Books and reptiles

A couple of things going on right now.

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is going to visit Norway next week. How cool is that. :-) She will be interviewed in the Wergeland Room at the House of Literature here in Oslo on Thursday, as part of their event series African Week. I will so be there. :-) If anyone's in Oslo then and wants to go too, let me know. I've already got tickets for me and my BookCrossing friend sota48, but it's not too late ... tickets are still available and the seats aren't numbered, so we'd all be able to sit together. ;-) I think it'll be really interesting. I hope they'll be allowing cameras; if so, I'll be recording at least parts of the event, so that'll be popping up here and/or over on my book blog. If you're not familiar with Adichie or her work, then you should really check it out. I so recommend both her wonderful novels, Purple Hibiscus and the amazing Half of a Yellow Sun. She also published a short story collection earlier this year, which she will probably be talking about on Thursday ... I haven't read that yet but I plan to do so soon. I'm sure it's wonderful too. :-)

So, at the House of Literature on Thursday, November 19th, at 7pm. Tickets are 80 crowns each, unless you're a student, in which case I think it's 50, and you can buy them online here. And almost all the other events are free entry. :-)

But before then there's something else I'm really looking forward to. Something turtle-related. :-) A friend, who shall remain nameless until, and if, s/he chooses to come forward (because of the ban on reptiles in this country, obviously) really wants a pet turtle ... a Chinemys reevesii like Herman and Henrik, because s/he has gotten to know them and thinks, of course, that they're just so adorable. ;-) S/he wants a male because of the size thing that I discussed in a previous blog post, here. Obviously you can't just buy a turtle in this country ... and even if you could, since my friend wants to be sure to get a male, it wouldn't necessarily work anyway if s/he could buy one over the counter or openly from a breeder in this country. Because that would be a baby and you can't always tell the sex when they're babies. So the way to go is to adopt an adult turtle or a juvenile that needs a new home. :-)

Which, just FYI, I would recommend anyway, because for one thing it's a very nice thing to do, and for another it's easier to care for an adult turtle than it is to raise a baby one.

Anyway ... because my friend hardly knows anything about reptiles other than in theory, and also doesn't know the reptile hobby scene at all, I was given the task of finding a turtle. Which took a while, mainly since this is a big country :-) but this past weekend, finally, success! :-) A couple out in Hurum have been trying for a while to find a new home for their reeves turtle, who is two years old or thereabouts, and who will now in all likelihood be moving to Oslo on Sunday. :-D

Aww, look at him, he's not happy. He doesn't want to show his plastron. But who does?? :-D His owners for their part haven't quite figured out the macro setting on their camera. But have no fear, I'm pretty sure that I'll be getting lots of chances to take better shots of him. ;-)

My friend is setting up the aquarium even as we speak - I think it was delivered today - and we're going on a road trip on Sunday to probably pick up the little guy. I say probably because obviously I can't advise my friend to adopt him if he's obviously ill in some way. That's mainly why I'm going along - since I'm so much more experienced with turtles it's a good idea for me to look this one over and make sure that there's nothing obviously wrong with him. Because that could potentially be very expensive for my friend. But I'm pretty sure he'll turn out to be fine. :-) His current owners seem like responsible people who will have taken good care of him ... and turtles are generally sturdy little critters. :-) So I'm in part also going along just for the fun of it. :-D

And don't worry, we're bringing a heating pad along to make sure he won't be cold on the trip. :-) I wish we could have done this in the summer, but like I said, turtles can't just be picked up on every street corner around here. Which is a good thing, don't get me wrong. But the situation's too extreme the way it is now. Oy vey. I'm really looking forward to Sunday, though. :-)

Oh, and Helge Reiss has died. Aw. :-( Professor Drøvel is no longer among us. :-( For some reason I always remember him as the Scarlet Pimpernel ... even though I remember pretty much nothing about that series. Or even if it was real or I just dreamed it. o_O He was 81 years old, so I guess he had a pretty good run. Working up till this year, doing one of the Norwegian voices for Up. One of the golden oldies. :-) RIP.