Date: Nov 7, 2016, 5:14 PM
Subject: Re: Interesting things

No worries at all! I totally understand am also wiped out from my own rough weekend...

hahaha I, too, have always been the one introducing people to múm! The Internet has made it clear to me that they have a very dedicated following, but that they're just one of those magical, shadowy, whispery bands that people usually stumble across serendipitously. It's funny - I actually hadn't thought of this for years, but back in the early days of Facebook, when you could actually meet new people simply by clicking an interest and messaging them, I created a group called "The Friends of the Random Summer" so I could find other múm fans and not only did a few Icelanders join (mindblowing in the early days of social networking), but I connected with a múm fan who lived in Oregon and we became penpals, then actual offline friends - which we still are to this day! As it happens, this person also has a rough history of severe depression, anxiety, etc., so we also became very supportive of each other in that sense as well. But yeah, it's really interesting because most people who get into Icelandic music start with Björk or Sigur Rós, and while I love them as well, múm not only came first but will always represent why I fell in love with Iceland in the first place in a way no other Icelandic music does. The way the music feels is exactly why I wanted to go to Iceland in the first place, to see where they drew their inspiration, and it makes so much sense. And of course I finally got to listen to múm IN Iceland haha On the other hand, they're such a different band now without Kría... who I friended on FB in the hopes that I'd learn about new music stuff she's working on, but she seems to have moved on to other things mostly. Also, most of her posts are in Icelandic haha which is interesting, but I'm never quite certain what she's posting about x^D (p.s. I also love Nils Frahm :^) )

You know, just the other day I met up with a dear friend who I hadn't had a one-on-one with in many months, and much of our conversation was about how nearly everyone we know is either entering some major transitional period in one way or another, or stressed out about the buildup to a transitional period. To some extent, I know a lot of people feel this way because of politics and current events, but there also seems to be a lot of convergence on a personal level for many people who are trying to figure out their next step in life. I have some theories about why this is (none of which are paranormal or divine, sadly x^D ), and I've been thinking about it a lot when I can step outside of the struggles within myself. Anyway, that's a whole long conversation in itself, but your thoughts seem to fall in line with it as well and so much of it resonates with me as well. But a few of the things you've said make me curious about whether we're both staring at the same tunnel, but from different entrances, wondering how best to proceed, if that makes any sense :^P

So much more to say on these matters and other things you've been thinking about, but I'm also exhausted and don't want to pile too much more text on you for now. But I will give you a brief idea of the family drama I've been dealing with and what else has been consuming most of my time/energy recently:

My family has always been very, very close knit and we all live in the Seattle area (I have two siblings). Recently, my parents decided that, while they still love each other, they want to live separately. So they're both getting ready to move into new places (both in Seattle) and I'm living with them until this transition is over, at the end of which I'll also be moving to a new place. What's more, I have a grandmother who lives nearby, who has decided to move into an assisted living home. This is all happening after my other grandmother, whom we were all very close to but lived in Arizona, abruptly passed away - which has its own web of complications attached. And to make matters all the more stressful, we've still been dealing with the calamitous aftermath of my grandfather's passing from Alzheimer's last year - which is the most complicated situation of all. Add a tablespoon of disagreements, a teaspoon of my mom's delicate health, and a dash of my own series of strange health issues which suddenly sprung up on me this year, and our once warm, cozy family unit has become a delicate shell of its former self... the thing is, we were actually handling this all very well, and I was starting to get on top of my health issues, when all of the sudden, a decision was made a few days ago which could result in an actual family feud. Phew. :^|

On the upside, things seem to be shifting back in the healthier direction, and I'm pretttty sure we'll resolve things in a positive way before the holidays really get in motion. One wildcard factor for me is that I've been waiting to have an endoscopy for three months, which will happen this upcoming Monday, to hopefully resolve one of the most stressful issues I've been dealing with (an esophagus problem). But waiting is always the hardest part, in my experience T__T

Do you have family in the area, and are you close?

Oh! I actually did go for a walk on one of my favorite trails earlier and saw tons of mushrooms! haha So that's the good news ;^P

Anyway, I'll end things here for now. Feel free to take your time responding! I'd rather you catch up on your r&r than feel pressured to write essays back to me hahaha

Sincerely,
Sjón