Studied selfishness. That’s a phrase a friend used in an email from the US concerning the way people live nowadays. When something is studied, it requires close attention and imitation. The object here is selfishness, admittedly appealing. However “studied” in this case gets close to addition.

From my apartment I get a good view of Reykjavik’s inner harbor, Sundahofn. Eimskip and Samskip are the two chief carriers of Iceland (the former being more established and larger). However, from time to time other boats will dock, often making the short trip from Greenland. Then way out on the horizon…don’t forget, the air is much clearer here and you can see further…an occasional container ship will pass heading north. That’s probably towards Akureyri or ports along Greenland’s east coast. As for Greenland, at work we receive mail for there which, despite its proximity, is forwarded to Denmark. And the names! Most begin with the letter Q and are virtually unpronounceable.

Yesterday I was driving around Grafavogur, the suburb of Reykjavik (actually part of the city) where I live. It's strikingly modern with lots of buildings going up everywhere. In fact, I recall Grafavogur, a peninsula with only two connecting roads, as completely barren. The nice part is that Grafavogur is built not to become old-looking in about 10 years. At the same time, it's very middle-America with the requisite schools, parks, malls and of course, vans in which mothers transport their kids to various activities. If it weren't for the signs in Icelandic, you might as well be in central Ohio or the like.

Someone at work told me a bizarre story. She was driving along and got hit by a Christmas tree someone had thrown off a porch; did a lot of damage to the engine. Only in Iceland...