Tuesday, December 28, 2004

See ya next year

I don't know when I'll write again so I'll just wish you all a peaceful Christmas and a wonderful New Year celebration.

Tomorrow morning my family and I will get on the bus to go to Oslo. Bright and early Wednesday morning we'll be on the plane to the Canary Islands. My sister and our parents are all over the place, my brother and I seem to be taking it a little easier... They (parents and sis) have never been this far away from home before, my sister has only been on a plane once and she was 2 years old back then. I can't wait to get there but the packing and the bus ride and the waiting around at the airport... I remember when I used to love packing my bag because it only happened once a year when going on our summer holiday. Now I'm used to it and although I love travelling, I don't like luggage. The packing is not really a problem, I don't like it but it's easier than ever before. But the luggage... dragging the suitcases and back packs around... I don't like that. I should learn to travel light some day. And I will. Some day.

Right now I'm just looking forward to getting there. I can't wait for the moment when we've got the key, got all our luggage with us, done with queues and we walk in the door to our hotel appartment room thing. I'm gonna walk out on the balcony, I'm gonna take a long look at the view and just think "Mmmmmm". Hope it won't rain... Then our parents will tell us we are going to relax for a while, my brother will run for the nearest computer and my sister will be jumping around. When we were younger, my brother and I always used to walk up and down the floors of the hotel we were staying at. We wanted to check out the place and discover everything. Two kids (not little kids just young kids) walking around the hotel watching the guests, spying on the people who worked there, sneaking into dining rooms, taking brochures with us from the lobby to pretend we wanted to do whatever was in them. I'm sure it will be exactly the same this time, only my brother will think I'm stupid and I'll take my sis with me instead. I'm just a kid really...

I've spent a lot of time following the news of what is happening in Asia these past two days. So many countries and so many people affected by this. The last time I heard, 23,000 people were reported dead in the different countries. It's a bit scary, excactly one year after the earthquake who killed 30,000 in Bam. I guess these things just happen? 13 Norwegians have been reported dead, many are hurt and many many more are missing. Children have lost their parents and The Red Cross is sending all kinds of supplies from all over the world. We're sending money and people and I just hope it helps a little.

To everybody over there... The world is thinking about you.

It hurts inside but we gotta keep smilin'.


I'm out, see you all next year.

Sunday, December 26, 2004

More brrr!

It's getting warmer...

Before it was -16.2 degrees (2.8 F)
now it's -14.2 degrees (5.2 F)

The sun is shining high on the mountains but we won't have it down here for another two months. The sky is a light blue and the air as clear and cold as it's ever been. It's not usually this cold until January - February but when the sky is clear the cold comes. It's beautiful :)

Saturday, December 25, 2004

Brrrr!

It's -13.5 degrees (7.7 degrees F) outside! My nose is freezing cold even though I was only outside for three minutes and that was half an hour ago. I'm not complaining though; I'm loving it! As long as I don't have to go out there...

Christmas Day

Santa came last night. My sister had bought me the slippers I wanted and I loooove them! While waiting for him we went out to play, I had snow inside my shirt and little snowballs hanging in my hair... It's freeeezing cold with snow down your back in case you haven't tried.

Today I read that a Mexican city says people can't be naked. What is this world coming to?

Only three more days at home before we're leaving for the Canary Islands off the African Coast. The islands are Spanish but there are so many Scandinavians there you don't need to know a word of Spanish to live there. Doesn't that suck? I don't speak Spanish, imagine how much fun I'd have trying to explain what I wanted! But now all I have to do is let the people there see my blonde hair and blue eyes and they'll start speaking a mix of Norwegian, Swedish and Danish. Or at the very least English. Hopefully we'll be able to get a little away from the places where all the tourists go. I want to see what Gran Canaria is for the Canarians, not what it's like for the tourists.

I'm really looking forward to it though. We're going there to celebrate my dad's 50th b'day on January 5th. We're gonna stay there for two weeks, celebrating New Years without snow! That'll be a first for me. And go swimming in January... Walking in the dunes at Masopalomas... My brother and I have both been there before with our classes, a lot of people from this place goes to the sleepy fishing town of Arguineguin where nothing ever happens. Or so say the guides. We're gonna put balloons all over on the 5th and I'm gonna try and make the hotel prepare my dad's favourite cake.

But right now it's still Christmas at home. And I have to go remind my dad to watch the show (about old horse rides through this town) he forgot to watch yesterday. Gonna round the family up tonight and we're gonna play Pictionary. No it's not lame, it's fun. We try and do that once or twice every Christmas and Easter. My sis and I are the only ones who say we want to but everyone thinks it's fun once we've got started.

Just as long as no one starts arguing!

Friday, December 24, 2004

Christmas Eve

In one hour, at 5pm, the church bells will ring and Christmas will be here. It's been a long year... We've done everything that has to be done before the holidays start and now it's time to relax. We have the big Christmas dinner at 5:00 and a little later Santa Claus comes. I wish I was a kid again...

It's snowing and it's been doing so all day. We got a white Christmas after all. Most of the time when I'm here in this town I call home I feel the urge to get away. But this time of year there's no place on earth I'd rather be.

As I said, it's been a long year and I've learned a lot. But... The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love, and be loved in return. I'll have to work on that one. But right now... right now I'm happy. And tired but mostly happy :)


I hope you'll all have a wonderful time and that all your wishes will come true. Mine already has - I got a White Christmas.


Merry Christmas everyone

Monday, December 20, 2004

It's cold!




Just after lunch it was -9.5 C which
is 14.9 F which is friggin cold!

Too much information?

Your Boobies' Names Are: Silk and Satin




Your Porn Star Name is: Cumisha Jones




It's Not Sex. It's ... :
Having a Bit of Sugar Stick





Your Stripper Name is: Peaches




Your Hippie Chick Name is: Mystery




To pick up ... (the name I chose, my secret;): Hi will you help me find my lost puppy? I think he went into this cheap hotel room across the street.




To pick up Anne: You are like a candy bar: half sweet and half nuts.

'


I've cencored myself a little, leaving out the 'worst' things and the boy names (seeing as I'm a girl...) Name Generator at Blogthings will help you out if you want to find names for your Girl Parts, your Penis, if you want a Drag Queen Name, if you want to know your Star Wars Masturbation Method and finally a Hippe Dude Name. Try it out. All you have to do is type your name.

Sunday, December 19, 2004

The Church and The Wave

I'm going to church later. No, I haven't gone Christian all of a sudden but my sister is going to play today. She plays a trumpet like thing in the school band which isn't a school band anymore it's just basically everyone who wants to play. But they're good. It's sorta a Christmas concert and others will play, lots of singing and violins I expect. I used to play the violin, most kids here play an instrument. Music has always been a part of this town, people making violins, writing traditional Norwegian songs, the special way of singing these songs is called 'kveding'. 'Kved' is probably the same as 'Kvad' which was a song or a verse of some kind when the vikings where here. It's stuck around.

I don't much like this kind of music though, the singing really gets on my nerves. But it's tradition. Old songs being played again, old dances being danced so as not to be forgotten. Tourists love it. They can't get enough of it. When I played the violin we always had to play these old songs, old dance tunes like 'masurka' and 'polka'. I hated it. So did everybody else and most of us quit at the same time. I sucked at it, mostly because I didn't bother trying. Why? Because I didn't like those old songs. Over and over and over. We did get to play a Christmas song or two in December. If we were lucky. I wish they would put in some easy classical music, something more than just folk tunes from Honndalen.

Well, as I was saying, I'm going to church later. I'm gonna bring my camera and try and get a few pictures from there. I haven't been there in... probably two years... just go whenever there's a concert where my sister is playing or the school has a Christmas concert. I've left all that behind but it's nice when it's all Christmassy like today. Yesterday I was out walking with my sister, stopped by our grandparents and then went to rent some films. It was snowing and it was beautiful so I brough my camera. There must be something wrong with it, pictures are never clear anymore, they're either blurry or just... they don't look like they should. They look like they've been taken with a cell phone with a crappy quality camera in it. Of all the pictures I took last night, this one was the only one where you can actually see anything.

The picture is of a statue at the museum, just below our house. It's in a little fountain and they usually bring it inside for winter but this year they haven't. The statue is beautiful, it's a man standing and a woman sitting, looking up, holding onto him. It's called 'The Wave'. I'll have to get a better picture when spring comes. Must be cold for them though, no clothes, out there in the the snow...

You know you're from ... when ...





You Know You're Norwegian When....


You assume that a stranger on the street who smiles at or greets you is:
a) drunk.
b) insane.
c) an American.
d) All of the above.

You vigorously defend whaling and enjoy consuming whale meat.

You enjoy the taste of lutefisk (jelly-like, bad-smelling fish) and cod prepared in any way, including fried cod tongues.

You can prepare fish in five different ways without cooking it.

You don't question the habit of always preparing a "matpakke" (sandwich in paper).

You have two cars, a cabin and a boat, if not more.

You think there is no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing.

It feels natural to wear sport clothes and backpack everywhere, including the cinema, bowling alley, and to church.

You are think it's weird if a house isn't wooden.

You know at least five different words for describing different textures of snow.

You don't fall when walking on ice.

You earn more than you spend.

You associate Easter with cross-country skiing with friends and family in the familys mountain cabin.

You are shocked if it's not 2 months of snow every year, at least!

You can see mountains and the ocean, no matter where you are.

You expect all dinner parties and meetings to start precisely on time, if not before.

You fall 3 metres, and don't get hurt. If you do, you're not worried at all.

You haven't heard of "fast-food".

You can't understand why foreigners haven't heard about Bjørn Dæhlie.

You're proud to be Norwegian - and you pass these jokes on to all your Norwegian friends!




What number are you?





You Are the Loyalist



6




You have strong relationships and are intensely loyal.

People find you easy to love and care for.

You like your world to be stable and secure, no surprises.

You're cautious. You prefer your inner circle to the outside world.




I'm not sure if this is all good...?

And my number should be 8... for some reason I always say 'eight' all the time...

What crappy gift are you?





You Are a Fruitcake!





You taste like nothing else in this world.
And get ready, you're about to get tossed!


It's snowing!

I'm dreaming of a white Christmas...

Saturday, December 18, 2004

Me and my new haircut




How do you put a picture on your profile? Do you have to post it on here first? I've tried doing what it seems I should do and I put in the same type of link other people put in but I just keep getting There are erros in this form! and then Cannot find file at specified URL: link is broken (failed request). What does this mean??

Friday, December 17, 2004

The hairdresser

Yesterday I got a haircut! Finally, should have done that a long time ago. I really like it, it's not too long anymore, a bit shorter than I want it but I asked her to cut it this short cuz it always grows back out... I don't get it though, I want to have long hair. In theory. But it's so much easier to have my hair a little shorter... a little below the shoulders rather than the middle of my back.

It looked straight and all when I was there but when I came home it seemed a bit... uneven. That's cuz my hair is just weird and it wants to stay in a way that puts a lot of hair on one side of my head and less on the other. So what would be in the middle would be even and if only my hair agreed to stay like that. It doesn't. I'm gonna stop by the hairdresser later and ask her if she can just cut it a little on the longest side... It'll probably look weird if my hair decides to behave properly, but 1) that's not very likely and 2) I don't mind my hair being a little wierd as long as I can plan the weirdness

Thursday, December 16, 2004

Spooky

There's a lot between heaven and earth up here

Cool gifts

Christmas gift for her

Christmas gift for him

from Kameo in Japan

Dolphins

They're nicer than people, and smarter than most of us too... look at this

Here kitty kitty

Russian cats sure are something...


So are Italian cat men

Dutch women prefer big knickers

I've mentioned before that I like underwear. I think everyone likes underwear it's just that most people haven't realized yet. This article is about underwear. Women exchange pretty lingerie for comfy lingerie... Seriously, if someone gets me lacy underwear, and it's the right size and everything, I wouldn't dream of exchanging it... Mind you, deep red might not be the best colour, try a lighter shade of red. But not pinkish red!

Wednesday, December 15, 2004

Syrup

Today I managed to knock a box of syrup off the counter then catch it with the cupboard door before it reached the floor. But it was hanging sideways so the syrup was everywhere. I cleaned up the sticky stuff and proceeded to knock a lid and some metal-plastic thing covered in syrup back onto floor. I'd put the syrup box on the counter and my mum put a paper thingy on it for me to put the box on and it was all a sticky mess. I got syrup on my sock and all over the place... Syrup really doesn't taste very much... guess that's why I've never really liked it. Sticky stuff... gotta be good for something though...

Our mum was going to make the dough for gingerbread houses today but she forgot so I helped her. My sister and I are going to make the houses tomorrow. We weren't supposed to make any this year because we're only staying at home until the 28th so we won't really be here too long this Christmas. But a tradition is a tradition and we don't have them for nothin. I wonder how many we'll make... Gotta make some of the little ones and maybe the big one if there's enough dough (and if we're bothered, it's rather difficult) and maybe the stables. We're gonna make gingerbread hearts to put in the windows. My mum suggested we could just buy gingerbread houses this year, sorta as a joke. That's where it starts! You buy the houses one year, the cookies the next!

Tuesday, December 14, 2004

But... what is teasing?

apples:
what would you do if a woman did that? tied you up, got you all excited and then untied you and told you to go home?
friend:
that would be the worst form of teasing
apples:
and what would you do?
friend:
that would be form of rape ;) that will result
friend:
which is not good
apples:
you would rape the girl?
friend:
well a man totally hot and you refuse after making him hot that girl would be responsible for results
apples:
why 'form of rape'?
friend:
bec that would be one way sex than thats why form of rape


@#%$#@&!!!!!!!!!

do I even need to tell you how freakin angry this makes me?? I wanna jump out my skin and hit this guy in the head with a baseball bat or sumthin... do people really still think this way? I mean really?

Monday, December 13, 2004

Saint Lucie

December 13th is when we celebrate Saint Lucie in Scandinavia. I don't know if that's what it's called in English since, as far as I know, we only really celebrate this up here in the north. In kindergartens and at school the kids dress up in white gowns and have tinsel(?) around their heads, carrying candles. One of the oldest kids is in front with a crown like thing with candles (not real candles) on their head. We make lussekatter and give them out to the other kids. The kindergarten I went to was right next to an... old people's home is what we call it. We used to go there with our lussekatter in baskets and sing the song holding our candles. They used to turn the lights off so it was all dark when we came. Happy days...

Yesterday my sister and I made gingerbread cookies. I posted one pic below and we made a little family and some little ones. Our mum made the dough the day before and although she only made half of what she usually does (way too much left from last year), we still made loads. Can't have Christmas without pepperkaker! We're making gingerbread houses Wednesday... and hearts to tie red ribbons to and hang in the windows. I'm just waiting for the snow to come. Tomorrow is supposed to be stormy here in the west, lots of wind. They're telling us to bring in things that can fly away and if we've got a Santa Claus in our garden we shouldn't leave him out there. I can't see no Santa in my garden... lil early for that.

Love has no colour Posted by Hello

Friday, December 10, 2004

The dentist

I was in the chair at about 10:20. The woman showing me where to sit said they were waiting for a patient to come at 10:30, it was kinda an emergency. The dentist came and started doing his thing, and at 10:40 the woman asked if they should take an x-ray of the patient, the emergency was an 8 year old girl with a toothache. The dentist went "What? She's here?" "Yeah", the woman said. "Oh fuck!"

That's just what you want to hear when you've got your mouth full of metal, the dentist going 'oh fuck!'. That made me feel sooo much better. He started going really fast with everything, sorta ripping things out and trying to stretch my lips waaay too far apart. I've got a small mouth, you're not supposed to be able to put your entire hand in there! It's a snug fit even for smaller things... Why do male dentists do that? We had a dentist here, the one everyone had to go to when we were at school. He didn't wear gloves and stuffed his hands into our mouths when we were just kids. He retired though and the last time we saw the dentist in elementary school it was another man. He was really really nice.

After that I've only seen women, simply because there were only women in the office in the town where I went to high school. I figured I'd just got rid of my fear of dentists, I used to hate them. But then this summer when I went for a check up, there was this new guy there. He was a student, almost done with his education to become a dentist, and he was the one who did me (well, just my teeth..). He had the cutest eyes, his eyes and eyebrows were all I could see above that thing he had covering his mouth and nose (dunno what it's called). He was always asking if it hurt if I as much as moved my hand. He was really really nice aswell.

Then today there was another man. A grown up man. A dentist man. As I wrote above, he was not really really nice. When he started hurrying, he also started whistling. Only he wasn't whistling, no sound came out. I think he was trying to not make me realize he was 'speeding up', but he seemed all nervous when he found out he was late for the other patient. I hope he's just a really good dentist and that everything was done the way it should be done. It doesn't hurt anymore and the tooth doesn't even feel funny!

Anyway, although I saw a scary dentist man again, I'm still not scared of dentists. I think I've been cured! Nice women took my childhood fears away. Dentists and parent-teacher-pupil conversations were my two big fears as I was growing up.

Bus adventures

I'm at the library in the town where I went to high school. I went to see the dentist at 10 and now I'm waiting for my bus home.

I left at 9 this morning, way too early for me. When you take the 9am bus, the next one is at 12, you take the first one for five mins, then wait 10 minutes for the second one, and then it's a 15 min ride to get here. When I got on the first bus, which is the school bus coming back from school, I said I wanted a student ticket to Stryn. He looked at me and said. High school kids take this bus when they're late for the other one, I know I did a few times.

I figured he must be wondering if I had a bus card thing for school because then I might not have had to pay. I said 'Erm... no', and he said it was 40kr (about $6). It was supposed to cost 30kr so I said I had asked for a ticket for students. He looked at me, again, and said "But you're old!" Yeah... There were only three other passengers, an woman and two kinda old men. Someone started giggling and I said "Gee, thanks". I went to that high school, and by that bus, 18 months ago, am I old already??

I said I wasn't going to school but I'm still a student and he went 'Umm... why don't you pay when we get there? (there being where we'd be waiting for the other bus).

I might be too old for high school, but I'm not old thankyouverymuch! He probably knew how old I was cuz everybody in town knows each other (more or less), and meant I couldn't still be in high school. Think before you speak!

Thursday, December 09, 2004

Last day in Bergen

I was at the library today, walking around waiting to go to my test in philosophy. I looked around some shelves with guide books trying to figure out where they keep their Bill Bryson books (any library should have some Bill Bryson books). While browsing the shelves I ended up looking at the Asia section, India in particular. I just got this strange feeling...

It was like a flashback from two or three years ago when I was at the library at home borrowing some books about France. I was either about to start studying French, or I had just started. All I remember is that it was summer. When handing my three books to the librarian he asked if I was going there, to France. I said no, with a smile, at least not yet. I wasn't even thinking about going, wasn't even a dream, just something I didn't think would happen, at least not then.

It's been six months since I came back after spending nine months there. I haven't thought about it before, about how I actually just... went there. A year or two before I left it was something unimaginable, but it still happened. That's the feeling I had when I saw 'India' on a book today. I just froze, memories I haven't thought about since that summer came back to me. Maybe I've found another place I want to see?

I passed my test and I've packed my bags. At 8am tomorrow (or today really) I'll be on the bus home. This weekend I'll be doing the Christmas shopping with my family on Saturday and making gingerbread cookies on Sunday. By 2pm next Wednesday I'll have handed in my assignment over the net and Christmas can finally come. It's good to be me sometimes ;)

Tuesday, December 07, 2004

*box*




watermelongrapes
peachesbananas

CNN or FOX ?

I've heard CNN described as the communist channel. But lately I've heard, and read, that FOX has become more and more a propaganda channel. Even republicans think it's a bit too much. A simple search on yahoo gave me this, that, this one and that one. In short, the stories are talking about how Rupert Murdoch and FOX work with and for the Pentagon. They feed the public what the government wants them to know. That second link goes to the page www.fair.org (Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting to see what it's about). Just a random search for "+fox+news+propaganda" showed the page "www.fox.com/home.htm" among the first ones.


I'm sticking with CNN!

Sunday, December 05, 2004

What kind of soul are you?





You Are a Hunter Soul





You are driven and ambitious - totally self motiviated to succeed
Actively working to acheive what you want, you are skillful in many areas.
You are a natural predator with strong instincts ... and more than a little demanding.
You are creative, energetic, and an extremely powerful force.

An outdoors person, you like animals and relate to them better than people.
You tend to have an explosive personality, but also a good sense of humor.
People sometimes see you as arrogant or a know it all.
You tend to be a bit of a loner, though you hate to be alone.

Souls you are most compatible with: Seeker Soul and Peacemaker Soul


Friday, December 03, 2004

Aaaargh!!

A jury made up of United Methodist Churchclergy convicted a lesbian minister Thursday of violating church law by openly living with her partner in a committed relationship. (FOXNews.com)

And I thought we didn't like it when religious people formed a jury and convicted others... Or maybe that's only if they're not christian because then everything goes. Right?

We're all supposed not to understand 'other' religions, assuming Christianity is what 'we' have and those are the rules we need to live by. I'm not even Christian and just because I live in Europe I'm supposed to be a part of all this. You know, I don't understand christianity either. I think it's great that people can believe in things they can find comfort in, that's wonderful. I however don't believe in it, and sometimes I'd like to say "it's great that you belive this, but we know it's not true so why waste energy trying to make everyone else believe it?". But I don't say that because I have no way of knowing what is true or not. There could be a god. It could be allah. We might go to nirvana after many many lives, or we might go to heaven or hell after this one. Or even purgatory. Who am I to say what is right? How would I know?

But this is just the problem isn't it? There are plenty people believe they do know. Some people believe god talks to them. Some people believe they or others are special because god or someone else chose them. How can you know if that's true or not? You can't. God chose them. He spoke to them. Not us.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrgghh!!!


Lots of words that should be in CAPS here but I just chose to write all words the same way...

Wednesday, December 01, 2004

December 1st

And the advent has begun. I don't know how the rest of the world celebrates this, or if you even do at all, but in Norwegian it's an unbreakable tradition.

The whole thing is that when December comes, the Christmas month has started. We have calendars that you either buy in shops, you buy a part and make your own 'presents' or you make it all on your own. At school children all bring one present, and then they're put up somewhere. We made a calendar the first year of school, with rings hanging at the bottom to tie the presents to. It's not a calendar as such, the advent calendars has 24 numbers on them, 24 days till Christmas as here we celebrate Christmas Eve, not Christmas Day.

I can't live through December without a chocolate calendar, it's a cheap little cardboard thing you get at some shops, but it has to be this exact one because ever tiny piece of chocolate just.. well, tastes like advent. I opened the first one today and there was a picture of a little train on the first one. I also put clove (?) things into an orange, they're whole instead of powder and you have to be careful when you put them in. You put 24 of them in there and you take one out every day, the last one on Christmas Eve.

I've also bought one of those tiny flowers, I'm not sure what they're called in English, you can buy a big one or a small one and they're called Julestjerne in Norwegian, Christmas star. My parents have bought a little one for each of us kids the past two-three years and since I'm living on my own now, I bought one to put in my window next to the orange. Take a look here. That's the calendar, orange and flower.

Might sound like there's a lot of buying involved, and in a way there is. But, amazingly, all these little things that hold the fondest memories are the cheapest things you can buy. An orange and some spices to put in it (smells wonderful too), a $1.50 chocolate calendar and a beautiful little red flower. Of course you could buy other kinds of calendars and lots of stuff to put in them each day. Christmas may have become commercialized, maybe it seems like it's all about buying, but I say it's about traditions. Before you have any, or if you don't start any, you don't know what to do and you might run around like a headless chicken buying anything and everything in sight. But if you realize that the little things matter the most, and make it about those things, then no one can that that away from you.

I really really think I must be growing up here...

Thursday, November 25, 2004

Norway in money

Norway is worth 55.158.356.850.000 NOR (Norwegian kroner):


6,802,796,092,352.14 EUR (Euro)

9,005,129,341,843.48 USD (United States Dollars)

4,769,989,188,279.66 GBP (United Kingdom pounds)

10,610,443,565,942.39 CAD (Canada dollars)

923,348,968,504,377.25 JPY (Japan yen)

11,380,756,963,119.25 AUD (Australia dollars)

539,034,026,443,875.31 PKR (Pakistan rupees)

254,976,564,674,339.50 RUR (Russian rubles)

14,771,038,156,040.83 SGD (Singapore dollar)

405,429,069,453,486.06 INR (Indian rupees)

3,467,599,704,678.31 OMR (Oman rials)


Just in case you were wondering...

Pakistani sex life

Why do people like to get married in winter in Pakistan? Ever asked yourself that? Well, it might be because the weather is nice.

...:
"(...) here in winter its very rare to see rain
and there is one more reason why couples like to be marry"
apples:
"why?"
...:
"its cold weather and very pleasant for guests and they enjoy but top of everything
couples like to have sex in Cold weather
bec it gave more excitement than other weathers"

The question of why that is so remains unanswered...

Wednesday, November 24, 2004

November 24th

One month till Christmas. One week till December.

My teddy bear will go to the kindergarten tomorrow. One of my roommates is studying to become a preschool teacher and she has been in the kindergarten for a month. She asked me earlier if I had a teddy bear, she was going to read a story about a bear tomorrow and she wanted one to hold up while she was reading. She did promise that they wouldn't play with it though, she was just going to keep it in a bag. Yeah right, show kids toy and expect them not to want to play with it, in what kinda world is that possible? It's good though, it doesn't get to play much, just lying on my pillow with its three little friends during the day, and in my arms during the night.

I'm putting Christmas songs on my mp3 player, good to have it done, but I can only transfer about half of them. I wonder what's wrong with the others... could be that there's something to protect them or something so that I can listen to them on the computer but not on the mp3 player. That's strange though because it's not legal to download songs, but it's legal to put your songs onto cds, minidiscs, mp3 players etc... Anyways... It is a bit early to start listening to Christmas songs but I'm just doing it while I put them on here.

'Nöel, c'est l'amour' is on. What's this with Christmas songs in French? Those of you who speak English might never understand this, but a Christmas song isn't a Christmas song. I can hear all kinds of Christmas songs in English and they're nice and make me think of Christmas. But when I hear one in Norwegian... it's like I'm a kid again. Christmas carols in English are becoming more popular, but those in Norwegian, the same ones I've been listening to since I was born, the songs we had on cassettes, messing around with when making gingerbread cookies (no gingerbread cookie making without Christmas songs) will never be replaced. It's really not just that it's the same songs, it's that it's the same language from back when it was the only one I knew. They're special.

Ice

I don't belong in this country of ice, someone get me outta here!

One down...

I was kinda worried that the crush question was going to show up on the test today. I might just have had to go for A if it had appeared... I'm actually listening to Crush right now, maybe there's something to it?

The exam... well... The multiple choice was fun, 60 questions about anything and everything. Then I wrote a thing on social influences and another on perception. I wrote more than I thought I would on the first, and not very much on the second.

I learnt something about myself today. About myself and being nervous. I've noticed that I'm less nervous when presenting something in fromt of my seminar group or when having a guidance session with a teacher or something. In high school I always used to be really nervous about that (the talking in front of my class) but now it seems to have... worn off? I'm sure it will come back next time, but last time I talked about my paper in philosophy during the work group, showing the others what I'll be doing and stuff, - I wasn't nervous. I didn't think about it then.

But that wasn't what I learnt today.

Today I got up at six, six thirty. I had some cereal but I couldn't eat a thing. My head empty, I usually have too many thoughts up there. After breakfast I walked to the bus, it's about 25 mins there and I've spent ages finding out where the bus was leaving from. I would have had to take another bus to that bus if it had rained but luckily the sky was clear - and it was freezing outside! The bus came almost right away. When I was sitting there I realized that I was just sort of hearing others talk, about the exam, mostly, since there were many of us on that bus. I didn't have a single thought in my head. I didn't daydream, I didn't wonder, I didn't think. Not the slightest bit nervous, just completely calm. That lasted until... until I lined up to hand in my exam five hours later. When I first walked into the room where the exam was going to be, seeing an ocean of desks and chairs, I realized that this is... serious. In a good way. It's no more high school - this is university. It's said that no one makes it on their first try, meaning no one manages to get As on all three exams, which is needed to keep studying psychology.

I'm just wondering... do you stop being 'obviously nervous' as you get older? I know I was nervous in a way, but it was more a totally relaxed state of nervousness. Like my brain was just relaxing as much as it could before it was time to work. I much prefer it this way, I take things just as seriously but without worrying about it. I think and wonder and all that, but no more worries. In the words of Simba from the Lion King:

"Look, sometimes bad things happen, and there is nothing you can do about it, so why worry?"


Alright, psychology exam is over, it's out of the world, it's over and done with! For now.


I got the mp3 player today. Went to get it at the post office, it was wrapped in air in a big brown box, kinda hard to carry when wearing my light blue mittens, and at the same time doing my best to stay on my feet. I should have had my ice skates with me... Proabably wouldn't have gone any better but at least there's supposed to be ice under ice skates. There's not supposed to be slippery ice under your feet when you're walking up a hill.


For some reason this post doesn't feel right. It's weird. Awkward... I think I need to sleep...

Night night

Tuesday, November 23, 2004

Exam day

Wish me luck!

Monday, November 22, 2004

Question 22

Recognizing someone's voice when you hear it on the phone shows that you have a(n) ____ that person.

A) crush on
B) icon of
C) mental representation of
D) elaboration of

Yeah... I didn't know if I should tell you or not, but I think I have a crush on you. I've known for a while but it just seems silly... Whenever I hear your voice I immedeatly recognize it, and I love talking to you... so... I'll go for A.

Nooo! It's gotta be C!

Question 16

Because of censorship codes in the early years of motion pictures, directors could not show sexual activity on screen. Instead, they sometimes used metaphors for sex such as picturing a train going into a tunnel. If such content appeared in a dream, Freud would consider the content symptomatic of ____.

A) problem-solving
B) activation-synthesis
C) the brain's attempt to understand random neural content
D) wish fulfillment

How complicated...

Question 7:

A really jolly old guy just before and during Christmas Eve, Santa Claus becomes psychologically depressed every year during the dreary winter months at the North Pole. This really ticks off Mrs. Claus, who wants to hit the hot beaches of Rio during February. Santa's mood does improve after the winter months. His wife convinces Santa to visit Dr. Jack Frost, who believes that Santa likely suffers from a cyclic condition called ____.

A) REM
B) apnea
C) REM-sleep behavior disorder
D) SAD

Can't say psychology isn't interesting!

Sunday, November 21, 2004

Days fly by

My first exam is in two days and I'm trying my best to read. Okay, that's not completely true... I'M WELL AWARE OF THE FACT THAT I SHOULD BE trying my best to read. There, that's better.

Yesterday I went to look at the gingerbread city they put up in the city here. Took some pictures, finally got around to changing the settings on my camera so it doesn't take so long to take the photos. When it's dark it makes everything blurry if I don't hold it perfectly still while it gathers enough light. Pictures still turned out kinda blurry though...

I'm also trying to find something to get my mother for her birthday on the 29th... She doesn't want anything so I don't have a clue what to get her...

Finally got around to buying the mp3 player, ended up choosing the Zen Touch.

Winter has really come now. I was going to the library on Friday, but it closed one minute before I got there :( I had my camera with me and it was just so incredibly beautiful outside, I decided to go for a walk. Took some pictures (don't know how long they'll stay) it's amazing how the snow makes everything look different and also how the colours change. Oh, don't forget about my appleshots!

And the capital of Venezuela is actually Caracas...
Who could have known?

Friday, November 19, 2004

Thoughts

A guy on Skype just asked me if I wanted to see something weird on the net. He had called me and I told him I was just surfing. I asked him what he meant, and he asked me what I felt about the beheadings in Iraq. I said thought it was horrible, obviously. He proceeded to ask me if I would like to watch someone get beheaded.

Now, I'm not saying that it's normal or abnormal or anything (don't like those words) to want to watch someone get their head chopped off. When they talk about it on the news I always wonder why we never get to see it actually happen, although I understand, and appriciate, the fact that they cut the clip where they do. Wouldn't it be a little exciting to see? Isn't that usually how we react? I can't see it so I want to see. I can't do it so I want to do it.

My initial reaction to his question, did I want to watch it, was "why do you think I would want to?". I was actually surprised at myself how repulsive that thought was at that moment. I told the guy that seeing someone get killed really wasn't on the top of my list of things to see right now.

Who would want to see a person get killed? Some people are in positions that force them to witness such acts of violence, but why would someone choose to see it?

I can't blame anyone for wanting to watch. I just sit at home, all safe and comfy, and I hear about what's going on out there. I watch the news, I read the reports. It does shake me. Every time. But watching something 'real' might shake me a little more. And then there's always the attraction toward what is 'forbidden'. Whether it's a hurricane or a fire, it's exciting and it makes people sit on the edge of their chair for a couple of days. It makes us look up and out for a while. It's exciting.

But at the same time, at least for me, I just felt I have more respect for a human life, and death, than for it to become some sort of entertainment. Watching someone die. I have the choice. Why would I say yes?


It's snowing in Norway. It's pink outside, tiny snowflakes landing softly on the ground, covering the city in a white blanket. I love walking outside at home when the weather is like this. It's just one of those things you won't understand until you've experienced it. It's peace. It's beauty. At its very very best.

Wednesday, November 17, 2004

Sunday, November 14, 2004

appleshots

Due to my love for my camera and the world around me, I've found it necessary to start another blog where I'll post photos of whatever is going on. It's called appleshots and there won't be much to it, just a few pictures every now and then.

Saturday, November 13, 2004

The first snow

This morning the mountains were white.
Winter has come, the snow is here.

No snow down here yet though. We've had wind and rain and hail, lots of hail, the past days, but hopefully the snow will come further down the mountains soon. I can see it from my window, I can see it, but I want to touch it too. See the pink light outside when it's snowing, standing under a lamp post, looking up, feeling the snow flakes land on my face.


I feel strange... I feel... angry. That's weird, I have nothing to be angry about. Oh well, I'm sure I'll just piss some more people off, I seem to be doing good at that.

I gotta get outta here

Wednesday, November 10, 2004

More water

We can drink our water!

Yesterday I was looking around the net for info on where we get our water from. After using a new search function the city started up yesterday, in the online map of the city, I found that our water doesn't come from Svartediket, where the Giardia Lambli is, but from a smaller place called Espeland. This morning I called the number we're told to call if we're wondering...

"I live at ... and I'm wondering if we can drink our water?"
"What's your address?"
"..."
"Yes, you can drink your water."

How great is that?
Not gonna go crazy drinking the water though, better take it easy, get used to it, too much water in your system can be dangerous. Might turn into a cucumber. Or a melon.

Won't be drinking water at the gym though, they're dropping like flies on the other side of the bridge (no, they're not dying dropping, they're just glued to the toilet...)

Tuesday, November 09, 2004

But... what... on sex and love

"Sex and love are two entirely different things.
Men, it seems, understand this much better than women.
Women have a tendency to associate the two much more closely."

What??
Is this true?
Have I got it all wrong?

Thanks to Lee for letting me post this.

Love?

What is the difference between infatuation and being in love? I thought those two were the same, and that love was the thing above the two of them. Maybe in love and love is the same?

I've always thought that the feeling of being in love disappears after a while, and is replaced by love. Maybe it's been infatuation I've meant all along, if in love and love are the same...

What do you think?


The essence of love begins when infatuation ends.
-unknown

Chapter 11: Personality

On a hot summer evening in 1966, a University of Texas student wrote the following letter:

  • I don't really understand myself these days. I am supposed to be an average, reasonable, and intelligent young man. However, lately (I can't recall when it started) I have been the victim of many unusual and irrational thoughts. These thoughts constantly recur, and it requires a tremendous mental effort to concentrate on useful and progressive tasks. In March when my parents made a physical break I noticed a great deal of stress. I consulted a Dr. Cochrum at the University Health Center and asked him to recommend someone that I could consult with about some psychiatric disorders I felt I had. I talked with a doctor once for about two hours and tried to convey to him my fears that I felt overcome by overwhelming violent impulses. After one session I never saw the doctor again, and since then I have been fighting my mental turmoil alone, and seemingly to no avail. After my death I wish that an autopsy would be performed on me to see if there is any visible physical disorder. I have had some tremendous headaches in the past and have consumed two large bottles of Excedrin in the past three months. (Lavergne, 1997, p. 8)

Later that night Charles Whitman killed his wife and mother, both of whom were lovingly supportive of him. The next morning he carried a high-powered hunting rifle to the top of a 307-foot tower on the busy University of Texas campus in Austin and opened fire on all those passing by below. Within 90 horrifying minutes he killed 16 people and wounded 30 others before he himself was killed by police.

(Passer and Smith, 2004, p. 419)

Things from TV

A few things I've seen on TV the last month or so, and decided I had to write down.

My big fat obnoxious fiancee
"A mother is only as happy as her saddest child"

According to Jim
Andy: "How do you sleep at night?"
Jim: "In the nude, with your sister."

Making Space
Family getting help making space in their house, they have the rooms, but too much mess. The two children (twins 3 1/2 years) have slept in their parents' bedroom all their lives. --- Three and a half years??? What about privacy? What about if the parents wanna, well, do what caused the kids to get there in the first place? Kitchen tables are useful, but surely there must be a limit to how much they can take...

Mythbusters (Discovery)
It has finally been proved that you get wetter by running in the rain, than by walking. Same distance, same amount of water. Don't run!

They tried making bullets out of different materials and found out that some materials (or powder in the bullets) have more 'stay-in-theredness' than others.

Forensic Detectives (Discovery)
Guy from Graham, Texas had been killed, the story of how they found out who did it. People he knew said he was a nice guy, he was like everyone else, always wore a hat, always wore big boots. --- Oh, I wanna live somewhere you're not normal if you're not wearing a cowboy hat!

Fornemmelse for mord (Norwegian show)
A woman commited suicide five years ago. What's strange about it? She did it in the freezer. Then afterwards she put a box on top of it.

Dharma & Greg
Kitty: "Don't worry, I have enough money to get away with one murder."

Woman: "The theme was 'under the sea' and I was drowning in loneliness."

Planet of the Apes
"Their ingenuity goes hand in hand with their cruelty" (about the humans)

Amish in the city
City-girl: "Milk is cow puss. It gets inside your body and makes you sick."

Same city-girl, whispering: "Those are chicken abortions" (about eggs)

Monday, November 08, 2004

My aunt - a doc

Yesterday my aunt called me. She's my mum's youngest sister, and she lives here in Bergen. She invited me to some sort of do because she has just finished her work for her PhD in psychology. In the beginning of December there will be a formal thing where professors and people are going to ask her critical questions concerning her work. Then she will have a dinner for family, friends and people who have helped her.

I won't know anyone there except her and her boyfriend, and my cousin and his wife. Our relatives, my mother's family, don't travel much, they stay up north, close to home. My mum has 5 brother and 4 sisters, and 6 of them still live within an hour of where they were born. Only two boys settled down even further north, and my mum and my aunt went south.

Anyways, my aunt said I might be able to understand what it's all about a little better than many of the others, she's a doctor in psychology now (yay!), and I'm studying the subject myself. High hopes for me here... It's December 3rd, I think, and I'm sure it'll be a lot of fun. She really 'underlined' the part about it being a formal thing on the phone, probably worried I'll show up in my green mini skirt or something.

My aunt has finished her studies (no one really knew she was still studying) and now she's a doctor! I'm proud of her!

Heia Brann, Heia Brann!

I just got home after welcoming back the city's football team Brann (or soccer if you like). They were playing the cup finals against Oslo team Lyn today, ang guess what? They won!! This city loves their team, as they should, and the city is boiling. Apparantly the team hasn't won much for a while, and now they got gold! They put up a stage, and I could hear people singing when I got up the hill on the other side of the bridge. Someone was playing, everything was red and white. I'm not very tall, but I'm kinda... invisible, so after standing in the back for a while, I tried to find a way to the front. I got almost all the way there, but there were still lots of tall people in front of me.

The team was a little late coming back, but when they finally came on stage, the crowd exploded. The team song was sung over and over (I don't know it, didn't understand much today either..) and they came on stage one by one. The two last ones were the captains, carrying the trophy. I didn't see any of this, I just saw some heads up there, but I don't know who they belonged to.

It was raining a little, as it always does, but it wasn't like anyone could notice. Tiny little drops blowing in the wind, almost like teeny tiny snowflakes. It didn't really rain... it snowed rain.


I think I lost a friend tonight. He didn't much like reading my blog, had to almost force him to do it just once, so I'm sure he doesn't mind me writing about him. Now.. lost a friend. We've known each other for almost a year and there was something about him that set him apart from everyone else. Always nice, apart from when he got a little quiet or jumped at something, then apologizing afterwards. Talking about life or his parrots. Always timing my toilet breaks. Always putting Aussie words into sentences so I wouldn't understand them. I just noticed that I've started using 'okie' instead of 'ok'. He even showed me an x-ray of his back!

But... apparantly I told him he's mysterious, and he said I was judging him. Now he thinks things have changed, that they'll never be the same, and we better say goodbye.

But (again)... no. It doesn't work that way. It's not going to work that way. A friend is a friend, and you don't give up on them.

Sunday, November 07, 2004

Water update

  • At the gym today we were told that many classes or groups will be canceled the coming week. Many instructors are ill, they've caught the stomach bug, and they haven't been able to replace all of them.
  • I haven't heard of anyone being sick in this building I live in, it's brand new so we might get our water from somewhere else.
  • Could this mean that those who drink the water on the other side of the bridge, where the gym is, are more likely to catch it than those of us on this side?

  • There is a list on the net with the names of the streets that get their water from Svartediket, where the Giardia Lamblia parasite is coming from. We're not on that list.
  • On the map showing which areas get water from Svartediket, we're just on the line between purple and white, impossible to see which side we are on on this map.
  • Could the reason we're not on the list and on the map be the fact that this building isn't on many new maps yet? But wouldn't this street still be on the list if that was the reason?

  • The official pages of the city of Bergen write that about 30,000 people/businesses have been told to boil the water before they drink it, or even before using it when brushing their teeth. We have not recieved any notice like that. Could that be because SiB (the student organization which owns this building) has recieved the message but not told us yet, or could it be because we get our water from somewhere else? Hopefully it is the one or the other, someone has to know where we all get our water from.


What I am doing...
  • Not going to drink the water at the gym because they definitely have the little friend (Giardia Lamblia - my new friend inside of me) in their water.
  • Not drinking water here, at least not much, might boil some later.
  • Boil water to brush my teeth? What, are you crazy?? Not gonna do that one...
  • Trying to find out where we get our water from
  • Thinking how lucky we are to actually have clean water most of the time, wondering what it would be like to live somewhere where this wouldn't be a small crisis, somewhere that water comes from a dirty river or a stream.
  • Realizing I shouldn't be taking things for granted.

Comme une image

Feel good film in French. Well it wasn't really, but it was anyway. I really liked it.

But... It did remind me of what French guys are like. I didn't realize until now that... French guys are cute. That they are, no doubt. But there's just this whole...thing. Like... being sensitive... like slow movements, looking into your eyes. Touching you, saying "it's okay" or just holding their hand on your back. Watch this film and you'll know what I'm talking about, you don't see this in films from any other countries. I noticed it when I was in France, but it didn't really strike me until today. Made me feel uncomfortable at first, and I realized it made me uncomfortable back then as well.

Maybe it's not just French guys that make me feel uncomfortable? But they sure do act different from other guys. Not to generalize, they're as different as anyone, but I guess it's a cultural thing. Cultural differences.

Could be that it's intimacy in any way that makes me feel uncomfortable. I haven't really ever been close to anyone and maybe I just instinctively pull away. I.. I just remembered that I wrote here not long ago that 'some people you just instinctively trust'. That's strange, because I can trust people, just not their feelings, not their instincts. I can't even tell someone I love talking to them, what's that all about?

Wonder why I am like this. I wonder why it started. I wonder if I'll ever change.
You never know - anything can happen.

Saturday, November 06, 2004

But...what...?

Touching upon the subject of arranged marriage with a guy from Pakistan. When he says it is this way (men are able to marry several women, while women can only have one husband) because religion says so, I say that 'religion sucks'. The answer I got was:

"not really
it has its own logics

well women were made for men
just to save the imbiguities of life religion made this rule"


Strange words from a smart guy, thanks to Asif for letting me post this.

Well...

Ok, so maybe it wasn't love after all. The nice one was heavier and bigger than it looked, and the other one was smaller and prettier than it seemed. Should I go for an even smaller one? I don't need that much capacity, and it's not really convenient with such a big one...

Does size matter? I mean, small can be good, but is it better with a big one? Will it be better that way? But a small one is easier to sorta... bring with you. More discreet. Will the big ones get a lot smaller after a couple of years? I don't want all of them to shrink when I'm stuck with a big one.

So which one is it? Muvo2 or Zen Touch?
Muvo is small and nice
Zen is bigger but more elegant

What??
Nothing...

Apart from that... it's been snowing at home. Last night. But it didn't melt during the day. I can't wait till we get snow here aswell, we had 5 degrees and a clear blue sky today.

I just ordered a ticket to go to the movies, it's 'The big cinema day' today. I'll be seeing "Comme une image", just one little problem... I don't know where the cinema is...

I've fallen in love!

I've been planning on buying this MP3 player, and I had decided I'd do it this weekend. Then yesterday my brother popped up on MSN and asked me if I had a limit to how much I would spend... He'd found another one that looked good, with four times the storage capacity, and it's not very much more expensive.

Now, falling in love with an MP3 player is not something one would ordinarily do, but if you saw this one you'd know why. It's white-silver like, it's got straight lines, it's elegant and beautiful... See, this is my materialistic side shining through... But it really is beautiful. See for yourself

Here is the first one I was thinking of buying:
http://www.shopping.com/xPF-Creative_Labs_Nomad_MuVo2_4GB

And this is the one I'm planning to buy now:
http://www.creative.com/products/product.asp?category=213&subcategory=214&product=10274

But, as usual, I can't make up my mind about anything (there's a reason I'm a libra, I'm sure), so I'm just headed out to check out the four shops that sell products from Creative, hoping one of them has this one (and I also hope they haven't closed yet, 3:30 on a Saturday usually means closing time in this town).

It is cute though, isn't it? The Zen Touch?

Thursday, November 04, 2004

Don't drink the water!

Have you heard of Giardia Lamblia?
We certainly have.
  • Six weeks ago, our water was getting kinda yellow. No reason to worry. It's a new building, all kinds of things have to be adjusted, and I don't think anyone thought much about it.
  • Four weeks ago, I had stomach cramps like crazy one night. I blamed the egg I had earlier that day, fried egg, but it was a little... running...
  • Three weeks ago, I heard on the radio that some kind of sewer pipe had leaked into the drinking water. But there was no reason to worry, it was just a little bit...
  • One week ago, the water started getting even more yellow. The last few days, it looks like we've washed the dishes before we've even put them in the water. One girl had put some water in the fridge, and when she was taking the bottle out a few days later, there were yucky things at the bottom.

Giardia Lamblia is a parasite that causes diahorrea. It's in our water, and it's not supposed to be there. According to public officials, it's coming from the water source in the center of the city. We're recommended not to drink tap water until they know for sure where it's coming from, and they know what to do about it. We should drink other things, like bottled water, or boil the water first.

A lot of people have been going to the doctors with diahorrea and stomach aches, and the first came in four weeks ago. Which, naturally, makes me wonder if that's what I had that night; unlikely because it's natural for humans to link their symptoms to more serious things, I rarely have symptoms of any kind, which is why I don't worry much about it. But, if that was from the water, since eggs can be mixed in like drinks and things raw, then maybe I've had the reaction, and it won't come again?

One of my roomies put up a "Don't drink the water!" post-it above the tap on the kitchen, and I think I'm going to be smart and not experiment and see what can and will happen, like I usually would. Exams are coming up in three weeks, and I don't want to have to run to the toilet every five minutes. Wouldn't be able to anyway. We're like right next to the source for the water with the..what's it called... the parasite, and people around here have been getting sick more than other places. Not gonna completely stop drinking water though, if you cut all kind of contact with anything that isn't completely 'clean', then you'll never be able to manage out in the world.


Oh, and it's raining. Football practice (or soccer as some call it) for the city's team was stopped because of the 'ufyselige regnværet'. Funny word... ufyselig... means something like horrible or yucky, 'regnvær' being 'rain weather', rainy weather. - Beware if someone calls you 'ufyselig'. It's a funny word, but doesn't have a funny meaning.

Rain rain rain... They say today we're having
"The kind of rain you only get in the city between the seven mountains"

Wednesday, November 03, 2004

The day after

So... who won?
I think Ohio is green.
And Bush won.

Congratulations to him
He'll have another four years
Let's see what he will do this time

Election Day VII

Ohio changing?
Ohio purple?

Election Day VI

Alaska went red too.
Freeeezing!

Election Day V

Ohio went red...
I'm not liking this...

Election Day IV

Fascinating stuff is apparantly happening in Pennsylvania. Polls are being kept open an hour and a half longer because the queues of people wanting to vote are so long. That's great!

There's a guy on CNN that reminds me of Andy Rooney...

CNN Projection:
Bush 102 - 77 Kerry

Election Day III

The first polls have closed!

Election Day II

Help!

CNN and rayray are confusing me!

What are "Popular and Electoral votes"??
I need to figure this out...

Tuesday, November 02, 2004

Election Day

For some reason, I'm kinda exited about the whole thing. Just sitting on my bed reading, watching TV, room all warm (in any which way my room ever gets warm without it being hard to breathe in here), knowing I'll stay up all night waiting for the results... plus I have a presentation to write for tomorrow...

I stumbled across Michael Moore's "Dude, Where's My Country" at the library today. I figured today was a good day to start reading it. But then I thought I needed something to put on the other side of the balance, so to speak... I noticed Bob Woodward's "Bush At War", and I don't have a clue whether that's a book that supports the Democratic or the Republican views, so I just brought that one with me aswell.

Up until now, I never really thought Kerry could win. Or rather, I don't think Bush can lose. But now... I'm starting to hope, I guess.

I'm watching CNN (I know, I know, communistic bs, but I don't have the Foxes here), this is the prediction;

They / We can wake up tomorrow to one of three scenarios;
Bush wins,
Kerry wins,
Or we we won't know until the lawyers have decided.

Monday, November 01, 2004

We have elections too!

Student council elections are held Tuesday and Wednesday. Last year, 10.9% of the students at the University voted, I wasn't here then, and I'm planning to use my vote this year. Just checking out the parties, there are 17 representatives on the council, coming from five different parties, and they are as follows, number of current representatives in parenthesis:

The Entrepreneur List (4)

The Moderat List (3)

The Social Democratic List (7)

The Green List (2)

The MacGyver List (1)

...gotta give em a point for being creative :)

I don't know who I'll vote for... Probably the social democrats, but... I'm not sure, will have to read a little bit more about them before I decide... Not that it matters much, but it's my right and my privilege to vote. So I will, no doubt about that.

November!

It's November! It's November!

I want snow...

I need snow...

I never need anything (or so I say), but during winter,
I need snow. Can't live in Norway without snow, can you?

Sunday, October 31, 2004

Halloween

It will be November in a few minutes.
That's something, isn't it...
November.. And it hasn't snowed yet.

Saturday, October 30, 2004

Do you have a thing about underwear?

I was doing the washing today, and as I was hanging it all up, I realized I have A LOT of underwear. Not that I didn't know that from before, my drawer at home was way more than full before I left. I just love underwear. I don't have a whole lot of 'upper-underwear-things', but I do have lots of tiny things that go...well, further down. (I'm trying my best to be discreet, how am I doing?)

What can I say? Girl underwear is cute. All kinds of patterns and colours and shapes and sizes. With ribbons on the sides or a bow on the front. And Snoopy. Why is there so much underwear with Snoopy on these days? H&M gone Snoopy crazy... I just realized my newest top and too large bottom thing (with ribbons, btw) match the colours of the Cosmopolitan I bought two weeks ago... Apart from that, I'm in an underwear dead zone.

Now, what about you?
Do you wear underwear or not?
Do you have a thing about underwear? Yours or somebody else's?

Oh come on, I know you're reading this, leave a comment!
We all want to know what you think!

Saturday morning

The sun rises at 10am these days. The sky was clear an hour ago, but some clouds are coming in from the north. My room faces the north-east, so I won't see the sun from here until the winter has passed.

October 30th... It hasn't started snowing here yet, we're probably too close to the ocean. It did snow on the mountains at home some weeks ago, and I'm sure it won't be too long before it reaches us aswell. I don't know how cold it has to be to snow... around 0? We had 8 degrees in the middle of the day yesterday, and I've brought my scarves and gloves and mittens and everything there is, up from our storage space downstairs.

I'm ready for winter!

Friday, October 29, 2004

Monsters, Inc.

Do monsters exist?

Does evil exist?
Does love exist?
...or is it just..... a figment of our imagination?

I don't believe in evil, but how can I not? I know what's out there, but I've never seen it. I always feel everything. Is that a strange thing to say? I just mean that... when I look at something, it gives me a feeling, and that thing becomes defined by the feeling it gives me. Same with situations. Even hypothetical situations. Same with people. When I was standing on the veranda a couple of hours ago, looking out over the city, at the clouds above, I realized that what I feel here, is not real. I wish someone could drop me into some of all the horrible things that are going on in the world, far from my safe home. I wish I could see, understand, realize. Feel. I hate thinking like I do, wearing my rosy red glasses. But I still do.

I think like the innocent creature people see me as. I know there are good things and bad things, but I can't give in to the bad ones. I know how naïve I can be, I know that I'm lucky and priviliged to be where I am. That's like the surface, and I always stay above it. I do dive down into the deep ocean, but I don't stay there. I always go back up. I always come back up.

Sometimes things shock me, sometimes someone has to shake me a little. Some people seem to do that better than others. And I always appriciate it when that happens, even if I don't always know it at the time...

A different point of view will never hurt.
Stay open minded, that's one of the best qualities a person can have (and the most attractive quality there is, if you ask me).

Wednesday, October 27, 2004

Wednesday again

Today I got up really late, then I went to philosophy work group. I was there first time last week, chose new assignments, mine is something about arguing and making your statements more precise. That's what the last half of philosophy is all about. My thing is about how wars make people stop caring, that soldiers have to stop caring about what goes on around them. That is what they are taught to do, and that is something that just happens when people are put in an enviroment they don't know. I guess that's why soldiers train a lot, so they will be both physically and mentally prepared for what is coming. Don't think I agree with that though...

However, I don't get to give my point of view on this (yeah right, as if they can shut me up), but I'm supposed to discuss the meaning of a sentence that would sound something like

The custom of war is to ... make things inhumane...

See, how can I write something when what it's based on can't even be translated into English? But that's what it's about, how things can mean different things...

Anyways, I'm not doing that now, now I'm watching a film with the Olsen twins.. I think Wednesday night is Olsen twin night this month or something. And I've got a lollipop. I love lollipops :)

Tuesday, October 26, 2004

Kant, morals and Christmas cookies

Mmmm.....

I posted my text three minutes before the deadline, but the university pages say I did it at 2:05 rather than 1:56... Obviously they're nine minutes ahead of us on the other side of the bridge... I know my time is right, so I hope it doesn't matter.

But it feels good :) Finally! I always start late, but the thing with me is that I never do anything half way. I don't write this to pass, whenever I 'produce a text' I want it to be as good as it can get. That's why it's always a slap in the face when I didn't do as good as I hoped. I don't know how this will go though... Two months into university and I'm supposed to write like a professor? Nah, don't think they expect that.

Right now... I just want to sing!
I'm so happy, so terribly happy! I'm so happy, so terribly happy
I want to scream and shout, and let my happiness out
I'm so happy, so terribly happy!

Good choice, right? Just popped into my head when I pressed the 'post' button... Hmm... they're just gonna put it in a folder though, and then look at it around Christmas time. What a treat, Kant, morals and Christmas cookies...

One hour left

One hour left, will I ever manage to finish this in time?

I still need to sort out the final points, which make no sense at the moment. Then I need to write a conclusion. I don't even know what to conclude with... Maybe that Kant didn't agree with killing millions of innocent people? Hmm... Yeah, but I can't just write that, you know. I have to write how I know that he didn't agree with that. Then I gotta figure out how this Eichmann dude thought that be obedient (man, I hate that word...) could mean 'kill everyone cuz your boss tells you to'. I mean.... WHAT?? WHY?? Why did these nazi guys do things like that? My professor told me they didn't think jews were people. Erm....excuse me? Not people? Kant discriminated between 'objects' and 'people'. People had the ability to reason. So... jews didn't? Kantian demand my... well, anyway... I think those guys all needed a good kick in the nuts. I know violence never solves anything, but it would be nice to see them squirm wouldn't it?

Late night writing II

Uskyld er en deilig ting, men det er bare så leit at den
ikke holder seg særlig godt og lett blir forført.

Innocence is indeed a glorious thing; only, on the other hand, it is very sad that it cannot well maintain itself and is easily seduced.
Immanuel Kant


The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love, and be loved in return.
Moulin Rouge


I never knew the night would take me
Where the day would never go
apples


In order not to leave the selection to "blind fate," "truly holy principles" were needed "as the guiding force of the weak human hand which puts down on paper the name of the unknown person and with this decides his life or death."
Hannah Arendt

Monday, October 25, 2004

Suckety suck

Kant is tricky.
Moral philosophy sucks.
Eichmann and the nazis most certainly suck. Sucked.

I have to finish my assignment on all of this (except the sucking) by 1:59pm tomorrow... 14 hours left. It's gonna be a long night. But I'm not complaining, I'm the one who chose it this way. I only work under pressure.

I suck...

Rest in peace, little birdie

Pugsly passed away in the arms of the man who loved him the most. He was 7 years old, a beautiful parrot living in Australia. Having moved around with his favourite human being, he had now settled down, with 16 little parrot chickens. Living the life of a king in his cage.

Hope you don't mind me writing this, teddy bear. Thinking about it just made me realize how sad it really was, and I'm sorry you've lost your friend.

Sunday, October 24, 2004

October 24th

Two months till Christmas. Can you believe that?

Christmas trees, decorations, stockings and Santa Clauses... They'll all be coming back in a month. Kids screaming in the shops, queues that make Saturday afternoon at the mall feel like Monday morning... Christmas gifts when no one has wishes, what to wear, what to buy, what to make, what to bring... Putting up the tree, cat plays with the decorations. Tree falls down...well, not quite, but still... Stressful days.


Pink nights, all light outside because the moon is up and the world is white. Christmas carols, Bing Crosby singing 'White Christmas'. Sleigh Ride, Jingle Bells, Silent Night, Winter Wonderland. Let it Snow... The house smells like ginger bread, the church bells ring Christmas in at 5pm, then dinner, waiting, and Santa Claus comes (will have to explain Norwegian Christmas celebrations later). Happy feelings, joy... Christmas feelings. It's just something that surrounds you, you can feel it.


This sounds very negative, in a way... I didn't intend it that way, it's just the 24th of October, two months till Christmas, and I always think these things on the 24th of every month. I have so many wonderful childhood memories, and many of them have got to do with Christmas. It's a wonderful time of year.

It's also the UN day today, I just remembered. I've wanted to see the UN building ever since I read a children's book years ago, where they went to New York, and they visited that building. I think I might have to visit The Big Apple one day...

...

That was fun... I forgot... then I remembered... I better go wash my face.

Saturday, October 23, 2004

My face is black

I was lying on my bed reading a magazine and watching a movie. My mind started drifting, like it always does, my arms crossed under my head. I wonder what people must think if they see me like that. Depending on what I think about, I must have different expressions on my face. Lately I've noticed myself smiling when I'm out walking, smiling just because of something I'm thinking about. I was thinking about something like that tonight.

Then I lifted my head, my hands, and I saw they were black. There was an almost all black ad in the magazine just where I'd stopped reading and started dreaming... So, I thought, if my hands are black, then surely my face must be a little black aswell. Funny thought... at least at that moment... I just got up off my bed a couple of minutes ago, and caught my reflection in the window. It's all dark outside, and I have no mirror in my room, so the window worked as one right then.

I have a huge black... area in the middle of my forehead, and the tip of my nose is black too. I look like I've been hanging upside down in a chimney. I probably should go wash it off, but hey, how often do you get to walk around with black ink spots on your face?

Weekend cheats

What do you know, another week has passed, and the weekend is here. I didn't even notice midnight passing by, I usually do...

Cheating. What about it? How do the general population here at Blogger feel about it? Ever done it? Anyone ever done it to you? What would you do if your bf/gf cheated? I've never been in a position to experience this, so I don't really know how I would feel... Hurt. Betrayed. Sad. Angry. When I'm sad, I get angry first. Would I get sad first if I was angry? Probably. I've thought about it for a little while after being put on the spot a few hours ago (always love talking to ya, Michael :). I guess it's all a mixture of things...self control? What if you were married and fell for someone else? I couldn't imagine acting on it, but then again, what would I know? I just know that I wouldn't marry anyone without absolutely loving them to death, I dont' know much about love, but I think it must be the most wonderful thing out there.

Do you think that you can be in love with a person for twenty, thirty, fifty years? Or does the rush of being 'in love' turn into a more steady feeling of 'love'? A grandfather in France said he didn't think you could love someone for more than 3-4 years. Does that make sense? How sad would that be..? I think the 'in love' turns into 'love', and then there are times when that rush you experienced at first can come back (yes, my contemplations still bring me there.. :) Sometimes thinking about this makes me wonder what true love must feel like. I've never had the bad experiences, so hopefully I'll be able to recognize it when something good passes by. If it knocks on the door, or knocks me off my feet, time will show...

Alright, enough emotions for me!
How about it, people?
A penny for your thoughts...

Friday, October 22, 2004

Q

You know what? Me neither, but that's beside the point.

What can we question? Can we question everything and everyone? What is truth? Do we ever know the truth about anyone? Unless they tell us? What about when they do tell us? Do they tell the objective truth, their truth, or the truth they sincerely believe in?

Some people you just instinctivly trust...
...right?

Sex on the menu : anyone better?

Can two people have sex 4-5 times every day for two years?

This is the question I've been asking all my IM contacts today (or yesterday, technically, since it's past midnight). Apparantly the answer is yes. Unless the guys in question were a bit too optimistic concerning their abilities... The reason for these quieries was that there were some couples on TV this morning. They all loved each other, but wanted to put the spark back in the relationship, spice things up a little. One couple, and they seemed really cool, said that before, they were going like the Duracell rabbit, doing it 4-5 times a day, for two years.

Now, as always, I'm just a little curious... And I always like to test things... Is it realistic? What do you think? 4-5 times a day, that's 31.5 times a week. 141.75 times a month. 1,642.5 times a year. 3,285 times in two years!

Any thoughts?
Any volunteers?


(David - see you in Sevilla ;)

Wednesday, October 20, 2004

Umm.... Wednesday

The test on Monday went great, indexing my notes was the smartest thing I could have done (seeing as I hadn't actually read them...). Tomorrow I'm going to spend an hour with the 'teacher' guy, showing him what I've written on my assignment on Kant and his philosophy on morals, and after that, a weekend of writing. I can't write during the day, so I'm planning a long night or two. How come, for me, inspiration only comes with the darkness?

I love autumn nights, but I miss seeing the stars.
There are so many lights in this city, you can't see what really shines..

Late night writing

We are here to add what we can to life,
not to get what we can from it.
William Osler


A little rebellion now and then is a good thing.
Thomas Jefferson


I went because it made me one experience richer.
Vegard Ulvang
Norwegian Skier


In the beginning Allah took a rose, a lily, a dove, a serpent, a little honey, a Dead Sea apple, and a handful of clay. . . It was woman.
The Koran

Tuesday, October 19, 2004

Internet friendships

Sometimes you meet some wonderful people on here. Other times, you meet people who start out interesting, and, after a few months, start critisizing you for doing, thinking, even feeling the way you do. Today I said goodbye to one such person, after him last night having accused me of not having told him the truth about when I was born, proceeded to suggest I typed it wrong (writing 24th instead of 15th), and when I showed him the log from the chat, he asked me if I'd just written it... That was the last straw.

Some internet friendships just take too much work, and when you don't even enjoy talking to the person anymore (casual talk turns into constantly defending yourself), what's the point? I spent a month wondering if it's right to say goodbye to someone just because you don't like the way they talk to you... Today I decided I'd rather talk to nice people. I know some great people here, people who have shown me that interesting and nice can go hand in hand.

You can find true friends on here, but they are rare.
Just remember: show respect, even if you feel like ripping your arm off and beating the other person with it. Walk away if you have to. And don't slam the door.

Sunday, October 17, 2004

Tomorrow...

Tomorrow we have a test in philosophy. It's multiple choice, 45 mins, 10 questions. Get 7 right, and you get to hand in your assignments and have them evaluated. Get 6 right, and you're out, no evaluation, no exam. I'm trying to sort out my notes, I just can't find out where to put this page... it's about ethics... Was that Pottman or Hume or someone else? And why is there something about AI in here? Do computers care about ethics? Do they?

Saturday, October 16, 2004

Second Day

I'm a student at the University of Bergen. That basically means that I try to study, and that I now live in Bergen, the second largest city in Norway. Since yesterday was my b'day, my parents and sister had decided to come for the weekend, and they even brought chocolate cake with them!

I didn't realize that I missed them until I met them again, and now it's a little sad that they're leaving tomorrow morning. My sister is staying over with me tonight, right now she's in my bed watching something on Hallmark... She's 11 and says she likes watching "when they fight". I get that, in one way. Martial arts is cool, but watching car crashes and guys with guns running around is somewhat less interesting. Plus it sorta says that violence is 'ok'...

Tomorrow is another early morning, and the coming week is going to be a very very busy one. But does that mean I'm going to bed? Nah! I do love sleeping though... preferrably in the mornings...

Friday, October 15, 2004

Babysteps

October 15th 1984

Twenty years have passed since that day, the day when I was born. I am no longer a teenager, no longer just a little girl. I guess I'm starting to feel like a woman now, but I'll always be that little girl inside, she has just learnt when it's safe to come out, and when it's best to stay inside.

Two decades... that's a long time... Today feels a little special on the inside, but not on the outside. I guess what I mean by that is that I don't expect presents, I don't expect this to be 'my' day. It just feels nice to know that today is a day when friends and family will think of me. That's a nice feeling. Maybe I'm growing up...

20 starts today, and if you stick around, you'll see what the life of a twenty year old can be like. Hopefully my applestories will give all of you out there a look into my life, and maybe you will even understand a little bit about how I think... about life, the universe and everything else.

Anne