Hej Hej CPH!

The past couple days I've been too busy living to do much picture-taking or blogging, which is the way it should be.  I can't believe that 6 months has passed since I first got here, in the dead of winter, not knowing that Ds are pronounced as Ls and that I would come to love this city so much.  Since school ended in June I feel like I've really begun to live.  It's been a challenging and exciting eperience, living abroad and it has changed my life, that's for sure.  I only recently  had the realization that I won't be able to come back here whenever I want.  I've gotten so spoiled by the ease of travel in Europe, though it will feel nice to settle down again in September.  And I already have a to-do list for the next time I come back to Denmark which includes seeing the island Mons and learning Danish.  Until then I'll just eat rye bread and check the copenhagen cycle chic blog daily, and try to pretend that for a moment I'm back in this wonderful place.

Life on Paper

It's funny how much the contents of my wallet have changed since I've been here.  The one constant is wads of receipts and random papers (not pictured).

Norway

It was very hard to edit photos from Norway.  It's just too beautiful, unlike any landscape I've ever seen before.  Sort of like a cross between switzerland and montana--totally amazing.

Fjord Tour

Gudvangen Fjord from Barrett Hanrahan on Vimeo.

OSLO

Part 1 of 2.  Or maybe 3.  Norway was amazing, and very photogenic.  Luckily my camera got out of its bad mood just in time for the fjord tours/scenic railways/nature walks portion of the trip.  But first, Oslo.  We (Kevin and I) took an overnight train from Copenhagen that arrived in Oslo at 7am.  We went straight from the train station to the Oslo Opera House, something that I've been really excited to see in person since it inspired this.  It was really nice being there early and having the whole thing to ourselves, except for a group doing sunrise yoga at the top of the building.  The rest of the day we spent wandering around with a map, constantly refilling our water bottles since it was about 90*.  We saw a really cool show by KHiO, a design school that I was impressed by at the Stockholm Furniture Fair.  We wandered around some botanical gardens and found some cool murals and got a feel for the city.  Every time I told someone in Copenhagen that I was going to Oslo, they would all get this furrowed-brow distant-gaze look, and when I asked how it is they would say "Well... it's pretty expensive.  And kind of boring."  I don't think it was that bad, and though it was lacking European charm, it was a cool place to visit for a day.

Jellyfish

So my camera is on the fritz.  It makes this funny grinding, struggling noise when I turn it on, and then it refuses to focus.  These are not signs associated with a healthy and happy camera.  So you'll have to take my word for it that this is a picture of a jellyfish in the canal in Copenhagen.  

the best breakfast

I love muesli!

new work

I am finally done with school! Here's my latest project (see more info here ).  I'm looking forward to two weeks of relaxing exploring around scandinavia.

lace

There's an amazing textiles collection at the industrial arts museum here with hundreds of drawers filled with samples like this.  

the bee hive

There's been a very different feeling to the school during the past two or three weeks due to final exams.  It seems to have finally come alive in a frantic sort of way.  Last saturday there were people in the print center at 11pm!  Imagine that!  Also, the hallways (and now dumpsters) have filled up with models, prototypes, and final products so I get to see some of the work that goes on in different departments.  It's all quite exciting, actually.  I only wish that I had poked around more earlier on in the semester because it's inspiring seeing what other people are creating around you.  Sometimes it feels a bit isolated here because the studios are all seperated and until recently, there weren't too many people in them.  Anway, here's a sample of some stuff I happened upon in the hallway of the furniture building.

grafitti

another photo collection...

order and chaos

Happy Father's Day!

Biking in Amsterdam from Barrett Hanrahan on Vimeo.

Summer Solstice

This picture was taken at 11pm.  The sunrise today was at 4:33 and sunset was at 9:51pm. crazy!  we celebrated with a midnight picnic in the park.

æg

Speaking of food, one of the things that I'll bring back with me from Denmark is a renewed appreciation for the egg, particularly hardboiled.  They seem to be a staple here.  Me and hardboiled eggs have been on the outs.  We had a moment circa 1993 thanks to Frances the badger, which included tiny salt and pepper shakers in my lunch box.  But now I've come back to my senses.  

euro diet

No water or hot dogs in Denmark

No wine and panini in Italy

No fries in a cone with mayonaise in Belgium

Here's another photo collection: location-specific "no food" signs.  I think it's so funny how each place has its own sign representative of the local cuisine. 

orchids

beautiful birthday present from my flatmate Mia

dog signs

Lots of times when I'm walking around a new place I start noticing trends, like funny brick patterns or street lights or something, but I never start taking photos in time to document it in any sort of meaningful way.  Somehow, though I've collected a bunch of different dog sign photos from around Europe.  Copenhagen, Antwerp, Amsterdam, Zurich, Barcelona...and they're all different!  

Where's the B?

found object location: school parking lot 

Blog, Bike

My (not really) new bike.  It's not new for two reasons: 1) I got it about two months ago.  2)I found it on the street with no tires and there are countless rediculous quirks to it, like screws stuck in the brake cables (at least it has back-pedal brakes), it only opperates in 3rd gear, and there are bits of strange hardware and pieces of metal sticking out of it everywhere.  Nonetheless, I thought it a bit strange that I spend so much time with it, yet it hasn't has a proper introduction.  So bike, blog. Blog, bike.

Monsoon Season

Well it's monsoon season here in copenhagen which means not too many photo opportunities, so here's two more Tim photos from Roskilde and Copenhagen.

WHAM

Not quite sure what was going on in here, but any building with a gold winged horse and a neon sign that says "WHAM" on it must have something cool going on inside.  I rode by on my bike but didn't really want to stop to read the sign in the torrential rain.

guest photographer

Traveling with my dad requires a lot of patience and understanding as he stops and takes pictures of everything he sees.  Though I get annoyed, the results are sometimes really cool.  This is one of his pictures from copenhagen that I just found.  It's a such a nice moment that he captured, and that flourescent lighting setting is genius!

-30 days

I can't believe it, but I'm leaving Copennhagen in only one month from today.  It's a strange feeling to be closer to when I leave than to when I arrived.  It's giving me a new energy though, to see all of the things that I haven't seen yet, to go to the Louisiana Museum one more time, and to see some more of Denmark.

This is the view of the water a couple blocks from my apartment.

great day, cool thing

There were at least three good things that happened today. 1) I finally found supplies that I needed for my project 2) I went to lecture by a SCAD professor visiting DKDS only to find that another RISD professor that I knew and a designer from Ziba in Portland were there as well. Then we all went out to dinner. 3) I saw a great concert by Cocorosie in Christiania.  Good day after terrifically bad day. The world always finds ways to balance things out. 

bad day, cute thing

Sometimes when things are frustrating (ahem, Monday, I'm talking to you) I find it helpful to look at this picture.  I have never seen a live animal look so stuffed.  Cygnets (baby swans) in the lakes, copenhagen.

one eyed wonder

How strange, this cyclops building in copenhagen.  

Cafe Paludian

This is one of my favorte cafes here, not that I go out much because the coffee is so bloody expensive.  But this one is a bookstore/cafe, very hygge on a cold day, which strangely there have been lot of lately.

Silly Large Cat Art of Europe

"I just wanna be your friend!"

"Whatever, I didn't want you to accept my friend request anyway"

"you called?"

"y'all like my shield? It's extra shiny."

"my daddy was a golden retriever"

I've noticed an alarming trend in stupid-looking cats (and one bear) in old European art during my travels.  I mean, really.