0 Sunday Morning Randutiae

Some randutiae is more random than others, and the more recently I've come home from a big trip, the more random it's likely to be :). My attentions and passions are spinning around in all different directions as I settle back into life at home.

• It's recently come to my attention that the default on Apple computers is for the firewall to be off. (Apple, why?) Also, that a lot of Mac users aren't aware of this. Mac users who haven't checked recently: go to System Preferences (the little silver rectangle with gears in your dock), click on Security & Privacy, and make sure your firewall is turned on. *shakes fist at Apple*

• I fully expected that when I got back from Iceland, leaf season would be over here. How happy I am to be wrong; we are having a very long leaf season this November, and the colors are still stunning. Yay!

• I've been enjoying the BBC/PBS production of The Paradise, supposedly based on Émile Zola's book Au Bonheur des Dames, which I read in June and blogged about. But it must be said for the record that there is practically NOTHING in the TV miniseries that remains faithful to the book. Even putting aside that the TV series doesn't take place in Paris or even France, the characters and plots are unrecognizable. Mr. Selfridge, weirdly, was a closer match to Zola's book.

• In addition to listening to Svavar Knútur obsessively, I've been listening to Eivør, who was born in the Faroe Islands and sings in Faroese, Icelandic, and English. On her album Eivør Live, there's a cover of "Summertime" and another of "Nature Boy" that knock me out of my seat. I've taken to sitting on the floor. Then there are tracks like "Mín Móðir" and "Nu Brennur Tú Í Mær" of which I understand not a word, but I listen to them over and over anyway… It's hard to believe she's producing that gorgeous voice live! Many thanks to the proprietor of a cool little store called Flóra in Akureyri, who introduced me to both Knútur and Eivør. I can't find any tracks to share from Eivør Live (though you can listen to clips on her website), but here's a video of her performing "Rain" from her most recent album, Room. (As always, if you're getting my posts as emails and can't see the video, go to my Blog Actual!)

 
Rain (duo) from Eivor on Vimeo.

Detail: Sunday Morning Randutiae

0 God Bless Our Mistakes

One of the things I appreciate most about my parents is that they've let me make my own decisions, even if it means they've had to stand back and watch me make mistakes. Being allowed to mess up is fundamentally freeing. Knowing that failure is always an option -- being suspicious about the assumed definitions of words like "success" and "failure" -- is, too. I suspect that this kind of parental noninterference is very difficult :). But the consequence is that I'm left understanding that my life is mine.

I've been thinking about this tonight as I listen to Icelandic music. This is Svavar Knútur, from Iceland's western fjords, singing a song called "Humble Hymn."

Detail: God Bless Our Mistakes