"It's all life until you're dead"

Carpe Diem et Anno

2012-01-10T14:10:00.002+01:00

I was almost hit by a car this morning.

As the environmentally conscious person that I am (and lacking a driver’s license) I take the bus to work every morning. It is not a long walk but it does require that I cross a three-lane street. Two of the lanes go in the same direction while the other is in the opposite direction. I was going to cross the street at a pedestrian crossing and a car in the first lane stopped to let me pass. As I was crossing I noticed another car approaching in the second lane, so I reduced my pace while waiting for the car to slow down. I continued to walk, although slower, realizing a little too late that the car was making no effort to slow down. It approached me in an incredible speed and if I hadn’t already noticed it, I wouldn’t have been able to turn to the side just in nick of time to save my toes. I had to support my weight on the hood of the car as it came to a halt. The tires grazed my boots and my knees were shaking.

I realize that it was dark and rainy and the visibility was probably poor, but still, as you approach a crossing and the car in the lane next to you has stopped, it should be a sign for you to stop as well. –Or at least reduce your speed.

I got away with a scare and a joy of being alive and well. It also reminded me of how easily everything can come to an end. How quickly life can change. Ive always had the “live now” philosophy to life as opposed to delaying everything for later. Ive met too many people in my life who keep saying “I’ll do it later.” Or the standard: “One day I want to do that”. People take for granted that you can delay dreams and do it some other time.

It probably comes from having medical issues in my closest family. Medical issues related to the heart and nerve system. I have grown up seeing how fragile life is, and how easily the body can change from fit and healthy to weak and helpless. You can go from perfectly healthy and above average fit, to immobile and dependent on others in only a year. -Without the possibility of improvement. There aren’t medicines for every condition. Not everything can be avoided or fixed. And yes, it can happen to you as well. -Just as easily as anyone else. Instead of thinking: “That only happens to others”, I’ve changed it to: “That could happen to me as well”.

I have learned from this that life is what you have today. Your health is what you have now. Do not put off things you wish to do. Do not wait. Do it now. –Today!

For this reason I try to make the most of it. I move out of my comfort zone at work to try new things, I am continually trying to and working on becoming more spontaneous (unfortunately Im still very fond of planning), I travel to the destinations I want to travel. I don’t have a perfect economy, but I make different priorities. We don’t own a car, although it would be a great benefit to have one. Instead we spend our money traveling. People wonder how we can afford to spend two summers in a row in the US, driving from coast to coast, living in nice hotels and eating great food. We can because we buy our furniture at IKEA and take the bus to work instead of driving. We can because we buy our clothes on sale and in the cheaper stores. There is plenty of time later to buy a car or an expensive chair, -you can do that even with cancer. But the chance to travel far, to a country you want to visit, may not ever come again. You may have a child (blessings!) and suddenly a major roadtrip becomes economically and practically impossible. You may lose your job. You may get sick. You may get hit by a car...

We all live our lives differently. We make different priorities. –And there is no right or wrong way. I just wish and hope that everyone will remember that a chance may not come twice. An opportunity may have en expiration date. Don’t tell yourself that “I will do that when I retire” or “one of these days I will have to try that”.

It is far better to regret something you did, as opposed to something you wish you would have done but never did.

I for one, am planning to make 2012 a magnificent year. -A year of travels and play. -And a year of new, scary and hopefully educational experiences. I can only hope that I will be allowed to do so, and that I will leave this year even happier than I am today. This year will never come again. Imagine the opportunities!

I wish you all an Exciting and Happy 2012.

Wordfeud

2011-12-29T23:47:00.001+01:00

Don't start with it... It is dangerously addictive. Since my other half and I first downloaded it, we've hardly said a word to eachother...Only typed it on the board,-for points!

The art of growing up

2011-08-04T12:22:00.008+02:00

You hand me the envelope that arrived in the mail today and sit down by the kitchen counter to play with your ipod. I look at the envelope and recognize the logo as one of several credit card companies. I open it slowly, with a knot in my stomach, just to discover that the amount is a tad higher than expected.
I sigh.
You look up from your 'angry birds'-game and ask; “is something wrong?”
I look at you, the piece of paper and then you again. I sigh.
-“Growing up sucks.”

There. I said it. It sucks. Simple as that. I think sometimes you just need to say it out loud. Get it out of your system… although saying it out loud tends to make people frown. They call it “whining”… and nobody likes that. To be honest with you, I don’t like whining either…

2011 was (and still is) the year I turned 30. 3-0… a combination of numbers that frighten me. The safe, comfortable “2” that used to be first, is now gone…

With the number thirty, comes great responsibility. There are certain expectations that follow the number. And I think it is those expectations more than the actual number that bothers me. ‘Cause lets face it; not turning 30 would be far worse.

You look up from your game, raise an eyebrow and ask what kind of expectations I am talking about. I look at you… still 29 and innocent…I shake my head and put the bill down on the counter.

In our society today, being 30 usually means that you should have fulfilled a certain list of tasks. If you have not fulfilled this list, you have, thanks to our wonderful society, reasons to be concerned. The list, which I admit may be different from community to community, usually comprises the following (to a minimum):
- A fulltime job
- A privately owned apartment or house
- A partner

Although I do currently possess all of these things, and thereby shouldn’t have to worry, I still dislike the word ‘expectations’. I disagree that you are falling behind on anything if you miss one or several points on the list. In fact; the freer you are from the list, the more you can truly live!
Let me explain.

A fulltime job is necessary to pay the bills. And more importantly, to pay back the humongous student loan you’ve built up. However, having a full time job makes it very hard to be spontaneous. Everything needs to be planned weeks and weeks ahead. There will be no sudden weekend getaways with cheap flight tickets, unless you have cleared it with your boss first…2-3 weeks ahead (when the flight tickets were expensive and out of question). The irony here is of course that when you were a student, and actually had the time and opportunity to be spontaneous, you had no money to go through with it…

An apartment or house is something that usually follows the fulltime job. Without the job you won’t afford the apartment. Nor will you get a loan to cover the expense. Owning your own home is also great in that you can do whatever you wish with the interior. Paint whatever needs to be painted, buy furniture that is meant to stay in the same spot for years to come. However…(of course there had to be one) with a home comes stress. Suddenly it is your and not your landlords problem if something goes wrong. Suddenly you need to take care of leaks, mold, cracks and whatever unforeseen problem that may arise. There will be worries, there will be large amounts in your bank accounts, written in a nasty red color with a minus in front. Don’t misinterpret me. I still think owning a home is wonderful…it just tends to be a little stressful sometimes.

A partner is something most people would like to have, regardless of sexual preference, religion and social status. I am not going to say anything bad about having a partner, since I do find not having one worse than the little annoyances that comes with having one. Besides, I think it is good to have another person around to relate to… whether it is a partner, a friend or family. Living all alone for too long makes people eccentric. The problem I have with this point on the list is not related to having one, but the stress that comes with not having one at this stage in life. People tend to get married and start families once they reach the end of their twenties and beginning of thirties. Not having a partner in all this mess, when everyone around you start popping babies and invite you to couples dinners, is a situation I do not wish upon my worst enemy. The horror of having to sit through an entire dinner with only one topic (babies, babies and more babies) without being able to relate to it, is like watching a foreign movie without subtitles.

Don’t get me wrong. Im pretty sure that when the day comes (if it comes) that I decide to breed I too will become obsessed with this tiny, wrinkled, drooling individual that is incapable of doing anything else than eating, sleeping and move bowels.

So what would be the alternative?

This is where we have reached the main issue with getting older. There is no alternative. You will get older. You do eventually need a fulltime job. You will need a home, although it is perfectly ok to rent and not buy, you will save a whole lot of dough by actually buying. - And the older you get, the stronger the needs become. You are expected to be responsible. If you wish to have kids at some point in your life, you need to start thinking about it…the clock (which I have heard so much about and never paid attention to) is actually ticking! Suddenly it becomes apparent that if you want more than one child before you reach 40 (when the chances of complications increase) you better get busy! Can you hear the clock? Tick…tick...tick. I want to smash it.- With a Barbie-pink bat covered in rhinestones and glitter.

It is starting to dawn on me why earlier generations always claim the twenties as the best years of their lives. They were years filled with no expectations and reckless living. Although I’ve always been aware that life happens today and not tomorrow, I’ve still found myself twisted up in the web of maturity…thinking ahead, dreaming of having a fulltime job (instead of being a poor student), owing my own place (instead of living in a mold-infested closet sized dump). And I worry that the years of dreaming is now behind me. I worry that I soon will start looking backwards instead of ahead. I worry about things I didn’t know you could worry about. And I realize that ‘worry’ and ‘mature’ are two words that go hand in hand.

The way I see it; I can do one of two things. I can be miserable and long for the carefree years of being a student, being poor but being free. Or I can embrace the future. I can continue to look ahead and dream of things that will be instead of what was. I can remind myself how stressful exams, grades and uncertainties were and embrace the comfort of a steady income.

And most importantly; I can take advantage of every opportunity I get to experience something new. ‘Cause lets face it. Opportunity knocks on everyone’s door, regardless of sex, nationality and not to forget; age.

Bring it on sister! Im ready for my thirties.

In the Wake of Terror, Oslo 22th of July.

2011-07-29T16:45:00.009+02:00

The past week, Ive been wanting to write something about the recent terror attacks in Oslo, Norway. I’ve sat down a couple of times, reached for the computer and opened Microsoft Word just to stare at an empty, white page…

It is not that I don’t know what to write about, it is more a question of how to write. How do you express and put into words an emotion you’ve never had before?

I realize that alone is a testament to my protected way of living. The very fact that I now feel in ways I’ve never felt before, is a proof of the comfort of the society I’ve grown up in. I imagine that if you are from the US or the UK, and especially London, you may look at the photos from Oslo that has been circulating the media lately and wonder what is different from Oslo to what keeps happening all over the world? You may look at images of people crying, dust covering destroyed buildings and pieces of paper caught in the wind from the explosion and think that this…this is no worse than September 11th. This is no worse than terror attacks in London. And you are right.

Any act that takes the lives of innocent people is equally atrocious.

I think part of the reason why Norwegians are so consumed of what has happened, why we are so shocked by this particular incident, and why every TV station is running 24/7 on news from Oslo and Utøya, is the very fact that this has never happened before. Not only has it not happened before, we never in our wildest dreams thought it could happen. Not in Norway. Not in our small, somewhat naïve society.

To those of you who are not familiar with Norwegian customs and law, I can give a few pinpoints into our governmental system regarding crime and safety.

In Norway the justice system is based on integration rather than punishment. This usually means short (in international standards) jail sentences in apartments rather than prison cells.

Our police officers are not allowed to carry firearms on a regular basis.

Governmental buildings are rarely fenced in and thereby accessible to the public.

In fact, the last time I was in Oslo, the only building I can remember being surrounded by guards and fences, was the US embassy! The royal palace on the other hand, the very neighbour to the US embassy, has no fences. This is just the way our society works. It is to a very high degree based on trust.

So when I sat on the bus on my way home from work, Friday July 22nd, and a young woman in front turned and asked whether any of us in the back had heard of “the bomb that went off in Oslo”, we looked at her with a frown wondering who this crazy person was. I got up to get off at the next stop and she looked at me and asked me if I had internet access. I shook my head and got off the bus. But the terror in her eyes worried me, and I made a phone call to my boyfriend, who was still at work, and asked him to check the online news. Words like “Al Qaeda”, “terrorist attack” and “car bomb” intertwined with “Oslo” filled the online media. The knot that grew in my stomach is indescribable. I told my boyfriend to use other means of transportation home rather than the new, much profiled and hyped, light rail he would normally use. I couldn’t help thinking that if this was in deed a terrorist attack, Bergen could be next.

Obviously, as the evening went on and new reports of shootings at Utøya ticked in, it became apparent that all of this was the result of, not extreme islamists, not Al Qaeda, but an ethnical, blonde Norwegian.

It was someone who had grown up in our society. Someone who had grown up and spent his life in the better neighbourhoods of Oslo, with a normal, Norwegian, standard education. Someone with a deranged mind. Someone who believes that by blowing up buildings and gunning down innocent children, will prevent Norway and its government from welcoming new citizens from other parts of the world.

I do not feel like mentioning his name. I do not want to take part in making this individual immortal. But he claims to be anti-Islamic. He is against multicultural regimes and “Muslims taking over Europe” and his delusional way of showing that, is by doing exactly what Al Qaeda is known for doing; car bombs, terror and mayhem. By being against them, he becomes them.

It makes no sense to me.

Someone who could very well have been my neighbour, anyone’s neighbour, has caused the biggest loss of innocent lives since World War II in Norway. In a country with 4.6 million people, nearly 100 lives is a very large number. It causes a sense of grief in the whole population. Everyone knows someone who has been, directly or indirectly, involved in this.

It is then a great comfort to see how everyone cares. To see the flowers that decorate Oslo and every other major city in Norway, in remembrance of the victims. To see people hugging each other in the streets and lighting candles. And to see Norwegian embassies all over the world decorated in flowers. People care.

In the wake of the terror that was meant to frighten us from being democratic and open minded, to make us build fences and close our hearts to others, the people of Norway, both Christian and Muslims alike, have done the exact opposite.

It makes me proud and very hopeful for the future of our open, free society that we love so much.

An Ode to Evolution and Microbiology

2011-07-17T15:05:00.005+02:00

I feel bad. I feel terrible to be honest. This poor blog has been gravely neglected. And there is no one to blame but myself.

Ive been over-worked and low on energy...and no energy creates bad writing. So to spare the few souls of you who might be reading what I write from time to time, Ive stayed away.

But today I had to write something.

I recently visited my old laboratory at the university. The building in which I used to do all my nerdy microbiology-stuff, is now an abandoned building. If you dont know me, you are probably wondering "how damn old is this person?" I can ease your mind by telling you that the building was abondoned already towards the end of my studies due to the rise of a new and better (read: modern) building.

Anyway... We, my significant other and myself, still have a keycard to enter the building, and used it to to leave our bikes there (dry and safe). Now, ofcourse we had to take a little look around the building. There is something very sexy about an abandoned, large, dark building... And to my big surprise I found one of my favorite poems still hanging where I last saw it. All alone... totally abandoned. (I am so sorry to those of you who now expected this post to be of the naughty, sexy kind...I am a nerd. Get over it.) And I took it with me (yes I stole it) and would like to share it with you. So to the biologists out there (and those of you who find science interesting) this is for you:

To the photosynthetical prokaryotes

In the beginning the earth was all wet-
We hadn't got life - or ecology yet.
There were lava and rocks - quite a lot of them both -
And oceans and nutrient Oparin broth.
But then there arose, at the edge of the sea,
Where sugars and organic acids were free,
A sort of a blob in a kind of a coat -
The earliest protero-prokaryote.
It grew and divided: it flourished and fed;
From puddle to puddle it rapidly spread.
Until it depleted the oceans's store.
And nary an acid was found any more.

Now, if one considered that terrible trend,
One might have predicted that that was the end -
But no! In some sunny wee lochean or slought
appared a new creature - we cannot say how:
By some strange transition that nobody knows,
a photosynthetical alga arose.
It grew and it flourished where nothing had been
Till much of the land was a blue shade of green.
And bubbles of oxygen started to rise
Throughout the world's oceans, and filled up the skies;
While, off in the antediluvian mists,
Arose a few species with heterocyst
Which, by a procedure which no-one can tell,
Fixed gaseous nitrogen into the cell.

As the gases turned on and the gases turned off,
There emerged a respiring young heterothroph.
It grew in its turn, and it lived and it throved,
Creating fine structure, genetics and love,
And, using its enzymes and oxygen-2,
Produced such fine creatures as coli and you.

This, then, is the story of life's evolution
From Oparin broth to the final solution.
So, prokaryologist, dinna forget:
We've come a long way since the world was all wet.

We owe a great deal - you can see from your notes -
To photosynthetical prokaryotes...

Ralph A. Lewin

Happy summer!

BlogWriter Lite...

2011-03-25T20:05:00.001+01:00

...any good? Not sure yet, but i will let you know once Ive figured out how to use it properly!

Feeling sexy

2010-05-03T19:40:00.000+02:00

The constant battle of an addiction

2010-04-10T18:28:00.010+02:00

Hi, my name is Ski and I am an addict.

There, I said it. They say the only way to get over such obstacles is to first admit it to yourself and those around you...So now that Ive done that, I reckond the next few steps will be easier. Not that admitting it was so hard...but I need help and I can no longer deny it.

My addiction has been sneaking up on me for several years now...Ive seen the signs and the subsequent dangers lurking in the shadows, but I have ignored them. I have turned my back to 'em and denied their existence.
Why? Because it is easy.

It is easier to ignore a personal flaw or a weak spot of ones being than to face it and fight it. Its easier to run as various rock bands (read: Linkin Park) have been screaming at us for years, and it is true. It IS easier to run. Ignorance is bliss...and all that. There is a reason such clichés exist.

But I can no longer run. I must face my own weakness, and I am doing it here. Right now. On this half deserted (but not forgotten), deeply cared for, blog.

I have issues with the color purple.

*deep sigh*

Purple is my heroin. It is my source of euphoria and the target of all my desires (...literally *cough*).

I own everything purple. The pillows on the sofa are purple, my underwear, my clothes, the curtains and the bed sheets, the candles and cups in my cupboards, my shoes, my cellphone (for real) and believe it or not...the computer I am writing this very text on at this very minute...it is purple.

Whenever I am out looking for clothes or windowshopping...I stop when I see something purple. I am like a raven to shiny objects...except I need them only to be purple. It can be an ugly item for sure. If it is purple, it is beautiful in my eyes. It has gotten so far now that I am trying to push everything purple on my man as well...poor soul.

I recently got a new job, and at my first day I received an orchid from my new coworkers. Guess which color it was? Exactly. And although I usually kill orchids immediately (for some reason I just cannot keep those suckers alive...) this one is still blooming like the magnificent being that is it. It was only yesterday that I realized that the most probable reason for why I always remember to water it, is its color. Its beautiful purple flowers smiling at me...although orchids kinda look like they are pouting with their tongues sticking out at you.

I had known my coworkers for no more than 3 days when one of them made a comment on how spot-on they had been with the color of the orchid. It took her 3 days to figure that purple is my color... Since then I have tried to avoid wearing purple, because I realized that I cannot wear that particular color every day...I will become a caricature of myself. But I have failed. I cant avoid the color, because I do not own enough clothes to build an entire outfit without it.

So what do I do? I go shopping. I try to find clothing of various other beautiful colors...green, blue, yellow, purple...no. Green, blue, yellow....red? No I hate red....p...p...pink?..cant wear it with my red hair...I went shopping and came home, today, with a yellow shirt...and a purple one.

So here I sit. With another purple clothing. Another purple item that I love. I need help. I need detox. I cannot do it on my own. I realize that now.

We are going to a party tonight...And I want to wear a skirt with my new purple leggings that I bought earlier this week. I will try to avoid wearing them, but just the thought of putting them on makes my heart beat faster. It gets me exited and deeply sad at the same time. I know that when you are addicted to something, you have to end it cold turkey. You must stop immediately and never look back. I am going to do that. I will. I will throw away my purple items. I will donate my clothes to the salvation army and give my purple earrings to my friends. I will.

Tomorrow.

Or the next day.

Tonight there's a party.

Beautiful English

2010-02-17T11:46:00.002+01:00

Don't you just love it when a translation from one language to another is done word by word without any understanding of the new language?

I wonder how you are supposed to bring the elevator with you to the fireplace. I mean... sure this winter has been colder than usual...but how do you move it? The elevator...? Cause surely they have had problems with it since they tell people not to...? Perhaps they have superhero-guests at this hotel in Bergen.

Finding a job

2010-02-09T14:11:00.002+01:00

It has been almost a year since I finished my Master degree. In fact, I believe that March 1st will be my 1 year anniversary. Or, at least it will at that date be one year since I handed in my thesis. The exam came a little later. Either way its odd how quickly time goes by.

When I finished, I decided to give myself some time off before I started prowling the job market. Mostly because I had, at the time, been swimming against the current for a full year, before I was able to get the proper equipment for my laboratory work, and thus finish my degree.

So I took the time off. I relaxed in the sun, I exercised, I wrote. And I loved every second. I loved every second of 3 months, before I started checking out the available jobs out there… Taking those 3 months off was probably a strike of genius, cause the minute I started actively looking for a job, I realized how few available jobs there were out there. And at this point in time people were starting to ask me; what do you do now? Do you have a job? Where do you work? Have you found a job yet?

In the beginning, saying “No” to these questions is not a problem. People don’t expect you to find a job right away, but once you are pushing the 6 months-mark (which in reality for me was a 3-month mark due to my time off) people are starting to get impatient. And worst of all, they are starting to give you that “Oh, I’m sorry”-look that people tend to give the unemployed.

Now, I was far from unemployed. I had my job at the supermarket where I’ve been working the past 9 years, and I was working as a laboratory assistant at the university. But a supermarket job is, in the eyes of “master degree”-educated individuals, not a proper job. Nor is a project-based laboratory assistant position. (Some people can never be satisfied, and to tell you the truth, I predict few jobs are as hard as that of a supermarket employee).

But the constant questions were starting to get uncomfortable. I was essentially having 3 jobs; supermarket, laboratory assistant and writing. I was writing my story which I am still working on, and writing takes time, effort and creativity. But I couldn’t tell people this, mostly because writing will not be a job unless you make money off of it (which you won’t unless you sell it to a publisher). But none of these three jobs were providing my wallet with a comfortable stack of currency. Hence the sad eyes on everyone.

Perhaps people were asking me out of care. Out of concern for me as a person. I know some were asking out of desperation, simply because they too find themselves in the same situation as me. But they seem to forget that nothing comes easily. Very few people on the planet find a job before they have finished their education. Obviously there are exceptions to this rule, but microbiologists are not part of that lucky group. In fact, in Norway the average newly educated person is unemployed up to a year before finding their first job.

And now it has been a year. And I have found a job.

I have found a great job that I am really excited about, and I know that my writing, my patience, my loyalty to the supermarket I’ve been working at for so long, all have been contributing factors to the job I have now been offered. People seem to forget that seemingly unimportant events and details can lead to something important in life. They seem to forget that there is more to a person than the job they hold. Isn’t it a fact that the first thing we ask a new person we meet is: “What do you do?” as in “what do you do for a living?” I used to say “I work in a supermarket” and people would look sadly at me and say “oh”. Now I give them the name of my new employer and they say “how?”

How? Patience.

So the moral, if there is one, is: Stop harassing people with questions about their work. Jobs will come to those who are patient, hardworking and who take initiative. Lets hope the financial crisis ends soon too, so that it gets a little easier and requires a little less patience.

Oh, and any job no matter how low in status, is better than sitting on your ass doing nothing. Supermarket employees should be saluted on a daily basis… that job is tough.

The two of us...

2010-02-09T14:07:00.001+01:00

...On a lunch date

Mayday...

2009-11-20T12:39:00.003+01:00

I think my blog needs resuscitation.

I had plans of reviving it a while back, and I sort of did, although only halfhearted. It is not because I have anything against it. In fact I think very dearly of this blog, but I have not had much to report.

I do write a lot. I pretty much write every day. I have now written 200 pages of a story I am working on. A story I started working on mostly for fun, and to complete a goal I set for myself when I was roughly 12 years old. The story is not finished... and as long as I am working on it, it is difficult to find additional creativity for this blog. I have had to choose between the blog or the story, and as the blog will continue to be here even if I leave it be for a while, I chose the story. Mainly due to the fact that the story will vanish if I dont get it down on paper.

So thats what Im working on... getting it down on paper. Whether or not it is something worth sharing some day, only time will tell... But for now I am enjoying the new form of creativity which comes with playing with words... with imagination... Creating characters and situations for them to overcome.

So untill then, I am afraid this blog will only be updated once in a while... when I feel a little extra creativity pushing through. Either way, I am having fun.

Weather yakk

2009-10-07T12:55:00.008+02:00

I was sitting here in front of the computer, trying to come up with something to write. I tried to open up the 'new post' feature in hopes that the white, empty box was going to inspire me to start writing. 'Cause sometimes, thats what happens...sometimes. Not this time...

So I was staring at this white, empty section of the computer screen, wondering what to fill it with. I checked plinky.com, but they wanted me to write about something that makes me want to be a kid again...which I guess is an ok topic. Ok, but not inspiring. I dont want to write about being a kid again. I am a kid. At heart, and sometimes mind too, it seems.

Then I started writing a few lines about the weather. Simply because people expect you to talk about the weather during awkward silent moments. Not that the moment was awkward...lets face it, Im the only one staring at the white box. But it got me thinking about this whole concept of awkward moments, about silences between two people talking. Why do we always fill them with weather talk? Why the weather? Why not politics, or personal opinions about topics. In stead of saying: "Oh, boy, it sure rains today." Why not go for: "Oh boy, I wish the bus tickets were cheaper."... Personally I would have skipped the "Oh, boy", though...

Perhaps people talk about the weather because it is safe. There are few people in this world who prefers a cold, rainy day over sunshine (and yes Beat, I know you are the exception), and few who would be offended if you said you hated "that annoying wind". Which means that you can express your opinions about the weather without irritating anyone. This is obviously in contrast to talking politics, where the potential provocation is so much higher. You say Obama sucks and the guy you talk to plants his fist in the middle of your face.

That just doesnt happen with the weather. The weather sucks! And everyone agrees. Personally I understand the safety of it, and the peacekeeping qualities that it holds...But it truly is boring. It truly is coward.

Next time someone brings up the weather during a quiet moment, I will start talking about chopsticks. It makes just as much sense.

Where do flies go when it rains?

2009-09-21T12:31:00.005+02:00

Im back in the lab (where Im usually at when I update this blog) and noticed a tiny fly buzzing around the window...desperate to get out. Normally I would let the poor creature out and let it fly, "fly up and away"...back into the freedom of the wilderness. However, it is raining cats and dogs outside today, and I figured it was safer for the bug to stay indoors (Yes, I made that executive decision).

But this tiny winged animal had me wondering...where are all the flies when its raining? Do they gather up in special caves? Do they hide somewhere? First I thought of rocks and places they could crawl under...But everytime its raining, the rocks get flooded...right? So the bugs would drown underneath them. I mean...this is why worms crawl up and out of the soil during rain, cause the tunnels get flooded.

Then I thought about leaves. Perhaps they sit underneath the leaves on the trees...which I guess could be possible. There are still leaves on the trees, although they will probably fall off pretty soon...but what about the wind? Rain usually comes with a great deal of wind (like today)...so...won't the bugs fall off? Or at least get wet? And if their wings get wet, wont they drown?

You may be reading this (if you havent left the page already) and wonder why the heck you should keep reading this...and I wont blame you for leaving...I just seriously want to know the answer. So if you are a zoologist (Im afraid Im only a biologist...ecologist...and microbiologist) or just have a general deep facination for bugs, please give me a shoutout.

Cause the way I see it...Rain may suck balls some times, and we get irritated and annoyed by the need to walk around with an umbrella, or a raincoat...
But for a fly...Rain is Armageddon.

Superpowers

2009-09-04T13:42:00.007+02:00

I dont like to break promises...In fact, I never break promises. And I promised to get back to the blog and post something interesting...or at least something semi-interesting. As if I have tried to come up with something engaging to write about. So hence I am currently updating the blog. I am writing this as you are reading it...sort of. Or actually, when you are reading this, I have finished writing it, but still, it is an update, so stop complaining.

I was browsing through my facebook homepage earlier today, and discovered that I had over 100 different invitations. Not invitations as in the oldfashioned; "I want to hang out with you, want to come over for a party?"-invitation, but the typical facebook invitation similar to: John took the "If I became a giant, how many people would I have stepped on during my first day"- quiz, and wants to invite you to take the quiz as well!! (with lots of exclamation points to emphasize how exciting the quiz really is).

Usually I skip all the invitations, just browse through them and leave them be. I probably should delete them once Ive decided not to do them, but I dont. Why, I cannot tell. Perhaps because I never like to throw away stuff and because I might want to do them later. I mean, you never know when it is crutial to find out how many people the giant version of yourself would have stepped on. Perhaps your life will depend on it...some day. So I keep them. And today I did one. I did it because I actually, believe it or not, wanted to know the answer. I wanted to find out what my superpower would be.

I figured the answer would come out as something like: You will turn blue when you become angry. Or: You will gain strength in the presence of children...the latter would actually be pretty cool...I could have a kid strapped to my chest all day...like a nanny-dayjob, and still be a superhero which no one could harm. Super-nanny. The real deal...not the stict british ladies who yell at american families on TV...

Anyways, my superpower turned out to be way cooler. I will get the gift of telepathy. Controll your mind with my own brain. And I started thinking about how awesome that gift would be. Always get my will, always have things done my way, get stuff for free and never have to fight for anything. I was thinking out ways to use my power for my own benefit, and I started laughing. A deep, heavy laugh from the bottom of my stomache, through my throat and out between my lips. A sincere, real; mwahahaha!...And I realized that if I gain a superpower, I will fall into the evil hands of power and become a supervillan. A telepathetic maniac who wants to destroy our safe society, step on the little people and truly be a giant. "With great power comes great responsibility" my ass...

I love it.

And at the same time, I am truly greatful of not having the power of telepathy... And if I...who honestly believe I am a nice, gentle person, could have thoughts like these...what wouldnt a fundamentally bad person be capable of...given the same powers? I can only imagine, and only sigh in relief.

Superpowers are ment to stay in books. Thank [insert religious preference]. But I guess it is still legal to fantasize...
Mwaha..ha..ha

Logic and the lack of it

2009-08-31T14:03:00.005+02:00

Ah, the wonders of being useful. And with being useful, comes the natural and logical "updating of the blog". It is one of those activities which follows working in the lab just as naturally as drying ones body after a shower. The minute I enter the lab, I register the computer in the corner, and as soon as there are a couple of minutes to spare, I log on. It is how it works. It is how it has always worked. The very fact that I still feel that way after having been away for months, indicates a strong pavlovian respons. Blogging and laboratory-work goes hand in hand...or so it seems.

I have been away for months, hence no "updating of the blog". It really is quite logical if you think about it. Obviously when one is going through the "updating of the blog" phase of the day, you need something interesting to write. There really isnt any point in updating something, if you dont have something to update. Right? Also very logical.

However. I am not always a fan of logic. (Excuse me for a minute when I check the temperature of the autoclave) Ok. I am back. For you that was just an annoying extra sentence to read, for me it took quite some time. Anyways. I was talking about logic. Or lack of it. The blog entries I have most fun writing, are the completely uninteresting ones. The ones which really dont have a story to tell. Only a situation to describe, or a thought Ive been holding in for a while and suddenly feel the desperate need to get out.

This is not one of those entries.

As if you hadnt already noticed. No flies on you.

This one is just uninteresting. Or at least meaningless. It is simply my respons to being back in the lab. Me testing the water if you will..making sure it is safe to swim in after such a long time. Hopefully I will be back to update again with something more interesting within a couple of days...Time will tell.

In the meantime I can tell you that if you live in Bergen and want pizza, they serve great pizza at Kjøttbasaren, but you will get food poisoning if you order the chorizo sausage.

There you go...an update with a good advice at the end.

Logical...

Didn't you use to have a blog?

2009-06-17T14:44:00.003+02:00

I did...and I do. I really do. I just seem to have lost my creativity a bit...or that is, I am using it on something else these days. Something which I am enjoying a bit more. But I have not forgotten my faithful companion, my dear web log, my blog. My conscious is letting me know it is there, and it will not let me forget it. I am sorry for the neglect.

As I have no news to report, I will instead wish you all a wonderful summer... with a promise to update as soon as I get my mojo back.

~Ski å

The end of one phase and the beginning of another

2009-05-11T17:46:00.005+02:00

I realize I have somewhat neglected my blog lately...In part out of exhaustion, in part due to the uneventfulness of my life. But I am not complaining. I finally finished my master thesis...and I did well. In fact, I will admit I am proud of myself. I have no plans of going further than a master degree (although I should be careful to utter the word never) so I guess that means I have officially ended my education. It feels good.

But I am tired. 9 years, 2 bachelors and a master have taken its toll on me and I have been in desperate need of some time off. So thats why Ive been absent lately. I have been enjoying myself. Ive taken care of stuff I should have taken care of ages ago, like fixing my national costume so that I could finally wear it for the constitution day this year (yay!), Ive slept, Ive read books, Ive worked out and explored some other interests which I am not going to bore you with right now. Ive also booked 2 weeks of bliss in Turkey this summer with my man, and I cannot wait! To be perfectly honest...I cannot remember the last time I had 2 weeks off without feeling guilty about anything. It will be heaven.

It has also been a time of recognition for me. I have spent 21 years in school...which is 3/4s of my life...Although I have learned a great deal, both about the topics I have been studying, and about extracting information and separating good info from bad…reliable from non-reliable, I am happy to be done. I am ready for a steady income and some real responsibility…

Being a student usually means putting the “starting-a-family-phase” on hold. I have friends who ended their education years ago, who is now getting into that phase of their lives. As much as I would like a family one day, I am more excited about having some time to travel and enjoying time away from study halls. So...that's where I am right now. I have the time...but not the money. Ironic as it is.

So if you'd ask me what I am up to these days, besides enjoying myself...I will say: saving money. I have worked a little extra at my part-time job (which I have had the past 9 years) and I am trying to live cheaply so that I can spend the next couple of months planning a trip to somewhere exotic. The idea of being able to travel to some place Ive only dreamt of visiting before, excites me beyond comprehension.

You know...this is probably when I get accidentally pregnant...

Either way. Let life begin!

Fever

2009-04-12T13:01:00.003+02:00

I am starting to feel the spring fever coming on...or it might actually just be a regular fever...I think my body is working on a cold...Either way its getting warmer and the sun has shown its beautiful face once or twice the past week.

I recently did one of my favorite spring activities; walking around town in the sunshine (and cold crisp air) with an apple in hand. I really cant tell why this insignificant activity brings me so much pleasure, but it really does. It seems to clear my mind of all dark thoughts and whatever ill feeling I may be having vanishes. I call it "spring fever"...others may call it "walking down the street with an apple". It may be the equivalent of drinking beer in an outdoor café...another activity which seems to initiate at this time of year. As soon as the sun manages to warm up the air enough for people to sit still outside, the beer-drinking starts. I still prefer my apple to a beer...but have to admit a cold pint once in a while can do the trick as well.

Spring also makes me want to go hiking...an activity Ive already done twice this month and plan to do more of. Ive also managed to dig out my old roller blades...Which I bought on sale about 6 or 7 years ago and only used once. This spring will be the spring that I teach myself how to use them. Perhaps i will photograph the event. Should make for some interesting pictures.

But its raining right now and rain is not appropriate blading weather...the only thing that makes me feel that spring is here, is the temperature...and Easter. And I will enjoy the last two days of Easter in the hopes that spring will come back for good once the holidays are over.

Happy Easter everyone.

Cogito Ergo Sum

2009-03-19T18:00:00.004+01:00

I saw something awesome today. I don’t usually use the word ”awesome”…it reminds me of 14 year old girls and their conversations in the back of the bus…but I have to use it today.

I saw a crow with a piece of chewing gum in its beak. You are probably wondering what’s so awesome about a bird with gum…Obviously, birds and gum don’t really go well together…and I agree. But the bird seemed to have some issues with the gum being too hard. It was a pretty large piece of gum, and I’m guessing it wanted to divide it into smaller pieces before it ate it…something which was impossible to do with that dried up chunk. My first thought was: “yikes, you really shouldn’t eat the gum, birdie. It will go straight through you without fulfilling your nutritional needs.” Or actually, that’s a lie…My thoughts weren’t that fancy…They were probably closer to; “Don’t eat the gum birdie, it’s bad for you.” As I was thinking this, worried that the bird was going to give up and swallow the entire chunk in one go, and thereby forcing me to do bird-CPR, the bird did something I did not expect it to. It skipped along the pavement towards the nearest puddle and dipped the gum in the water. And all I could think was how I used to do that as a kid when I wanted to save my gum for later. I used to put it in a glass of water (‘cause we all know how important it was to chew your gum until it basically disintegrated in your mouth…) to preserve it. The water would keep it soft and retain some of the flavor in the gum for when I decided to continue my chewing. Im guessing the bird must have learned at some point that water can soften dry material, but I was still amazed by it.-Thinking that perhaps birds aint as dumb as I first thought. It also reminded me of another incident with a bird I had a couple of years ago.

I saw a seagull with a shell in its mouth. The only reason I spotted the bird was the fact that I was almost hit in the head by the shell. In an attempt to break the shell open, the bird flew about 10 meters into the air, dropped the shell down on the asphalt of the road I was walking on, and dived down to pick the shell up again. It repeated this pattern a couple of times, each time going higher before dropping the shell. I remember having two thoughts; 1: what a dumb bird doing this right in front of me on the road...where I was walking with a large german shepherd in a leash, and 2: What a smart bird…Faced with a problem (breaking the shell), it conducted an experiment (dropping it on to a hard surface), decided it worked but needed improvement (flying higher the next time) and eventually managed to open the shell…which it started eating as soon as my dog and I had passed.

I guess this only shows that birds have cognitive behavior…which is odd considering their brains. I dissected a chicken brain once in an anatomy class…and I have to tell you, there aint much to look at. Perhaps a proof that a large brain is unnecessary…further offering an explanation for why humans are so destructive. Our brains are too large for our bodies, offering plenty of space for unnecessary information. -Information that confuses our instincts…causing us to destroy what others have built and spitting our chewing gum out on the pavement for birds to pick up. Perhaps we would be better off with bird brains…just a thought.

30th or Pearl

2009-03-13T11:54:00.001+01:00

My parents are celebrating their 30th wedding anniversary this week…30 years…30 years with the same person.

I find it admirable and terrifying at the same time. Admirable because 30 years with one person requires an ability to both give and take in equal amounts…and to accept a person for who they are without trying to change them. I also find it terrifying because I have no one but myself to blame if I cannot accomplish the same. So many people who get divorced like to blame the fact that they come from separate homes as a reason for why they couldn’t make it work. It is nothing but an excuse of course…but I guess sometimes that is just what you need.

It is indeed sad that most kids today grow up in separate homes, and that living with both your mom and your dad is the exception rather than the rule. But at the same time it is understandable…both women and men have careers today, no one is dependent on the other so no one is forced to stay in a bad marriage, which inevitably benefits the kids in the end. A bad marriage is no place for a child.

That is why I have so much respect for those who are able to maintain a good relationship post divorce…Those couples who manage to be a family although new lovers enter their lives. Those who let the kids spend Christmas with both mom and dad even though they are no longer married. With the independence of women today and the constant search for happiness that we all aspire to, that is the future. The ability to stay a family after a divorce.

I have friends who are getting married this year and I have friends who are engaged. My generation is entering that phase of their lives when they feel the need to settle down…start a family and begin the same stage,-the only stage of our parents life, we know and recognize. I hope that our generation will continue the ‘amicable divorce’-trend which the previous generation has barely initiated. And perhaps contribute to a more stable family situation. But most of all, I hope our generation can put the love back into marriage and accept each other for who we are. Because there are still some couples out there who aren’t forced to be together, but who wants to…and therefore get to celebrate a 30th anniversary.

Now, that’s something.

And this post turned way more serious than I planned…but sometimes that’s the way they come out.

100

2009-02-11T17:34:00.003+01:00

I just realized that my previous post about surrogates was my post number one hundred. How cool is that!? 100 posts of meaningless blabber...Im actually a little impressed with myself. No wonder Ive written 10 pages of my discussion chapter (of my master thesis) without actually saying anything...

I guess this also means Ive waisted about 50 hours of my life writing down nonsense. -If I spend an average of 30 minutes on each post...which is probably not far from the truth. Ah well, even meaningless yack is a skill...some people even make a living of it. They're called reporters. The specialists within this field are called gossip reporters. Perhaps thats what I should have become then...a reporter. -Not the gossip kind...I need my sleep at night.

Time will tell. Either way Im about to finish the science part of my life...unless a wickedly cool job falls into my lap that is...So there will be plenty of time to write the next 100.

Just a warning...or a heads-up if you will.

Future-fantasies.

2009-02-09T18:29:00.006+01:00

I love movies, most of you already know this so it is no big surprise...and as a lover of movies I tend to look forward to some of them...perhaps before a release date is set...and the wait can be seriously long...like the wait for Die Hard 4.0 for instance which took about 2-3 years since I first heard about it until I had the chance to see it…Fortunately it didn’t disappoint…which I have to admit, usually happens when you wait 2 or 3 years for a movie. Its hard not to build up an enormous amount of expectations when you wait that long…even though I do try not to…Anyways, this wasn’t what I wanted to talk about…Im already a little tired and almost put myself to sleep there for a second.

I have been waiting for a movie called ‘Surrogates’ (which by coincidence, -only coincidence, I promise!*cough* is another Bruce Willis movie) for about a year now. I believe it is a sci-fi, I Robot, A-I kinda film which I have to admit is not a good starting point for me. I did enjoy AI…although it made me kinda depressed…but what fascinates me with the prospect of this film is the idea of surrogates. Apparently people in the future are going to be seriously anti-social, spending most of their time alone in their homes. And to make up for this behavior, they have surrogates, or robot versions of themselves doing all the work and shopping and partying for them. Now, I personally cant for the life of me figure out why anyone would want to spend all their time at home when they could send their robot version to work and go party themselves. Personally I would love a surrogate. I’d make it perfect. It would have great hair every day, as well as makeup and clothes. It probably wouldn’t sweat or eat or use the bathroom, so I wouldn’t have to bathe it…expect for an annual touchup. No exercise would be necessary as it wouldn’t gain or lose any weight. It would be nice and toned with perfect complexion. Not a single zit…

If I did have one, I would set it to write my master thesis, which is taking up all my f’ing time these days, and go travel. Once it has finished my thesis, it can go to work and make money which I can spend on more traveling…and shopping. Of course, with my luck my surrogate would probably develop a strong personality and refuse to go to work for me…and insist on coming with me on whatever trip I was planning…And as I have a pretty strong mind of my own, we would end up spending the entire trip arguing on what to see and do…Either that or fighting non-stop on who gets to see and do everything first (ever been to Disneyland with a sibling?). And of course non of us would give in to the other…Why give in when you know there is no way it will lead to sex?-Which by the way opens up for a whole new concept; the end of single-hood. No one has to be unwillingly single anymore…you can just create an opposite sex version of yourself (unless you’re gay of course) and date that instead. According to various scientific studies people tend to fall for someone who looks like themselves…Although, you would probably come back to the previous issue of two minds which are way too similar…and end up fighting non-stop. And who wants that? I’d rather stay single.

Anyhow, in light of the release of ‘Surrogates’, Touchstone Pictures have released a so-called viral-site for the movie (No worries, it has nothing to do with virus or computer destruction) where you can read up on the (fake) company which builds these surrogates, and where you can make your own one…Which of course I had to try.

You can upload a picture of yourself and change age and ethnicity, as well as facial features…which I did. I built a version of myself with a skin complexion slightly darker than my natural (who wants to stay pale as a Scandinavian if you can be tanned all year around?), green eyes with a touch of yellow just for fun, purple hair (because I love purple) and slightly longer hair…mostly because I couldn’t find my own hair-do among the choices...a do I like. But anyways, I dressed ‘me’ in a black dress and waited for the final result to come up. The new, better version of myself. The one which was going to improve my life and free me from my responsibilities.

She turned out to be an old lady. An old slightly bloated lady with purple hair and a black granny dress. It was terrifying seeing my own face on such an old woman. I am not going to be an attractive woman of age…if life hands me that many years, that is.

My surrogate is an old lady, who I bet would boss me around and tell me what to do. Who would make me finish my thesis and earn my own money…And in turn would spend my money on cake and coffee at the local bakery.

No thanks…I’ll do without.

http://www.chooseyoursurrogate.com/

My little pony

2009-02-03T16:48:00.005+01:00

Most of you who actually know me...and I assume you are the only ones reading this, know that I had the good fortune of going to Africa this past summer...more specifically Tanzania, which was simply a trip of a lifetime. As this was the golden opportunity to take pictures of a lifetime as well, I spent the entire time there with a camera attached to my right eyeball (come to think of it; no wonder my eyesight has gotten worse on that eye...)...and believe it or not, I managed to take some decent pictures...or lets face it, my camera managed to take some decent pictures...I pretty much kept it on automatic all the way through, letting my camera read the surroundings...Anyways, Ive used some of my favorite pics as desktop backgrounds on my computer, as I like to look at pretty things whenever I use it (and Ive come to realize that David Hasselhoff is not as well liked among the other students around me as I first thought...delicious Hoff *cough* sorry...I almost swallowed my tongue). The past 6 months, the photo of choice has been the following one:

I really like this picture as it shows several species in one frame, all species which we dont have in Norway, so I find it exotic. Besides, I love pink and flamingoes rock! This picture is shot in the Ngorongoro crater by the way. Ive come to love this picture...It makes me relax. I feel a sense of calmness and I can smell the dry dirt and feel the wind on my face when I look at it. I really can. Honest.

So Im sure you can imagine the shock and horror I felt today when I noticed a small detail in this picture for the first time...After having looked at it and loved it for 6 months...I noticed the zebra in the background:

My first thought was; whoa! That is one exceptionally well-hung pony...But it made me sad. It made me sad because exceptionally-well-hung-pony is standing all alone...Not feeling the love. And no one should be that well equipped without attention. I wonder where all the baby-fevered Zebrettes are...And I wonder if he finally met a lady or if he is still standing there all lonely and sad. Perhaps the wilderbeast in the front of the frame gave him some love...

I can only hope.

Either way I think I may have to change my desktop background. To something happier...laughable...
-like the Hoff.

4 weeks to go

2009-02-01T16:19:00.004+01:00

I realized when I woke up yesterday morning that I have essentially been burning my candle in both ends the past couple of months…Spending all day at uni trying to get my work done and then going to work at night trying to earn enough money to pay the bills…I don’t understand how some people manage to hold 2 jobs for years…I am exhausted after 2.5 months. I am happy yet stressed out by the fact that I have only 4 weeks left. Happy because I will be done and can finally get some rest…not to forget spend some time with my friends…be social again…Yet I am stressed out by the thought of having to finish perhaps 2 months of work in 1 month of time. But it will happen. I will be done in time and life can get back to normal…perhaps better than normal.

Either way I decided to take the day off today…and it has been good. Giving my body enough sleep for a change and having a long breakfast with my man. Soon we will go out to dinner and then off to the movies…good days go by so quickly. It is at times like these when you are really stressed out that it is important to notice the little things…and so I am going to do a little high/low from the past month…inspired by my friend wawa…who btw seems to have given up on her blog (shame on you).

January low: Definitely working on my thesis…stress has gained a new definition
for me.

January high: My guy at home who has been doing all the laundry and cleaning and
cooking…and still has enough energy to rub my stiff shoulders.

I will try to continue with the high/low for the next month…whether I post it here or not I will at least try to do it mentally…It will be good for me.

Ok, I have a question...

2009-01-28T15:40:00.002+01:00

...How do you cram 2 months of work into 4 weeks?

'Cause basically...that is my situation right now. And to be honest with you, I am surprisingly calm writing this...Most likely a side effect of the workout I just had...I always feel great right after exercise...tired...but pleased...and working out is the only thing that makes me relax these days...I know that sounds odd, but its only when Im exercising that my mind is capable of not thinking about all the work I need to get done. It is my hour-and-a-half of relaxation. My time of zen.

But me sweating at the gym doesnt get my work done...Sooo...if anyone has any ideas, please step forward and speak your mind.

There you have it...

2009-01-21T17:44:00.003+01:00

You know some days are just unproductive...No matter how hard you try, it just doesnt happen.

Today has been one of those days, and instead of beating myself up about it, I am going to go home. I am going home to make dinner with my man and just relax.-Providing he's home that is...He might be having his productive day today...if irony gets its will that will be a given. But then again, that is how it is supposed to be...as irony is God's way of making things interesting..."spice it up a little"...I'll bet thats what he thought when irony was invented...perhaps irony was one of those glitches that always happens when you create a demo of something...and then he kept it just to get something to laugh at. Actually...I think he's a she...or perhaps a gay man...the eye for detail and beauty is too great for a 'he'...but that's another topic...and I dont want to offend anyone religious.

But anyway...unproductive...no additions to my thesis...a wasted day if you will. I could have done something fun instead. But...I am not going to feel bad or stress about it...cause ultimately...what good comes out of that? Nope. Going home. That's what I'll do.

...And up again

2009-01-05T15:37:00.004+01:00

I really don't like New Years Eve...

Its totally overrated as the teens like to say…and which I tend to say too come to think of it...I always end up at some last-minute party since I never plan the night. Yet I refuse to plan New Years. I dont want to stress about finding some place to be on a night where you are supposed to either have the time of your life, or be a loser. I refuse. So I dont plan, and I end up at the aforementioned party. Usually I have a friend or a boyfriend present, which keeps me from going insane. And every year around midnight I think to myself; "Why am I here? Why am I spending the last night of the year with people I dont know?"

This year seemed to be the same. No plans became party plans. -A party with nothing but strangers. Then it became a party with friends and only that. Then back to the choice of strangers or nothing at all. Wise from previous years of dull parties, I chose alternative B,-nothing at all. Only this year, no expectations turned into a truly great evening (Imagine the shocker). I was prepared for a night alone with the boyfriend at our apartment...(which could be pretty romantic in itself I'll admit) only to get a visit from friends instead. We were only 6 people. The night was quiet yet social and it suited me perfectly. I dont see the point in spending a night that is supposed to be a night of reminiscence, with total strangers.

Perhaps this is a sign that I am growing up...or perhaps it is a sign that I am becoming excruciatingly boring...Either way I guess it doesnt really matter as long as one is having a good time...does it? And I did. And I continue to enjoy myself...or I try to.

Lately it has been difficult and it will continue to be difficult for at least another 2 months. Until I am done with my master thesis, I wont have much free time...and as a result I wont have much time to spend with friends...if you read this I apologize. Combining work and school has been a bitch lately and it will only get harder...but as they say: it gets worse before it gets better...And hopefully by the end of spring, life will open up a bit and make me more available...and relaxed...and perhaps even less boring.

Until then I will try to suck up all the joy I can when I get it. If I have a resolution for this year, it is to do something I really want to do even if its irresponsible to do so. Ive been responsible my whole life...Right now I am deeper in the responsible part of life than Ive ever been before. Once I get out of this pit, I am going to do something reckless.

No matter what.

Stressing down...

2008-12-22T14:27:00.004+01:00

When I was a little girl, Christmas was the highlight of the year. I loved having time off from school, playing with the other kids in the neighborhood, skiing, building snowmen, having snowball fights...For some reason I can only remember Christmases with the streets covered in snow. I wonder if this is true...if there was a lot more snow when I was younger...or if my mind is so happy about snow that it has blocked out all the Christmases spent indoors with the rain pouring down outside. I find myself wanting to believe the latter...I want to believe that it rained just as much 20 years ago, as it does today...'cause if not...then the climate really is changing. I dont think we've had a white Christmas in Bergen since...2004...which happened to be the very year I spent Christmas in New York...oh the irony...and I didnt get snow in New York either...also ironic as the streets were covered in snow up until 3 days before Christmas when it all rained away...and to top it all it was minus 20 degrees celsius on Christmas Eve...Anyway, I wasnt going to talk about the climate.

Today, when I am in my (gosh it's scary to say this) late 20s, I find Christmas stressful. Especially this year, Christmas came way too early. I wasnt prepared, I still dont understand how I have managed to buy all the presents in time. I have a feeling I have left someone out...which I really, seriously hope I have not. Somehow, November just went by in a whiff. And before I even had the chance to get over the shock of losing November, 2 weeks of December had passed. And here I am...2 days before Christmas, done with my gift shopping, finished with the baking and candy making, the decorating, the wrapping, the Christmas tree...somehow Ive done it all...Ive even squeezed in a dinner party and I have no idea how Ive had the time. I have absolutely no Christmas spirit in my body...it is almost like it has all happened without me present. Yet I have the memories...so I know Ive been there.

I am hoping that once Im done working Tuesday, and Im at my parents house, putting all the presents Ive bought underneath the Christmas tree, smelling the spruce, eating marzipan and petting the pug...that the Christmas spirit will arrive...despite the rain drumming on the windows. I guess it doesnt matter what kind of weather you get, or how many people you buy presents for, or how prepared you are and how much you get done before Christmas. All that matters is being with the people you love. Taking time out of a busy schedule, giving your loved ones your time and your attention.

I appologize for not sending out any Christmas cards this year...I got too caught up in the stress factor of it all...Instead I would like to dedicate this entry to you and wish you a Merry Christmas and a wonderful New Year. May I not take you for granted and be better at showing my appreciation in the next year.

Love
~Ski

A door to the subconscious

2008-12-11T15:36:00.007+01:00

Apparently dreams are supposed to tell you something...something about your state of mind. There are people out there making a living out of interpreting dreams...Thats how serious people take their dreams.

I had a dream yesterday morning which I cant quite figure out...I really do not understand how this dream is supposed to say anything about me...and my state of mind. But I will give you a chance to interpret it if you will...to tell me something I dont know about myself...I will give you that power.

This is my dream;

I was at a camp with lots of people...It was like a working camp where everyone had to work really hard or we would be set to tougher labor. If you didnt work hard enough the boss would send you "out"...and we all feared this. "Out" in this setting was in fact just that...outside.

This is the first warning signal for me, because I normally love to be outdoors...

What is worse is that the unfortunate ones who DID get sent out would just stand out there...in the dusk...looking in at us who were working hard inside.

The person in charge was Scott Patterson. This is the guy who plays "Luke" in “Gilmore girls” (a show I havent watched in probably over a year) and he was situated at a desk in front of the rest of us...looking at us occasionally and reading a book of some sort. We the workers were sitting at desks, much like you do in a classroom, working hard but enjoying ourselves and our work. I remember having a lot of fun with the work. The work consisted of going through old wallets, sorting the contents...and I remember sorting out pesos (which the Spanish dont use anymore after they converted to euro) and I found 35 pesos...I dont even know if a number this low exists in pesos...I remember pesos being in the 1000 and up category....but anyways...I was happy with my 35 pesos...separating them from some other coins when suddenly Tom Cruise (who was initially sitting at the desk behind me sorting the contents of another wallet) walked by saying something to me...Unfortunately I cannot remember what he said to me...and I doubt it was important...but I remember smiling at him…and I apparently knew him well. I asked him if he wanted one of my copies of Mission Impossible...- I dont think I own a copy of this movie...certainly not two, and he DID want it, but I changed my mind and wouldnt give it to him anyway....Instead I got him to sign one of the copies for me...and he signed it with the following message:

-Hi, great to get to know you. It's sad with all the people being sent “out”, isnt it? I hope you get some company at the gym anyways. Signed: Eco ML

I have no idea what ML stands for...In my dream I naturally assumed Eco had something to do with the environment, while ML had something to do with Mission Impossible...I dont know...Mission Limpossible? I didnt spend much time worrying about this though, because I suddenly spotted a pearl necklace and I wanted to find out if it was real...something I had no idea how to do. So I asked if anyone knew how I could figure it out without biting in the pearl and hurting my teeth, when a girl jumped up and handed me a pair of pliers which was supposed to substitute my teeth...I never quite figured out if the necklace was real...because just as I was about to use the pliers on the pearls, my boyfriend woke me up...

I spent the next 10 minutes laughing till tears came down my face, telling my man about my dream...It was so real...yet so far out. Im not even a fan of Tom Cruise...I mean...he is ok and everything...but certainly not one of my favorites...I can tell you one thing though, he was very sweet and comfortable to be around. Not at all the nut job the tabloids talk about…

I really cannot understand why my dream contained two actors I havent seen in any show or movie in probably over a year, pearls, which I have never been obsessed about and a currency which no longer exists! If someone can get any kind of meaning out of this, besides giving me a good laugh (and what a thrill it is to wake up laughing!) I will bow in awe.

Elixir of Life

2008-12-05T13:58:00.004+01:00

I believe in coffee...I even believe that it may very well be the elixir of life that our alchemist forefathers talked about. Coffee really can turn lead into gold...figuratively speaking. Obviously...or I would be a very rich woman right now...There is not a surface I havent spilled coffee on...But seriously, you've been there;

Eyelids heavy as lead...no concentrational abilities whatsoever...a cup of coffee, and voilá! A golden moment of concentration and alertness.

I do find it odd, though...that something as simple as a drink made out of a bean and hot water...can taste so good or so horrible depending on how you prepare it. I am currently drinking what I believe to be the worst cup of coffee I have ever offered my palate...And I have drunk coffee many places...anywhere from Africa to Idaho, USA...to mention a few. I have drunk coffee prepared the traditional way by a coffee maker:

The easy way:

The espresso way:

The mocca way:

And my favorite way:

And all methods can create wonderful black potion...or cause a horrible gag-reflex. The cup I am drinking right now was made the easy way...by water which by itself taste awful...and prepared in a water boiler which has seen its better days...so I guess it is no mystery why it tastes so bad...But it doesnt explain why it tasted so bad in France...or London...or at my parents house.

Perhaps it is with coffee the way it is with drugs...You can have a wonderful high, or a bad, bad trip. In that case I am just recovering from a bad trip. Had it been a drug, I would never do it again...But since it is coffee...and not quite yet characterized as a drug, I will give it another shot. Just for the unpredictability of it...and the excitement. And we all need a little excitement.

The little things

2008-12-03T14:17:00.004+01:00

I love the little things. I LOVE the little things...I love the little things.

I figured if I wrote it down 3 times, I would be able to concentrate on it. Look away from the big things that are bothering me...Sometimes the bigger issues get in the way of the small things...Issues like money..health...uni...work...stuff that is draining you and shifting your attention from the small things that can make a seemingly bad day pretty good after all.

For instance, I watched a short docu-soap or whatever they call it...a reality based program with 2 newlyweds who wasnt exactly acting like newlyweds...and they got several pieces of homework from this therapist. One of these assignments was to write down 3 things you love about your significant other...every night. Ive thought about this and it is really brilliant. It is like the high/low concept I talked about earlier this year and which my friend wawa keeps doing still (link to the right) where you mention the best and the worst incidents of the day. Focusing on the good sides of your partner can really shift focus. Not that I need to do exercises like this right now. I am happy. I love his ability to compromise, his cuddling nature and his sense of humor...to mention a few. But there will always come a time when exercises like this are necessary. Nobody can stay deliriously happy all the time. That shit only happens in the movies...

I also love that he wants to take me to the movies tonight...on a day that has been pretty stressful. -A small thing that perhaps evens out bigger issues. At least for today. It can even overshadow small crappy things like the really shitty cup of coffee (and I do mean shitty) I am drinking right now *gag*.

So I love the little things...I LOVE the little things...say it with me. You may need this some day as well....remember to love the little things.

Excitement

2008-11-26T11:46:00.004+01:00

I recently moved into a bigger apartment with my boyfriend. I am in fact sitting in said bigger apartment right now. More specifically in the bedroom...at a small corner desk...which if I am allowed to say, is a wee-bit too small. But I dont care. I dont care because said bigger apartment is in fact...simply bigger. Bigger than I am used to. -And I love the space. I love being able to go from the livingroom and into the kitchen...and to be in the kitchen without seeing the livingroom! Some of you may already have this and think: "so what?". But to me this is a huge deal.

When you move from a closet to an actual apartment, you have the issue of furniture...most of your furniture is bedroom type of furniture...You have a closet...and a drawer...perhaps a desk and a bookshelf. -And since your boyfriend also has a couple of drawers and a bookshelf...in addition to a truckload of useless crap (why cant men be more aware of aesthetics when they buy something?) the bedroom becomes indeed overfilled...somewhat similar to a storage room. And so the result of this is an over-furnished bedroom and an empty livingroom in your new apartment.

This, however, is where the fun of moving into a bigger space manifests itself. This is when you get to go out and buy new furniture! (all the girls clap their hands and the men sigh deeply).

So the other day, we had a fieldtrip to Ikea (Ikea, the only true friend of students) and came home with our very own dinner table. I realized as I came home from work last night, finding that Microman,-the boyfriend (no relation to penis size), had assembled the table, that I have never actually owned my own dinner table. -And the sense of pride I felt upon looking at this table frightened me. Yes it was expensive...but I have owned...and still own more expensive objects than this...and honestly; it IS just an object...a freakin' table to be exact. But I felf proud.

I wonder if the pride I felt was towards my man (the academic and not the handyman) who had assembled it on his own...or if it was the fact that we now have a dinnertable in our livingroom which is ours...bought and paid for...and not borrowed from someone else. I am afraid...I am scared that if I can feel proud of a freakin' table...I will indeed explode the day I sign the papers to my very own apartment. Or perhaps you get indifferent as you get used to it. I surely hope I do not. I hope I can stay excited about something as silly as a table...the same way I get excited about raspberry soda in the stores before Christmas...and "Three stories about Joan"...which for some scary reason may not happen...but it is still exciting...and I am still excited.

I dread the day I am no longer excited. May it never come.

Guess what?

2008-11-17T13:48:00.003+01:00

Im busy.

Unpacking, organizing, tidying, cleaning, freezing (how the hell can you live in an apartment without any form of heating!?)

Which means I no longer have internet access at home...I will try to be a good blogger when I get my stuff together...eventually.

In the meantime you will have to put up with more-than-usual-meaningless entries...like this one.

Ooooor...If you're bored and want to test your nerd capabilities, you can try to locate the Golgi apparatus in this picture...and perhaps a mitochondria. Just for fun. (Stop clapping your hands. Its not THAT fun).

~Ski

A new beginning

2008-10-29T16:14:00.005+01:00

You know how some people hate fall because they feel it represents death and the demise of all organic life as we know it?

To me fall has always been about the opposite. The beginning of something…a birth if you will. When you think about it, fall must have been the very first season.

Seeds are created during the fall…we know them camouflaged as berries, apples, plums and other fruits, and had these seeds not existed, there would be no apple trees or blueberry shrubs…(Lets not get into the philosophy of what came first of the chicken and the egg…). Once the seed hits the soil and are buried in it, it hibernates through winter. Often winter and cold is needed for the seed to be able to germinate once spring arrives. The cold triggers something in the seed. (Don’t look at me like that. I am not making this up). So without fall and winter there would be no spring...

If you think about it like this you may actually be able to enjoy the colors that come with this beautiful season. The red and orange trees, the leaves blowing through the air all around you. Even the rain which we get so much of in this part of the world, and which offers the perfect excuse to crawl into the arms of your significant other and watch a movie while drinking hot cocoa or tea.

As much as I love that...still...to me the very favorite thing to do at this time of year, is to put on a whooly hat and a warm jacket on a sunny day...walking down the street smelling the crisp air with an apple in hand.

How ‘bout you? Do you have a favorite season? Or perhaps a favorite thing to do this time of year? I would love to hear it.

For more fall pics...check out the picture blog.

Hmmm...

2008-10-29T13:59:00.006+01:00

10 things to wonder about on a Wednesday:

Does it hurt the tree when the leaves fall off?
Does the word 'nose' have anything to do with 'hose' or is it just a coincidence that the two words rhyme?
Why is nintendo's game called 'Donkey Kong' when the character is a gorilla and not a donkey?
Why are toenails harder than fingernails?
Why are women generally more addicted to chocolate than men? Our bodies are built the same way...
Who decided that fire is "hot" and ice "cold"? Why isnt it the opposite?
Why are most houses box-shaped when it's general knowledge that a ball gives a bigger volume compared to surface? Couldnt we save a lot on energy by living in marble shaped houses?
Why dont I live in a marble shaped house? I like marbles...
How come time goes by so fast when I really need it to slow down?...and then go really slow when I need to go by quickly?
Is 'bivouac' really a word?

I have a ghost in my apartment.

2008-10-24T13:46:00.000+02:00

You may laugh…s’all good. But I am becoming more and more convinced about this. I guess I have always been kinda spiritual…not sure about religion and all that, but I do believe that there is more between heaven and earth than what we are aware of…I believe in energies and the possibility of an energy lingering at a familiar place after the body stops working. I do. I really do and I can say this as a scientist. -Cause no matter how you twist and turn it, that’s what I am…a scientist…at least until I’m done with my master thesis. I believe in evolution, in biology, in the connection between neurons in the human brain that makes us perceive our environment differently. What I as a person may regard as the simple expanding of a metal pipe due to heath, may to someone else be the knocking of a ghost…trapped in the wall. I reason. I use my science background to evaluate. I am boring. However, I do believe that there are happenings out there which science as of today cannot explain. This doesn’t mean we won’t find an explanation for it…we may later…but in the meantime I will keep an open mind.

I believe I can tell you exactly when I came in contact with the aforementioned ghost. As scary as it sounds I can tell you the exact spot. And I can tell you this due to the feeling I got when entering this spot. I was at the attic of the university institute I belong to. There is a story of a man getting murdered at this institute, by the use of Mercury…apparently this happened some 40-50 years ago…I honestly don’t know much…other than a man dying and someone finding a beaker of Mercury in the ventilation system of his office some years later.

Anyway, I was up there to collect some glassware…or equipment if you will…when I saw an open door to a room I had never been to. As I am curious by nature I had to have a look and entered the room. It was an old office-space with a tiny window in the roof. It had an old radio and a tiny bookshelf in one of the corners and I remember feeling pretty creeped out while standing there. You know the feeling? Chills down you spine…you know what that means if you’ve seen that documentary about dead people…what’s it called….”The sixth sense”.

I think maybe something latched onto me at this moment. Obviously I don’t know this for sure…all I know is that the next morning I had my first toothpaste incident…

I have a specific spot for my toothpaste. When I’m done with it, I put the toothpaste back into the cabinet and I close the door. I do this as to avoid knocking it off my sink every morning…also because my sink is small and I don’t want the little space that is there for soap to be filled with other stuff. Want to keep it pretty and clean, you know? But this specific morning…after my creepy loft-session, the toothpaste was back on the sink. I could have sworn I put it in the cabinet…but I figured I had probably forgotten about it and didn’t waste any more time thinking about it.

A couple of days go by and the toothpaste stays in the cabinet…then suddenly one morning its back on the sink. I know for sure I was the last person in the bathroom the night before…and I never leave the toothpaste on the sink. Every night I open the cabinet door, take out the toothpaste, put some on my brush and return it to the cabinet…I don’t even put the toothpaste down on the sink. Yet there it is…on the sink. Still I’m thinking I must have put it there…so I leave the thought alone.

This morning the toothpaste was back on the sink. It has been a couple of days since the last incident. Just long enough for me not to think about it anymore. I am now convinced I put it in the cabinet and something else has taken it out and put it on the sink. I do find it amusing though…if you are going to get a ghost in your house, it is nice to get one that is obsessed with toothpaste as opposed to someone/something that wants you dead. It’s all good…I can share my toothpaste with whatever it is that wants to play with it. But I would prefer if it would put it back into the cabinet when it’s done with it. I’m also thinking I may be going insane as I caught myself saying out loud this morning: “It’s ok if you want to borrow it…but please put it back in afterwards…the toothpaste goes here!” *pointing to spot in the cabinet*

I do have to laugh…it is delightful. I will see if the ghost follows me when I move next month. Perhaps if it stays, the next person living there will allow it to do whatever the hell it wants to with the damn toothpaste. I on the other hand, want it in the cabinet.

Change

2008-10-22T19:10:00.003+02:00

It's certain and unavoidable
it's necessary and always true.
Occuring when you least expect it
offering a path to something new.

Unnerving and fear of the unknown
yet perhaps the bearer of a clue.
A further insight and perspective
to the very essence of what is you.

Felt unwanted, known as negative.
Regarded as something to get through.
A "painful" time in one's routine life
a perfect chance to change this view.

Sometimes life altering and severe
yet usually a chance to renew,
to rebuild and to rediscover,
to see the world and to feel it too.
To always remember the good times
knowing the joy of a foot without shoe.
Remembering summers in the grass
running barefoot through the morning dew.

Perhaps it is the actual change,
and not the love, we should pursue.

Waving the Red Flag...

2008-10-10T14:20:00.002+02:00

There is something Ive wanted to talk about for a while now…but Ive avoided the issue…Mostly because I predict it may piss some people off. –And I don’t like to cause a conflict. Nor do I wish to seem inconsiderate. But it is starting to piss ME off…so I need to get it off my chest.

There seem to be a general perception that organic food and clothes are nothing but a positive thing. Positive for our bodies, positive for our environment and generally the concept that is going to save our planet. Organic is the new charity case everyone wants to get in on. Our clothes should be organic and our food should be and if you don’t agree you contribute to the destruction of our planet. Period.

I find it odd that this organic food is going to make us healthier. I work, as most of you know, in a grocery store, and there is a general agreement among my coworkers that the customers buying nothing but organic all look paler and generally unhealthier than the average customer. It could be a coincidence. Of course.

Now, if you are reading this you are probably wondering where Im going with this…I sound like quite the schmuck…I know. And the reason you are feeling that way right now, is because you believe what the papers tell you. And you wont necessarily be wrong…there is a lot of truth in the general perception of organic products.

It has become common knowledge that artificial fertilizers introduced to soil cause many problems…one of which is algal blooms in lakes which kill fish and other organisms by asphyxiation. There is no arguing this. Also; avoiding the spraying of cereals and other food products reduce human-introduced toxins in our food. It also reduces the amount of human-introduced toxins in the soil…which inevitably affects various species. I am in no way denying this.

However.

What I would like you to consider, is the requirements behind organically grown products. A farmer which grows his cereal organically will need a much larger field to grow his crops organically than he would need had he used artificial fertilizers. He is in need of a certain volume on his harvest in order to sustain himself and quite possibly a family as well. Plants grow slower in poor soil…they also have less mass when grown without fertilizers than they would have with. Hence, the farmer needs a bigger area of land. He will also need to switch between fields to allow one field the rebuilding of nutrients…possibly by letting cattle graze here…but while this is taking place he is utilizing the other field. Translated: he needs a lot of land. This may in many cases require deforestation. Deforestation removes animal habitats.

Of course the presence of human introduced toxins is a no-issue with organic food. -But what about the naturally introduced ones? There is a reason farmers started spraying their crops to begin with. That reason is mold. There are also various bacterial infections one has to deal with, but mold may be the most serious one. -Serious enough to cause death in humans as well as cattle and other animals. Organically grown food does not have protection against these infections and require a much higher level of control. –A control we know tends to be sloppy…just look at the milk issue in China for instance.

My point is:

Organically grown food isn’t necessarily better for the environment…nor the human body. It certainly can be, but that depends on what type of organic food you are eating. We know for instance that nuts and especially peanuts are very susceptible to mold. Organically grown cereal may be better for the soil and the organisms living there…but what about the ones that used to live in the area before it became cultivated?

And what about areas in the 3rd world struggling with poor soil? If everyone decides to eat nothing but organic, how will they be able to sell their crops? Could this increase the division between the 3rd world and the industrialized part of the world?

The way I see it, the best solution may be 50-50. Switch between organic and artificially grown food. Wear clothes made out of organic cotton…but not only that type of clothes. You are of course allowed to stay organic in every way…but don’t say you are doing it for the environment.

You have a personal right to be selfish…but know that you are.

Allow me to be shallow for a moment here...

2008-09-30T14:32:00.007+02:00

So, here's the thing;

I cut my hair two weeks ago and while sitting there watching my personal hairdresser (ooo that sounds posh!) cut off my locks, I was talking to her about coloring my hair again. I have been a brunette, a red-head and a blond (my natural haircolor) and I was thinking of maybe going red again. It is fall after all, and red goes with the season. She, that would be my hairdresser, agreed that red was the way to go and suggested that perhaps I could be a hairmodel for her. She had some color she needed to try out and it just so happened to be red. Voilá! I had an appointment for a coloring session. Free of charge. Which goes well with my student budget. 200 bucks worth of treatment for free is synonymous with "yes please, thank you very much".

So the following week she colored it. And I love the result. I really do. But I have been puzzled by this color. It is intense...to say the least. But I dont mind that. There is nothing more boring than merging with the crowd. Standing out is cool and everything, -but I would like to know which color my hair actually is. At first I thought: red. Definetely red. Then the light hit my hair a little differently and it looked like a dark pink. So I thought: Ok...pink. Cool. Then, in different light again it looked purple. At this point Im thinking; WuddeFok? What color is it!!?

The first person to comment on it was Lars at Uni. He told me I looked "cool today with purple hair and matching shoes and cell phone" (my beautiful purple phone). He wasnt being ironic, I know that...so he saw it as purple. And I agreed. Thank you for the compliment, by the way.

Then there was Irene (who I like to refer to as electron-Irene...as there are several Irenes around) who blurted out: "Wow! you colored your hair! That's what I call RED!" So she thinks it's red...And I really can't disagree...

Days go by and I start feeling comfortable with the red-head image. I am now a red-head.

That is...until I go to work and a little 5 year old girl sees me and starts crying. I used to have spikes in my hair at one point, and a mohawk after that, so Ive been used to watching old ladies clutch their handbags a little extra when I pass them on the streets (had they only known what a nerd I really am)...But I have never made a child cry before. I was a little befuddled by this as my hair is way more conservative at this point than it has been before. I didnt know I looked that scary. I DID have a 2 year-old tell me once: "Wow! You look weird!" Which was hilarious and the boy was so cute I just wanted to pick him up and cuddle him. I told him he looked really cool and his dad was tomato-red thinking I must have gotten offended.

But this girl started crying...

Then I hear her tell her mom (while still crying): "mommy, I want purple hair like that tooooo!" Upon which mommy nervously replies; "but you have such beautiful long, blond hair!" I had to laugh. I love kids.

So my hair is purple again. And few people know colors as well as kids, right? I am confused...

I really dont want to care anymore...but you know how it is. Once you get your mind set on something you really want to find the answer. That is why Eirik at work last night became such an epiphany to me...or I guess he gave me an epiphany...Either way he nailed it. This is the kind of guy who tells you exactly what is on his mind...good or bad...and we were talking about glasses and personal style and something something I cannot remember, when he simply said: "Yeah sure, but you can do it because you have plum-red hair". And I thought: "That's it! Its plum-red! Its not red or purple, its both! Its plum colored!" Aaaaah that felt GOOD!

So i think I am settled with it now. I have plum-colored hair with a touch of pink. And I am loving it. But just to give you an idea of what I have been talking about, I have taken some pictures. However, watching the pictures makes me realize this color doesnt photograph well...Somehow it looks less intense in pictures...But I'll post them anyways;

Yes, this is me. -Practicing my 'less-intelligent'-look for my next trip to rural Idaho. I'd like to see the customs agent who won't fall for this one! "Getting married"...my ass. Oh! By the way...this one kinda shows off the pink'ish purple..ish...color.

Different light makes it look red. Very red.

And here we're back to purple...or perhaps a little brown...just to confuse you/me even more. And that completes a whole F'ing blog about my hair. Sweet! Who said you need interesting topics?

The True Purpose of Facebook

2008-09-10T12:08:00.005+02:00

Facebook...Lets just taste that word for a bit. Its wide and open, yet round in the edges...and slightly bitter.

Unless you've been on a space mission...or are one of those really old people who refuse to follow the continuing industrialization of modern time, you've heard of it. You may have read about it in the paper...or watched a TV show where it was mentioned...You may have heard it from colleagues at work or perhaps someone mentioned it once at the gym. If you are really into the technical stuff, you may even have tried it out. To satisfy your curiosity and all that jazz.

Personally I cant remember how I got involved. I think maybe it was one of those "all-my-friends-are-jumping-off-of-bridges,-so-I-should-too" incidents. Cause we all know I do everything my friends do. I have no backbone. Or nose bone...or whatever it is called...(depending on what country you are from). No will of my own. None whatsoever *cough* excuse me. Either way, I got involved. I decided to check it out and I am now deeply fascinated.

I always thought it would be one of those 24-hour flu things. Shows up when you least expect it, knocks you out and leaves you all confused and vulnerable within a day or two. But somehow it stuck. And has stuck for what I believe is almost a year now.

It all begins with a profile. You load a profile picture, preferably of yourself, but anything from your dog, a beer can or some picture of a child no one knows seems to be working ok as well. Somehow profile pictures tend to look like mug-shots anyway, so I cannot for the life of me understand why people choose their child's face as their profile picture...each to his own I guess.

Then you answer a couple of grueling questions like; your name, your hometown, sex (you only get to choose between female and male...they seem to have forgotten the simple 'yes' and 'no' feature), birth date, and political as well as religious views. Once you get these done its over to the serious stuff ('cause everyone knows politics and religion never leads to anything serious). You give out your contact information, your relationship status, what you are looking for relationship wise (here you can actually choose the somewhat desperate line: "whatever I can get"), education and work info and eventually also your interests...books, movies, favorite quotes etc etc. In essence; you give your life story in the shape of a not so anonymous questionnaire.

Once you've done this, you can add other people to a 'friends'-list. These people can now read all the information you have in your profile, they can write you messages on your 'wall' and send you links and pictures and little 'gifts' in the shape of a cartoon picture. You want a garden? You can add it. Complete with cartoon plants to water and nurture. You want a puppy? You can have one...or an aquarium. -With mermaids.

What fascinates me about this whole ordeal is the purpose. What in the name of Alice ("who the fuck is Alice") is the purpose? Why do we do this? Why do I continue doing this? I originally thought it would be a nice way of getting in touch with lost friends. I would add them to my friends list and perhaps write them a message on their wall. You'll get a message back saying something like; "Hey, how are you? Long time no see. What are you doing these days?" And thats about it. You dont really get in touch with people...the people I leave messages to are people I normally see in real life as well. I dont really have anything to say to people I havent talked to in 5-10 years. Not because I have anything against them...but because we have nothing in common.

And then you have the people who add other people to their 'friends'-list just to get a high total number of "friends"...Why? Do they collect people? Why add people to the list of who gets to read up on your life, if you dont know them? Ive gotten add-requests from people I cannot remember ever having met! Im thinking they know someone I know and therefore automatically believe we have met at some point. Well, think again! I find it strange...

Ive come to realize that Facebook is not a way of getting in touch with lost friends as originally stated...It is a way of spying on people you used to know but no longer have contact with. "Oooo she married that guy she cheated on her boyfriend with." "Oh, he is single again." "She has 3 kids already?"

And in a way it is fun. To make up for the spying you wish someone a happy birthday when facebook gives you the notice...and all in all you know they are spying on you too, so it is ok. Being aware of it though makes it possible to put certain people on a limited profile list. Meaning they only get to read the stuff you allow. And if you are reading this while also being a name on my 'friends'-list...wondering why you only get a limited profile...Please dont be upset. Dont be hurt. It is not because I dont like you. There are seriously few people in this world I do not like...and I certainly would not have added you to any list if you are one of those few people. It is just that I like to know who are spying on me. If you only get a limited profile, its because I feel I dont really know you...or perhaps never actually did.

-Which defeats Facebook's original purpose...I know. But I like to play by my own rules at least once in a blue moon...and if you know me, you'd already know that.

So I guess I will keep checking in on my "friends" to see who they hooked up with last weekend or what movies they've seen recently, knowing this is just a new form of gossip. But at least it is open and both ways...and the source is you and no one else.

Saying No To Power

2008-09-04T12:51:00.002+02:00

I realized the other day that I have essentially been making “yellow rain” in the lab lately. When I say yellow rain, I am not talking about urine or anything even remotely similar to any natural bodily function, or bodily byproducts. I mean yellow rain as in the biological weapon.

For those of you who didn’t pay attention in history class, “yellow rain” is in reality a trichothecene mycotoxin, T-2, produced by various types of mold, which has been linked to incidents in Vietnam and Cambodia in the 70s. It was said to cause blindness, bleeding, neurological symptoms and death in those subjected to it, and eyewitnesses claimed it had been released from low-flying aircrafts as a yellow oily substance, hence the name: yellow rain. Now, this was never really proved to be an actual weapon, as many doubt the witnesses and many claim it was a result of swarms of bees dropping pollen with the toxin present…Either way it was tested to contain the toxin and the symptoms are similar to known cases of T-2 toxin ingestion…which you can imagine is pretty bad no matter who or what caused it.

I guess I haven’t really been making true “yellow rain” as the mold I use contain more toxins than just the T-2 one…which come to think of it, could be even worse than yellow rain. The mold Im working on is one of the most toxic ones we know of, and yet not much is known of its affect on people…or other living things. But it frightens me how easy it is. Sure you need certain machines most people don’t have access to…and chemicals which isn’t super easy to acquire…but where there is a will, there probably is a way too.

I personally feel a certain sense of awe towards the organisms I am working with. Knowing that something as seemingly simple as a fungus can give a child pulmonary hemorrhage and even cause death, or make an adult chronically sick…and knowing how easy it is to take this organism and turn it into something as horrifying as a weapon. It makes me wonder what causes people to actually do it. Just because I know how to do it, doesn’t mean I would ever even consider doing it! What makes some people think differently? It is strange how you can so easily find yourself in a position where you can do something terribly wrong, yet good to know I would never even think of it. But I wonder what makes some people do the opposite of good. What trigger factor is needed for someone in the same position to actually cross the line? I am not sure I want to know.

You can take someone like Alfred Nobel for instance. A chemist and engineer who invented dynamite, thinking this would “end all wars”. He probably thought he was doing something good when in fact he invented something capable of killing more people in a much shorter time than ever seen before. But was he a bad man? Was he really aware of what he was doing? It is hard to imagine anything else today, but go back a hundred years…? I guess he realized his grand mistake before his death, creating the Nobel Peace Prize (in addition to some other prizes), but the damage was already done.

I for one think I will go about this as something I need to do in order to finish my work. –Which may have been the standard excuse used throughout the history of time, but I know myself well enough to know that I have a goldfish memory about things I do not wish to remember. And this procedure is on its way out of my head already.

Toxins? Yellow rain? What the hell is that?
Im just another dumb blonde.

Acknowledging discrimination

2008-08-26T13:00:00.001+02:00

I am going to allow myself to be a little pissed for a moment here. I have something I need to get off my chest as it seems to me very few people are bothered with what I am about to talk about. Please forgive me in advance if this does not apply to you, and if it does, you need not tell me so…just let me know you get the point and will stop doing it…and if you don’t get the point I will probably eat your head the next time we meet. –Or simply chop it off with my machete which I bring with me everywhere…obviously.

It seems to me, everywhere I go, people are lazy. –Inconceivably lazy. So lazy in fact that they cannot walk more than 3 feet at the time. Due to this habit of being slothful people drive everywhere. This is a fact I have accepted long ago. If people wish to slowly lose their ability to walk, let them drive…”fuck the environment as long I don’t need to exercise”. Hopefully as time goes by they will realize that exercise is actually good for you…and perhaps they will start walking again. Either way, neither the environment, nor the need for exercise is going to be the topic of this post.

The thorn in my foot (not my side) today is the laziness that affects those who would love to exercise but cannot due to physical impairment. I am talking about those fuckers (pardon my French) who think it is ok to park on a handicap spot right in front of the store entrance. The “only-going-to-be-gone-for-5-minutes”-assholes that are too lazy to park 4 spaces down where there is no handicap sign.

As someone with a close family member who needs these handicap spaces…spaces which are wider so you can open the doors completely without causing damage to the car next to you…spaces which are close to the entrance so you wont have to carry bags far, and which limit the distance you need to walk…I have seen how these selfish idiots can ruin a shopping trip.

I have been a passenger with this person who in situations like these have only had the choice of finding another store where handicap spaces have been available…sometimes that requires a long drive or a visit to several stores…now I am sure you can imagine the predicament if the store in question is one of a kind in an area.

In these situations I have personally gone out of the car just to check the parked cars for a handicap permit. I can tell you that in 98 percent of the cases, no permit has been present.

I have also caught people red handed coming out of the store while Ive been checking their car…Obviously when I ask them where their permit is they always get angry and give me the following line “I was only gone for 5 minutes”. As if that is an ok excuse. As if the person who actually has a permit and drives by will know this. As if you can tell whether or not they have a permit in their front window when you drive by the car on the opposite side. The person looking for a handicap space cannot see the front window with the permit…or lack of it…they can only assume you have one. And you don’t know if the person parked there will be gone for 5 minutes or 2 hours… Besides, it is often apparent they have been gone way longer than 5 minutes…it takes more than 5 minutes to buy a whole bag worth of items…

It makes me so angry that so many people think it is ok to do this. That they can believe their laziness is more important than the wellbeing of an already unfortunate person who cannot walk as far and long as you and who cannot carry as heavy as you can.

If you do not need a handicap space, please do not under any circumstances park there! Someone needs it and trust me, there are more people out there with a permit than you would think! Just be happy you don’t really need that space…cause suddenly one morning you may wake up and find that something is not right with your body, and before you know it you have the need for a handicap space. And at that point it is too late. You wish you could exercise, run, wear high heels or simply carry a heavy bag. Stuff most of us take for granted…stuff so many people wish they could do. Why add to their misery? How can you be so selfish? Why is your laziness more important than other people’s wellbeing? If you have legs to walk on then walk. And if you don’t, get a permit before you park illegally.

I think I will start carrying a permanent marker in my bag. And every time I find an illegally parked car, I will write in big letters on the back window: “I am more important than handicapped people”. That way the driver will have to drive all the way home in embarrassment before he can wash it off with spirits.

Next car could be yours. Think about it.

I slept through a big fire last weekend...

2008-08-19T10:49:00.006+02:00

Half my block is gone, and no one even bothered to wake me. It has been 3 days and the firemen are still there…making sure the fire wont start again.

Its strange how some situations can open your eyes. You always imagine these things wont happen to you…and you still don’t believe it when its happening. I guess for me, it didn’t really happen. I talked to a police officer at the scene who told me they had considered my building safe…I guess their idea of “safe” is a bit different than mine, in view of the fact that I live 2 houses down from a burnt down building.

Ive always wondered what I would bring with me in case of a fire...If I had 2 minutes to gather something before I had to evacuate, what would I bring? I dont own that many things, but the ones I do own have a lot of meaning to me...obviously Im not personal with my plates or my towels, but I do have a lot of pictures for instance...and memories in shapes of decorations, candles, books. Most of it irreplaceable...not because they're pricey or even particularly old...but because they are attached to a story. And Ive been wondering how I could possibly separate them in value.

Which story is worth more than the others?

How could I possibly choose? You can argue and say that the stories will still be there even if the mementos are gone…but sometimes you need to hold an object in your hands in order to remember details about something…or to even be reminded of stories. I have stuff Ive bought on trips that sparks a memory I wouldn’t be able to recall had it not been for the very thing I bought. I can look at a picture Ive taken and remember what happened right before the picture was taken…or right after. How could I possibly make the same neural connections without the picture? The same goes with objects…the wooden carving I bought in Tanzania…I remember the smell of the store…the smiles on the salespeople…the very shelf it stood on and how I almost tore the whole thing down by accident when I picked out the carving I wanted. I can look at the item and remember this…but if the item goes…how will my mind be able to keep the memory? And how could I value this memory over or under others? Obviously it wasn’t a life changing episode of my existence, but it helps me recall the feel of a country I fell in love with.

I guess what Im trying to say is; Its not the objects but the stories I am afraid of losing…and you cant get insurance on stories.

Reviving blogs

2008-08-11T15:28:00.004+02:00

Ive been sensing the subsequent death of my picture blog lately...Not because I dont take any pictures, but because I usually store them on my laptop and not the computer I use at uni...and as we all know how I love to procrastinate, I usually update my blogs at uni. So today I decided to, figuratively speaking, give a little mouth-to-mouth and blow a little life into the poor dying thing. I have therefore updated my "Life in pictures" blog (link on right hand side) with pictures from Tanzania and some from the past weekend. I have no idea if this is interesting to anyone but myself, but I did it anyway. Mostly because I felt sorry for the blog...and no blogs should die alone. So there you have it.

Other than that, I really dont have anything to report. Nor do I have any major topics and personal views I feel like sharing...so I will pat myself on the back for updating one of the blogs and come back to this one later.

To Be Continued

Respect

2008-07-31T12:46:00.002+02:00

I was going to write this post in my film blog…but then I realized I had more to say than what my film blog is about…which is simply my subjective view of films Ive seen…and not so much beyond that. This film requires a bit more.

Last weekend I watched ‘The Dark Knight’ and I cannot remember having been more frightened by an actor. The scariest actor to me has always been Christopher Walken. I don’t know why, but the guy scares the crap out of me. The way he plays bad guys makes the little hairs at the back of my neck rise in fear…But after having seen Heath Ledger as the joker…Chris has an equal match.

Ive been looking forward to ‘The Dark Knight’ for about a year now…I absolutely loved ‘Batman begins’ and the thought of a sequel in the same dark, gothic style had me shaking with anticipation. Don’t get me wrong, I dig ‘Batman (1989)’ and even ‘Batman returns (1992)’ but they are completely different films. Theatrical and colorful characters, insane but somehow less intimidating than they easily could be. ‘Batman begins’ was way darker, moodier and more serious. It also tried to explain why there are so many wild characters in Gotham, -an explanation I had been looking for. So as soon as ‘The Dark Knight’ premiered, I made sure to get tickets.

I have to admit I was skeptic to all the hype around Heath Ledger. Not because I have any doubts about Ledger as an actor. He was a terrific actor. I first noticed him in ‘A Knight’s Tale (2001)’ and I have followed him since. My skepticism was more based on the attention that naturally follows a type of tragedy that was the case with Ledger. History is full of amazing people being praised after they’re no longer with us. People who had the skills and talent to be recognized while still alive, but due to competition and over-exposure to other talents, somewhat drowned in the masses. In situations like this, it is not until the person is no longer here, that they get acknowledged and sometimes even over-praised. I believe that most people are good, and when a good person goes away, you wish to say something nice about that person. So to clarify, I did not doubt the skills of Heath Ledger in ‘The Dark knight’, I simply had doubts that he was as amazing and world-altering as the reviews said he was.

There was however no reason for doubt.

I found myself being almost bored with Christian Bale and the other characters of the film (I say “almost bored” as I wasn’t bored at all…but you know…trying to make a point here). …not because they didn’t do a good job, they did, but because Heath Ledger was in a league of his own far above the others. And I say this as a person who loves, loves, loves both Sir Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman. I have never seen a more shocking performance by an actor before. Heath who has played a knight (A Knight’s Tale, 2001), a fighter of mythical beings (The Brothers Grimm, 2005), a ladies’ man (Casanova, 2005) and a men’s man (Brokeback Mountain, 2005) outdid himself as the Joker. A character so completely different from anything else he has done and he shines stronger than ever.

I left the theater all excited and worked up, yet deeply, truly sad. Excited because Heath Ledger has never been better. Sad because he will never have a chance to be that great again. This guy truly died at the top of his game and it is with sad realization I accept the fact that we will not have the fortune of following his growth as an actor. Imagine how great he would have become with even more experience…

I look forward to watching his very last performance in Terry Gilliams (one of my favorite directors); ‘The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus’ but somehow I feel ‘The Dark Knight’ and Heath’s version of The Joker will be the most memorable performance of his career.

And what a performance it is…

Forgotten joys

2008-07-28T14:14:00.002+02:00

My shoes actually fell apart today. Literally speaking.

We are going through a major heat wave in western Norway these days…its awful and wonderful all at once. Awful by the fact that we are not used to this kind of heat and wonderful because of that very same thing. So, Ive been wearing my favorite sandals the past couple of days, sandals which my feet are not used to and which therefore chafe my feet…between the toes…very sexy…Hence, today I had to dig deep into the back of my closet and clean the dust of my old trusty Adidas slippers. These slippers have been in my possession for at least 10 if not 15 years…and they have been wonderful. They have been good to me. I did a quick inspection of them and noticed a small gap in the rubber sole on the left one, but it didn’t look serious and I thought nothing more of it.

I have about a 20 minute walk to uni and I was enjoying my walk with my comfy non-chafing slippers when I suddenly, half way to uni, lost one of the slippers. At first I thought perhaps I had kicked it off while walking and felt a little dumb as I picked it up again. –But on closer inspection I noticed that the small gap in the sole had caused the entire cross band to loosen on one side of the shoe…and we are talking slippers here. No cross band, no shoe. With a slightly confused and somewhat amused face I walked over to the nearest bench to figure out what to do next.

I find a large rubber band in my bag (note to guys: Gentlemen! This is why we, the ladies, always have a lot of crap in our purses. You never know when it might come in handy) and tie it around the slipper…hoping it will hold all the way back home. So I start walking home again when after about 15 feet I notice something coming off the slipper. It is still stuck to my foot, but something fell off. So I turn just to see the back half of my slipper laying 2 feet behind me. I am now wearing half a slipper stuck to my left foot by the help of a rubber band. As I find this intensely amusing I decide to inspect the right slipper as well, knowing that if irony is playing its usual joke on me, this one will be falling apart as well. And sure enough; the front half of my right slipper is about to come off, held together only by half an inch of rubber. At least the cross band was still intact…

I decide that it will look way dumber limping all the way home on the front half of one slipper and the back half of the other, than it will look walking barefoot. So that’s what I do. I walk barefoot in the middle of the city on a sidewalk next to traffic. And I love it.

I simply love it. I have not walked barefoot since I was a little girl playing with my friends in the streets (streets entirely without traffic…can you believe it?) running around with a water balloon in one hand and an ice cream in the other. I had forgotten how comfortable it is walking on hot, dry asphalt in the middle of summer on your bare soles. Its surprising how soft your feet are if you give them a chance to support your body without the confinement of shoes. I would have walked all the way home had it not been for the fact that I was in the middle of a busy city where you may suddenly find yourself stepping in glass or on some unfortunate souls’ used syringe…(although, to Bergen’s defense, it is a very clean city and I saw no glass nor any syringes on my way) so I walked to the nearest shopping centre with a huge smile on my face.

With new slippers on my feet (slightly more feminine than the adidas ones…) I could finally get back to my original schedule, but with a surprisingly good feeling inside. It is amazing how life can throw you a bone suddenly and unexpectedly…and usually when you need it the most.

Asante sana

2008-07-14T13:59:00.004+02:00

Imagine this;

Early morning. The temperature is cool, yet warm enough for a thin sweater. You know the sun will overcome the thin morning mist any time now as you’re driving, along a dirt road, with all the windows open and no roof. Suddenly you notice the tall grass move on your left side and you stop the car. A small yet lumpy face takes a curious look at you from in between the grass, before it decides to get scared and take off. The face and its adjoining compact body makes a quick turn and runs into the bushes with a thin tail pointing straight up like a radio antenna on an automobile. You’ve just seen your first wild warthog…the laugh is spontaneous, and you cannot help grinning from ear to ear as you watch the thin erect tail disappear in the grass.

Let’s stick to this image a little longer…

You start the engine again and continue down the road until you reach a narrow path just wide enough to fit the car. The sun is out now and it is warm enough for you to take your sweater off. As you are struggling to get the jersey over your head you sense the car stopping again. The driver turns off the engine and everything gets quiet. Then suddenly you hear a roar followed by a light growl. The roar makes you a little uneasy so you hurry with the clothing, almost desperately tearing it off. What you see once you get the sweater off your head is something you’ve never seen before.

The car has stopped in the middle of a lion pride. The roar came from the dominant male who is sitting by a pond trying to drink. A young cub is climbing on him and was just told by daddy to “get the fuck off” (human translation). Everywhere around the car are lions. You count 11, one male, 7 females and 3 cubs. One of the females is only 3 feet away…and you sit there in your car feeling very small as you have eye contact with her…the window is open and all she has to do is sit up and lash out. But she doesn’t. She just looks at you. You can almost read her mind by looking into her beautiful yellow eyes.

“What are you? Why are you sitting in this metal thing? You bore me”.

You expect “daddy” to get uneasy about your presence. You expect him to stop drinking and move towards your car, letting you know your presence is unwanted. But he doesn’t. He doesn’t care that you are there. He is not afraid of you and it seems almost like he is completely unaware of your existence. The driver tells you how most animals view the car. Apparently the car is just another large animal…beings inside the car is just a part of the car. Simple as that. You drive away with a desire to leave these beautiful creatures alone…feeling smaller than you ever have in your entire life.

This image…or fantasy or whatever you wish to call it, is not a dream. Not anymore. This has been my reality the past week. I have had the incredible fortune of spending a week in what I now regard as one of the most beautiful countries in the world; Tanzania.

I knew little about the country before our arrival. I knew it was a poor country in Africa with an average income of $250 a year, making it one of the 25 poorest countries in the world. I knew there would be spectacular wildlife. I did not know how spectacular. I did not know how amazing the people would be. How generous and giving they would be despite of abject poverty.

The week went by so very fast…a week filled with smells, visions, sounds and tastes so very different from the usual ones.

It is hard to describe the feeling you are left with. Perhaps the biologist in me was hit way harder than the average non-biologist…but I have never felt more insignificant and unimportant than I have these past 7 days, and I have never felt better. It is a bit of a contradiction, isn’t it? Feeling insignificant yet happy and satisfied. It is a sense of happiness that comes from acknowledging your own bliss and fortune in life. As well as the feeling of joy that comes from witnessing some of the world’s true wonders.

(pictures: http://pixelsandstuff.blogspot.com/2008/08/tanzania.html)

Fighting Prejudice

2008-06-27T14:00:00.007+02:00

For roughly 7 years now (I cannot believe its been that long…) Ive been working in a grocery store. As Ive also been a student all these years, the job has only been part time, allowing me just enough cash to have a more varied diet than noodles. No offence to noodles… its just not my favorite dinner.

Ive always thought about my job as a fairly easy way of making money. A way which requires minor levels of brain activity and little responsibility compared to a pretty decent income (about 25 bucks an hour). Add that up with a boss who understands that Uni comes first, and you get a good reason to stay. However, my views of this being a simple job which requires little effort and concentration, seems to, unfortunately so perhaps, also be the general view reflected by the public.

I recently read an article in a news paper which placed cashier at supermarket/grocery store as the lowest status job you could have. –Somewhat similar to the dung-handlers of the low castes in India. I have to admit I was not very surprised by this article, as Ive seen signs of this view for quite some time.

For some reason people automatically assume that the person behind the register is lazy, unmotivated and/or extremely dumb.

Ive personally been subjected to this kind of attitude on many occasions by several customers; You have the family fathers who look at you as if you have an IQ of 30 when you ask if they would like a plastic bag. –“Does it look like I can fit all this into my pockets?” (usually accompanied by a sinister laugh). As smartass attitude from a cashier is highly unappreciated you are forced to swallow your pride and do nothing but smile and hand the customer his plastic bags. Obviously while doing this you imagine the reply you would give if you weren’t dependent on the job: -“No sir, I can see your beer gut is preventing you from putting anything at all into your pockets, but you wouldn’t want me to charge you for plastic bags if you brought your own, would you? You’d be surprised to know how many actually do bring their own…especially those who worry about the environment.”

Dumbass…

Then you have the middle aged women who feel the need to tell you why they are giving you 305 NOK (Norwegian Krone) instead of the 255 NOK the items cost. –“That way you can give me a 50-bill instead of all the change”. Again you just sit there and smile…pretending you had absolutely no math at the high school you went to, nor the university you are currently attending.

But I have to admit, it is somewhat a relief to have people assuming you are dumb. No one expects anything from you. If you make a mistake (which of course happens from time to time) people are very understanding as they expect nothing else from you. –Very different from the academic environment at the university.

The condescending attitude is easy to deal with, especially once you get used to it. It is a little bit worse dealing with the nut jobs.

Every store has a customer which is referred to as “the weirdo” or “the stinker” or “that guy with the awful finger nails”. You know the type…usually male, although occasionally you will find a woman in the same category…Often this woman turns out to be a man on closer inspection though...This is the type who has poor personal hygiene and for some reason this person is always interested in body contact. He is not happy with giving you the money quickly and efficiently…No, he wants to give it to you one penny at the time…and usually by pressing it deep into the palm of your hand… To the point where you can feel the fingernails digging into your skin…and although you cannot directly see it, you feel yesterdays dinner (digested) being scraped off the nails and onto your skin. I say this as a microbiologist who is used to dealing with E. coli and other microorganisms…I am not a germ-freak (unless you count 'above average' interest as freaky)…Microorganisms don’t scare me…but these people (and their flora) do.

Fortunately the freaks are few and far between. And although unnerving, it is perhaps the angry customer which is the scariest one.

The angry customer is unpredictable. He or she can be of all age and social groups and it (I will call the angry customer for “it” from now on…as they sometimes scare me like the movie did) is easily recognizable by the lack of friendliness in the facial area. Usually it has seen something or experienced something in the store which was of unsatisfactory nature and therefore it feels it is its obligation to report this to the person behind the register.-Often this is conducted with a high pitch voice and severe redness to the facial skin.

Obviously it doesnt matter that you as a cashier have no control over how the meat section pack the meat or how other customers react when they tear something down and break it (for some reason they always leave it there on the floor without reporting to anyone who can clean it up). All that matters is that you are present. So you'll have to deal with it.

So as you can see; being a cashier requires far more than being able to scan various food items and accept money.

I guess what I am trying to get across here, is the hidden aspects of what seems to be a fairly easy-going, simple job. It is not as easy as you may think. And I feel cashiers deserve a little bit more respect than we usually get. Even though you may go grocery shopping after work when you are tired...remember; We get tired too. We work hard as well, and believe it or not, but most of us have already spent 8-9 hours at school/uni before we go to work...so our workdays may be 13 or 14 hours.

Just think about that the next time you go shopping

A Series of Unfortunate Events?

2008-06-06T11:17:00.002+02:00

I believe that at some point towards the end of last week, I came in contact with a portal in the space continuum. I cannot tell you exactly when nor where this happened, but I am pretty convinced that it did. I believe that the said portal brought me to the year 2008 on an alternate time-line.

No, I am not insane…

I started last week with the ironic event that I mentioned in my previous post, but somehow I managed to land on my feet. I worked well in the lab and was even rendered eligible for a job in October (when Im supposed to finish my thesis). Everything went according to plan. That is, until Thursday. Thursday afternoon I was going to sign my name on the list for use of the electron microscope on Friday,-only to find that the microscope was shut down for the rest of the week. Obviously this fucked up my plans for the following week, as I now had to use the microscope on Monday…Not a big problem, just unfortunate. I am not sure if this is when I entered the portal, but it may have been.

The weekend went by without any significant issues, -it was actually a pretty nice weekend.

Then come Monday.

Monday started with an empty tank of Carbon Dioxide gas in the lab, and certain death for my algae. Then followed a talk with my supervisor telling me we would have to apply for a deadline extension for my thesis. Hence, Monday brought longer period of lab work, longer student existence for yours truly, higher student loan and the loss of a possible job in October.

I took the rest of the day off.

Tuesday. –The plan was to ignore the dismays of the previous day and treat myself to a membership card at the gym. –Work off the anger and all that…So I skipped Uni, packed my sweats and showed up at the gym. –Only to find that I couldnt buy a semester card until July 1st, unless I was willing to pay half the price of 6 months for 1 month of work out…a month of which I will spend at least one week on holidays. Obviously I couldnt afford this and would have to wait a month. No exercise and more anger. –I went home and did some sit-ups…but it just wasnt the same.

Wednesday. I decided to get over myself and swallow my anger. Went back to Uni with a slight feeling of optimism. After all, three’s a charm right? The third day would be good.

I am standing in front of the main door, Wednesday morning, ready to swipe my keycard so that I can enter my office and get to work. I swipe. Nothing. Swipe again. Nothing. Nothing but a red, no-access sign staring me in the face. Mocking me. My card is blocked. I no longer have access to my office. I walk down to the main building to see if I am blocked from the lab as well. I am not, but while entering I meet one of the people in charge of the algal cultivation lab who tells me no tank with gas will arrive until Friday. Goodbye algae. I will have to start my experiments from scratch…Wonderful.

In an attempt to fix my keycard I arrived at the main science building to find that the one single person who could help me had the day off.

Fuck it. I took the day off too.

Today is Thursday. I tried to get my card fixed but nothing will happen until tomorrow at the earliest. Tomorrow will be Friday. I am right now outside with a notebook and a pen, writing this while looking for a portal to take me back to the time-line I was born on. The time-line that holds my friends, my family. A place for reason and positive predictability. The time-line where even the crappiest of events make somewhat sense.

I am not confident that I will find this portal, and if I dont, this post will be my letter of warning.

A warning that portals exist. That is it possible to transfer from one time-line in the space continuum to another. And a warning to let you know that the two worlds can be so alike you wont know the difference before the shit hits the fan…

If you never hear from me again I might have found a different portal for a different time-line. That…or a flying De Lorean.

In the meantime; Consider yourself warned.

A religious argument, -Free of charge.

2008-05-27T11:55:00.010+02:00

There is one specific thing in this world that opens me to the possibility of God.

I am a scientist, if not yet professional (still working on that master thesis), I am in heart...so I do truly believe in evolution and the laws of nature. I, for instance believe that we fall in love for the purpose of procreation. As humans invest so much time in their offspring, -a method that has shown to pay off for our species, we need to be picky as to whom we decide to breed with. -As the person you rub units with may be in your life for a while. Obviously when it comes to fish or rats this isnt as important as they invest none to very little time in their offspring. They can play with the first chap that comes along and have babies which are, after just a few weeks, left to themselves in the big world.

Now, even if I have this very scientific view on the concept of love or falling in love and having a crush, I still get just as carried away with it as anyone else. I am human after all. I just cant get myself to believe that we fall in love because a higher being or spirit or whatever one wish to call it has taught us to...or given us the ability to. At least if God made us able to fall in love, He or She must have done so to make sure we have enough sex to maintain the human species....which I admit could be a possibility.

However, there is one thing I cannot find a scientific explanation for;

Irony.

I was faced with this concept no later than yesterday. Picture this:
-Stressed student in the lab. 4 tubes with algal culture. A desperate need to have at least one tube with a synchronous culture.

That was me yesterday. I examined my tubes to find out that ONE of the 4 tubes might become synchronous within the day...something that was absolutely one hundred percent necessary if I was going to be able to do any work at all this week in the lab...and with an approaching deadline... Safe to say I was desperate.

I put the tubes in a rack and placed the rack in the window post, carefully making sure they were stable. I turned around to have another look in the microscope, just to hear a crashing sound of the rack tipping over. One of the tubes fell out of the rack and onto the floor, spilling all the algal culture across the floor. Now, you have probably already guessed which tube it was that fell down...

Of course out of all the 4 tubes, the single one I might be able to use had to drop.

I cussed. Then I had to laugh. It was just too ironic.

Its the same thing that happens every year in May. I cannot tell you how many times Ive spent weeks and weeks indoors in beautiful weather, preparing for an exam, just to walk out the door after my very last exam of the season, getting drenched in rain...And people wonder why Im pale...

Irony could very well be the proof of the existence of God. I am actually a little surprised that hasnt been used as an argument before. Ive heard all kinds of strange arguments to why evolution is crap...and they all show evidence of lack of knowledge... but irony... -How the hell do you explain that scientifically? It cannot be coincidence. It is too predictable for that. It cannot be entropy. The pattern is too obvious.

-Its the result of someone's, or something's, bad sense of humor. Thats what it is.

I guess the next time someone tries to preach to me, I will see if they can give me an explanation for irony, and if they can...then who knows. Perhaps you'll see me in church every Sunday some time in the future.

Romance

2008-05-23T11:42:00.001+02:00

”I love you” she said, gazing into his deep blue eyes.
“I love you too” he said, running his hand through her blond hair…pulling out big chunks of it as his hand moved down towards her back.
“I think perhaps you should lay off the hair bleach for a while, baby” he said, removing the locks of hair from his fingernails.

He never saw her again.

Ive been thinking about romance lately…I find it odd what members of both sexes do to attract a significant other. I noticed getting off the bus the other day that 80% (give or take a few) of all the girls between 10 and 19 had long platinum blond hair, two sizes too small jeans (often with a nice accompanied fat-roll over the belt) and a low cut cleavage. I also noticed that the guys of the same age group all had short gel-styled hairdos with highlights and huge “diamond” ear-studs in both ears. I couldn’t have told them apart from each other if you held me at gunpoint in a snake pit.

What Im wondering about is who it was that inspired this look…Who decided that this is the ultimate sexy appearance? Who told these kids that this is the way to go if you want to be attractive? My initial thought was the media obviously. I find the media very easy to blame, as its always there and doesn’t target one specific person. All over the place you hear people talking about its influence on the young souls of today…and perhaps there is some truth in it. Perhaps the young boys have been watching P. Diddy and 80 cent or whatevertheFok that guy is calling himself with huge studs in their ears…and perhaps the girls have been watching the same music videos with half naked women dancing…or strutting around. And the kids copy it. But still…why is it sexy? Or is it sexy at all? -Cause I really cannot see it.

And another thing…why does the hair have to be blonde? And more so, why does it have to be white? They walk around with hair so white they look 90 years old from behind…you find yourself praying to the weather gods to keep the wind away…knowing that one small gust of air will blow locks of hair off the scalp on the girl in front of you. It scares the crap out of me…

Don’t get me wrong, I understand the need to look attractive. I, for instance, understand womens need of showing cleavage while enjoying a night out with friends. You try to show off just enough to draw attention from the opposite sex (or same sex if you’re into that). And we all know men love boobs. Just as women love a good man-ass.-Not to be mistaken for an ass-man (somehow I find boob-men easier to handle…at least you can see the hands coming)….or asshole for that matter…The clue is knowing exactly how much to show off, without showing off too much. Too much can send out the wrong signals.

I don’t think guys understand this issue…knowing when too much is too much. After all…as a man you don’t really have to worry about that, do you? Pants don’t show off much…you can accentuate a nicely shaped ass…but that’s about it. A shirt, if tight, can show off muscles…but no one will react if you wear a loosely fit one. We ladies have bigger issues; is the cleavage too big? Is the cleavage too small? Is this top too tight? Is it transparent? Are these pants too big? Are the pants too tight? Do I have a fat-roll? Sometimes I think being a man is way easier…

Personally I suspect men of not caring…I’ll bet they never even think about whether or not a cleavage is too small…they’re probably just happy its there. Is the top transparent? -Wooo-wee! Men are simple that way. They believe if the pants are expensive, they’re stylish. No questions asked.

I guess we’ll never fully understand why men do the things they do…and why we women do the things we do. Somehow it must work…’cause all over the place I see white-haired girls in yeast-inducing pants holding hands with diamond-studded, pimpled boys…And I see worried women in great clothes holding hands with men in over-prized, poorly designed jeans…

It’s a strange place this world we live in. -But intensely fascinating.

Hands Held High

2008-05-16T12:00:00.004+02:00

Turn my mic up louder, I got to say something
Lightweights steppin' aside when we come in
Feel it in your chest, the syllables get pumping
People on the street then panic and start running
Words on loose leaf sheet, complete coming
I jump in my mind, I summon the rhyme I'm dumping
Healing the blind, I promise to let the sun in
Sick of the dark ways we march to the drumming
Jump when they tell us that they wanna see jumping
Fuck that, I wanna see some fists pumping
List something, take back what's yours
Say something that you know they might attack you for
'Cause I'm sick of being treated like I had before
Like it's stupid standing for what I'm standing for
Like this war's really just a different brand of war
Like it doesn't cater to rich and abandon poor
Like they understand you, in the back of their jet
When you can't put gas in your tank, these fuckers
Are laughing their way to the bank, and cashing their check
Asking you to have the passion and have some respect
For a leader so nervous in an obvious way
Stuttering and mumbling for nightly news to replay
And the rest of the world watching at the end of the day
In the living room, laughing like, "What did he say?"

Amen

In my living room watching it, I am not laughing
'Cause when it gets tense, I know what might happen
The world is cold, the bold men take action
Have to react to get blown into fractions
At 10 years old, it's something to see
Another kid my age drugged under a Jeep
Taken and bound and found later under a tree
I wonder if he had thought 'the next one could be me'
Do you see the soldiers that are out today?
They brush the dust from bulletproof vests away
It's ironic, at times like this you'd pray
But a bomb blew the mosque up yesterday
There's bombs on the buses, bikes, roads
Inside your market, your shops, and your clothes
My dad, he's got a lot of fear, I know
But enough pride inside not to let that show
My brother had a book he would hold with pride
A little red cover with a broken spine on the back
He hand-wrote a quote inside,
"When the rich wage war, it's the poor who die"
Meanwhile, the leader just talks away
Stuttering and mumbling for nightly news to replay
The rest of the world watching at the end of the day
Both scared and angry, like "What did he say?"

Amen

With hands held high into a sky so blue
As the ocean opens up to swallow you

Photo: Corbis

http://www.linkinpark.com

The end of the world as we know it...

2008-05-06T12:14:00.003+02:00

Here's a thought;

Why worry about our planet?

Ooooo...I can feel your resentment towards me now. All the way through your computer, across the world wide web, into my computer and out through every pore in the plastic covering my laptop. Give me a chance to explain. Please. I am not insane. Nor am I arrogant. I am simply realistic.

You see, the world is changing. We know this. We also know that it has changed before. Some people claim the recent changes is due to natural oscillation in temperature…that it was and is to be expected and nothing to worry about. Others claim it’s a change due to human influence. -One theory which removes responsibility from the hands of humans (“it’s simply no ones fault!”) and a second theory which gives humans galactic destroying capabilities. We can argue about which theory is correct till the end of our days. The fact of the matter is; the planet is changing. I am guessing the change is a combination of the two aforementioned theories. But that would be a third theory and a third theory makes it all more complicated…and it also renders it impossible for us as humans to push the fault over on someone or something else.

Get to the point you say. I will. I just had to explain the issue a bit before I start answering my own question of worry.-or lack of it.

Planet Earth as we know it has been in existence for roughly 4.5 billion years. Obviously if you are deeply religious you may disagree with that number, but either way our planet has been here for a shit-load of years. It is also huge. Perhaps compared to other planets its not so big, but if you compare it to…lets say a Hollywood mansion (which are quite a lot bigger than what Im used to), its pretty f-ing big. Now…what exactly is it about us humans that make us believe we are in the position of destroying this ancient as well as enormous object we inhabit?

As humans we are granted the ability to adapt to our environment without including genes and tedious evolution. Obviously we have evolved, but we can go on winter holidays to Aspen or the Swiss Alps without going through millennia of evolution first (-That would seriously suck by the way). We can manipulate the environment around us in order to increase our fitness. –And since survival is based on fitness (remember Darwin and “survival of the fittest”?) humans have been able to “take over the world”. Obviously this is an illusion since there are far more insects in the world than there are humans…but you get the idea.

So, what does this have to do with environmental problems? It is actually very simple. By treating the world the way we treat it today…polluting the air and the water, building houses where there should be forests, fishing the oceans empty, we simply reduce our own fitness. –And low fitness results in low survival rates. Did I lose you yet? Think of it this way. If you throw a rat into the water in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, you drastically reduce the rats chance of survival.-Or its fitness. It won’t die right away, as rats are pretty decent swimmers, but its chance of survival is based on how close it is to land and solid ground…and how far away the sharks are.

So when we pollute the air, the average temperature gets higher. This in turn leads to changes in weather. Tropical storms destroy villages and crops. People die. Water rises and takes out Denmark, Holland and any other low leveled area. People die. Drinking water gets polluted and makes people sick. People die. Certain crops can no longer grow where it used to due to the change in temperature. People die. The people who used to live in Denmark, Holland and other low leveled areas will be forced to move to higher land. It will get crowded and diseases will spread more easily. People die.

See my point?

We are not destroying the planet...We are destroying our ability to inhabit it. –And it doesn’t worry me. If it gets to the point where it is too late…well, then we just get what we deserve.

My only worry is the species we will take down with us. But hopefully it will be with the planet as it is with forest ecosystems after a fire. -The perfect opportunity for a fresh start.

I guess only time will tell.

The weekend

2008-04-23T14:14:00.003+02:00

I am sitting here feeling hopeless wondering just how unceremonial this day will get. Once again I find my fretful self in the lab looking at the bowed sunshine outside. For some reason the weather is always extra valueless when i have long days in the lab. But thats life. -Or atleast it seems to be for me. I really dont have any chillier news to report...since I do spend so much time indoors in the lab. I DID go on a sobering hike last weekend though...which also happened to be my amphibious birthday. The trip was absolutely radioactive and my sister and I both agreed that it had been blending. -Which is something we both really needed. Later that tackier night my invulnerable boyfriend and I went out to dinner, which was pretty romantic and barbarian if I may say so myself. He also surprised me with a lustrous New York cheese cake later that evening. Something tells me Ive been talking about New York a lot lately. Gosh I love that gastric city. The cake was fermented and perfect. In fact it was so good I had 3 more pieces for breakfast. Now, I dont usually eat cake for breakfast...and certainly not 3 pieces in a row...but it WAS my oblivious birthday. So I though "The hell with it! If I want glittering cake, I'll eat just that". So I did. And it felt good. The rest of the following day was spent preparing myself for a adulterant night out with my colleagues at work. -Which usually ends up being scented and quite shameless. -Usually involving exciting amounts of alcohol, -and this night was no exception. I think that is all I am going to say about that night...Although I would like to add that I remember everything I said and did, and I looked unfit while doing it.

Sunday came with the traditional inactive dinner party followed by more restrained cake...or plural "cakes". And birthday gifts...which is always a nice gushing tradition.

I guess while reading through this, I actually HAD a weekend this time. It is amazing how much more interesting a story can get by adding adjectives...especially when you have no power over which adjectives to add. I wrote the story above (which is an actual account of what I did last weekend) with open spots where I wanted to add adjectives...then with the help of an online adjective generator I inserted the words highlighted in green. So there you go. My weekend.

Show me your music selection and I will tell you who you are...

2008-04-07T14:40:00.005+02:00

I found a test which is using your music selection to say a thing or two about you...Some of the answers were dead on...others way out there and some simply frightening!

Here are my results. Let me know how it works for you!

INSTRUCTIONS
1. Put your music player on shuffle.
2. Press forward for each question.
3. Use the song title as the answer to the question even if it doesn't make sense. NO CHEATING!

HOW DO YOU FEEL TODAY?
-Uninvited
WHAT'S YOUR OUTLOOK ON LIFE?
-Just Friends
WHAT DOES YOUR FAMILY THINK OF YOU?
-Lunchbox (-I guess I really need to start making money then...)
WHAT DO STRANGERS THINK OF YOU?
-8 easy steps
WHAT DOES YOUR EX THINK OF YOU?
-Le Velo Pour Deux
HOW IS YOUR LOVE LIFE?
-Dirty Diana (-nice...)
HOW WILL YOUR LOVE LIFE BE IN THE FUTURE?
-Who Cares? (-hey!)
WILL YOU HAVE KIDS?
-Jungle Boogie
ARE YOU GOOD AT SCHOOL?
-Old before I die
WILL YOU BE SUCCESSFUL IN LIFE?
-Sexed up
WHAT SONG SHOULD THEY PLAY ON YOUR BIRTHDAY?
-Advertising Space
WHAT SONG SHOULD THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?
-Be like that (-almost a little touched here...)
THE SOUNDTRACK OF YOUR LIFE ?
-Little Miss Sorrow
YOU AND YOUR BEST FRIEND ARE?
-Your star
HAPPY TIME:
-Mercy
SAD TIMES:
-Dangerous
EVERY DAY:
-Gotta be kidding
FOR TOMORROW:
-Necromanger
FOR YOU:
-Someone in the dark
WHAT DOES NEXT YEAR HAVE IN STORE FOR ME?
-The fight song
WHAT DO I SAY WHEN LIFE GETS TOO HARD?
-Same direction
WHAT SONG WILL I DANCE TO AT MY WEDDING?
-Amazing (-I'll let this one speak for itself...)
WHAT DO YOU WANT AS A CAREER?
-Lost boys and golden girls (-am I going to be a pimp...?)
YOUR FAVOURITE SAYING?
-Flirting with disaster
HOW WILL I DIE?
-Gone too soon (-shit! creepy...)
THE SONG THAT YOU'LL PUT AS YOUR SUBJECT?
-Daddy’s coming home

I got my 5 minutes...

2008-04-03T20:21:00.002+02:00

Sort of...

Limited Insanity

2008-03-31T12:01:00.003+02:00

I want a chain saw...I really do. I feel like cutting something up...or down...or in half. Either way is good.

I watched "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre" (1974) last night and although the film is pretty gruesome, it felt surprisingly recreational...Watching an angry movie while being angry is the best medicine. Its a great way of letting out any inner demons you may have without actually causing any harm. Not that I have many inner demons...Actually I dont think I have any...but I have been feeling a little fed up lately...pissed at things not going my way. Fortunately as the somewhat reasonable person I am I know this will pass eventually, so I settled with a movie containing angry people instead of becoming one myself...physically.

Still...I would love to wave a chain saw around. Perhaps just 5 minutes of insanity. Put me infront of a shed that is marked for demolition anyway, and let me go nuts. 5 minutes is all Im asking for.

I bet it would feel great.

Be Kind Rewind

2008-03-07T11:35:00.002+01:00

Just a little taste of what Norwegians will get to enjoy in a month or so...Ive been lucky enough to watch it already and if you'd like my opinion of it, you can find the link to my film blog over there --->

Are there straight men from Venus?

2008-02-27T12:35:00.006+01:00

If so...I think I am from Mars.

I have lately been confronted by the old traditional gender roles and the prejudices associated with a relationship... and I find them unnervingly false. Throughout most of my youth...and yes I am aware that I am still young and perhaps even still a part of "youth", I have been told through various social gatherings and TV programs, movies etc that the man is supposed to have a certain role. The 21st century brought with it a sense of equality between a man and his woman and at least in my part of the world such an accomplishment has been reached...at least to a certain level. We as women expect our man to help out at home...do the dishes, clean the bathroom and do laundry, and men are aware of this and try to meet our expectations (at least some of them do). Yet some jobs are categorized as "man-jobs". Examples of such jobs are: changing the light bulb in the ceiling (of course we can't stand on a chair and do this ourselves...we are way too short), change a fuse (don't want to be electrocuted...), download a new program to our computer (want someone else to blame if a virus breaks the computer), get said program to work, assemble IKEA furniture and connecting the VCR to our television set. And that brings us to my state of confusion.

Last night I was watching TV with the boyfriend...and I mentioned how I was a little torn about what to do tomorrow night (a.k.a tonight) regarding the Oscar's. I never get to watch this show as they always tend to air it when I am at work or have some other obligation. -But this year I actually don't have anything scheduled...apart from the "surprise" screening at the film club which usually tends to be a good film...and I love surprises...so what to do? So he, the boyfriend, mentions that he has a VCR and perhaps he can tape the show? -But, he has no idea how to hook up the VCR and how to make it work. Being the somewhat technical person I am, I thought no more of it and started to explain to him how to hook it up and how to set the VCR using the SCART cable...at which point he manages to ask me: "What is a SCART cable?"...Ok.

So I, the woman, start explaining what a SCART cable is and while I am doing this he rolls his eyes and exclaims "It's strange how, with all our technology, they havent been able to make a DVD player that can record stuff..." At this point my jaw hit the floor and I started laughing uncontrollably.

I love my man, bless his heart, but he is not very technical. I have realized that we contradict the traditional assumptions regarding a relationship. He loves 'Desperate Housewives' while I prefer 'CSI', he bakes wonderful cakes while I assemble IKEA furniture and he does the dishes while I connect the VCR. And it really doesnt matter who knows how to do what, as long as it gets done. I dont care that he doesnt know how work the VCR...'cause I do. I love that he knows how to bake a cake...'cause I dont.

Besides, as he put it; "At least I have a power drill..."

I think it is time we as women let go of our prejudice. We want to be equal to men so it is time we let them be equal to us as well.

After all it is the 21st century...

The high and low concept.

2008-02-06T12:50:00.000+01:00

My friend wawa (she will always be wawa to me...) started a blog not too long ago, built on the high/low concept. I know she got this idea from a movie we both enjoy called "The story of us" (1999) and it is a concept I have loved ever since. Ive personally done it many times, although Ive kept it just to myself. It is especially useful at times with high stress levels or a general feeling of being blue.

In the movie Ben (Bruce Willis) and Katie (Michelle Pfeiffer) are married but drifting apart, and the story revolves around their attempt to save their relationship. The high/low concept is something they do with the kids every night at dinner and it is as simple as to state the best and worst thing that happened that day.

Ive found that if you do this every day, at least for a certain period of time, you start looking for the good things that happen and you take notice. The little things that might have passed unnoticed before suddenly gets a certain level of importance. A person on the bus complimenting you on your hairdo on a bad hairday (or what you thought was a bad hairday) are remembered more easily if you look for happy moments during the day. Snowfall instead of rain or a really great cup of coffee at breakfast can really cheer you up if you open up to it. Normally most people let these moments pass as if they have no meaning at all, and the result is grumpy morning-people and people complaining about the cold weather...(Do you honestly not want dry snowfall instead of wet rain? Put on some more clothes damn it and stop complaining). As you go along you may start to notice that the high's become more and more significant and the low's more and more insignificant to the point where "Out of toiletpaper at the public bathroom" becomes the low on a day with the opposit "Got asked out on a date by a really great guy/girl"-high. Eventually you may find it harder to state low's than high's at which point you have to face the fact that you are no longer feeling blue or sad in any way if that was your original mood.

Sometimes people need this kind of perspective...I know I do. Low's tend to get way too much attention and people complain more than they enjoy. And the ironic thing is; a low which feels horrible or life-ruining at one point may just turn out to be a high in the end after all. New doors may open and life may take new turns, and although most people characterize change as a low it most often turns out to be a high.

Ive been wrecking my brain while writing this, trying to come up with my own high and low for the day. My day is only half finished, and so far I have been able to think of 3 high's and no low's...Im sure a low will turn up eventually, but for now I will focus on the 3 high's:

I got an additional 4 months added to my Master degree deadline
I got my paper from last semester approved by Uni
Im going to the theater tonight to watch the classic film noir: Murder, My Sweet (1944)

And while I was writing that list I did actually come up with a low. It is raining cats and dogs outside and I only have a half broken umbrella with me...so I am going to get wet when I go home tonight...but in light of the high's today, it doesnt seem bad at all.

In fact; it is insignificant.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

2008-01-14T13:27:00.000+01:00

I usually dont give reviews of books Ive read...not because I dont like to talk about books...or because I dont read...cause I do. In fact I always have a book Im working on...I just tend to take a while reading them. I spend all day reading scientific articles or text book litterature, so reading isnt the first thing on my mind when I get home at night. However, this weekend I started reading a book I just have to tell you about. I picked it up on Friday and finished it at Sunday, which is unusually quick being me. I simply could not put it down. (I mean, obviously I did put it down at times or I would have finished it by Friday...but you know what I mean...).

The book, which is called "The curious incident of the dog in the night-time" (by Mark Haddon), is about a 15 year-old kid who seems to be...what should I say...mentally challenged, but turns out to be more autistic than unintelligent. He decides to find out who killed the neighbors dog and in the process discovers a lot more about himself and his family. The 15 year-old is the narrator and this is what makes the book so hard to put down. The story is told through his eyes, and you find yourself realizing truths way before the narrator himself gets it, and it is wonderfully frustrating. If you are looking for a book to read, this one comes highly recommended. Another pluss is the short chapters. I tend to read while eating breakfast and usually dont have much time...so short chapters make it easy to read a few chapters qucikly and then carry on with what you were supposed to do.

So there you go. Now you know what the next book on your list is...in case you were wondering.

2007 in retrospect

2008-01-02T22:19:00.000+01:00

As we have now entered a new year, I wish to take a moment to reminisce the previous one. I am not going to give a long detailed review of how everything went down and what I did during 2007...but at the end of each year I always feel the need to look back for a little while and recap the highlights and the bombs of the past year.

I guess 2007 didnt really bring anything spectacular. My life situation is still the same. The guy I mentioned in my 'new year'-post last year is still my boyfriend. I am still a student. I am still living in the same apartment. I still work in the same grocery store. My boss is still the same (and claims to be a little frustrated that Im not afraid of her...bless her heart). The pug is still fat (although he has lost some weight). In short, everything is normal and comfortable. I dont know why that sounds so negative. But it kind of does, doesnt it? Fortunately I dont see it that way. I think most people are happy when life is comfortable and as conflict free as possible. I personally prefer to have a comfortable frame I can hide in when things start getting uncomfortable. That way I can push the lines and try new stuff and still know that if all fails, I can go back to my safe zone and recuperate.

I guess if you are reading this (all 3 or 4 of you) you are thinking that "poor Ski doesnt have much of a life...." and you couldnt be more wrong. I did change a couple of things and I have gotten some new hobbies...or at least rediscovered a few. I changed my haircolor from natural dirty blond to red...or brownish red. Looks good I think...and the boyfriend seems to agree. I have allowed myself to switch between styles more than before. I am just as happy being a girly girl one day and then a tomboy the other. My friend Linn (reader number 1 or 2..perhaps even 1 AND 2) was shocked when I showed up at her New Years Eve party in a dress...I had no idea that was such a rare thing...Ive never thought of it before...but I guess you are right. I dont really wear dresses much to parties...Im more of a jeans and tee kind of girl. As well as switching between fashion styles, Ive also reduced my black collection of clothes to a minimum. I can now honestly say that I love wearing yellow, green and purple just as much as black. Colors rock! It actually does improve your mood...and I thought sunshine was the only thing that worked...

As far as hobbies goes, Ive joined a film club...I know...nerdy stuff, but man how cool is it to watch old movies in a modern theater!? Highly recommended...nerd or not. Im hoping they'll show "Cool hand Luke" this semester....I would love to see Paul Newman on the big screen.

Another nerd artifact I now have in my possession is Nintendo Wii...The kicker though, is that this stuff is far more fun to play with other people than by yourself...Not at all as nerdy as I thought it was...Lots of fun to engage friends with.

And then we have the travels. 2007 was the year of France. April came with Nice and November/December came with Paris. I got a chance to practice my French and surprisingly enough I remember more than I thought. I must have actually paid attention in class! Shocker.

So before this turns into the review I said it wasnt going to be, I would like to hand out the 2007 flower and the 2007 cactus. I will start with the cactus;

The cactus goes to the University of Bergen for stealing so much of my free time. Especially to the CO2 apparatus for making me get up at 8 o'clock on Sunday mornings in vain...

The flower goes to...well i think I need to divide the flower in two. One half goes to the boyfriend for taking me to Nice and to Paris (which I love almost as much as New York). J'adore Paris and Nice was perhaps even more charming. Great bday and anniversary gifts! The other half of the flower is actually going to a fictional character...and I know my friends will laugh now...but my teen hero returned this year and got me all worked up for months, waiting impatiently although excitingly for his return. And I was not disappointed. John McClane was cooler than ever. I can only hope there will be more chapters to follow. I simply love this character. So friends...laugh if you will but remember; its good to allow yourself to get excited...especially about the little things ;)

So 2008, huh? Time flies...and I have a feeling this year will bring more uncertainty...Im supposed to end my education...and hopefully I will get a job...but Im not going to worry about that now. Time will tell.

Sleep vs Life

2007-11-20T12:53:00.000+01:00

I actually watched the sunrise today...And I realized that I havent seen many sunrises in my life. It wasnt a particularly beautiful sunrise...slightly yellow with grey clouds in the horizon. -Could have been much prettier...but it hit me that I spend way too much time sleeping. Don't get me wrong, I love to sleep. I love to dream (although I had a very unnerving dream this morning, which I hope never come true), but it really is such a waste. I am a biologist and ofcourse I do know that without sleep our bodies would fall apart and our minds would crash like my packard bell laptop tends to do, but still when you think about it, sleep is such a waste. Imagine all the things you could do if you didnt need any sleep.

The average adult human being needs 8-9 hours of sleep every night according to various studies. That is 2920 hours every year. If you live to be 75 years old, you will have spent 25 years sleeping! Apparently enough sleep every night adds years to your life, but is it really worth it? Lets say 8 hours a night adds 5 years to your life. No one really knows how much longer you will live with 8 hours sleep, but 5 years is a fair amount I should think. Now, if you instead of sleeping 8 hours every night, decided to sleep 6.5 hours, you would sleep about 20 years of your life (in a 75 years lifespan). Meaning; you will have saved up the 5 years you might have gained by sleeping 8 hours! So in reality, you will have an equal amount of time to experience life in. -Only with 6.5 hours you get more time on a daily basis, while 8 hours a night gives you extra time at age 75-80. I dont know...but more time right now seems like a better deal than waiting until Im so old I cant go anywhere. Besides, who knows if you actually get to be 75...a lot can happen in a lifetime *knock on wood*.

Ofcourse if everything was this black and white it would be an easy choice...unfortunately I do love to sleep...and find myself in a much happier mood if I have slept 8-9 hours opposed to 6-7 hours. -My boyfriend can confirm that...

I just wish I could get myself out of bed more often to watch the sunrise. It is an almost religious experience...

That damn sleep

Internationality

2007-10-25T13:33:00.000+02:00

Not to worry, I am alive and well (if you were wondering).

The past week has been busy as hell...not that I know how hell is like...I mean, if its busy there or if its painfully slow...I will actually assume the latter...But I have hardly been home. Ive been home to sleep and eat..thats about it. My days have been occupied by Uni, and my evenings by the local theatre. I have spent 7 nights in the world of cinema thanks to an international film festival. It has been surprisingly tiresome...to such a degree that I have ditched uni today just to sleep and perhaps do a little shopping. That is my pathetic attempt of being reckless...but atleast I am trying. Anyway, I have watched some pretty amazing movies, and one in particular I would recommend for my friend Beat.

Ive updated the movie blog on my last week, you can read about it there if you will...now Im going outside to enjoy the sunshine. Fall and sunshine dont usually coincide in this part of the planet I call home.

Carpe diem and all that stuff.

Ode to Fall

2007-10-04T12:11:00.000+02:00

Leaves

How silently they tumble down
And come to rest upon the ground
To lay a carpet, rich and rare,
Beneath the trees without a care,
Content to sleep, their work well done,
Colors gleaming in the sun.
At other times, they wildly fly
Until they nearly reach the sky.
Twisting, turning through the air
Till all the trees stand stark and bare.
Exhausted, drop to earth below
To wait, like children, for the snow.

by Elise N. Brady

Its not often we get to see the colors of fall around here...In fact, I cannot remember having seen yellow and red leaves since my year in New York City. Usually it starts raining in August/September and the temperature drops too quickly to give the leaves a chance to change color...they simply turn brown over night and fall off.

The good thing about that though, is that you really learn to appreciate it if you get a chance to experience it. -And the past couple of days have been great for just that. The combination of sun and crisp air along with yellow and orange leaves has done wonders for my mood. I cannot believe that it is actually fall. I am looking out the window of my study room at Uni right now and the beautiful garden outside is filled with yellow, orange and red colors. -And I cannot help but smile...Which when you think about it is pretty morbid, considering the fact that these colors are a result of dying organic matter. -Leaves which have spent all spring and summer working overtime producing sugar by photosyntesis so that the rest of the tree can survive winter.
Kamikaze leaves.
Respect.

In honor of fall I therefore decided to change the color of my hair to match the leaves.

I just wrote that because it sounds noble. The truth is that I made a deal with my hairdresser. (She made me an offer I couldnt refuse....) Since my hair can never hold on to color I dont see a point in spending lots of moolah on haircoloring, just to see it come off after a week. So I gave her free hands to color it however she wanted in exchange for a rather reasonable price.
So now my hair is red.
Its wild and I love it! I fit in perfectly with the leaves. Fall is my season.

So If the rain comes later tonight and wash the leaves off the trees, atleast I got to experience fall this year...even if it was just for a couple of days (or a week if you count my hair).

Ive added some more photos in the photoblog.

Ai ai ai

2007-09-11T20:19:00.000+02:00

-AAAAAAAAAtchoooo! *wipes snot off keyboard* Yuck! Gotta love the cold…It’s the same every year…one should think the human body which can adapt to upright walking, UV radiation and Hershey chocolate (an adaptation that is still a mystery to me), would be able to adapt to the abrupt change in weather that comes at this time of year. Every year, when the season changes from summer to fall, or winter to spring, I get a cold. I eat my C vitamins…I eat my fruits, I drink my water, clean…and I wash my hands whenever I’ve used the bathroom, public as well as private. And yet here I am…incapable of breathing through the nose, eyes swollen like I’ve cried non stop for 2 days, and a head that’s at least 4 pounds too heavy. It would be ok if my body could just decide which temperature to stick to. You find yourself sweating like you suddenly moved by teleportation to Sahara with your biggest winter jacket on, and decide to eat some ice cream (since you obviously feel a bit sorry for yourself…which by the way is perfectly ok as long as you don’t overdo it like men usually do) and then 10 minutes later you are freezing cold and long for that big winter jacket you left in the Sahara desert you just visited.

Stupid body.

Im still gonna eat ice cream though…

That is one of those things I can never really get enough of. Ice cream. Even after a 6 course dinner, I can usually find room for ice cream. Season doesn’t matter either. Winter, spring, summer, fall, there is always a season for ice cream. Perhaps that is why I now have a cold. Come to think of it, I had a bit more ice cream than I should have had last Saturday…Pistachio flavor to be exact…with chocolate sauce…the kind that hardens on the cold ice cream? You know it. *wipes nose*

Either way it doesn’t matter. The boyfriend had a cold a week or two ago, so the biologist in me claims that’s why I now find myself alone and sick…boys are selfish that way. Doesn’t matter how sick they are, they always want to lick your tonsils…but then again, girls are plain dumb for letting them. So there you go.

One dumb girl down with the cold.

-Atchoooo!

Boredom's a bitch

2007-08-09T12:42:00.000+02:00

This summer has not been the greatest summer. The weather has been shitty...Ive had little to no free time, Ive had deadlines and guilt for not doing more. I am hoping that once the semester starts up again, I will be able to concentrate more and finish all the tasks I have on my list of "things to do".

As for right now, I should be writing an essay...and I will. But I was so bored I thought it was a great idea to play with my blog instead. Yesterday, I suddenly decided to vacuum my apartment and clean the filter on my air filtrator...the day before that I had more interest in cleaning my toilet and bathroom than to write an essay. So I guess you can say my apartment has never been cleaner...and an essay has never been shorter...

Anyways...I added a poll to my blog...you can find it over there ---->

Ive always enjoyed polls, now I get to make my own :D (look! a smiley!)

No..I should start my ass-ey

Weird stuff #2

2007-08-07T13:55:00.000+02:00

I discovered another weird thing in the lab the other day. My first impression was "hash pipe", or bong if you will... Then I started wondering why on earth there was a hash pipe in the lab. The people who work in this lab doesnt exactly seem like hash smoking individuals. And, since there are no hole in the top where one would normally suck the fumes out, I realised that it could not in fact be a hash pipe...so then wuddeFok is it?

A very primitive bong? So primitive that it doesnt work? A fucked up vase? Art?
Beats me...

Weird stuff #1

2007-07-12T11:28:00.000+02:00

As I was saying yesterday there are some weird things surrounding me in the lab...and I was kinda hoping someone could help me out here. I have been looking at this first thing for quite some time now, and I think Ive come to the conclusion that this must be some primitive form of a mixmaster...-Although it looks like it has been a little complicated to make...and Im thinking that today, being the 21st century and all...it would be a lot easier to just go out and buy a mixmaster...instead of making this thing. Must have taken a while too...there is a lot of components in this thing...mostly made of glass. The top thing looks like some kind of engine, and the glass bottle has a scary looking device inside it, which looks like something frightening surgeons would use...or perhaps its just a reverted propeller with blades from a blender...

Anyways...here's the pics..maybe you know what its used for.

An overview of the whole thing...its not too big, but too big to put in a bag.

This top thing looks really heavy...and kinda scary.

If you look closely, you can see the propeller thingy inside of it. I wonder if its supposed to go up and down...or just spin. -And what are those tubes on the top for? To stuff things into, I guess...but why so many? It could be some kind of instrument of torture.

On the backside of this thing, there is also an opening. -A glass tube where stuff can come out...brainmatter perhaps? Liquids of some sort? Smoothie?

I have no clue.

(PS, if you want an update on grandma, I'll put it in the filmblog)

Daily blurb

2007-07-11T15:11:00.000+02:00

Ok, so I had decided not to write anything about labwork or algae or fungi or anything in the microbiology family and field, 'cause I realized that pretty much every entry Ive written the past couple of weeks, has been about just that. But that is normal, as I dont really have a life these days. The problem though is that once i logged onto this site, I got this intense urge of mentioning that once again am I in the lab, bored and tired of waiting for stuff to get ready. I have a lot of stuff to do, dont get me wrong, but often i have to wait 20 minutes or 2 hours between every time I can do it. Hence I spend much time infront of my computer. Or I spend time looking around or staring into the wall. I realized today while looking around that there are so many weird constructions and machines around here, which purpose I do not know. I think I will have to bring my camera tomorrow so that I can take pictures of them, and perhaps some of you can tell me (or guess) which purpose they have.

Moving on to something else. It is my grandmothers birthday this Saturday, so my sister and I decided to take her to the movies tonight, as a pre-birthday present. She has been a fan of Bruce Willis as long as I can remember (see previous post: "My granny and Bruce Willis", 2006), so we figured we'd take her to see Die Hard 4.0. I know Ive talked about it before, and I know you know that Ive seen it before...I am not even going to hide it. But I wanted to watch it again, in a better movie theater this time. Last time I got free tickets (yay!) but I was a bit disappointed by the choice of theater. I hadn't been to that theater in a while and although I am no expert in technical stuff, I actually reacted on the poor picture quality. So this time we are taking her to the newest theater in town. I think that will be a better one for her as well, as she is pretty short and the room is steeper in this one. Either way I am excited to see her reaction to it. Im pretty sure she will love it though.

The undead

2007-07-10T15:39:00.000+02:00

-I am currently rotting away in a lab somewhere far north on the globe of Earth. If you find this message, please know that I tried my best. I tried so hard to focus. I tried with every cell in my body to get my cell cultures syncronized. I even searched for articles on the subject...But my lack of concentration prevented me from actually reading them. I cannot learn. I cannot focus. I feel a little hollow. Dead but not quite. I feel as if I could be part of "Planet Terror" (July 20th, yay!) but I fear I might be closer to this:

http://taxidermied.livejournal.com/

I want to play.

Just a little bored..thats all

2007-06-26T14:36:00.000+02:00

I found one of my favorite comic book heroines in English! So now I can share with everyone!

If you click on the picture it gets larger...maybe you can actually read what it says...

Oh, and guess what? Die Hard 4.0/Live Free or Die Hard is out tomorrow! I got my tickets ofcourse. I simply cant remember the last time I was this jacked up about a movie!
*tries to cool down with a bucket of ice*
I'll probably gush (or rant) about it in the filmblog one of these days.

All work and no play

2007-06-19T12:35:00.000+02:00

After 6 weeks of intense studying, I am finally done with my exams. Normally this would be the turning point where my life gets back on track. After 6 weeks of basically no contact with the outside world, my friends will finally hear from me again. - And thereby establish the fact that I am still alive. I have survived yet another exam season. I am 2 shades paler than usual, a few pounds heavier and my eyes are hidden behind large blue bags of epidermis. I’ve been here before. I know the drill.

Usually, this is when I slowly start adapting to normal life again. I begin venturing outside at a higher rate. –Gradually increasing the exposure of my skin to sunlight. It is with extreme caution these steps are conducted. Too high exposure too soon will only result in pain. -Both physically and psychologically. Many people in the past have become victims of their own excitement. The thrill of finally being free has resulted in tragedy for more than one. But I have the experience. I have learned from the mistakes of others.

I can see what you are thinking from the expression on your face. You are telling yourself that this is probably the very reason why I am indoors right now…writing this, instead of being outside enjoying the sunshine (which by the way is very rare in this city). It would not be an entirely wrong conclusion. It is a very likely one, based on the information I have given you so far.

However.

The use of “normally” and “usually” above has not been a coincidence…or a matter of trying to sound mysterious. There is nothing mysterious about me. You already know that. I have used these words on purpose. I am not sitting here because I am afraid of daylight like another vampire or nocturnal being. I am afraid it is because I am still a student. A being left out in most horror stories. Everyone has heard of the vampires and werewolves that come out at night and hunt you down. -Witches and monsters eating people, drinking blood for their own survival. Few have heard of the nocturnal student. A being that never sleeps. A being with eyes so dark you can hardly see them. I guess the reason for the lack of such stories lies in the very nature of the student. The student has no time to hunt you down or drink your blood. The student is on a deadline. The student has an exam to prepare for.

I am such a being. I may have completed my exams. But I am still on a deadline. You see, I am not only a student. I am a Master student. The deadliest of all students. Although deadly only to myself. To my social life. To my tan.

So I will leave you here. With encouragement to enjoy this summer. When you are laying on a beach somewhere, drinking smoothies and recuperating from 6 months of work or school. Think of the student. Think of a summer indoors.

Enjoy life.

Pow! (ouch) Pow! Bangs her head in the table

2007-06-08T10:28:00.000+02:00

I am currently in the process of killing myself with words.

The weather outside my window is very Hawaii-like, and yet I am indoors...cramming for my next exam. The heat...Oh My Goodness! It is so hot I have to regularly whipe my textbook clean of the makeup that is dripping from my face. (If that doesnt sound sexy, nothing does...) I tried to study outdoors yesterday, but it was actually too hot. Now, if you live in Idaho and are called Beatnik, you can totally relate to this heat...but if you are called Linn or something to that extent (i think i just named all the norwegians who actually read this stuff from time to time...how sad is that number?) you cannot possibly understand this weather. I guess thats what global heating and greenhouse effect does to Norway...we get sun! Which is good...I mean sun is good...but not when its a result of something really bad. I mean...ice cream is good too...but you dont want the ice cream if getting it means you have to snatch it from some baby's hands...would you? (Actually, sometimes I would. Especially when seeing how some kids eat ice cream... it can be pretty gross...)

Anyways...I will have to get back to my books...just letting you know I am still alive...although Im not sure for how long...

~Ski

When time stands still

2007-04-08T20:58:00.000+02:00

Today has been a long day.

Usually that is synonymous with a bad day. You can seldom have a long day without it also being bad…hence long is the definition of a bad day in this case. Usually in movies when someone asks the main character about their day, and he or she answers that it has been a “long day” the audience are immediately reminded of the previous hour of the movie which in most cases included at least 3 explosions, 5-20 deaths (depending on the type of action movie in question) and/or a social dramatic situation involving a character of the opposite sex to the main character.

So you are probably reading this thinking something bad happened to me today. Perhaps I blew something up or maybe someone died by gunfire in front of me…or possibly a fight with my boyfriend? If any of this had happened, I probably would have called it a long day…so you wouldn’t be totally off if you guessed such a thing. I do think I would have maybe called it an “awful” day though…if someone had been shot down in front of me. Maybe even a “tragic” day…or “sad”. “Long” doesn’t quite describe the sensation it would be to see someone being blown to pieces in front of your very eyes…not that I have ever seen that…*knock on wood* wouldn’t want to either…but Im just saying it. To clarify.

So…if nothing blew up…and no one got shot…and I didn’t fight with my boyfriend…why has it been a long day? I honestly cant tell you. I slept till noon…almost…which is the longest Ive slept in weeks and maybe months. I watched TV till about 3pm…3 hours which pretty much felt like at least 6. Then I went for a walk…I guess I might have been out a short hour…50 minutes perhaps? Felt longer…but it was only about 4pm when I got home. Ive watched 3,5 movies today, painted my toenails, eaten everything eatable in the apartment…probably gained a few pounds…and still its only 8.45 pm. Time have been standing still. Perhaps I got abducted by aliens. Ive heard time is supposed to stand still when that happens…but I doubt the aliens would have made me watch bad movies all day. I did get to watch one good one though. I re-watched “Lucky Number Slevin”. I had forgotten how much I enjoy that movie. The one-liners follow each other one after the other through the entire movie. It’s a definite “must see” if you haven’t already. Great film.

Hmm…it is now 8.53 pm. So I have killed about 15 minutes of time by writing this blog entry. Perhaps I should just go to bed…start tomorrow early and maybe get something out of the day. But I can pretty much bet my entire fortune (which isn’t very big Im afraid…) that tomorrow will race by like some secret force have stolen time from you just to mess with your head. “You got a long day yesterday, so today and tomorrow will go by quicker than you can say; hang on a sec!” I already know it. Life is too ironic. But you gotta love it.

Why I love Alanis

2007-04-05T12:23:00.000+02:00

Thanks for the link, "dommeku"!

Finally some days off...

2007-04-03T12:32:00.000+02:00

Happy Easter everyone!!!

Paperwork hell

2007-03-12T15:55:00.000+01:00

I am a firm believer of violence towards administrators at university level,- and politicians. I think it should be allowed to slap them around a little…Action without an equal and opposite reaction. Newton go home. You are not wanted. The world would be a much better place without all the damn paperwork…For instance; if you wish to study abroad for a semester or two…something our dear politicians (I actually wrote “dead” as a typo there…I fixed it, but might as well have left it in there) encourage us to do, you have to first apply using a form that consists of a certain number of pages. If you get consent, you have to fill out an additional form to the school in question (at which you already have applied to once through your own university). If you get consent here as well, they send you a 3 pound envelope filled with different forms that need to be filled out. These forms include; a medical examination form from your doctor, a bank statement form from your bank (telling them you have money saved up), a government form telling the school in question that you will receive financial help, a vaccine form, a family history form, a personal interest form, an acceptance form from the embassy of the country you wish to go to, and so on…By the time you have filled out all the forms in question you are so damn tired of the country you wanted to go to in the first place you actually start doubting whether or not you wish to go…And our politicians shake their heads and call students lazy and uninterested. Who wants to go abroad if you have to complete 10 exams on personal matter before you can go?

Which brings us to the subject matter I actually wanted to talk about. The midterm exam. This completely and utterly unnecessary piece of paperwork that modern students are forced to fill out. – Within a time limit even. Somewhere someone decided that it was a great idea to split up exams so that hard working students have to go through two exams instead of one during a semester. I will admit that the idea might have been good initially. I am sure the point of it all was to give students two chances to show what they are good for instead of that one dreaded final exam at the end of the semester…The thought was probably good. But it doesn’t work. It gives us twice as much to do in half the usual time. I recently had one of these so called midterm exams, and the only midterm about it was the date of the event. 9 of 15 book chapters, including the laboratory course as curriculum…Can someone please tell me how half of 15 can become 9? Ive never been really good at math…but Im pretty sure 15 divided on 2 is not 9. –And how are you supposed to get any studying done for an exam that comes 4 days after you finished the “all-day”-lab part of the course?

I am not lazy, but I have started to become uninterested. My interest would however increase substantially if I could show my “gratitude” towards this paper-work happy person with a little slapping…or a kick or two…maybe an innocent shot in the leg?

Life has endless possibilities…too bad Im a follower of rules and regulations.

And yes, that completes the complaining for this month.

from www.spookyland.com

...

2007-02-21T15:18:00.000+01:00

You have now reached Ski's corner.
I am currently out of the office...drowning in genetics.
Please leave a message, and I will get back to you as soon as I regain control of my life (or atleast figure out wuddefok a Tn5 is...).

BEEP!

Roman rocks

2007-02-19T16:32:00.000+01:00

Stolen from spookyland.com

My new partner

2007-02-12T12:41:00.000+01:00

So here he is (I choose to believe that it is a he...). This is the guy I will be working with for the next year and a half. I took his picture last week when he wasnt looking...I think he is shy. He doesnt know it yet, but I am going to torture him with toxic mold spores...I feel sorry for him. It wont be pleasant...but sometimes one has to suffer in the name of science, and I would rather it be him than me...(what a human-like selfish thing to say...although to my defence, I am already living with said toxic mold spores in my home...) His real name is Chlamydomonas reinhardtii...but I like him, and I think his name is too posh and snobby...so I will call him Roy Phillip, or just Roy.

So there you go. Roy? meet everyone...everyone? meet Roy.

The balloon guy

2007-02-01T22:08:00.000+01:00

This is what met me in the door when I got home today. Made me smile.

I also found out that the local theater was showing 'Black Sheep' today. -The crazy trailer I posted a little while back. Also made me smile. They were gonna show it today, and only today... The movie looks so bad it has to be good, so I tried to get my boyfriend to go with me...and then I tried to get my friend JP to go with me...needless to say, they both rejected my enthusiastic approach to go see it. Bummer.

But it helps to know the balloon guy will be waiting for me in the hall tomorrow early. Its odd how the little things can cheer you up sometimes.

Gotta love balloon stores!

The one about the weather and stuff...

2007-01-31T15:24:00.000+01:00

Its peculiar how the weather can affect your mood. I would actually go as far as to say its down right weird. We (and this is not a wild exaggeration…believe it or not) actually had 85 days on a row with rain here in Bergen this winter. You can only imagine the kind of mood the brave people of our city was fighting after so many days wearing raincoats and hiding under umbrellas. You try going shopping when everyone around you pokes you with their umbrellas and spend 5 minutes yelling at you for taking the last pair of rubber boots on the shelf. An entire city of premenstrual people. Longing desperately for one minute of sunshine.

85 days on a row with rain…2 more days and we would have beaten the record for the country (which some other city holds). But of course just as the competition instincts of our city’s population started to fire up, and we all got excited about maybe breaking the record (despite being tired of wearing raincoats), the sun popped out from behind the 85 days long cloudy sheet it had been hiding behind. Now the good thing about people from Bergen is that no matter how long it has been raining…no matter how long the weather has been bad, we forget it as soon as we see the sun. One or two days of sunny weather is enough to erase the memories of poor weather. Although no one has actually dared to say this out loud, I am pretty sure the sun saved more than one weather depressed suicidal person that day. The ironic part of it all though, is that we got one day (-One whole day) without any precipitation before it started up again. As if the weather Gods decided we weren’t fit to hold the record, and decided to fvck (<- for some of my special friends) with us just to make us frustrated and more suicidal.

After the one whole beautiful sunny day, heavens gates opened up again and bathed us in more water. However this time it came down as soft, beautiful snow. I cannot remember the last time I saw the city covered in snow, but the sight was enough to shift my mood from depressed “Im-so-sick-of-rain-and-wind”- sulk to “I-cannot-believe-the-world-can-be-this-beautiful”-ecstasy. I don’t really think I was aware of how moody I had been, until I saw the snow and felt a weird sense of happiness and being high. I guess you can say people get high on “snow” all the time…but Im referring to natures snow. Water in a solid state.

Anyways, I spent a couple of days hiking and trying not to break any legs on the icy pavements. I enjoyed it too. Then of course it started to rain again. And it has rained ever since…

The Most Dangerous Animal In The World

2007-01-21T18:19:00.000+01:00

Ive known it for some time...There has always been something creepy about sheep...the way they stare at you...without looking away. Im just glad I finally got it confirmed. I am not insane after all.

Twothousandandseven

2007-01-08T15:19:00.000+01:00

2007…I could have sworn it was 1998 just a little while ago…I have such a hard time believing that the 1990s happened 7 years ago! 7 years! How can it possibly be 7 years since we entered the new millennium? I remember 7 years ago on New Years Eve…It was raining cats and dogs outside…and we (my friends and I) took the bus into the city to watch the fireworks…which I believe a hired Japanese fireworks expert was going to launch…(or was that for the constitution day? I cant remember…). That was 7 years ago. I was only 18…

It is 12 years (!!!) since one of my favorite movies, 12 monkeys, was released. I remember watching that one twice at the theater…I had to explain it to my friends ‘cause they didn’t get it. And it is now 7 years since I graduated from High School…and I am still not done with my education. One bachelor degree in 7 years…makes me sound very lazy doesn’t it? I guess to my defense I can say I spent one of those years abroad…and the rest of them testing out different branches within science…ecology, chemistry, biochemistry, biology, molecular biology, microbiology…etc etc. So its not like Ive been sitting at home scratching my ass. But it is time I finish up. And I have started the process. This coming year I am going to start my thesis on toxic mold. So at least I am moving in the right direction study wise.

On a personal level I am optimistic. I am starting the new year as opposite of single, which feels great. -Nothing like a boyfriend to make an otherwise pessimistic individual optimistic. My best friend (who has been hiding in England) is back in the country for good (I hope), with no plans of eloping as far as I know. My other best friend just got a raise and starts the new year with more to play around with (proud of you).

I have a part time job and an apartment with a great location. I think it will be a good year. I hope it will be a good year.

Time will tell.

2 weeks to go!

2006-12-11T14:55:00.000+01:00

I know I havent updated much lately...Ive been so crazy busy with my exams...I have my last one this Friday...and after that its holidays!!! I cannot wait! -Despite the horrible weather we have...with September temperatures in December, you dont really get that Christmas feeling... I did however get a small taste of Christmas this weekend. I went to a Christmas party with microbiology folks. Interesting experience, but lots of fun! Ive added some pics in the pictureblog...--->

- and will add some more later.

"Geeks R Cool"

2006-11-06T11:53:00.000+01:00

A friend of mine, William, recently crossed the line between ordinary mortal and celebrity (kinda) when he starred in a music video. Some of you, atleast the Norwegian part of you, may know who Sergeant Petter is (http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=51757817), and if you dont, you certainly will after having seen this one. The video rocks and so does William in it. Stop asking me which one William is...I will get to it in a minute. I was one of the few who hadnt heard much of Sgt Petter (apart from recognizing the name), but after having seen this video I must admit I am intrigued. In fact, I might have to go buy one of his albums...So I guess the video works...since thats the point of videos. -And if it works on you too, its even better. Anyways; here's the video. Enjoy!

Oh, by the way. William is the cute student with glasses (the first one in a close-up frame)

My Mold

2006-10-30T13:07:00.000+01:00

I've got mold now on a cloudy day.
When it's cold outside my walls get damp and gray.
I guess you'd say
What can make me feel this way?
My mold (my mold, my mold)
Talkin' 'bout my mold (my mold)

I've got so much mold now the spores fly around.
I'll get allergies the doctor said with a frown.
I guess you'd say
What can make me feel this way?
My mold (my mold, my mold)
Talkin' 'bout my mold (my mold).

I just discovered that my walls are a breeding ground for hairy fungus. Its literally sticking its ugly head out through the wooden panel in my living room...which come to think of it is unbelievably ironic considering that I have just started a Masters degree in microbiology...Not only that, my supervisor wants me to write about toxic mold in peoples homes...I can taste the irony...and it is bitter.

I guess if I play my cards right, I can do the fieldwork in my own apartment...

The guilty pleasure of shameful music

2006-10-17T14:25:00.003+02:00

I remember everything!
I remember every little thing as if it happened only yesterday.
I was barely seventeen,
and I once killed a boy with a Fender guitar.
I don't remember if it was a
Telecaster or a Stratocaster
but I do remember that it had a heart of chrome
and a voice like a horny angel.
I don't remember if it was a Telecaster or a
Stratocaster
but I do remember that it wasn't at all easy.
It required
the perfect combination of the right power chords
and the precise angle from
which to strike!
The guitar bled for about a week afterwards
and the blood was sough dark and rich,
like wild berries.
The blood of the guitar
was Chuck Berry red.
The guitar bled for about a week afterwards, but it
rung out beautifully
and I was able to play notes that I had never even
heard before.
So I took my guitar, and I smashed it against the wall!
I smashed it against the floor!
I smashed it against the body of a varsity cheerleader!
Smashed it against the hood of a car!
Smashed it against a
1981 Harley Davidson!
The Harley howled in pain! The guitar howled in heat!
And I ran up the stairs to my parents' bedroom...
Mummy and daddy were
sleeping in the moonlight...
Slowly I opened the door, creeping in the shadows
Right upto the foot of their bed.
I raised the guitar high above my head,
and just as I was about to bring the guitar crashing down
upon the centre of the bed,
my father woke up, screaming: "Stop!"
"Wait a minute!
Stop it boy! What do ya think you're doin'?
That's no way to treat
an expensive musical instrument!"
And I said: "God dammit daddy!
You know I love you...
But you've got a hell of a lot to learn about
rock 'n roll!!"

I was looking for some music for my workout, when I came upon on old Meat Loaf album I have...Its one of those albums you're afraid to admit you love...so you kind of hide it behind some of the more "respectable" ones...Anyway, I put it on and realized I still know pretty much every song on the album. In case you are wondering its the "Bat out of hell II (back into hell)" album and the intro above is from "Everything louder than everything else".

"A wasted youth is better by far
than a wise and productive old age!"

Im not entirely sure I agee with that statement, but the song kicks butt. You can say whatever you want about old meaty, but he can make rock n'roll if he really wants to.

I admit that this is the first CD I ever bought (being 13 or so...), but I still love it...so shoot me.

A female secret revealed

2006-10-12T17:54:00.000+02:00

I like to cry...

There. I said it. The cat's out of the bag. No turning back.

I like to cry. -But only if I can choose under which terms the crying takes place.
Example: You've had a long week, work has been a bitch, Uni has been a bitch and all you want to do is hang out and relax with a good movie. Now, any other person might choose a comedy. Gotta laugh to feel better right?
No.
I would choose a sappy chick flick.
Why you ask?
So that I can cry.

There is something cleansing and liberating with a good cry. The more tears you can produce and hence the more swollen you can make your face look, the better you will feel afterwards (-unless you have to step outside in the public eye of course)...And if you can manage to bring forward the sob that starts in your toe and moves up your legs and lower waist, through your stomach and out your mouth in short, deep moans, you've really hit the happiness-jackpot. We're talking a happy-trip better than any drug can induce. A good cry like that is cleansing, but it has to be a good cry...None of that "my boyfriend broke up with me"-cry, or "I just lost someone I love"-cry...-cries that make your stomach hurt for days and weeks and months. Those are awful and no one should ever have to go through those....I am simply talking about the voluntary cries. The cries you will have forgotten 30 minutes after you had them.

A good cry gives a feeling very similar to sexual release and I will bet my ass (if I just had one...) that you can ask any girl out there, -and possibly some guys too, about it and they will tell you this is true. A good cry makes your body relax, and it makes you feel twice as happy about your own situation as you did before you initiated the crying. Why meditate when you can cry?

So now you know guys. The secret is out.

Im sorry girls. I know I am telling one of womanhoods deepest secrets here...but I think the male population needs to know. They need to know so that they will leave us alone the next time we watch Ghost. No more of that "Poor baby"-shit. We aint crying 'cause we're unhappy! We're crying cause it makes us feel good.

So there.

Various forms of the Happiness drug:
North Country
Finding Neverland
Ghost
Philadelphia
City of Angels
Pay it Forward
Brokeback Mountain

Feel free to add your drug of choice.

One of those days...

2006-10-07T22:53:00.000+02:00

-”You’re unlucky” is nothing more than a frame of
reference for the lucky, Mr Fisher. You are unlucky so that I may know I am not. Unfortunately, the lucky don’t realize they are lucky before it is too late. Take yourself for instance; Yesterday you were better off than you are today, but it took today for you to realize it. But today has arrived, and its too late. You see? People are never happy with what they have. They always want what they had, what other people have.

Sometimes when all your friends have other plans, and you are forced to spend a Saturday night home alone (yay to single-life...), what you need is a good movie (can you figure out which one?), rain hitting your window so hard you can hardly hear yourself think (if you could hear thoughts that is...) and something good to eat; For instance a good steak with potatoes and vegetables...a white russian to drink while making said steak with potatoes and vegetables, spanish pepper-& olive pringles and a big bag of chocolate...and a bunch of candles to heat up the cold apartment.
A decent end to a blue day.

October 1st

2006-10-01T22:03:00.000+02:00

I saw a butterfly today.

First day of October…in Norway….and I saw a butterfly. You gotta admire that kind of stamina and will. That poor larva has probably waited all summer for its wings…getting fatter and fatter in the pupae, before it finally one (unusually) warm day of October broke out of its organic prison, happy and content of its newfound winged life. It looked happy. Poor ting wont get old with this weather forecast…

I wonder if you can be happy enough for a lifetime in one day.

Underwater photography

2006-09-29T19:59:00.000+02:00

Don't you just love a good picture? Ive spent the afternoon checking out the pics on a friend's website. He has promised me to add some shark pictures he has as well (Ive seen 'em, and I will make sure he keeps his promise, - cause those are some F'ing good pictures).
I have added the link to the site over there ---->

But just to make it easier for you, I will hand feed it to you right here (on a silver tray even): http://www.gislesverdrup.com/

Enjoy!

Potatoes and traveling

2006-09-25T19:03:00.000+02:00

”So…” You say. ”Where the F[insert obscenity] have you been?”-“And where the F[repeat obscenity] is my annual postcard?”

“Well…” I say while moving my right foot vicariously across the asphalt, pushing the gravel on top of it into little piles. “I meant to send you one…but I just never got around to do it. I was too busy.”

-“Im really sorry…” I quickly add.

Im not lying when I say I have been busy. For some reason unknown to yours truly, the summers get shorter and shorter every year. I had so many things I needed to do, - although I cannot for the life of me remember those things at the moment…So you ask “What DID you do?” And I tell you to shut the fuck up (why bother with censorship?) and let me do the talking…or typing…or whatever. I DID work…made some money that I spent on traveling, -which I will get back to later. I moved into a new apartment,-which I guess is the main reason why I haven’t been able to update this mess called a blog. I didn’t have any internet access for quite some time…”But you could have used an internet café or something like that” you interrupt.

This is the part where I slap you with the student newspaper I am holding in my left hand. You look surprised but you let it go.

Yes I could have used a café, but this is where the busy part takes over. When you spend most of your day at work or moving boxes from one side of town to the next, a puter is not the first thing on your mind when you are done….the bed is. Besides…whats the point of updating a blog when nothing new has happened in your life?

“But you could have written another one of those meaningless entries you always write” you say. I just shake my head. You are starting to get on my nerves…

So…back to my summer. The best part of it I spent with my friend Beat (lets just call him Beat to protect his privacy…between you and me; I think he is on the run from the law) and his family. Before I got there however I had a 26h travel from Norway to the US…and on the way I had to explain at least 4 times what a bottle of Aquavit is...(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akvavit). I also had to convince an immigration officer that I was NOT going to Idaho to marry some potato-farmer and that I was in fact going back to Norway after 10 days. “But there’s nothing to see in Idaho! People don’t go to Idaho…they go to California or New York…Chicago even!” I had to bite my tongue and try not to laugh…Laughing at an immigration officer is a sure ticket back to where you came from…

After a delay in Minneapolis I finally got to hug the Beat and his youngest daughter who hugged me despite the fact that I looked like crap (probably smelled like it too). Bless her heart. Summer couldn’t have started better.

I never saw the immigration officer again…but if I had, I would have told him that Idaho has a lot to offer. You can climb sand dunes and burn your feet. You can look for snakes and other creepy stuff in the bushes. You can go to the horse tracks and win money on a horse that no one believes in (Go Bruneau!), you can fly rockets and loose ‘em in a cornfield, you can go to the drive-in and the Flying M (great coffee) and you can go to Hailey and listen to music and eat at diners.-Even party a little. But most of all you can relax and unwind…forget about the stress that is waiting for you at home. If you’re lucky and get to hang out with people like Beat and his family as well, you’ve really hit the jackpot! The sweetest family you can think of has its base in Idaho…the secret is out.

So its safe to say the immigration officer was wrong. I personally think he should be fired. For most foreigners the immigration officer is the first American they speak to upon their arrival…and he or she should be a representative for Americans in general. To have such an ignorant dork behind the Plexiglas is a shame…I should have told him to get out more often…The air must be pretty thick in that glass-booth. Next time I will hand him a bottle of Aquavit and tell him to come see me in Idaho when he gets off work. Who knows…maybe I can marry him and get a green card...Potato-farmer my ass…

I hope you had a wonderful summer as well. And I promise you next year I WILL send you a postcard.

Bronzing issues

2006-06-23T00:18:00.000+02:00

"Summer finally arrived! I still cannot believe it. Not only am I done with my exams for the semester, but as soon as I finished, the weather changed from rain to sun as well! And those of you who live in Norway where I live know that this is a big deal. No one in the world talks about the weather as much as we do here in Bergen. We are used to rain, and so whenever the sun pops out, people fill the streets and you wont find a single available table at any of the outdoor restaurants/bars. We Norwegians know the significance of a cold beer on a hot day. -And we prefer to drink it in company with at least another 3 cold beers."

I wrote this last week...all happy and giggly...But I didnt get to finish it, so I saved it as a draft...And now I dont want to finish it. This is how summer is right now...and how it usually is:

I dont know what I did wrong...but summer seems to have left me.

But I am optimistic! Fortunately I am going away this summer, and from what Ive heard, its supposed to be sunny there...so we'll see...maybe I'll even get a tan! That has been one of my dreams for quite some time...You see, whenever there is sun, I turn pink. I am a firm believer in genes and heritage, and I believe that my forefathers were evolutionary adapted to snow and cold weather. Its not that long ago since Norway and most of Scandinavia was covered in ice...roughly 10 000 years ago if i remember it correctly (that would be about the time Hugh Hefner was born)...and if you live by hunting in a snowy landscape, it will be a benefit to you if you are very pale...So its not really my fault that I am a pale person...its in my genes. My great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-etc grandparents survived during the ice age because they were pale enough to sneak up on dinner....and hence, my genes believe its a benefit to me to be pale. I have tried to convince them otherwise...tanning lotion, sunbathing, tan-colored stockings...but nothing works. I am and will always be a pale or pink person. I guess if I spend a lot of time in the sun I do eventually get slightly tanned...but Im the only one who notice.

I do however think its better to be pale than lobster red. I had this poor girl in the store the other day...she looked like she was wearing a strawberry-red sweather, when she was infact wearing a sleaveless top...and ofcourse the top had to be pastel yellow, just to intensify the red skin. I cannot imagine how painful it must have been to go to bed that night...ouch! Wherever you are my dear lobster-girl. I hope you are doing well. My thoughts are with you.

I have been a lobster-girl myself once. Not a complete lobster though, but partially...chest and buttocks. Dont ask how i managed to burn both my chest AND my ass, but I can tell you as much as it included a deserted beach, a bored boyfriend and a big pile of sand. A burned tush is not comfortable...and definately not sexy once the skin starts peeling...but it was a kick-ass sandcastle! (What did you think we were doing?) Rhodes is a beautiful island, no doubt about it.

In fact, all of Greece is beautiful, and right now I wish I was laying on a greek beach with some greek God-looking fellow rubbing me in with sunlotion...His name should be Marcus....or Flavio...no wait; Zeus... Zeus should be with me right now, rubbing my aching muscles from yesterdays workout...feeding me grapes or something. But alas, Im stuck here, on midsummer night alone with the rain pouring down outside. Maybe I should go out in the rain and dance around the bonfire like everyone else...but no. I think I'll put on a good movie and pop some corn. After all, rain doesnt have to be that bad. It gives you an excuse to do nothing. And no one will judge you for being pale. - You cant get tanned in rain.

I guess the rain can stay. For now.

My granny and Bruce Willis

2006-06-04T21:56:00.000+02:00

No, my grandmother is not dating Bruce Willis...If you're an employee of the National Enquirer, you may click the "back" button on your browser now.

However, my grandmother digs Willis. She loves to travel and refuses to join any seniors club because she doesn’t want to "hang around a bunch of old people all day". She has always been into action movies, and her favorites include any movie that has a car-chase involved,- or a big explosion. Now you may wonder how old she is... I could be an 11 year old kid talking about my grandmother who is 40 something in which case this whole situation would not be of much interest. Im sure Bruce Willis has tons and tons of fans that are 40 something...infact, I know he has...but I am not 11 years old. Lets,-out of respect for my dear granny, just say that she is past 65.

Last night I was having dinner with my parents and my grandmother, and after a couple of glasses of wine, she suddenly started talking about Willis. She was telling me what a man's man he is and how tough he looks. Now, I am not someone to disagree about Bruce being a handsome fella, I like the guy, I love his movies (which I have ever since my grandfather told me to watch Die Hard 2 many years ago),- and I figured my grandmother was just saying these things because she had heard me talking to my sister earlier about his upcoming movie '16 blocks' which hits the theaters here next week.

It wasnt until she started talking about one of Bruce’s movies, that I realized she was in fact talking about Willis because she really likes his acting. She told me about this movie she had seen many many years ago, where Bruce was running around on glass...and he was bleeding...and being vulnerable. And she told me that was the moment when she really took a notice to him, - and how she had 'kept an eye' on him ever since. The movie she was talking about was of course the first Die Hard, -to those of you who are from another planet, and this sparked a whole conversation about classic action hero’s and movies. It was eventually decided that Die Hard was the most believable of the big action flicks of the 80s while “the Terminator is of no interest, and Rocky cant speak properly”.

I dont know many people of my grannys generation who love action movies...but Im thinking I should take her to the theater next weekend and watch 16 blocks. After all, not everyone gets to have such a cool granny.

Exam season (not to be confused with spring)

2006-05-24T23:45:00.000+02:00

The shattered water made a misty din.
Great waves looked over others coming in.
And thought of doing something to the shore
That water never did to land before.
The clouds were low and hairy in the skies,
Like locks blown forward in the gleam of eyes.
You could not tell, and yet it looked as if
The shore was lucky in being backed by a cliff,
The cliff being backed by a continent;
It looked as if a night of dark intent
Was coming, and not only a night, an age.
Someone had better be prepared for rage.
There would be more than ocean water broken
Before God's last Put out the Light was spoken.

Robert Frost

Yes you guessed it correctly! I am studying for my Oceanography exam...and I am very bored...-and uninspired. 2 weeks and 2 exams to go before I can start enjoying this season called summer. I hope those of you who are also studying, are doing better than me.-May A's flourish!

Ive updated the photoblog with some pictures from the constitution day..that will have to do for now. I have to go be a good student...or atleast try.

Happy summer to those of you who dont go to school. -And dont get lost or sick in India to those who get to travel soon.

Spring and creatures

2006-05-10T12:35:00.000+02:00

Spring has finally come to Bergen.

I realized this the other day when a confused and groggy bumblebee crashed into my forehead. Ive always been amazed by bumblebees...their anatomy does not suggest they should be able to fly. But they really are cute...especially right after they've woken up from hibernation. I have no idea how many times Ive had to duck or jump to the side, just to avoid frontal collision with a bumblebee. They fly wherever they want, whether you are standing in their way or not. -Not because they are arrogant, but because they have no idea how to turn.

Wasps on the other hand are vicious and evil creatures, put on the planet to terrorize happy and content human beings drinking lemonade and ice tea in the heat. Although I have to admit Ive never been stung by a wasp...-as far as I know... I still fear them. My baby sister had a nice plan for saving the world as a kid. She was about 2 years old and decided she could de-wing all the wasps. She would pluck their wings off when they were resting in the shadows on the ground in the middle of the day...sometimes she would amputate their legs as well...Surprisingly enough she only got stung once, for which she mumbled; "ouch" while looking at her finger. Tough kid indeed. Although her plan clearly failed, it was a good initiative.

Along with the bumblebees and the wasps, the warm weather also brings out my archenemy. The queen of all feared beings (for me anyway); the spider . And I am at this very moment looking at the mother bitch of all spiders outside my window...Many have wondered why I have such an irrational fear of spiders but I have been through ordeals that most will never experience, and few realize how lucky they actually are in life...I have never been bitten by a spider, I honestly dont think we have many species that do bite in Norway, although I know we have a few, cause my high school teacher told me about a time he got bitten and his hand swelled up...but personally I have never physically been scarred by a spider. Mentally however is a different story.

I was tortured once.

It was my second year at the university. I had zoology as a chosen subject and we were at an excursion that took place over 5 days. I thought it was going to be a nice trip with forest hiking and sunbathing by the fjord, but in reality we were shipped off to a zoology concentration camp...

5 students were packed into one room with one tiny bathroom that had a shower over the toilet. Breakfast was every morning from 7-7.30...and if you were late, you could kiss goodbye to lunch, as lunch had to be made during breakfast. The entire day from 7.30 to 5pm was spent in the field…be that a forest/meadow/salt march etc...which would have been nice, had it not been for all the slave work we were forced to do. At 5pm we would return to the camp, and we (if we were lucky) had 30 minutes to get ready for dinner (imagine 5 students fighting over a toilet shower....6 minutes each). Dinner would end at 6-6.15 and thats when the real torture started. Thats when it happened...what made me so afraid of spiders. We were forced to spend the next 3 hours staring into all 8 eyes of different spiders and draw them and determine species. The first time was ok....the second was ok...but after having stared into the eyes of several individuals at a period of 3 hours each day for 5 days...You will get scarred. You will have nightmares. You will never be the same again...

I thought I liked spring...now Im not so sure anymore. I think what I need is a personal spider squasher...and by that I mean a man.

Happy spring everyone.

http://www.bumblebee.org/

Spring outside my window

Hangs head in shame

2006-04-30T23:43:00.000+02:00

I just realized that I havent updated my blog in months! Ive been a bad...very bad blogger. My excuse is life. Sooo busy...sooo many things to do...so few hours in every day. Uni has been a bitch, one exam down 2 to go. And this thing called "friends"...has required a lot of attention as well. Good thing I love having the friends-thingy around. Theres nothing like a good party amongst fun people.

I would write something silly and completely uninteresting right now, had it not been for my sneepy eyes and heavy hands...Ive updated the photoblog...and I plan to update the movie blog...and a decent (or at least semi-decent) entry in this one should be in the works...but right now its sleep-time.

Uh oh! Getting sneepy...

Sov godt.