Dispatches since 2005
The journal
Announcements, new editions, travel, diving, cooking and the working life of a novelist — 3,174 entries, all of them here in full.
June 28, 2019 · 55 words
Chris
Taos Toolbox 2014 veteran Chris Cornell died unexpectedly a few weeks ago, and his family has set up a memorial page for those who knew him. They have very kindly approached me to establish a scholarship in Chris’ name, and the page includes a link to Taos Toolbox, for those of you inclined to donate.
Read entry →June 26, 2019 · 167 words
Hidden
This was described to me as “a church of the Hidden People.” The Hidden People are, well, people— they’re not dwarves or elves or trolls, who are supernatural beings who also hang around in Iceland. They’re just people who are hidden. (Some people think the Hidden People are the same thing as elves, but Arni assu
Read entry →June 26, 2019 · 61 words
Pod People
Friend of the blog Pete Johannsen and his pal Connor (who seems not to have a last name) interview each other about my novel Voice of the Whirlwind. Interesting ideas are raised, some of which I will have to think about for a while. It’s entertaining, it’s smart, and it’s about me! Good Lord, how perfect is […]
Read entry →June 24, 2019 · 647 words
Debatable Ground
So here we are atop the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, on the neutral ground between the North American tectonic plate and the Eurasian plate. Because the land here is very new, there’s not much in the way of bedrock to support it, and in places it’s sort of collapsed— though not here, where this lake can be […]
Read entry →June 17, 2019 · 367 words
Springtime
Here we are, just a few days from Midsummer, and the temperature is 7º Celsius (44 Fahrenheit), with a wicked cold wind. That’s southeast Iceland for you. This photograph was taken near the pleasant fishing town of Höfn (“Haven,” or “Port” if you like), which is currently suffering from a weird tertiary effect of globa
Read entry →June 16, 2019 · 800 words
Turf
I should make the point that my Iceland posts aren’t made in any particular order, but dictated by what I feel like writing about and how much time I have available. So if you’re familiar with Icelandic geography, you may suspect that I’m teleporting randomly about the landscape. Whereas to those of you who don’t [&hel
Read entry →June 13, 2019 · 272 words
Tölt and Snæfellsjökul
Behold the stratovolcano Snæfellsjökull, used by Jules Verne to send Professor Lidenbrock & Company toward (but not to) the Center of the Earth. Unfortunately M Verne never actually went to Iceland, else he might have learned that Snæfellsjökull’s crater is completely sealed by ice. (Do your research! I tell my student
Read entry →June 12, 2019 · 147 words
The Harp
This is a photo of the Harpa (Harp), Reykjavik’s astounding concert hall. The irregular glass panels are each colored differently, or are designed to reflect different colors in a changing environment, or both. At any rate the colors shift and change and move with the environment, and in full daylight (which we don’t s
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