Thursday, February 28, 2008

Only in Norway?

The annual ski race «Rindhovda rundt» had to be cancelled - for the first time since WWII. The reason? The skiiers are almost outnumbered by moose. The animals use the ski tracks as a walkway and the risk of colliding with them is just too big.

Beate Øygarden from the ski group says she doesn't know whether to laugh or cry. "As soon as we prepare the trakcs, the moose come and use them. It seems hopeless this year."


Idiot

Of all the words in the world, with all its definitions and degrees of meaning, I thought this described something we'd recognize when we saw it. Apparently I was wrong.


Idiot: an idiot is a stupid person with a mental age below three years, while a moron is a stupid person with a mental age of between seven to twelve years



What about all the people with mental ages between three and seven?!? I need a new word!

Bergen: In 2007 more people moved away from than to the city, making it the only Norwegian city to lose residents.


"When it's been raining sideways since October and heavy clouds lie just above the pavement, there's no wonder people want to leave."

"There's a really difference in weather in the two cities [Bergen and Oslo]. I tend to think of the first man who decided to settle here. "This place was nice, I want to live here." I'd like to meet him. He must have been a raving lunatic."

Pål T. Jørgensen, news anchor
nettavisen.no

Monday, February 25, 2008

Famous pre-divorce words:


I think it's really great how you and my best friend get along so well!

Friday, February 22, 2008

Flowers

My boyfriend left my place to go to his, a trip which usually takes at least 20 minutes. Only a few mins after he left here (or maybe it only felt that way), he was on gtalk.

Me: That was quick :o
BF: Not all of us stop to smell all the flowers on our way :P


He knows me all too well....

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Go home and have sex, pastor tells flock

Miami - A Florida church leader is challenging married members of his congregation to have sex every day for a month.

The challenge for single parishioners is slightly different, though - to abstain from sex for 30 days, reports Sky News.

Paul Wirth, head pastor of the Relevant Church in Ybor City, said the marathon undertaking could help cut high divorce rates.

He said: "Couples across America are struggling in their relationships, both married and single people.

"For married people it seems like the sex is great up front, but then for some reason life happens."

But when you're single it's like you're always thinking about it and you're like, man I'd like to have it as much as possible.

"And sometimes that prevents them from having a great, healthy relationship later on when you do get married.

"The Relevant Church describes itself as "a casual, contemporary Christian church" and says its services are designed "specifically for urban professionals and young families".

Sunday, February 10, 2008

Obsession

 b·ses·sion [uhb-sesh-uhn]

 -noun

  • the domination of one's thoughts or feelings by a persistent idea, image, desire, etc.
  • the idea, image, desire, feeling, etc., itself.
  • the state of being obsessed.
  • the act of obsessing. 
[Origin: 1505–15;  L obsessiōn- (s. of obsessiō) blockade, siege, equiv. to obsess(us) (see obsess) + -iōn- -ion]

dictionary.com

Friday, February 08, 2008

6am

I've written a little more than the 1,500 words I was supposed to write on my anthropology paper for my 204-course "Economic life in a global perspective: Symbolic and material aspects of production, distribution and consumption."

I always start late but this time was later than usual. Yet I've only been here for 6 hours and I still have 8 left. I'm almost impressed at how well developed my procrastinating skills have become.

I have a feeling that's a very bad thing...

Wednesday, February 06, 2008

Yummy yum yum!


I had this year's first strawberry today.
I'm ready for spring!

Tuesday, February 05, 2008

My Tuesday Morning

7:00 In bed
I'll get up... soon...

7:30 On the floor
I'm up! I'm up!

7:35 In the bathroom
BANG!! <-- Thunder 7:40 My room
Lights blink, it's completely dark outside for a couple minutes

8:06 My room
Leaving for my lecture, starting at 8:15

8:13 On the bridge
Wait a minute... [slowing down] Wasn't there something about us not having lectures one of these weeks?And was that the week we were writing our paper? Because that is this week. Which might mean there is no lecture today.

8:20 Lecture hall, Social Sciences building
Door is locked. No lecture today? Crap! I woke up at 7 for no reason??

8:21 Lobby, Social Sciences building
I was supposed to go to the library to get a book that's waiting for me, and I was going to buy a book I need for my paper. But nothing opens until 9. I'll go to the computer lab and check out when the library and the shop opens. I didn't bring any books since I was going right back home to work on the paper.

8:25 Computer lab
As always it takes an eternity to log on..

8:30 Computer lab
A very long eternity...

8:32 Computer lab
No one else can sign in either...

8:35 Different computer lab
I'm all alone here. Let's see....

8:40 Same different computer lab
Nothing works!! What do I do now, just sit here?

8:45 Still same different computer lab
Hmm... I got a two week old paper I can read...

9:03 Hallway outside computer lab
Finally it's 9!

9:05 Ground floor of building containing library
Library opens at 10. Good thing I got to check out the opening hours at the computer lab first. Not!

9:15 Book store
Got the book!

9:45 Back home, online

  • 05.02.2008 Logon problems. Due to power outage there are problems with logon to My Space this morning.
  • My Space is temporarily unavailable. Check your e-mail and My Space.
  • All central systems have been stopped.
    - All central IT systems have been down due to power outage, email is still unavailible.

9:50 Back home, still online
This means I can't find out if today's lecture really was cancelled, I can't see if Thursday's lecture is cancelled and I can't find the paper I'm supposed to be writing.

9:51 Still online
Maybe I'm psychic but I actually downloaded the assignment last night.



I really should have taken the big bang in the bathroom this morning as a sign not to leave the house.

Monday, February 04, 2008

Passwords

How to make a new password for your University network account:

The following rules apply when choosing a password:
1) The password must be at least 6 signs, only the first 8 are used.
2) A word consisting only of lower case letters is not allowed.
3) A word consisting only of upper case letters is not allowed.
4) A password consisting only of numbers is not allowed.
5) Your account id cannot be part of the password.
6) Your account id spelled backwards cannot be part of the password.
7) Your name cannot be part of the password.
8) Your name spelled backwards cannot be part of the password.
9) the signs ',",: and ; cannot be used in the password.
10) You cannot use your current password.

...talk about taking precautions...

The sad girl in the wheelchair

She lives in the building and has been here for a while. She always looks sad and never talks to anyone. At a party a while back a group of people were talking about who we'd seen before and who were new, and I went over to this girl and said "Hey, I know I've seen you here before." She scowled, didn't even look at me and replied "Yeah well I HAVE lived here for a year". She just seemed bitchy. Not at all what you'd expect from someone who had been sitting alone - I wanted to be nice and say hi, talk to her, but apparently she didn't like that.

Since then I've never talked to her again. I don't want to go over when she so clearly didn't want to talk, and I don't want to be met with a line, and an expression, like that again. At the party on Friday I was talking to some of the other girls and I asked them about her. Apparently she'd been exactly the same way with them so no one tries to get in touch with her anymore. She's rude - it's almost like she's mad we didn't talk to her earlier.

The girls thought she's bitter, which is pretty much the idea I've had. It seems like she's sad, not able to accept her situation and for some reason takes it out on people who want her to be a part of the group, the conversation - or just want her to have a good time. Maybe she thinks we're pitying her, or that people don't talk to her because she's in a wheelchair. Or maybe she was like this before aswell. She doesn't seem like she's always been in the wheelchair.

It doesn't feel good to know there's someone here who's not having a good time. She does come to parties and stays for a little while, but I've never seen her talk to anyone, spend time with anyone. I've never even seen her smile. And now, knowing that others have tried, and been met with the same reaction I was, I don't really know what to do about it.

Is she just a bitch who doesn't think we're good enough to talk to her? Does she think we're leaving her out and that we think we're better than her? It can't be a coincidence that we've all been met with the same attitude. Maybe she's not used to talking to new people and doesn't know how to react. Or maybe she is bitter and scared and uses this as a way to distance herself from others. She chooses to be among us, to come to parties, but she doesn't want, or isn't able, to talk to us.


I just don't know what to do about it, if anything at all. I don't want to be the kind of person who doesn't care and just walks past. But I really don't want to try and talk to someone who doesn't want to talk to me. I'm no good at small talk, and the thought of trying that again with that girl, is not a thought I like...

The Party..

..was a success - a lot of people, a lot of food and a lot to clean up afterwards. I realized 50 drunk people can make quite a mess, although it definitely could have been much worse.

It seemed everyone had a good time - some new people but mostly the same old - some of us have lived here since they built the place (I know, we're getting old!). It's usually the same people who show up every time there's something going on.

In a way I understand - when you're new here, you don't know anybody and it seems like everybody else knows each other - and you're not the most social person to begin with - it's hard to make yourself attend parties. You're worried about getting left alone in a corner, looking all sad and pathetic. I know, I've been there. I guess it was just easier for us who moved in here at the same time - we were all new, no one had lived here, or in Bergen, before - we were all in the same boat.

But at least came seemed to have a good time. And I shouldn't have worried about music - I had compeletely forgot that certain people can't be expected to have the patience to listen to a CD for an hour without changing it. Some people brought their own music, and once I caught a guy reading the labels I'd but on the unmarked ones. I did good :D

We stayed till 3:30am and I was throwing away some trash and picking up some bottles when a girl came in. I can't claim to have been quite sober myself but it wasn't hard to see this girl had gone through a bit more alcohol than I had. She came in going "oooh you're here alone! Let me help you!" So she held a plastic bag while I put bottles in. She then found a jacket (although not quite able to figure out what was up and down), was all happy because she didn't know she'd left it, and sauntered off. People do get kinda funny when they're drunk...

I continued cleaning up Saturday morning before going to work, and in the evening when I came back. I've got six big bags of bottles and I have to find a way to get them to the store. A mountain of pizza boxes went out into the recycling dumpster and pizza crusts were everywhere. I don't quite understand that - the crust is my favourite part on pizzas you buy (as opposed to the ones you make yoursef) - I like them crunchy.

But the worst part of cleaning up was, as always, the beer bottles. Or rather - the beer bottles that aren't quite empty. Rather than bringing them over to the sink two at a time, I find a glass to put the contents in - a rather nice mix when there's different types of beer, cider, soda and wine. And it stinks. There's nothing like a room stinking of beer when you're hung over. But it takes less time and means I could get out of there faster.


Work on Saturday wasn't exactly fun. I'm just glad I managed not to puke on a costumer. But hey, it was definitely worth it!

Sunday, February 03, 2008

Winter came to Bergen


It only lasted 12 hours - it snowed all day and rained all night - but it was gorgeous. I can't believe only a few years ago every day used to be like this.