The other day I was interviewing a gentleman from Iceland’s Elf School. This is already the most charming thing I’ve done with my life, but at the end of our conversation, after he had encouraged me to visit Iceland and his school, he bid farewell by saying “See you at the Elf School! And if not, see you in heaven!” These are the two best options I’ve ever been offered regarding where to meet someone. Here are other ways you can end phone calls with me.
See you at the cat cafe! And if not, see you in a cotton candy factory!
See you at the bouncy castle! And if not, see you in the Lisa Frank dimension depicted on your 3rd grade Trapper Keepers!
See you at that free showing of Hamilton they’re staging in your apartment! And if not, see you in the dreamscape where you move into a new home that shares a backyard with a wedding venue so that you can always sneak food from their buffet!
See you in that attic full of old stuff you can putter through for hours without anyone bothering you! And if not, see you in a hot tub!
See you in the kitchen that always smells like onions, garlic and ginger cooking together! And if not, see you back in that time of your life when you knew how to cast-on when knitting!
See you in that winery you visited in Tuscany when you were 20! And if not, see you in the backyard of your grandparents old farm, before it was sold, where you would sit and pick flowers until the fireflies came out. You can go back now. You can always close your eyes and go back.
See you a massive success in your field! And if not, see you maintaining a reputation as somebody who works hard yet is kind to others!
See you alone and content, alone and yet surrounded by loved ones, connected by invisible threads to all of them but never tangled, never constrained. And if not, see you reunited with your childhood pony!
No, no, see, I WANTED to be crying at my desk about my grandma’s farmhouse right now. So this was perfect.
*passes tissue, keeping one for herself*
*takes tissue, rummages around purse for waterproof mascara*
“See you at that place where no purse sand exists!”
That was an extremely unexpected punch directly into my heart.
My grandma didn’t have a farmhouse but I am recalling her midtown Manhattan apartment and sighing.
my grandparents had a farm, and they sold it when I was very small, without consulting any of their children, and my aunts are still bitter about it, because they loved growing up on that farm.
uhhhhh I still have dreams where I’m walking through my grandparents’ house. oh look now I’m remembering how it smelled at Thanksgiving and what the backyard looked like and yup, this is great.
May we all forever remain in that time in our lives when we could cast on stitches.
Barring that, I’m not too old yet to eat myself sick on cotton candy.
AMEN. I would be so happy if I could remember how to cast on between projects. Why is that so hard???
I can do casting on, but binding off I look up every single time…
brb, on my way to the Lisa Frank dimension.
Farmhouse. Casting on. I was not prepared for those feels.
The wedding/backyard one though: would the free buffet be enough to mitigate the constant danger of drunk bridesmaids + groomsmen wandering into your living room?
Also, repetitive Chicken Dance stress disorder. I think I could cope with that if they have mini-eclairs, but otherwise…
That last one. I would love to be reunited with my childhood horse. He was a gem.
I cook with onions, garlic and ginger ALL. THE. TIME. Plus, I know how to cast on and am always knitting. So, I guess that means… See you at my house!?
Only if that house closely resembles everybody’s grandmother’s farms.
See you in the common area of our best friend dorm room, on a snowy night when we’re all sure class will be cancelled tomorrow! And if not, see you across the heads of sunburned tourists at the Haunted Mansion. I’ll save a spot for you.
I’m pretty sure I would be terrified to end up in the Lisa Frank dimension.
Though I’m suddenly thinking it might look a lot like that Cloud Cuckoo Land in The Lego Movie. And that makes it even more terrifying.
My childhood pony, thank you. I still miss him.
Mine went on this June – I’d had him 27 years. :wobblylip:
That is a really long time to have a pony. I can see why you’d miss him like crazy-cakes.
my grandma’s farm had the flowers, the fireflies, AND the pony 🙂 and a bonus rabbit hutch and a pump house with big fat frogs chilling amongst the stones. And also, PIE
Iceland is amazing, everyone should go there and talk to the Icelanders about elves and the fact that they are all prepared to quickly move from their home at any time if the land around tthem becomes a volcano, and swim in geothermal pools, and see the steam and water shooting up from the ground, and go to the penis musem, and watch the streets of Reykavik becomes a party madhouse all the way until dawn on a Saturday night.
I will be mid-Iceland in three months and I cannot wait! I went 11 years ago and have been wanting to go back ever since.
My sibling will be in Iceland next week (curse him), any urgent recommendations what he should go see? Mind, his only plan so far is to sit in a geothermal pond, drink beer, and watch the aurora.
Assuming he’ll be staying in Reykjavik, and with the understanding from your post that he likes beer, there is a place called Micro Bar that is all only Icelandic microbreweries and you can get flights of 5 or 10 AND they give you a score sheet so you can keep track of which ones you liked best.
The food there is very expensive, but very good. The places I liked best were (Note: I am biased towards places that have vegetarian options, though I do have what I call my “vacation diet” wherein I will eat shellfish when on vacation if there’s not a lot of veg fare – this did come in useful in Iceland.)
(Comment too long, continued below.)
Cafe Haiti: Right on the wharf, adorable, run by a very sweet Haitian woman, great food, amazing coffee.
Cafe Babalu: Quirky decor, lots to look at with definite queer-positive aspects, the bathrooms are star wars themed, the food very satisfying.
Grai Kotturinn (Grey Cat): Tiny breakfast place with a decor that is all bookshelves (I love this!) and lots of the local English langauge weekly scattered abot so you can look up listings.
If this is his first time, he should definitely do the Golden Circle thing – it’s touristy sure, but Gulfloss really is a spectacle of a waterfall (permanent rainbow!) and the geyser is a hell of a thing too.
There’s also a really cool old graveyard, if he’s into that sort of thing.
Seconding Grai Kotturinn! I had a breakfast there that I still dream about sometimes. Mmmm.
Wow, that all sounds tasty! We didn’t find any good food hardly at all, but I did really enjoy lunch at the Nordic House (which is a pretty cool building by Aalvar Alto).
There is an EXCELLENT, tiny restaurant called The Sea Baron that serves the best lobster soup I have ever had, and I highly recommend checking it out! http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g189…
Yes! Even though the soup was a vacation diet thing, I had to admit it was very good. And my Dad had the whale and really liked it too. Other than the soup everything is a kebab that you select at the cash and then try to find a seat (go upstairs.) My folks were a bit weirded out by the having-to-share-a-table-with-a-different-group-of-people thing, but really liked the food.
One more thing – I’ll stop after this, I promise! – if you want to try the fermented shark “delicacy’ without running the risk of actually buying some, you can get samples at the Kolaportid Flea Market. This is also the cheapest place to buy Icelandic wool knit things.
Thank you so much for your excellent recommendations!! All of these actually do sound like my brother might love them, down to the Star Wars bathrooms, and I’ll forward everything to him with the command to report back. You are such lovely, lovely people here.
Thanks for the idea and the link! Will definitely send him there. 🙂
I had that exact Trapper Keeper.
Can we make up our own too?
See you in Provence in mid-July! And if not, see you dancing around a bonfire with your cousins!
I have a set of friends that on occasion will do “anywhere but here” and I can see all of those answers fitting in to this type of sign-off.
Don’t say we have come now to the end
White shores are calling;
You and I will meet again
–Annie Lennox, “Into the West (Elf School Alma Mater)”
Aaaaaaaaaaaa
See you on the balcony of my parents’ old house, shaded under the huge perfect wild tangle of red grape vines, which they sold to people who had the vines removed.
One more thing – I'll stop after this, I promise! – if you want to try the fermented shark "delicacy' without running the risk of actually buying some, you can get samples at the Kolaportid Flea Market. This is also the cheapest place to buy Icelandic wool knit things.
See you on the deck of that cafe in the redwoods! And if not, see you as we cross that bridge into the cobblestoned square festooned with twinkly lights but no buskers.
See you on the dock at the old camp at sunset! And if not, see you in the sunroom of that old B&B on the Outer Banks, where the old cat liked to sleep in that sun-faded wicker chair!
See you in the backseat of your parents’ car on a rainy Saturday afternoon with a brand new book, the heater running, and Good Time Oldies on the radio! And if not, see you in a rural backyard on a warm clear night staring up at the whole of the galaxy!
See you in the backseat of your parents' car on a rainy Saturday afternoon with a brand new book, the heater running, and Good Time Oldies on the radio! And if not, see you in a rural backyard on a warm clear night staring up at the whole of the galaxy!
See you picking blackberries on the path to the lake! And if not, see you running on the lawn with fireflies but no mosquitoes!