Blogging in another universe

I still haven't decided exactly what to do with this blog - for now I am blogging here... So I was thinking - that while i figure out what it is that I want with this blog i can post silly stuff that makes me laugh! Like this:

Moms Rock!

Today is my mom's Birthday and I am not there... Again! Maybe maybe maybe I should slow down a bit... Mom's Rock! Happy Birthday Mom - miss you!

Too quiet?

If you think it is too quiet and boring here... Maybe it is because I am busy over here... check it out!

Back in Kabul

Yes - the rumor is correct! I am back in Kabul - on my own terms! Working as a freelance photographer now... kinda weird... Myabe the word freelance is just an excuse to do what you like and not make any money? It is awesome and at the same time really weird to be back in Kabul. Everything is the same - the food, the people, the work they do, what they talk about. But at the same time things change. Personally I have changed from spending 5 months in Photography school. It has been awesome - best experience ever! But changed I have!

Some thoughts...

So last night as I was walking home (I am in Copenhagen at the moment) a car zoomed right by me and hit a lamp post... Kaboooooom... 20 meters from me people were flying out of cars and there was blood and unconscious people all over the place. As I was walking home I was contemplating a little blog post about Copenhagen and how it doesn't really feel like a safe place anymore... that really has nothing to do with that car crashing - it just kinda started the thought process. Lately there has been lots of shootings (I guess mostly drug related) in Copenhagen... I mean A LOT! So I was walking home wanting to puke because of the car accident and thought that this was the perfect excuse for me to tell people when I go to Kabul. Copenhagen is just as bad... ... and then 2 more expats were killed in Kabul this morning. I don't really know the exact details yet... All I know at this point is that it is scary and it fucks up my plan!

Hmmm... Blogger???

Nerd Talk!!! I am sitting here wondering why exactly is it that I pay for a TypePad account when I don't use it. I signed up a while ago with all the good intentions of moving my blog to TypePad... The problem is that I have been swamped in photography school... I had all these ideas of starting my blog over... separating the Afghan stuff to stand alone... Well... It might just happen as we have an assignment for school to Tadaaaa Create a Blog on Blogger... I think I am going to say "srew Blogger" and actually go with my already paid for TypePad account. (Sorry Blogger - I still love you and you have been so faithfull for such a long time - but I need to make my blog my own!) Oh... Sitenote!!! We bought a house in Boise... Closed on it yesterday - so look forward to scribbles from my life as a HausFrau in the wild wild West!

I Need you Help!

Online Surveys & Market Research

Stand up to Cancer!

Everybody must watch this! It is so important... maybe this is the key to understanding 'that' feeling! So if you read this because you know me, once met me - are in my family (extended or not) - or just because you ended here in some random way... Do me ONE favor: Watch this little movie and when you are done - click on the link... 'nough said! Just do it!!! Stand up to Cancer PS: My date was 3rd of January 2008!

Fall is here...

Oh Man! Don't know if I will ever be able to keep up with myself and my schedule here - so I decided to never again make excuses for not writing... It is my blog anyways - so who cares? Summer ended and it sucked because most of all the awesome people I met and shared my summer with left... I guess they went back to their normal life's spread across most of the US and a tiny bit of Europe... (the tiny bit called England)... I haven't really had a normal life the last 4-5 years - so I don't have a normal life to return to - that means I am staying! Since summer intensive ended I had 2 courses... One was "The Personal Portrait" and unfortunately it was a big disappointment for me. I guess I was expecting a lot after this amazing summer . It was very nice to actually get to play with lights and a lot of expensive equipment - and it was cool to get to photograph 'real' people... But I still ended up extremely frustrated by the end of each day and really felt I wasted my money and my precious time... Most of the class consisted of people who already knew each other - which didn't really help with the group dynamics and especially not when a bunch of strangers suddenly gets a big dose of MivPiv... I know!!! Most likely overwhelming for most people... Don't think I made many friends that week. The week after that I took a class in Editorial Portraiture which was AWESOME. My favorite teacher Alison Leach took us through a hilarious, super well organized, well planned and information filled week... I guess she - I mean - her classes - is the main reason I am now leaning more and more towards the editorial-more-commercial side of photography...

Who would have thought that? Had you asked me about 3 months ago what kind of photographer I wanted to be - I would no doubt had said something like; "I want to save the world by taking pictures of starving kids in Africa!" (Photojournalist)... Now I don't know so much anymore....

What happened to the summer?

Kliche!!! But here we go anyways... It disappeared. The summer simply disappeared like the sand under your feet on the beach. Just a moment ago it was all in front of me with plans of all the things I had to do... The sensation of bare feet and sun on my shoulders - Ice cream and late, bright nights. Now everything is going the opposite way and I am feeling a bit empty. The first half of my Photography School has ended. We graduated on Friday and now half the people have left Missoula. Only 50 out of 101 are continuing on... I feel sad because most of the people that I spent the majority of my time with are not staying. They left! I should be used to the "hello" "Good Bye" thing by now. After more than 4 years in Afghanistan you learn say goodbye to people on a weekly basis - with promises and hopes to stay in touch! It just really rarely happens that you manage to follow through on promises or the hopes... Even if you want to. Even the people you thought were the best friends you could ever have... I guess we just all return to a reality were staying in touch is something you do on a computer and you can do that as easily today as yo can tomorrow - so why not just send that email tomorrow? Or the day after? Anyways... I met some awesome people here... Now I moved out of the apartment by the river that I loved so much... Am now sitting in a hotel - exactly where I started the day I arrived in Missoula. Tonight my first professional studies course begins. 'The Personal Portrait' - and I am sure it is going to be a fun week! Except that I could use a break ... and a place to move in to ...

I N T E N S I V E ! ! !

Oh Man! It has been forever!!! I was under the illusion that I would be blogging a lot more once I left Afghanistan... Was I wrong or what? I think I have mentioned before that the course I am in is called Summer Intensive... It is the biggest under statement EVER! It is insane I hardly have time to do my laundry... Forget about Grocery shopping!!! I am so busy that I hardly have time to take pictures! Isn't that Ironic? But I am having the time of my life here! I LOVE Missoula - I LOVE going to school and I am SO happy that I have met so many awesome people here... And of course I am extatic about all the stuff I have learned! It is amazing how much has been crammed in to my little brain the last 9 weeks... 9 WEEKS? Has it been 9? Maybe it is only 8... I don't know I lost track! Anyways... Lot's of projects going on here and I am full of new or re-found creativity! But I am BUSY!!! I have a Photo Essay Due, A presentation for Visual Studies, A business Plan, Somehting for Print maybe... 5 Studio Shots... ehhh.. there is probably more but that is all I remember at this point and I am pretty much at zero with most of it... Not because I don't want to do it - it is just really hard to find the time when there is other exiting things to do... Like going to school and actually being in class for a million hours per week or going to Glacier National Park - or float down the river in an inner tube for hours... Oh... And take Photos...Speaking of Photos... I should probably upload some soon but meanwhile check this site out!!! It is a little bit of the stuff I have done (mostly) since I have been here... I mostly use it for school but eventually it will be top tuned and turned into a 'real' photographer's website (that would be me!) Yup! Life is good in CowboyVille

Stalker Pictures

Stalker pictures are the photos that follow you around the world. I have gathered quite a lot of them now and most of them have been with me for more than 5 years now... I have been hanging them in every home I have had for the last 5 years and Missoula is no exception. The stalker pictures are hanging in my living room reminding me that I have friends and family far away and that I am the lucky one still having them despite the fact that I am never there. Lucky me... I must admit though that some of these pictures have seen better days... Man!!! Afghanistan must have been dirty!!!

Happy Super Power Day!

... Need to get out of my apartment and photograph something Red, White and Blue...

And the world's happiest country is...

DENMARK!

Nyhavn, originally uploaded by MivPiv.

And like I said; I would say something nice about America so congrats for making it at number 16! According to U.S. government-funded World Values Survey Denmark is once again ranked as the happiest place on Earth. Makes you wonder what I am doing flying all over the world to Guatemala, Afghanistan or America and leaving all that happiness behind, doesn't it? The happiest place title goes very well along with the fact that Copenhagen also has been ranked as the city with best quality of life. I don't know if it has anything to do with the fact that Copenhagen is also ranked number 3 in most expensive cities to live in? Pretty peculiar - don't you think? Or maybe it actually has more to do with the women of Copenhagen being ranked as number 2 most beautiful in the world only topped my Stockholm's women (damn those supermodel Swedes!) - I am sure that improves the quality of life for about half the population!

Americana

Another word about the basket on my bike and I think I am actually going to hit someone! It is not CUTE, FUNNY, INTERESTING or even LOVELY... It is PRACTICAL!!! And let me just say it straight up; If more people here actually got off their asses - out of their cars and on their bikes they would probably start to figure that out pretty quick themselves! America is on Fire - or Drowning - depending where you are... Do we really believe that this is a so-called "act-of-God" - and we have nothing to do with it??? Really? Seriously? If someone submitted a bill saying that it would be illegal to drive you car (unless it is a hybrid of-course) if you are going less than... let's say 3 miles (And that is even me being a softy)... and if I could vote for that bill - I would vote a big fat YES! Ahhh!!!! The helped! As you can clearly tell the freedom of speech is treating me well - and now that I am out of Afghanistan I am suddenly able to voice my sweet opinion about basically everything without fearing for my life! This is the land of the free and the home of the brave! PS: My next post about America will be really positive.. I promise.. The glas-is-half-full kinda post... That is what I will be going for!

Je suis un artiste?

Ok.... Discussion time!!! Let's talk a bit about this 'artist' stuff! I have this assignment for school to write a so-called 'artist-statement'... This does not sit very well with me as I really don't see myself as an artist... Maybe it is just once again one of these cultural differences that we didn't think existed... In my world you can not just proclaim; "I am an artist!" - In my believe it is something you have to be recognized as - and it is not a mainstream title such as teacher, policeman, baker... Yes! You get the point! If anybody can just say "Je suis un artiste!" doesn't the concept get washed out then? Doesn't it become mainstream and everything else that artists are normally so scared of! Oh yeah... and what IF you do documentary photography, travel photography or photo-journalism??? Is that art? Are journalists artists too then? And what about the news reader on TV - is he an artist? Are super models artists - and is what my 5 year old niece produce in kinder garden art? I have a hard time seeing the photographers doing war photography as artists... I hope they just document fair and square... If they put an artistic spin on that - I think we have a problem! I am not saying that these types of photographers can't do artsy things... But let's keep it real and not wash out the concept completely! My artist statement will probably be: "Je ne suis pas un artiste!" Oh! And by the way... You should really look at this art I made the other day :) PS: Montana is Awesome!

I love to ride my bicycle

As mentioned before - I really like riding my bike. And now with my cowboy bike - bicycling is even more fun. My Cowboy bike is so cool that people literally stop me on the street to tell me how cool my bike is... The other day a little boy yelled at me while a drove by; "Wow!!! COOL Bike!!!" - that boy made my day! The cowboy bike is so comfy riding that it doesn't even feel like you are doing any work to get anywhere.

My Cowboy Bike, originally uploaded by MivPiv.

I have this really neat basket for my bike... Now for Danish people this is not big news... I hardly know anybody in Denmark who don't have a basket for their bikes. Most of us (at least the people living in Copenhagen) ride a bike to school, work or when we go shopping... There are many reasons for this... First of all it s most often faster to go on a bike within Copenhagen - if you go less then 8-10km...It is also cheaper (Duh!) and as a bonus it is free daily exercise. It might also have something to do with the 180 per cent car registration tax levied on new vehicles, which along with a 25 per cent Value Added Tax has reduced traffic significantly. The car tax, introduced in the 1970s, deliberately made it difficult and expensive to own a car. That it has survived many changes in government testifies to the public support it enjoys. ...sorry - I got side tracked there... Back to the basket... I am astonished what a novelty it is to Americans that you can actually put a basket on your bike - not to look cute, transport a puppy or because you want to look like someone named Heidi... But because your bike is like your car and the basket is like your trunk... I ENJOY riding my bike and the weather is SO beautiful now that it is a JOY - and I really hope more people here will start doing the same and that they will start to prioritize bicyclists in the traffic as we do in Copenhagen. So I beg you Obama give the Americans bicycle lanes and priority in traffic lights!

18%

Today it snowed even more... When I look out the window there is still snow on the hills... This is crazyness! The world is trying to tell us something and I think we better figure it out pretty quick! But I liked today - because I was dressed Afghan style with hiking boots, big warm fleece, scarf, hat, gloves and rain jacket... Another reason I liked today was because my quality of life just increased by 18%. I learned to use a grey card... MAGIC - simply magic! (Well, not really - but you know what I mean...) Just learning how to get white to be white and black to be black was worth the trip here!!! Yay!

Snow!!!

OK - so it snowed in Missoula today!!! Snowed??? I thought I was here for the 'summer intensive'... I did not bring my snowshoes or my winter jacket... I might be able to find some gloves in one of my Afghan boxes.. But equipped for snow - I am not! It is the 10th of June... Suddenly the Denmark weather doesn't sound too bad huh?

Apple Loves me (Not?)

Why is it that Apple always comes out with something new and fancy just before my Birthday... Oh - you good old Nemesis... The pain of being an early adapter! * It looks the same - it is half the price - it has a plastic back (which I am not really sure I think is cool) - BUT it has G3 and GPS... I probably - most likely - don't need it... But with the Dollar so low and - you know - right before my Birthday... Why not!?? It comes out 11 July - and we all remember last year when I got the first Iphone and was the first person in Afghanistan to have one that actually worked... 4 days after I got it they cut a few hundred $ off the price... Aaaaanyways... Maybe I should just marry Steve Jobs... Wondering if he is single??? * fancy term for someone who always wants the latest and greatest

Things I don't understand about The Land of The Free...

Some people might remember my list of things I didn't (and still don't) understand about Afghanistan... You would think that The Land of The Free would be very similar to Denmark... Think Twice!!! Here we go... Why not? I do not understand scented garbage bags, scented tampons or scented toilet paper... I also don't understand how biking as your main means of transportation is such a WOW-thing... I don't understand why everything has to be family size... What in the world am I going to do with 1 Gallon (3.79L) of Kikkoman Soy Sauce.. OK, so I like sushi - but a liter a month - is probably a bit over the top... There are tons of other things... But let's safe some for later. I have started Photography school - and YES it is INTENSIVE and EXPENSIVE... I am a major gear nerd - and this is not good for my addictive personality or my credit card. But hey! We only live once... This is MY dream - so I will do the best I can to get the most out of it. For instance being at school until 10PM Saturday night is so out of character for me (except for when I wrote my Master Thesis and moved into the University for 30 days)... But I love it and am happy that I for once am not the biggest nerd around. I haven't really had time to explore much of Montana or Missoula... But I think I like it. I got a GREAT place to live and am sort of getting used to the real world again... BUT - and who would have thought that I would EVER say this; "I miss my cleaning lady, my house-boy, and my cook!". I am not exactly sure why it still is a surprise to me that nobody made my bed, did the dishes, washed the floor, did my laundry, used my shampoo and looked through all my stuff while I was out all day... Ahhh, the dream of having the best of both worlds still lives on...

So happy I could cry!!!

I just got a phone call from the doctor that removed two moles (one on my TOE (!!!) and one on my arm) last week... And guess what! They both turned out to be NORMAL! NORMAL!!! Normal - Normal - Normal - do you have any idea how awesome it is to hear 'moles' and 'normal' in the same sentence? My heart was sitting in my throat when I got the call... Now it is slowly returning to it's normal place... I am SO freaking happy I could cry!

...in Missoula

OK - so I have arrived in Missoula - and as usual the days don't have enough hours.. School is starting tomorrow - I still have to find a place to live and pick up all my mail in the post office... Install software, find books - and definitely UNPACK! I am DONE living out of my suitcase..

I'm here!!!, originally uploaded by MivPiv.

Lots of other stuff has happened - and again - as usual I need to write about it later as Missoula and my new cowboy saddled cruiser bike is calling...

Metro - Baguette - Paris

The above pretty much sums up my French! After a 30 our visit to Denmark - where I went to the doctor and got the message that I have two more moles to have removed (DAMN IT!!!) - I am now in France somewhere near Bordeaux in a real Chateu for a 5 days wedding celebration... and I am the Photographer which basically means that I kinda have to stay sober... as the only one... I am wandering the streets of France with 7 Americans... never really realized before what it feels like to be looked at like that... The weather is beautiful here and the Chateu is like a little fairytale in itself... Yes! Life is good here on the other side... Good but different. I am still suffering a bit from The Kabuli Withdrawals and I have plenty more to write about Afghanistan... I just need a moment for myself to sort my head and then I am ready! For now... I am enjoying a bit if freedom in France... Maybe I should try some of those freedom Fries!

Dubai

In Dubai.... Trying to sort my head out... It is too hot here - and there is no point in little miss freakin' skin cancer here to go to the pool... I feel hung over even though all I drank last night was water. I have a feeling I forgot something... A piece of my puzzle is missing!

13 hours....

In 13 hours all the madness is ending and I will be on a plane out of here... Right now I don't have much to say... I am having a hard time believing it... Feels like my heart is about to fall out... Despite all the bitching... I LOVED this place! OUT!

Free Fall Feeling

I think what scares me is the free fall feeling of not having a job, an income, an identy, a purpose. Which is also ironic considering how much I liked the free falling in Australia...

The Kabul Blues...

I Guess thats why they call it the blues..., originally uploaded by MivPiv.

I have the Kabul blues... I don't think anybody in the outside world will understand this - but leaving is so freaking hard... I don't have much to say these days... I should have a lot to say... - and I do - but I can't ... Nothing will make sense. No matter what people say... Cancer changes the way you think... I like it and I really really hate it as it questions some of the big decisions I have made lately... Is this the right thing to do? I wish there was a right answer to this...

Bitter Sweet!!!

After my farewell party the other day it has hit me pretty hard that this is the end! I know I am moving on to good things - things I have wanted to do since I was 14 years old - but still... If someone could just explain to me how you say goodbye without it hurting so much - that would be great! ...and also - if someone could just come and pack my shit for me - that would be great too!

4 years in a suitcase?

Oh man it is weirdo to leave this place after 4 years of calling this place home! I have been packing for one week straight now – and no! I am not even close to being done with it. It is not so much the packing the stuff to take home as it is the distribution of all the give-away shit that we are leaving behind… and then of course the endless discussions with Keith about what to keep and what to throw away… He is a keeper I guess... I am not apparently! I just don’t see the point in shipping home a box full of old, faded, over washed, worn out T-shirts – when the shipping cost is more than the value of the contents of the box! Makes nada sense to me – and then of course there is the fact that we are moving to America where everything is cheap as shit these days… Yes yes I am a child of the ‘use-and–throw-away-generation’ (I guess that is a Danish term that translates poorly into English). But at least here I know that if I give a box full of shoes away – SOMEBODY will use them – and that is probably better than shipping home old clothes in case I some day need to do a paintjob around the house and need an old T-shirt that I can spill paint on with no problem. So I am ALL for giving as much away as possible! I have had a few of the local guys ask me already; “Miss Mie, What are you going to do with your house hold goods?” – “Are you giving them away?”… It kinda annoys me as it does feel a bit like grave robbery – but on the other hand it isn’t hard to understand that people with so little try to get more… It is a fine line there – and I am not sure how to balance it. How to decide who gets what – when – where? Cuz if there is one thing that is for sure in this country – it is that there are NO secrets!

Mujaheddin Day

A few days ago I woke up a little after 4 in the morning to the sound of something like mortars... A few minutes later I heard helicopters flying really low - at one point I actually thought they were going to land on my roof... I went back to sleep - and later when I got to work I got this text message from my boss "Blasts this am were fireworks test 4 upcoming holiday. Will be more tomorrow". Who in their right mind tests fireworks at freaking 4 in the morning? So today is the before mentioned upcoming Holiday. It is Mujaheddin Day, which means that there should be parades all over town to celebrate and mark the 16 years since the overthrow of Afghanistan's Soviet-backed rule. On a day like this I work from home! No need to risk going out in town and get stuck in traffic and who knows what else. It turns out that there was an attack on Karzai at the stadium this morning. I am not really surprised about this at all. It has been quiet in Kabul for a long time now and something was up... And there it came... Boom! Another attack on Karzai! It bothers me in so many ways... It bothers me that since I came back to Kabul - less than a week ago - The Danish Embassy has closed and now this atttack on Karzai. The Danish media is all over it (as they should be) - but I - ME - MivPiv - I don't need my family and friends to read all these news that seem so different to people who have never set foot in this country! How in the world is outsiders supposed to understand that the attack on Karzai this morning - or the threat against the Danish Embassy has very very little to do with me or the life I live here. I totally believe the media should report all they can from here... But I also think it is time that the media start to focus on some of the 'good news' from Afghanistan. It is NOT just war, taliban, terrorist attacks and Muhammed Cartoons! It is also girls starting to get educated - women entering the work force and even being allowed to drive vehicles. It is hospitals, schools, roads and powerplants being build. So maybe it is time for the media to put a bit more focus on the rebuilding of this country rather than always focus on the war against Taliban. It also bothers me that it seems to me like the security situation hasn't gone one bit better (on the contrary) since I arrived in April 2004! Maybe... Just maybe - the way to win over the Taliban is educating as many people as possible! Maybe it is all about basic education and replacing poppies with other crops... Maybe it is teaching people to think for themselves and teach them the concept of the word "consequence". There you have it! I just solved all the problems in this country! That simple!