The parallel adventures of Coughing Man

It has come to my attention that during the retelling of my trip to Iceland, I neglected to mention coughing man. It seems so trivial, but I don't know how I could have possibly forgotten. See, coughing man haunted us the entire trip. His and his wife's itinerary was essentially the exact same as ours. Same flight from Denver, same tours, same flight back. He wasn't stalking us or anything, but we surely noticed he was there. Because of the coughing.

On the flight from Denver, coughing man and his wife were behind us. And he coughed incessantly. I barely slept. I briefly worried that he had some communicable disease, and tried to take precautions. However, someone had already thought to ask him about his wracking cough and he'd assured everyone that it was just the remnants of a prior illness.

I know I mentioned that we got into the hotel very early. And that there wasn't a room ready at that time. Well, coughing man and his wife were in a similar predicament it seemed. And he coughed a whole lot in the lobby while we waited.

Luckily, they didn't end up in a room on our floor, otherwise it could have been ugly.

But that night, sure enough, coughing man and his wife climb onto the bus to go see the Northern Lights. He sat a few rows up and coughed.  

About this time I recalled that I'd had a terrible cough for a few weeks in December and wondered how anyone could have possibly handled being around me. Mostly, my boyfriend. And he had been a bit annoyed at times. I didn't understand until I met coughing man. And I thought his wife was taking quite well, then I noticed that she kept badgering him about cough drops under her breath.

We did get a couple of days respite from coughing man. We may have passed them in the hotel a time or two, but we were adventuring in a rental car and getting away from people.

But on the last day as we were waiting for the shuttle to the Blue Lagoon, there they were again: coughing man and his wife, all their luggage packed. And so we rode the shuttle with them. Bathed in the lagoon near them. And of course sat near them on the shuttle to the airport. All the while coughing man coughed and coughed. The intervening days seemed not to have helped him at all.

So coughing man haunted our trip. We'd be in quiet conversation and his raucous coughing would interrupt. We could hear him from a mile away (I don't think that was ever proven).

I feel as though I haven't described his coughing enough. That I've only mentioned coughing man and that he was around us often. But honestly, I don't know if I would have known he was around if he didn't have the cough. He'd have been just another tourist. I never even recognized him and his wife until I heard him cough. It was so distinctive. It just sounded painful and dry. I wanted to tell him to find an expectorant. I wanted to tell him to drink more water. Or to spend some time in a dry climate.

Coughing man was a part of our trip to Iceland. A small part to be sure, but a memorable one.

How we almost moved

House hunting is extremely stressful. I wasn't stressed when I put in my 30 days notice. I wasn't stressed when I learned that there weren't many places available in my budget. I wasn't stressed until yesterday when we'd been rejected from one, hadn't heard back from about a dozen and only had a week to pack and move somewhere. The main issue has been Zorro. Which is terribly unfortunate. Apparently even such a dog-friendly city as Denver has weight and/or breed restrictions. There were some places willing to negotiate about him, but it was very hard to find those places. And it's dumb, because he's a lump. He hikes with us, but he'd really prefer to sleep all day. He actually goes into his crate to sleep even when we're home and the door is open. Quite simply, he's lazy. He's easy. Never loud. Never dangerous. Never messy. Just sleeps and eats and sheds and wants to please.

Anyhow, we decided to stay where we are, even lacking a yard, because it's more simple than wading through the ads. And they like us here. And the animals.

I just want to rearrange some furniture to make it seem like we've moved.

Iceland in Actuality

It's been a long time since I've really traveled out of the country. I mean, a couple of years ago I camped a night in Canada, but before that it was Kenya/Qatar in 2007. So this trip was long overdue. And very much welcomed. Even it if was way too short.

I finally made it to Iceland. It's a place I've been yearning to visit for many years now. I don't know what the exact lure of it has been. The beautiful photos I've seen. The music that has come out of it. The history and lore. All of it I guess. I had three Icelandic words tattooed on my arms for several years.

The opportunity presented itself. Iceland in winter. A vacation package and airfare for a very reasonable price. And it wasn't even hard to talk my boyfriend into it.

We flew out of Denver shortly after 4pm. Six hours later arriving at Keflavik airport around 7am. It was a bit exhausting. We'd rented a car to get from the airport to our hotel in Reykjavik. It was a pitch black drive and we had a hard time finding out hotel due to strange street names that change after only a few blocks. Getting around Reykjavik proved very difficult indeed. The myriad of one way streets only added to the problem. We finally found our hotel, only to learn that our room was still occupied. We opted for a different room. One the woman at the front desk said would be loud at night because it faced the street. The narrow one way street. We assured her we were used to noise and just needed sleep. It did turn out to be very loud though. Icelanders know how to party on the weekends. Anyhow, we got a couple hours rest that first morning then headed toward the nearest national park: Þingvellir.

Þingvallavatn, the largest natural lake in Iceland, in Thingvellir.

 The days are terribly short this time of year (only 6 or 7 hours), so the sun looks like it's either always sunrise or sunset. We didn't spend a whole lot of time out and about that first day since we were still so exhausted from the flight and time difference. Also, we had to meet a tour at 8:30 that night. Northern Lights! We again missed the proper streets in Reykjavk and had a hard time getting back to where we needed to be. It's a small city, but it's nearly impossible to drive in. Walking proved much easier.

Our Northern Lights tour met at the Old Harbour. It was only a 10 minute walk from our hotel. On the way we stopped and bought some hot dogs from a stand that is the most popular restaurant in Iceland. The meal was quite good.

The tour was supposed to be a boat tour, taking us away from the city lights, but the wind was strong and they opted for buses instead so no one would get sick. It was pretty cloudy and the aurora forecast was low, but we did see some wavering strips of green for a few minutes. This night was when I learned that more layers were necessary. It wasn't particularly cold, but the wind was very strong from the ocean and it sliced through everything.

Sleeping as I said was actually a little difficult. I currently live on a very well-used two-lane one way street, but even on a Saturday evening it isn't so populated as the street in Reykjavik. Perhaps if I hadn't been so exhausted I'd have joined the rúntur. Then again, alcohol (and everything else) was far too expensive, so I guess it's good I didn't. We did finally sleep. In fact, we overslept. We'd planned to wake early and head to another national park about 3 hours drive away. Alas, the time change and general darkness confused us and we slept an extra 3 hours. 

We headed north anyhow, knowing we wouldn't make it the whole way.  We decided to go to Akranes, an hour or so up the coast from Reykjavik. It was a quaint little fishing town on a peninsula. The road getting there went through a tunnel underneath a fjord. The tunnel was several miles long. Akranes had a historic lighthouse and a very nice view of the sun coming up (or was it setting?) over some mountains and the sea. 

lighthouse at Akranes.

sunrise?

 We turned around and went south along the coast to Selfoss and up toward Thingvellir from the other direction.We know that 'foss' denoted a waterfall, and seemed to remember that Selfoss was some famous falls, but we couldn't seem to find a waterfall. Afterward, I learned that the waterfall Selfoss is in the north east of Iceland, rather than the south west like the town. So I guess we didn't miss much. 

Icelandic horses are short and fuzzy.

We returned the rental car and got a ride back into the city. Here is where I shall describe the street lights. Like ours, they have three colors. Unlike ours, they turn yellow before going green as well as before red. It's a neat idea I think. 

Dinner this day was rough. I decided I needed to try traditional Icelandic food. And I knew it was not so good. I had done some research. But I wasn't really ready for it. Everything is pickled or cured in lactic acid. It all has a very strong flavor that stays in ones mouth for far too long and turns the stomach. 

Pictured: vileness.

 After the "meal" we stepped outside Cafe Loki to see Hallgrímskirkja lit up for the evening with the statue of Leif Ericsson. And after the statue we went to the Burger Joint for some more familiar food.

The next morning we walked to the sea road to photograph Sólfar. It was a bit too early at the time so we ended up coming back later and I got this photo:

The Sun Voyager

This second-to-last day was spent wandering around Reykjavik and finding good food. We'd not been on a real eating schedule since arriving. The city is small and the streets are narrow. It's hard to navigate because the streets aren't straight for very long and they change names often. But as I said, it was easier to get around by foot than driving. We found a very nice seafood buffet for lunch and stayed away from anything that looked to be pickled or cured. The fish soup was beyond amazing, especially after trekking around the city in the wind all morning. We relaxed for the rest of the day, visited some shops. Had a beer in the hotel.

The last day was our tour to the Blue Lagoon. It is not something that I'd pay for, but it was nice as an addition. The water is supposed to have some healing properties. It's milky-blue and smells of sulfur and sea water. The water is wonderfully warm, but the weather was nasty that day. Cold and rainy and of course windy. After our dip in the geothermal pool, it was back to the airport and back home.

Bláa lónið

My trip was a dream come true, even if I didn't get to see much of the things I yearned to see. It was simply too short a trip. I will go back sometime in the summer for a week or so and enjoy camping in the extended days.

Hi-Yo, Silver, Away!

I just watched the Lone Ranger. I know it's been around awhile. And I was more or less reluctant to see it. I knew it was a bit problematic simply because Johnny Depp portrays a Comanche. So I watched it without expectations.

And I liked it. It was fun and funny and also rather dark and serious. The scenery was lovely as was the score (thanks to Hans Zimmer as usual).

I do recommend it. Just try not to think too hard.

Writing has been really hard for me lately. I've been really stuck. I write little blurbs on facebook and tumblr. Bits I mean to expand on here or elsewhere, but I never end up doing it. Everything is just endless repetition. I work. I read at work. I listen to books at work. I hike on the weekends and post photos on the above-mentioned sites (/agentrusco in case you're curious.) After work I eat a mostly healthy dinner. Watch a streamed show. Maybe play a game. Play a bit of conversation. Sleep. Repeat. Endlessly.

My diet is in theory very healthy. Natural as possible, nearly no dairy or breads, lots of vegetables and fiber etc. I have no willpower though, and so I end up eating candy and then chastising myself. Because when I eat candy I don't just have a piece or a bite. I eat it all. Think I'm lying? After Christmas candy went on sale. I bought a bag of those awesome mint nougats. And ate it all in one day. And then I bought a 1 lb package of two huge peanut butter cups. And ate it all within a 24hours. I have no sense of moderation or rationing. And I apparently have no willpower to stop myself from buying such things in the first place. Then there's Fridays. On Fridays a volunteer at my work brings in doughnuts and candy and homemade baked goods. I try to resist. I really do. I avoid the room. I try not to check on what she brings each week. But inevitably I end up sampling a ginger cookie. Or a handful of candy. Or, or, or...

And I feel ill afterwards of course. One would think that would deter me from such things in the future, but never seems to. I am helplessly addicted to sugar. And unfortunately it's all around me all the time.

Anyhow, I didn't really mean for this to be about my sugar habit, but at least I'm writing.

In parting here's a photo from snowshoeing last weekend:

The Impossible

I just watched The Impossible. Literally the only reason I watched it is because of Ewan McGregor. I was miffed about it when I saw the previews and, even though it's based on a true story, I came away miffed. You see, it's about a family affected by the 2004 tsunami in Thailand. The reason I'm unhappy with it? It's about a white family. It details their struggles to survive and to reunite. There is hardly any reference to the non-white locals affected by the disaster. Several thousand people died in Thailand alone, and over 200,000 in 14 countries. The film showed dead people. It didn't gloss over the devestation, but it didn't personalize it. Because, obviously audiences can only connect with white protagonists. (/sarcasm)

The acting was very good. I'm a fan of Ewan's (obviously) and I like Naomi Watts a lot. The boy was also very good. Mostly the acting was a lot of terror and grief, but I feel that it takes particular talent to do well. And they did.

Strangely, it's a Spanish film (but is in English), I don't know if that redeems it at all. 

So yeah. I don't really have anything to say about it besides what I've said.

meteorology

I now drive a small 2 wheel drive car. I like it. It has amazing gas mileage. But it snowed. And it's a bit terrifying to drive. This is my first winter driving not-an-suv. It's not so much the lack of 4wd that scares me about driving in the snow. It's the fact that I'm now half the size I was and I feel fragile next to all the suvs zooming by me.

Another weather related note: cold often invigorates me. This cold snap hasn't so much done that though. Instead I want to eat all the snacks possible to build up a layer of fat and hibernate for a time

For my health

So I'm trying to be healthy, y'know? I'm seeing how many days I can go without added sugar/ dessert snacks. That is, I cannot eat things that are sugary just to be sugary as a snack or meal or dessert, what have you. I still take a sweet and salty granola bar to work. And I can have honey in things, though I usually don't use it for anything, I like my tea black (or green.) And fruit. But not juice. I've been drying fruit, if you haven't been keeping up. I've done raspberries, which was a new thing, and bananas which wasn't new. And just today I dried some pineapple. I'm going to have to get more while their still on sale at the queen soopers. I also made some jerky. The second batch turned out heaps better than the first. I think the quality of meat might have had something to do with it. And I found a better marinade recipe. I think that half price dehydrator has already paid itself off.

pineapple!

jerky

Along with my (mostly) healthy diet, I've been trying to get back into a more regular exercise routine. Every weekend my boyfriend and I hike, and lately it's been eight or more miles, so that's been great. And we try to trail run about 3 miles once a week. Haven't done that as regularly. And we also occasionally do a loop around the neighborhood park. Last week I did a little parkour training with a friend. Hopefully we can keep that up regularly.

Each morning for the past month or so, when I get up I do some push ups and pull ups and some core conditioning (that doesn't include sit ups or crunches!) This has generally helped my lower back pain and energized me for the day.



I am not doing the "dieting" and exercise in order to lose weight (though I am a bit soft around the middle), I am doing it to be healthy. And perhaps to one day be see my abdominal muscles, I know they are there.  I will not be weighing myself regularly and keeping count, though I did record my weigh on the 1st. It's just that I need to create more healthy habits. I want to be able to do certain things (parkour) and my lifestyle right now doesn't enable that.

So yeah, that's me being healthy. It's been one week since I've eaten candy (yes, I made it through Halloween.) Here's to many more.

The Enemy Gate is Down

This is a spoiler-filled review of the film Ender's Game. (Please note that I am not going to get into any discussion on the author, Orson Scott Card, especially related to his politics and religious beliefs.)

The film was okay. It seemed... simple, I guess. I know it'd be hard to get all the nuances of the book onto the screen, but I was bummed with how it turned out. At the same time, I was amazed at what was pulled off. As a stand alone film, it was quite engaging, or at least I assume it would be. But I've only just finished listening to the audiobooks, so the differences were disappointing to say the least.

First of all, it seemed to move too fast. The novel takes place over several years. Ender is 6 at the beginning and around 11 at the end. The film seemed to take up only about a month's worth of time. Which is really quite implausible considering the task at hand. The children had to learn not only basic school studies, but also tactical maneuvers and how to work together as a unit. I understand that it would be hard to film a kid growing up, but I also think that they may have chosen a slightly too old kid. Yes, Asa Butterfield's performance was strong, and he looks quite young. However, he was 14 or so during filming and he's quite tall, which made some of the fights seem not as momentous as in the book. In the book, fighting the bullies and winning was a big deal because he wasn't bigger than them in any way. He had to use his brain to find ways to overcome them.

Another thing I missed in the film was Peter and Valentine's deeper roles. I realize that it was unnecessary for the film to have anything to do with them, but it didn't really drive home how awful Peter was and how good Val was. How Ender wanted to be nothing like Peter in any way. And it skipped all of Peter and Val's writing to become influential on earth; which was not needed for the film, but still quite interesting, as they were just as smart as Ender, but not suited for Battle School.

I think that they used the phrase "The enemy's gate is down" in much to trite a manner. We didn't get to see how Ender reoriented the Battle Room to fit this idea. How he had his soldiers attack feet first to make smaller targets, and now none of the other Armies could figure out his tactics. It made the phrase nearly meaningless when Bean reminded Ender of it at the beginning of the final battle.

There are things I did like about the film. The performances were quite good. Asa Butterfield embodied much of the Ender I imagined as I read. He showed confidence and strength of character. He did reveal a lot more emotion in the film; but in the book, we were inside his head, reading about his anguish and lonliness. He never expressed it. It would have been impossible to portray that onscreen. Butterfield also handled an American accent quite nicely. That's got to be hard. Harrison Ford made a perfectly dispassionate Col. Graff. I loved the changes they made to Major Anderson; choosing Viola Davis for the part was perfect. And Ben Kingsly! At first I was worried after seeing promotional photos of his tattooed face. I worried about cultural appropriation and the like, though I knew the character Mazer Rackham was from New Zealand. But the simple fact that Kingsly used a spot-on Kiwi accent washed all those misgivings away. He was perhaps my favorite part.

I also very much enjoyed the film visually. The simulations were amazing. I wanted to see much more of those. The Battle Room was also quite awesome, though not as I had imagined. I imagined a stark white room. No views anywhere at Battle School. But I liked the visuals of space and earth. I wish they'd showed more battles there as well.

So I was disappointed that the film left out a lot of beloved details. It seemed rushed. But I did enjoy it. Let me know what you thought if you've seen it.

Hiking and shoes

So it's been awhile. I actually have written some things, just not here. My boyfriend has been studying math in order to possibly go back to school for another bachelor's in mechanical engineering. So while he plays with numbers, I've committed to playing with words. I haven't got much, but I do get down a little blurb of something in every now and then.

On Sunday we went on one of the longest non-14er hikes we've ever done. It was up Bergen Peak outside of Evergreen. It was a beautiful day and the trail wasn't very strenuous at all. The hike totaled over 10 miles.

Merrell trail glove over the open space

clash of seasons on the north face of the peak

Denver in the distance. A very clear day, comparatively.

Pike's Peak

Today I received some new minimal shoes I ordered last week. I am super excited about them. Obviously, everyone knows I'm a fan of minimal shoes. And also the color purple. And these are a combination, so they're perfect. I haven't taken them off since I opened the box. I cannot wait to try them out for running and parkour.

I was too lazy to find my actual camera, so you get some phone camera poor quality.