Hardangerfjord, Norway

I'm going here on Wednesday. Have fun at work!

Hot Daddy Nation

I’ve never liked Tom Cruise, but I have to admit that whenever I see a picture of him carrying Suri through a sea of paparazzi, I suddenly find him a whole lot more attractive. Ditto Brad Pitt and his 17 children.

There’s just something sexy about good-looking dads taking an active role in the parenting process. It’s sad to say that seeing this is such a rarity in the States. The status quo of paternity seems to follow the “back seat” approach with occasional final decision rights usually related to discipline.

Well, ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Denmark – a dream come true for hands-on dads. I guess it helps when a government starts treating dads like moms in terms of parental rights (i.e. – paternal leave, flexible work schedules, etc.) After all, I’m sure there are many dads in America who would jump at the opportunity to spend more time at home with their kids, but find themselves working for American companies still sold on the idea of macho domination, that man equals breadwinner and not caretaker.

During my time here in Denmark, I am not exaggerating when I say that I see just as many fathers pushing around strollers in the middle of the workday as I do mothers. Right in the middle of the 9 to 5 daily grind, it’s perfectly common to see a father playing with his daughter in the park or changing his son’s diaper on a park bench without an ounce of shame or embarrassment. It’s just… normal. And I love it.

Being a dad here also seems to be equal opportunity. There are young dads, old dads, gay dads, straight dads, hipster dads, preppy dads, working dads and stay-at-home dads. I just can’t get over it – really, I just envy the social attitude knowing that one day I want to be a dad who gets respect for actually parenting.

Is it strange that responsibility seems to be a huge turn on for me? A guy can be relatively good looking to me, but the minute you throw a baby in his arms with a matching hat, I'm 75% guaranteed to melt on the spot. I really have trouble thinking of anything cuter, so if that's strange then I don't want to know anything else.

Life is good.

Why No Pictures?

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I brought the wrong camera cord with me. :(

Therefore, pictures will have to wait until I get back from my trip. Nobody feels worse about this than I do. Major bummer.

Try to contain your excitement.

This Means I'm Getting Old

There’s something refreshing in the fact that teenagers, no matter where they live or what culture they’ve grown up in, are all exactly the same. I don’t like to stereotype, but they’re all inconsiderate little demons.

Now I’m not sure how the school system works here in Denmark, however, I have noticed that every time I’m on the main shopping street here, Stroget, whether it be 10 in the morning or 2 in the afternoon, there are always packs of teenagers giggling, yelling and running into people without apologizing. There they are decked out in their experimental clothing and metal mouths, at all hours of the day, not studying.

I know what some you might be thinking. Like, “Come on, give them a break, we were all there once.” I agree, but just because we all went through the same awful phase doesn’t make it right. I know it’s not their fault, which is why I am formally suggesting that the FDA start researching and testing a new drug to combat adolescence. Looking back on our own teenage years, I’m sure many of us wouldn’t have minded a cure back then either.

Those who know me personally may be thinking to yourselves, “That’s odd, because Michael used to be a teacher of teenagers.” WRONG! I taught 6^th grade, which is generally 11 and 12 year olds. The difference may not seem too big to those who haven’t worked with 6^th graders, but it’s actually huge. Yes, 6^th graders can certainly be a handful, but they still (for the most part) are willing to listen.

Anyhow, I hate to sound like the old granny deflating abandoned soccer balls landing in her backyard or the uptight teacher with a “June Drawer”, and of course I’m kidding about that whole drug testing thing. I just think it’s remarkable to me how even on these Danish cobblestone streets laid hundreds of years ago in front of beautiful fountains and buildings teeming with historical significance, teenagers can still manage to ooze that pervasive self-conscious moodiness and dangerous cockiness. As much as they don’t want to be, teenagers are so predictable.

"Michael and the Bicycles" or "Copenhagen, Day 1"

"I am thrilled (on the inside) to be here, but I'm too exhausted to enjoy it at all."
- Directly quoted from my travel journal

Although figuring out how the Metro worked was a feat on it's own, it was surprisingly easy once I got on. I took the Metro all the way to Christianshavn, got off at the right stop (Hooray!), then climbed the station stairs above ground only to be immediately thrown into a slew of bike riders rushing by me.

Just so you know, when I say "slew", I mean like hundreds. It's crazy. Bikers here have their own lanes (REAL lanes, as in cars can't touch them), and they have their own rules of the road, which they all follow (I'm pretty sure I may have even seen a biker get pulled over, but he was talking so nicely to the cops and everyone was smiling, so this could be totally untrue - or just very Danish). So far, I've seen bikers on phones and one woman actually eating with a fork, but nobody neglects to raise their hand to signal their exit from the lane. Girls in short skirts and high heels, men in business suits, families with children - everybody rides their bike to get from Point A to Point B.

Aside from being remarkably good for the environment, this form of transportation pretty much eliminates obvious signs of social status and has some pretty visible health benefits. According to my guide book, Danes bike on average 375 miles a year. To make things even more interesting, as far as I can see, Danes don't lock their bikes. They lock the wheels, but I have yet to see anybody bother with a U-Lock or, even worse, the curly, stretchy wire of doom. Bikes are parked all over the city and I guess it's just assumed that nobody will steal them.

After my shock at the frenzy of morning rush-hour, I wandered around aimlessly hoping maybe I'd just run into the street I was supposed to be on. You know like, "Oh look, it's Lillehoevenstraedesorvenhavn Street. Go figure!" I like doing this to an extent because getting lost in a city is the best way to figure it out. I say "to an extent" because after a while, my pack started hurting my back, so I was very grateful when I actually found my hostel.

The hostel I'm staying in, Carsten's Guesthouse, is a hostel for gay people. Can you believe it? It's in a great location, right on the water and close to the city center. When I arrived, I had to actually wait for Carsten himself (he was out walking the dog). He checked me in, but then said I'd have to wait a bit because people were still sleeping (fair enough, it was only about 8 am). After about an hour of catching up on emails and reading more of my guidebook, I finally was able to set my stuff down. I took a shower, got dressed, and on zero hours of sleep, prepared for my first day of travel.

Things started off well enough, but after a few hours, I just started to hurt. I knew things were getting bad when I walked into McDonald's. I looked at the menu, ordered (in English of course - everyone here speaks it), only to be told that they were out of chicken. Like, all of it.

I took it as a sign, so I left... and walked right into Burger King. I know, I know - it was a weak moment. I ate a crispy chicken sandwich, then started to walk around again. I basically just found that I wasn't enjoying myself. Here I was, on vacation, miserably tired and lacking energy. I just needed to sleep. I started on my way back to the hostel and out of the corner of my eye, saw a small entryway to a courtyard. I had entered the Radhuset, or Town Hall. I found a bench and sat down in it's beautiful courtyard garden just writing, thinking and relaxing. Every 15 minutes, the clock tower let off an authoritatively soothing "ding-dong" and locals kept walking in and out on their lunch breaks to munch on sandwiches. It was just what I needed.

I headed back to the hostel, took a nap, went out on the town a bit and met some new friends. All in all, although very tiring at first, it turned out to be a wonderful first day in Copenhagen.

"Cut It Out!" or "The Flight to Copenhagen"

Yes, some might say that my trip to Copenhagen got off to a bad start. Sitting in the Seattle airport, about a hundred other people and I all waited to board our plane to Washington, DC. Finally, my announcement came: "Now boarding Zone 2 passengers." Even if I barely noticed what I was doing considering it was 6:30 am, I knew enough to realize we were right on time. Standing in line to get on the plane, I spaced out as most of us do in these situations. Then, within 5 seconds of my stepping onto the plane, a woman comes up to the front of the airplane aisle and says to the flight attendant, "Umm, excuse me, but I found this on my seat."

The box cutter - not really famous for cutting boxes anymore since it gained notoriety as the weapon of choice for the 9/11 hijackers. That's right, folks. As the woman handed the box cutter to the flight attendant, she apprehensively took it from her with that phony "buh-bye" smile and tried to laugh it off like it was nothing - "Oh my! Haha, well I guess I'll take that. Haha."

Now I personally could give a rat's ass whether we decided to go even though some airplane worker accidentally left a potentially deadly instrument on a passenger's seat (I'm assuming.) What makes me really angry though, is how Zones 3-5 continued to be boarded after the weapon's discovery, only to all be told half an hour later (mid-slumber, mind you) that we all had to de-plane for safety reasons, taking our baggage with us. Duh.

We ended up leaving about an hour and half after our scheduled departure, which put me in a hot spot because my layover in DC was only about 2 hours. As soon as we landed, I rushed to the international terminal, waited for the gate clerk (that's right, I wasn't even checked in yet) and was extremely relieved to find out that I was in fact going to make the flight. I arrived mid-boarding though, so my stomach was not so happy with me as I had not eaten any breakfast, just assuming I would grab lunch in DC. There went that plan.

The flight to Copenhagen was great, however. We were given two meals (much to the relief of my empty stomach) and had our own personal television screens - I watched half of Star Trek before I almost started poking my eyes out and listened to the Scandinavian Music Channel to get in the appropriate mindset.

We arrived in Copenhagen around 7 am local time. I walked out of the terminal, bought a Metro ticket (after about 10 minutes of intense thinking... "What are all these funny letters?"; "How many zones until my stop?"; "Why isn't this in English?"), hopped on said Metro, and started my journey into Copenhagen's city center...

Mission: Scandinavia

And I'm off. I will be traveling for the next two weeks in Scandinavia. As of right now, my plans involve visiting Denmark, Norway, and Sweden (no offense, Finland).

I leave early tomorrow morning on a flight to Copenhagen and will arrive early in the morning on Tuesday.

Needless to say, I am extremely excited. Yes, I waited until the last minute to pack (um, now), and yes, I still don't have my plane tickets or train tickets for travel within these three countries, but if I've learned anything so far in my life, it's that planning too much will get in the way.

Here's to hoping everything comes together! Expect some pictures and stories to arrive here throughout the next 2 weeks.

Song of the Mo: "Can You Tell" by Ra Ra Riot

Ra Ra Riot! Aside from having one of the best band names I've ever heard, I actually have a (slightly) personal connection to them. You see, I went to college at Syracuse University, and Ra Ra Riot (or at least most of the band to my knowledge) formed at SU while they were students and I was still there.

It gets better! When Mathieu Santos, who plays bass guitar, was a freshman, I was a junior and I was his RA... you know, as in Resident Advisor? It's definitely a loose connection, but it's pretty cool to see them on TV and be able to say, "I was that guy's RA!" (however dorky that may really sound).

You may think I'm biased then, considering I'm so close to the band (uh oh, delusions of grandeur). You think wrong, I tell you. They're actually talented, tons of fun and totally legit. They were the opening act for Death Cab for Cutie on tour and they've appeared on David Letterman.

Check out the video for the song, "Can You Tell?" below. I'm totally into the video - as well as the song - and definitely think you should be too.

I Most Certainly Approve: Margaret and Helen

Margaret and Helen have been best friends for 60 years. You can tell by the picture on the front page of their blog - the two of them navigating a large ship in their motorized wheelchairs, one behind the other - that these broads know a thing or two about loyalty and friendship.

One day, Helen's grandson decided to help her set up a blog to document her musings, opinions, rants and raves - and thank God he did! Most of the blog posts are dominated by Helen, who I'm assuming is a bit more computer savvy. In fact, in the "About" section of their blog, Helen notes that Margaret "prefers to pick up the phone and call".

Many of Helen's recent posts surround the topic of politics. Her ideas are refreshing, but she packs them with a punch with her simplistic, straight-forward, "you-should-know-better" writing style that almost makes you feel like an idiot if you weren't already agreeing with her.

If you're not sold yet, here's the first paragraph of her latest blog post, which by the way, she's titled, "A Buttload of Moolah":

"Margaret, I guess if you get enough morons congregating in one particular geographical area, eventually they will vote a fellow moron to represent them in Congress. Kind of like sleeping with your cousin – eventually your offspring are not going to be right in the head. But the idiot parade coming out of South Carolina seems to be getting longer and longer these days."

You can visit Margaret and Helen's blog here. They're witty, clever and hilarious as hell. I most certainly approve.

Camera Ready!

As the days drew closer to my Scandinavia trip, I decided a couple of weeks ago that it was about time to invest in a better camera. Don't get me wrong - I love my deep purple Nikon CoolPix point and shoot (it was the last color in the store and it was a replacement for an older, broken one, so stop judging); however, I figured it was about time for me to get a bit more sophisticated in my photography skills.

Before I bought my new camera, had you asked me anything about cameras other than how to function the zoom or show the pictures to your friends immediately after taking them so you can hysterically laugh at their drunk faces, you would have been barking up the wrong tree. Well, guess what? Woof, woof, y'all! I now know approximately 7% more about cameras than I did before, all thanks to my recent purchase.


Now, my Kodak EasyShare Z712 IS and I got off to a rough start. Basically, I kept missing her delivery and the FedEx people refused to leave it in my apartment lobby without a signature. So, I had to hustle my ass all the way down to Auburn (45 minutes away) to pick her up from the FedEx distribution center. Now that's love.


But it was worth it. Now, the EasyShare Z712 IS is far from being a truly sophisticated DSLR, but it IS a great camera for beginners to the new grade - or so I read. Well, I decided to take my new camera out on the town today to test her out and push her buttons. Talk about success. I love her! She's compact, totally easy to use and has incredible zoom. In fact, the lens sticks out so far I wouldn't be surprised if she is actually a he.

I went down to Pike Place Market and just fooled around a bit to see what results I could get. Not only do I feel like I have more camera credibility just by carrying her around, once I uploaded the pictures I could immediately see better results in quality, lighting and color (and I'm colorblind!).

So, here's to the excellent Scandinavia pictures of the future, which I will of course share with you here as well.

Shout out to my favorite street performer, Bagpipe Boy, who (according to his sign) is playing on the streets to get money for tuition - although a couple of weeks ago, he was raising money to compete in Scotland. Either way, I gave him a dollar.