A composer of classical music, a singer, a teacher, a wife and mom (3 great kids and world’s best husband), an active blogger and ircster, a decent amateur cook, a wine snob. Pretty far left in politics. And more.
bland í poka
Nýlegar athugasemdir
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tölvuóða tónskáldið 
I found your blog when looking for Icelanders. I have just written a novel in which part of the story takes place in Iceland. I assume you speak English because your „About Me“ is in English. I have a favor to ask of you. Would you be willing to look at the Icelandic (only a few lines) that I have used in my book, and tell me if I have translated correctly? I used an online dictionary, but decided I may be writing something that I least expect!
I am also a teacher, have three great kids (and one great dog) and am pretty far left! What is an ircster?
Thanks for your time. Kerry
Hello Kerry 🙂
Yes, I do speak fairly decent English. Of course I’ll read through your Icelandic, would be exciting to read the book, actually. Just tell me where to look at it.
I also have the worlds’ greatest cat, maybe I should put that in my About Me, actually…
An ircster is somebody who is active on irc (Internet Relay Chat) channels. My main channel is #NIceland on server irc.hi.is, the people there are really nice and always happy to help out, (mainly in Icelandic but switch to English at need)
I will give you my email address so you can send me yours, if you wouldn’t mind, and then I will send you the parts I „wrote“ in Icelandic. I will shortly be at a point where I would love to send you the book. Since I have never been to Iceland, you will probably laugh at me!! Do you like mysteries? My book is a mystery with almost all female characters, the good guys and the bad guys. I look forward to hearing from you. Kerry
qugrainne@yahoo.com
Will answer in the mail 🙂 And yes, I love mysteries. Promise not to laugh at you, though I suppose I might laugh at the translation 😉
Forgive me if I am too anxious, but I have not received a note with your email address. Would you prefer that I post my „Icelandic“ sentences here? Thanks. Kerry
Oh, sorry, can’t you answer to the address I’m sending from? Not sending from the blog page, here. Or the sig?
My address is hildigunnurr@talnet.is
do send there
all the best
H
Cara Hildigunnur, ci assomigliamo.
Anch´io sono compositore e cantante, qui puoi ascoltare le mie canzoni
http://oscarferrari.wordpress.com/ascolta/
anch´io sono un blogger attivo e faccio politica. Ho anche fondato un partito, qui ci sono i video
http://oscarferrari.wordpress.com/il-partito-per-tutti/
Tu fai comunque le cose più seriamente
Con stima
Oscar
Oscar, ho ascoltato alcune canzoni, io le gradisco 🙂
Greetings Hildigunnur!
This is the same „Steve“ that is over at Aldas site. I`ve been meaning to stop by and say *hi* and never quite manage to. I see that you`re a teacher, what do you teach? Three kids, yep, here also. Three girls, ages 14,16 and 18. My apologies that I don`t speak a word of Icelandic, however I was quick to notice the *BC* comic strip and the photos of Iceland. *BC* was my favorite strip as a child and still one of my favorites. Do you see much of *Calvin and Hobbes* around there? If not, try and have a look, as it is one of the best, in my opinion. Meanwhile, I`ll just enjoy your pictures.
Take care,
Steve
Hi Steve, nice to see you around, though I suppose, not reading Icelandic you probably won’t be a regular visitor 🙂
I teach music, theory, aurals and composition, I’m mainly a classical composer and I sing too. Quite a varying job, especially since I teach at 3 schools, a local Suzuki music school, a regular music school and the Academy of the Arts.
3 kids, yeah, girls 16 and 12 and a little boy, almost 8. Feel rich.
Calvin and Hobbes has been a favourite of mine since I was a little kid, it’s a great strip. Thanks for the tip, though, I really enjoy the Bound and Gagged and Non Sequitur now, as well. Do enjoy my photos…
all the best
Hildigunnur
HAHAHA! You`ve got that right about the *IRS* We pay about 38% in income taxes, plus all the other things that are added on, 6% sales tax [in this state, other states vary] road taxes, fuel taxes,property taxes and so on. GRRR! As you may have guessed, you hit a nerve. 🙂 For a little insight as to what may lay ahead, *ZITS* is pretty good. The author is pretty observant, and at times hilarious!
Sounds like music is your life…very nice…
I`ve ‘worn a lot of hats’ in the past, however, currently I`m enjoying an opportunity few fathers ever get, a stay at home dad for the last ten years. Lots of time for the girls! The other thing I do is photography. Over the years, I`ve made my living doing commercial/industrial type things, weddings etc…Currently, large format black and white landscape, done with traditional materials is my passion.
Oh, I forgot to mention we live Michigan, about an hour north of Detroit. Yep, we`re in the throes of winter here too.
Regards,
Steve
yes, it’s about the same here, taxestaxestaxes. Well, at least they aren’t spending the tax money on an endless, hopeless war, rather the schools and health system and such (hmm, of course a bit of spending on useless things too, of course)
Yep, Zits is a favourite too, actually I’ve got some Zits books sitting down at the post office, waiting to be picked up 😀
Guess music’s my life, yes. Do you have any of your photos on the internet? Would be interesting to see. And brilliant to be able to be a stay-at-home dad! congratz.
Computer savvy I`m not, therefore, no website. Additionally, I need a scanner that can scan 5″x7″ negatives. The other problem is that the files are HUGE, as in 750 meg. or so. Right now, I`m working on a laptop, and 150 meg. files make it grunt. The I-Macs look very promising, as soon as I can come up with a spare 3-4 thousand. Meanwhile, I`ve been improving my skills with the digi-gizmo, to where it is becoming a useful tool, rather than just for snapshots. Be glad to e-mail you some, just need an address. Okay…I`m going downstairs to finish framing a print that I started a few days ago. This only the second digital print I`ve done that was deemed worthy of a frame.
Steve
cool, will send mail.
I’m a real Mac fan, now my computer’s a MacPro, quadruple core, 5 gigabytes RAM, probably way too powerful for me, but hey! Computer freak, me!
Do your neighbors lights dim when you turn that thing on? 🙂
Pics sent last night.
hehe, seldom, since I rarely turn it off… 😀
pics nice.
Being a mom with three kids make you VERY busy, I understand completely. Curious though if my last few e-mails have made it to you.
Steve
oh, oops, at least one I haven’t answered. Beautiful people 😉
Whew, that`s a relief. I was afraid they weren`t landing at your doorstep, or worse, that I had offended you by cluttering up your mailbox. 🙂
Okay, time for me to get caught up…A chocolate egg with Milka bars inside…Yum!, I ‘discovered’ Milka bars when I lived in Austria. They`ve been a long time favorite. When will the egg be broken open and by whom? Sunday morning?
That`s a great puzzle! Puzzles generally provide many hours of entertainment for Nina and the girls on rainy weekends at the cottage. [My parents place in northern Michigan] As I like to hunt and fish, weather rarely keeps me indoors. As long as I can keep the cameras from drowning/freezing/melting, that`s my entertainment.
Had to go back and look up the video of your son. How do you live with so many talented people under one roof? Please don`t tell me that your husband is also a musician.:)
And, Happy Easter!, to you and your family.
Hehe, no, he’s an electrical engineer and works as a computer programmer. It’s a lot of work, to help the kids practise their instruments, but boy, does it pay off…
We buy 3 easter eggs from a local chocolate factory, Nói-Síríus, they’re pretty good. Then Fífa, the eldest, and my husband make their own eggs, those on the photos. I and the younger children think it’s too much bother. So everyone gets their own egg. Inside the eggs there is a lap of paper with a proverb or saying, I think that’s a nice custom.
Milka chocolate’s also excellent, though it’s not easy to get here. Sometimes see it, though.
Yikes! I don’t have the slightest idea what that last strip is about. A little help please…
Thanks
Steve, well, the central part of Reykjavík’s in a decrepit state, conglomerates have bought loads of houses and mean to tear down and rebuild, but as of now nothing’s really happening. The houses stand empty and of course fall victims to graffiti „artists“ (not saying there aren’t graffiti artists, but well, look at the strip). The man is the current very unpopular mayor who seems rather to want to hide behind the bushes than to do anything about the situation.
That`s a surprise. I would not have guessed that Reykjavik would be having the same problems as so many other urban areas.
Sorry but yes. The current city council, a right wing one, has, despite promises otherwise, let things ride. We, especially the ones that live downtown, like I do, are really irritated – especially since very few of us actually voted to the right…
Same thing happens here all the time. No one ever seem to vote for these people, yet they remain in office! I worked as a firefighter for 15 years in a city of 165,000 people, and the only time we ever heard from the politicians was at campaign time when they hoped they could count on our vote. As far as I know, none of them EVER kept a single promise. As you might expect, I`ve a pretty dim view of politicians in general, and the ones that I`m familiar with in particular.
Heh, isn’t that the truth!
I`ve read several different things about one of the churches being „controversial“, but none of the articles seem to elaborate. Is it the design of the building, or something else entirely?
hmm, that’s probably a different church, maybe Fríkirkjan. Hallgrímskirkja, the big one I mentioned on Alda’s blog is my parish church and I don’t really like it very much…
Frikirkjan, I believe that was it. Possibly someone whining about the architecture? If you don`t like the church that you`re at, can`t you just go to another one?
Well, I’m not religious, so I don’t really go to church at all – unless when I get paid for it, which is rather often, actually. But it’s not really the Fríkirkja that’s controversial, rather the vicar there, who doesn’t follow the line from the bishop, weds gay people and such. I rather like him… 😀
Hi Hildigunnur!
I have come across the petition on http://www.indefence.is I was thinking about blogging about it and singing it as a sign of solidarity, but I am not quite sure about its political point of view. I mean -apart from the awful think of mentioning NATO membership as something positive- that this petition in the fight between British and Icelandic bourgoisies („Icelandic interestes“) is siding with the Icelandic side, because it does not really distinguish between the bankers and the people. The manipulation of the „anti-terrorist law“ by Brown is awful -and it hightlights how dangerous this kind of laws are- but I do not know if this is the right petition about the issue. It seems more of a boost to Icelandic national pride. Ok, I might be wrong or exagerating. I would like to ask your opinion on this [In fact I would like to write this to you ain an email rather than publicly. So you can delete this message after reading it if you would like to answer via email]
Many thanks in advance,
Michalis
For my parts, I regard it as a just attempt to leave the Icelandic public out of this vicious attack on Icelandic banks. No one has profited from this in Iceland except a small cadre of a few shadowy bankers and speculators who are now expatriate. Quite many have lost their life savings. It is possible that we all might lose our retirement funds. Yet we are decried as scoundrels or even terrorists by the British and even spat on and refused service.
We think we don’t deserve such treatment.
Exactly!
Hi Hildigunnur, I just added your link to my blog 🙂
hi Guy, I added your blog to my rss reader too – haven’t changed my links for a long time. Maybe I should do that now…
hi hildigunnur
I found your blog for a case, ’cause I looking some icelander people to meet. Im Italian from Rome, I musician too, I play trombone in jazz and improvise music.
Since when was child, Im started to love you country,(I dont know precisely why) I remember that I stayed for hours to watch the island’s map learning all that strange village’s name and immagining the life. But until now I never been there.
Now i have decide to come in iceland not for a short period, but long. i need to take a break from here, that really a nation falling in ruin, socially, politically, ecc.
I need to immerge my self into the four elements, i need to have a spiritual trip and looking for silence, space and the nature’s wonder and the iceland Im sure is the ideal for this point.
Plus I know that there, there is a rich experimental artistic scene, that I would like to meet and know nearly.
so if you like, I would have a exchange whit you and to know
any news, advise and suggestion from your lovely country,
in prevision to adjust my future trip.
maybe speak you a bit italian too?
take care. thanks for you attention, Davide
PS-Im starting to study your impossible language
Hi Davide.
Sure this is a good place for silence, we have incredible spaces of nature that are uninhabited and fairly easy to get there too, not far from Reykjavík.
We can be in touch, yes, my email is hildigunnur@lhi.is if you want. I don’t really speak much Italian but my husband’s better. I also love Italy and find it horrible to think of the political issues there. Then, we also have some bad politics up here…
Do you have anything on Youtube or some such, from your band? Would be nice to hear 🙂
hi hildigunnur
thanks for your quickly reply.
yes i have myspace.com/davidepiersanti
where you can listen some of my experimental music works.
Clearly the politic always it have inside basicly something to
wrong, dirty, ’cause often it is in contrast of human needed. But here is really excessive, do you know that here a any deputy
of chamber, get something like at list 24.000 euro each months?
(whit any comprensive cost: transports, house’s rent, hospital
insure, restaurant, theather and cinema, and more more…)and many employeer live whit at least 1000 euro each month, often to paying 500-600 euro for flat’s rent..it’s disgusting.
yes, i would like to stay in contact..i really looking forward
for my icelandic trip…do you think is possible stay there in a cheap way?
D
hi, will check your page. Agree on the wage difference it’s horrible!
I’m sure we can find some place, a Norwegian friend of mine found a cheap hostel not far from the centre of town, can’t recall at the moment what it’s called but will find out. The ISK (króna) is pretty low now and not looking to get higher anytime soon so I’m sure the cost won’t be overwhelming.
hildigunnur –
I saw a response of yours on choralnet, and I noticed you are a composer. I woulod very much like to see some of your work. I am the artistic director for the One Voice Chorus in Charlotte, NC, USA. Do you have any works with texts based on „light?“
Agape,
Gerald Gurss
eremite29@hotmail.com
Hi Gerald and thanks for the interest. Will be in touch.
Hello, I hope you understand my english, I will come in Iceland in August with one of my son, Matteo 13 years old and I am searching
a manual of conversation italian-iceland. Existe it?
greetings Roberto
Hm, I don’t think that it exists, unfortunately.
Was a nice today?
Here by us was sunny, but we had many rain in the week.
We live in Tuscany, Montecatini Terme near Florence.
Ciao Roberto
Fairly cold and windy but sunny. Window weather we call it 🙂 We live in Reykjavík.
Hi Hildigunnur,
I contacted you when you did the IcelandWeatherReport Blog
during the summer saying that I would be coming to Reykjavik
Nov/Dec and would be interested in going to cultural events
especially music events. You suggested that I contacted you nearer the time- I leave for Iceland on Friday and I will have my computer with me. If it’s possible to e-mail me any event
information I would be very grateful.
With all best wishes,
sylvia hikins (sylvia from viking wirral)
e-mail: sycy83@hotmail.com
many thanks!
Hi Hldigunnur,
here’s the KYRIE (1) and the Christe. I hope you like them. PS I do have a special liking for medieval (Landini and double leading tone cadences)
Kyrie
Christe