 

Today in Images

We the Tiny House People (Documentary)

And here's the complete documentary... "We the Tiny House People" by Kirsten Dirksen! 

Cloud Atlas

"Oh, this movie. This beautiful, beautiful movie. It’s a shame that the word 'breathtaking' has been so fucked out by hack movie critics, because it actually applies to Cloud Atlas. Sure, it was three hours long, and I probably shouldn’t have seen it for the first time stoned out of my gourd, but damn — this movie rocked my fucking world.

Structurally, Cloud Atlas is a challenge. There is no way to absorb everything in one viewing. The film’s layers aren’t just stacked on top of one another — they extend outward and through time in an exploding fractal of visual, textual, and cultural motifs. It’s fun when you catch one of the echoing references, but don’t get greedy and try to catch them all. You will only frustrate yourself. Just sit back, let it flow over you, and trust that more will be revealed when you see it again.

It’s not all work, though. Emotionally, Cloud Atlas is as easy as it gets. The narrative may be complicated, but it is still very traditional. People who compare this film to Malick’s Tree of Life are off the mark. Both films are deeply philosophical, but the Wachowskis aren’t writing a poem. They’re telling a story, and they’re damn good at telling stories. You may not know what to think at any given moment, but you’ll know exactly how to feel in every scene.

Intellectually, Cloud Atlas is a fucking masterpiece. Anyone who says otherwise is either incapable or unwilling to deconstruct a film with so many moving parts, the sum of which aren’t meant to be as great as the whole. If you didn’t enjoy it, that’s fine. If you didn’t connect with it, that’s fine too. You don’t have to love it, but you sure as hell have to respect it. It reaches further and achieves more than the very best films from any of the genres it encompasses.

If you haven’t already, go see it. If you have, by all means, go see it again."

-The Coquette on Cloud Atlas

• • • • Running in place, I am so so so looking forward to watching this tonight. 

Today

Eating the largest strawberries and watching the Blackhawks in game 2 of their 2nd round of playoffs against the Red Wings. 

I want to share with you...

My love for Bob's Burgers- 

 

A very early preview of my installation for Seldom Seen music, art, and lit festival

And this excerpt from the 2007 film Om Shanti Om

Hungry Water

Speaks many words... 

Thought

No shame in a barking and howl contest with the neighbor dog, am i right? Where's the slingshot? 

Update: My incense set off the smoke alarm, so that shut 'im up. 

Anyway, here's my song for the night... 

...brought to my attention from this BBC documentary on Brian Eno that was shared with me by a creature named Visigoth. Check it: 

Furries

Record Store Day

Was sure to swing by the local record store to celebrate on 4/20. Above, two of my finds to add to the Dolly collection. Can never have enough of her. My dad bought two CDs- Pavarotti and Enrico Caruso. Have you listened to either of these Italian voices? If not, treat your ears and do so. Here's a taste of Caruso:



And then treat your eyes by gazing into his: 

Do you have a record collection, whether big or small? If so, what recent finds have you added to yours?  

Those Who Make

Those Who Make : For all the makers out there or anyone who appreciates anything that is M A D E , check out this website.  

Milou

My girl, Milou