Monday 13 November 2000

Pic of the day: Read my shirt! Actually, that's not all that easy at such a distance. It reads "Got air?" I guess it is slightly easier to read the back side of the shirt (or at least its twin, strategically placed in the background. Yes, it reads "THE CLASS MENAGERIE", and in smaller letters, www.theclassm.com ...

U.S. Mail

Today was the day I got mail from the USA! Woo hoo! Admittedly, the heavy rain had started to seep into the mail, but not too badly. A postcard from New York, from my charming young friend Cutie. And two T-shirts from Los Angeles, from "the artist currently known as Vince", as he so modestly puts it. As a "drooling fanboy", I have long wanted to have my very own Class Menagerie T-shirts.

As for the postcard, I guess I should not declare myself a "drooling fanboy" of Cutie - I guess it was already a bit tactless to say that she looked like a sexy college girl (she's actually not attending college) - but I still am happy to hear from her. We're friends since she was a small and chubby toddler pestering house guests. :) She's coming home to Norway for the holidays, arriving late this month. Hopefully I will be able to meet her before she returns to the States in the new year.

As you may guess, this all cheered me up quite a bit. Funny, I seem to look slightly younger when I smile. Or is it the T-shirt that does it? That reminds me, I guess I am old enough now that I won't be asked "child or adult" anymore. I guess that means I can ditch the moustache?

***

I grew my moustache way into my twenties when I got fed up with being asked about my age. It made me look more grown-up and masculine. But now that I look grown-up and masculine anyway, perhaps I should just raze it? No more hampster under my nose? It would sure feel strange, it's such a landmark you know. People might not recognize me ... then again, is that so bad?

My oldest brother used to have long hair. I could not remember him without it since he was a teen or something. But for the last years, he has had a haircut not very different from mine. A bit more expensive looking, I guess. But no more long curly hair. I got used to that pretty quickly.

My youngest brother has grown a dense beard after he married. He never used to have that before, but I got used to that too pretty quickly. Even my father changed from clean shaven to an impressive beard as we grew up. I have assumed this was because he was mistaken for his son (he remained strikingly youthful looking). Anyway, one gets used to these things, one way or another.

Right now I'm used to my moustache, but what say the judges? Should it stay or should it go? Or if you don't have an opinion, I'm sure you can tell me who I should ask ... Heh. (No, I'm not going to ask Vince! The "drooling fanboy" thing is strictly professional.)

***

By yet another funny twist of fate, at work today I talked with a coworker about the weather. She mentioned that if you go straight west from Bergen, you'll pass the south tip of Greenland. I believed it, barely, because I know Greenland extends further south than people here tend to believe. It is kept so cold not just by the lack of the Gulf Stream, but by an active stream of cold water running down along the coast, bringing with it cold water and even ice bergs. (Titanic, anyone?) And so New York, which is about as far south as Madrid in Spain, has a winter that is more like what we have here in Norway. Or at least what we used to have here.

All this we talked about, briefly, and she even pulled up a map where we traced the lines. Then I came home and got the postcard. Synchronicity?

You have always been such a good friend to me
through the thunder and the rain
and when you're feeling lost
in the snows of New York
lift your heart and think of me.

(Chris de Burgh, Snows of New York.)