Various thoughts, fun experiments and other scribbles.
On Sant Jordi (Saint George’s day), the international day of the book, I decided to hit the streets of Barcelona, giving away short stories in order to promote my book — the short story collection 999 Abroad. A priori, the plan sounded fun and easy. How hard could it be to walk around and give away stories? The execution did indeed turn out to be fun, but it was far from being as easy as I had imagined. In the…
999 Abroad is a collection of short fiction stories by Börkur Sigurbjörnsson. Most of the stories are based on real events in the life of an Icelander living abroad. Although the stories contain a grain of truth, they are mostly fiction. The title of the collection comes from the Icelandic Registry and refers to the values of postal-code and city used for Icelandic citizens living abroad. The stories are illustrated by Yana Volkovich. More information: 999 Abroad at Urban Volcano
In my life, the year 2006 was a year of running. In March I made a life-changing purchase. I bought a new pair of running shoes. My first proper running shoes. In the following months I made good use of the shoes and went running fairly regularly. With some minor exceptions, I went running three times a week, gradually increasing the distance I could cover in a continuous trot. In the autumn of the same year I went as far…
After reading Simon Overell’s thoughts on patents I wanted to follow suit and share my own thoughts on the issue. I generally liked Simon’s argumentation. I do sympathize with the argument that patents have a merit for, in many cases, “allowing companies and individuals to benefit from investments in research and development”. At the same time I agree that the current patenting practices have created a dysfunctional patenting system and a culture change is needed. I have great respect for…
A few days ago I flew with easyJet between London and Barcelona. During the check-in I experienced something that made me think about how our lives are dominated by rules and regulations at the cost of common sense. The staff at the check-in informed me that my bag was too heavy — 21.6 kilos — 1.6 kilos above the weight limit. Instead of charging me right away the staff asked me if I could move something from my check-in luggage…
The Urban Volcano is a collection of my short fiction writing. It contains mainly fictional short stories written in the past few years. Most of the stories are based on a real-life experience, but extended and exaggerated into fiction. The Icelandic section also contains my works of poetry.
Christmas is a time where many people cook turkey. As a consequence, the days after christmas is a time where many people have cold turkey. A cold turkey sandwich. For example. I did not cook any turkey this christmas. Yet I decided to go for the cold turkey. For many years, I have been physically addicted to caffeine. If I do not get my daily coffee I get a headache. Therefore I have a cup of coffee every day. Usually…
I woke up late on last Saturday morning and reached for my duct-tape glued-together glasses. I sighed. Remembering what was my task for the day. I had decided to go hunting for new glasses. I sighed again. Shopping is not exactly on the top of my list of fun things to do. I guess it is somewhere between waiting for the bus and cleaning the toilet. Anyways … On the way to the first shop I thought about what I…