Not quite The Spectator Essays

Advanced maths

2009-12-17T21:12:00.003-01:00

Fifteen 12-year-old boys finish 8 pizzas in approx 6 mins 34 secs. Each pizza is divided in 12 slices.

a) how many slices per boy per second?

b) how much football cake can they possibly eat after that?

dies

2009-12-16T07:16:00.002-01:00

I was in England recently, London, to be precise. There was this concert... And I'll leave you to guess... :)

Reading - and readers

2009-08-10T19:23:00.002-01:00

I think I've become a horrible reader. I didn't use to be, in fact - one of my favourite authors once signed his book for me by saying "I wish I was as good at reading as you are" (this wasn't the first time he signed a book for me)!

When I was in school, especially up till I turned lazy teenager, I would read a book a day. At least. At 11 I was let out to the town library once a week when my classmates went to the school library - I had read all the books there.. (No, not the encyclopaedias from A-Z (or A-Å as it were!), but you get my drift!)

I consumed books. (Not having five children did mean more sparetime...) Some I found enchanting, some horrible, some funny, some unbearably sad - but it was always about the book, the story, the characters, somehow.

Now, I don't know. Lately it seems my liking for the characters completely decide whether I like the book or not. Example - I really didn't like The Kiterunner. At all. "Everyone" says it's fantastic and amazing and possibly the best book ever written and so on and so forth. But I ... Well, firstly, when I'm told by masses of people to read a book, I rarely do. (Except when recommended by favourite authors, in person, of course!) But this one I did. And for 2 reasons I decided I didn't like it - I didn't like the main character, he was a coward and a liar; and secondly, after a while I could guess the entire rest of the book, give or take a detail or two, but on the whole - no surprises. At. All...

But does that have to mean it's a bad book (no pun intended)? I mean - the language was flowing, I obviously felt the characters were extremely true to life, as I disliked one of them so much? So perhaps it was actually a brilliant book?

I don't know anymore... What makes a book a good read? That you want to read more of the same author / about the same characters? That you can't put it down once you've started reading? That it'd be worthwhile reading again?

I'll just keep reading until I find out - and beyond.

bloggers come to life!

2009-08-04T21:34:00.004-01:00

On 3rd March 2006, at 01:00, I posted a quiz I'd made, about me (selfishly!). There were a few comments, and one was from a new blog friend / bluddy / blogling -

At 19:05, kimananda said...

Hey, considering I don't actually know you, I'm pretty pleased with myself! Now, I'm off to look around your clearly very hyggelig blog a bit more... :-)

We visited each other's blogs from then on, Kim and I, and at some point figured we should get together! After all, she lives in Copenhagen and it's not _that_ far away.

Well, it took us more than three years, but last weekend Kim and her daughter got on the boat, travelled right here, and we got to spend a day together! Here we are in all our splendid togetherness... It was wonderful meeting live (though we blog less, these days, and hang out more on facebook) - and it surely won't take us another 3 or 4 years to meet again!

one of those mornings...

2009-03-27T08:29:00.004-01:00

I woke up this morning... Which in itself is good, considering the alternative! But I crave my few minutes alone in the shower to wake up. So, three kids up while I'm grabbing the shampoo is not ideal. Same three kids demanding me to find them clean clothes, that apparently being impossible for 8-year-olds to manage themselves, I had to muster up enough motherly spirit to do just that. Then dry off...

One of the 8-year-olds actually managed to find clothes alone. Go figure.

Now, there was to be another blow to the general well-being of the world, as it were. Jakob woke up. And before I knew it, and had said hello, he was back in bed, furious! Yesterday, he'd lost his first molar. Quite unexpected

ly, but he was very pleased about it. So, as tradition has it, we put the tooth in a glass of water, and waited for the tooth fairy to visit...*

*) Jakob is 11, he doesn't believe in the tooth fairy. But he likes it that way still...

And we the tooth fairy had forgotten to visit! He refused to get out of bed. I said 'maybe we can coax the tooth fairy to visit the kitchen...' and took the glass upstairs. Then realised I had no cash... So, instead of making breakfast, as I'd usually do around then, I had to sneak around and see if any of the kids had any money I could borrow. Found it! And if you're wondering - the current rate for first molar, plus extra for late payment i

s NOK 50 (a little over €/£ 5, or $ 7.5)...

So, time for breakfast, right? Nooo... It turned out, as I was making the beds - one of the kids had had an 'accident' that night. Tried covering it up with the duvet, resulting in everything being wet. Even the pillow... So I had to drag it all to the washing machine, undress the child in question, as clothes ha

d mysteriously appeared on said person's body (no names mentioned!) without my help earlier, and give said child a proper washdown. So much for independence...

Finally, breakfast. Which on Fridays include yoghurt. Hurray! Note to self: yoghurt on trousers and socks and floor comes off more easily if not hurled by the gallon. *sigh*

And it has started snowing again.

How was your morning?

This is why I'm going to England in the summer...

2009-03-26T06:48:00.001-01:00

Everything is amazing, and nobody is happy...

2009-02-26T08:12:00.003-01:00

When I was little we didn't even have a rotary dial - we just wound the phone up and were put through to the operator...

This guy makes a lot of sense! And yes, I still think technology is pretty amazing! :D

What's in one's nature

2008-12-22T09:25:00.005-01:00

Last night hubby and I was at a gospel concert, Oslo Gospel Choir, very christmassy event, and they're very good! The concert hall was chock-a-block - for the third time that day ( = 1,600 x 3), so you could say they're rather popular...

Sometime in the middle of all this singing and rejoicing, the conductor told us of a "gospel church" in Chicago that he's visited on a number of occasions. And asked us to participate a little more - urging the soloists on, that kind of thing. And we weren't asked to go out there and be outrageous, or anything like this, just clap a little more spontaneously and at "odd" times :)

Now, I will remind you, good people, that this was all happening in Norway. And for Norway, the audience was excellent - ecstatic, almost. But now - participating more? Even though I wanted to, I found I couldn't do it. I mean, really couldn't. It was impossible _and_ embarrassing. Though I was happy enough that other people were at it, wholeheartedly!

It were as if I'd been asked to walk on my hands. Naked.

Every reason I couldn't do it...

And it wasn't like dancing - I really couldn't dance to save my life, but secretely I wish I could - this was different, I really had (and still have!) no idea how to do it or what to do or when or...

I guess it just isn't in my nature...

(Drawing: Erich Heckel, Handstand (Acrobat), 1916)

Me Me Me

2008-12-20T22:10:00.005-01:00

A meme I stole from Sam. No, really, it's ages since I did one, isn't it? The basic idea is that there are questions and you have to answer them in one word. We'll say how I fare...

1. Where is your cell phone?

Pocket

2. Where is your significant other?
Kitchen

3. Your hair colour?
Greying

4. Your mother?
Travelling*

5. Your father?
Travelling*

6. Your favourite thing?
Laughing

7. Your dream last night?
Vague

8. Your dream/goal?
Freedom

9. The room you’re in?
Livingroom

11. Your fear?
Spiders

12. Where do you want to be in 6 years?
Here

13. Where were you last night?
Home

14. What you’re not?
Childless

15. One of your wish-list items?
Rufus

16. Where you grew up?
Lofoten

17. The last thing you did?
Bake (!)

18. What are you wearing?
Jeans

19. Your TV?
Off

20. Your pet?
Dead

21. Your computer?
Loved

22. Your mood?
Improving

23. Missing someone?
Sometimes

24. Your car?
Garage

25. Something you’re not wearing?
Hat

26. Favourite store?
iTunes

27. Your summer?
Crete

28. Love someone?
Several

29. Your favourite colour?
Blue

30. When is the last time you laughed?
Recently

31. Last time you cried?
Recently

*) Not together, of course ...

Help!!!

2008-12-18T20:54:00.001-01:00

A short film made at school by my oldest son Jakob and one of his mates. Not bad at all for two 11-year olds, methinks!

Seriously funny

2008-12-07T15:48:00.001-01:00

I found it over at Josh and Josh's place!

See more Jack Black videos at Funny or Die

The outcome was decidedly blue...

2008-11-06T07:29:00.004-01:00

Luckily...!

But on a distinctly bluer note... Amidst all voting & rejoicing for Obama, California voted FOR prop 8, and thereby making gay marriage illegal again - after it was only legalized in May this year. Though it hasn't been finally decided yet, there's even a chance this will have retro-active effect, thus rendering marriages from these past months null and void!

This morning I felt hungover. I felt sick. What if it was suddenly decided that 'all marriages from 1996 [yes, I'm that old...] are hereby declared null & void!' -- "and while we're at it, you can never marry again either, except with somebody else, whom we choose. Mwahahaha!"

Hence the sentence that's been numbing my brain since I woke up this morning... "The outlook was decidedly blue..." I wish there was a way that this would end on a happy note, just like the song!

But as I walked through the foggy streets alone
It turned out to be the luckiest day I've known (...)

the age of miracles hadn't passed!

Black to start

2008-11-05T08:06:00.002-01:00

I play backgammon on my mobile a lot, especially going to and from work. The phone always has the white pawns, I'm black. When starting a new game, the programme will always inform me "you're black". Then, after the dice have been cast, it 99% of the time says "white to start".

This morning it said "You're black. Black to start."

CONGRATULATIONS OBAMA!!! And thank goodness for sensible Americans :D

The Guys from the Caravan

2008-10-30T10:49:00.006-01:00

New favourites - a Lisbon band:

My friend Daniel has designed their CD cover & sleeve, which is how I found them - and they're worth listening to! Proper feelgood music. You can find out more here!

Another "dear blank"

2008-10-22T10:10:00.002-01:00

Dear Mathias

I'm sorry I couldn't hold your hand going to school this morning, but with five children and only two hands it just wasn't your turn.

I'm also sorry I yelled at you, even though you stayed behind and made me run back to get you. There was enough time and all you really wanted was to hold my hand.

So sorry!

mum

Nightmares IV

2008-10-16T07:39:00.000-01:00

This is the classic one. I dreamt it years ago, but I remember it vividly. Now, I've read somewhere that we only ever dream in black & white, but this was so distinctly black & white - like an old movie, so different from my other dreams / nightmares - I have come to the conclusion this was an exception.

It even had a soundtrack. Cue Mafia music...

We're in a stable. Large one. (Very Godfather-like, actually, only I had never seen Godfather at that time, and had actually never even been to a stable - but anyway...) I'm not there - luckily! There are two guys there. One is just hanging around, it seems, chatting. He carries a rifle, but that seems to be part of the job. There's nothing dramatic about the scene. The other one is preparing to have a bath in an old zinc tub.

All the time they're chatting idly - possibly they're brothers. Or working partners. Or something of the sort. The bather gets into the tub, sits down on his knees. Or stands on his knees, more precisely, there's no room to sit. (The tub's on a table, just like in this photo...)

Change of angle - the camera man (who must have been there, anyway, this is my nightmare!) goes past the first man to get a good shot at the bather. His friend puts his rifle down. Picks up an axe and goes over to the tub.

Loud music. Very dramatic all of a sudden.

The man with the axe says something, we can't hear him for the music, but the bather looks a little surprised. Then his puts out his cigarette, smiles friendly (really!) and plunges the axe into the bather's left thigh. Thick, red, curdling blood trickles out. (You'd expect it to pour out, but it didn't. Was too thick.) But that's not what woke me up. Not the blood, or the shock of 'why?'.

The music died the instant the axe was lifted and it was his scream, the bather's insane cry of pain that woke me up. I can hear him still.

The Aging Meme

2008-10-15T15:09:00.000-01:00

From EllasDevil
Rules: All you have to do is either finish the sentence or fill in the blanks...

At a certain age women should: stop trying to look 17.
At a certain age men should: start shaving their ears!
When I was a kid I thought I: would be world famous by now...
Now that I am older I wish: that I'll stay un-famous!
You know you are too old to party when: there's football on TV and it's a lot more tempting.
You know you are too young to retire when: your mortgage is still larger than your house.
When I was in high school I listened to the music of: U2, Sting and de Lillos.
Nowadays I find I like the music of: Rufus Wainwright - U2, Sting and de Lillos :)
On my last birthday I: probably had too much cake and a sugar rush, 'cause I can't remember anything...
On my next birthday I want to: be surrounded by friends and family! (Wait, I think I was last year too..?)
The best birthday present I ever got was: one of many - which one to choose!
The first time I felt grown up was: when I could admit to my own flaws without flinching.
The last time I felt like a kid was: today, around lunch. And yesterday. And ...
When I read "Roots" by Alex Haley (at 12) it changed my life.
Last year was: surprising!
Next year I hope: the world hasn't changed too much.

randoms

2008-10-15T08:53:00.005-01:00

Ireland's President is in town - Oslo is full of Irish flags, and flowers in Irish colours - I love it!

And Monday Martha Wainwright was in town! (Yes, she's Rufus' sister, but her music is her own!) Her concert was truly amazing - what a voice! You can see her perform on her own blog, if you want a sample... And afterwards, there was a meet & greet. See, we're practically sisters ! And yes, that's an R.E.M. T-shirt I'm wearing...

Quote of the day (18)

2008-10-13T12:23:00.006-01:00

Been listening to Tom Lehrer a lot lately, like (re-)discovering a fountain of youth! Amongst his many nice and accurate quotes is this gem:

Life is like a sewer - what you get out of it depends on what you put into it!

Insanity streak

2008-10-12T09:33:00.001-01:00

Or insanity vein, rather!

Thursday the Manchester International Festival revealed its 2009 programme, which includes (to no surprise for some of us...) Rufus Wainwright's new opera Prima Donna. Friday tickets went on sale at 10 AM GMT.

At 9 AM (GMT) there were a lot of us anxiously waiting for it to open, typing messages to and fro as we did so, and laughing hysterically at anything. Really, you had to be there! (And you were, I guess, at least had the opportunity to, as this insanity went online...) Then it turned 9:58 - lines were open!

... For about half an hour or so, noone spoke (or "spoke", as it were), then messages started trickling in, where they'd got seats and so on. Neither of my browsers (Explorer and chrome) would let me do the final bank confirmation (aaaaaaaarghhh!!) so even though I got to reserve seats a number of times, I just couldn't buy them.

Panic time.

Then ... One of the boardies had bought too many! I got just the ones I wanted :) And then insanity really hit - all of us ticket holders screaming (silently, online) and shouting of gleeee!

So much joy - and then we're all meeting up at the opera - next July...

Yes. I'm planning next year's summer already, and it does not include my family - but involves almost all of my "online family". It's not just the music. Or the man. It's what he means - and that's more than you might think or guess, even. If you have a look at these posts you'll know how someone's lives have changed forever! And if that's not insane, I don't know what is! :)

Nightmares III

2008-10-12T07:25:00.000-01:00

This one could be (or possibly was!) cut out from an American B-movie about the civil war. It's raining... We're all outside, ploughing or some such thing. There's mud everywhere. I'm just a child, but I'm working too. We're talking about how noone will come to our assistance, it's too dangerous. Everything's a little unclear at this point...

Then a stranger walks up to us. A soldier, with a full beard. He tells us he's the only backup we'll have, no others volunteered.

Then the others appear. An enemy troop. Some neighbours scuttle off into the woods or elsewhere, the rest of us go inside. The house is quite big, and has a huge basement. Metre-thick brick walls. We go into the den. Around it, somehow (it's a dream, after all...), is thick mud. We can walk through it, breathe in it and see through it -- and so can the enemy, but they can't see us while we're in the mud.

The downside is, our weapons don't work in the mud, but theirs will... Everyone goes into the weapon room, shut all doors and wait for the enemy to break down the doors. Everyone but me, that is. I stand outside (in that mud moat, remember?!) and watch them come nearer. There are lots of them. We're just a handful. And it's only a matter of time before they're through.

I'm only 8. And I realise my entire family, my friends and myself will be tortured and killed, lying face down in mud and blood, before nightfall.

---

I swear, I only ever read happy books and think happy thoughts, so what are these??

Nightmares II

2008-10-07T07:16:00.000-01:00

This may not sound as a nightmare to you, but try replacing Rufus Wainwright with one of your ideals, or a family member / friend you really appreciate... (Incidentally, one morning I told the kids I had woken up early because I had a nightmare - "did Rufus miss a note?" Jakob asked. Cheeky kid ;)

------

- I'm at a gathering, a café, perhaps? There are loads of us, I think we've all just been to a Rufus concert, we're all big fans, and we're having a wonderful time. One of the other 'boardies' pull me aside and wants to tell me what he does for a living. He's been on the board for a long time, so I feel in awe he wants to talk to me.

He pulls my arm a little harder, pulls me a little closer (I know he's not hitting on me, like a good portion of the male boardies he's gay, but still it's a little awkward). Then he tells me he's a Rufus impersonator. I find it a little hard to believe, he's not exactly the spitting image, but he goes on to elaborate. And though I can't remember the details when I wake up, I know he told me how he infiltrated everywhere that Rufus goes, all the people Rufus see -- and does an excellent job at being a bad Rufus.

In short, I realise that before long, Rufus will lose his career, his boyfriend, his fans and - worst of all - his ability to compose. And I wake up in a sweat, out of breath, and literally nauseous.

---------

Why do all these mad people show up in my dreams?

with feet bigger than me, but...

2008-10-06T11:11:00.000-01:00

Jakob is almost 11. He's a big boy, tallest in his class. I inherit his shoes now... He's also big brother of four, and - when he puts his mind to it - helpful to both them and us.

So sometimes I almost forget -

- that he says 'Aaaah' when he pauses his tooth-brushing to spit - it's from we used to brush them and he had to signal us somehow.

- that he thinks about bad things at night and can't sleep. Like the dead bird we found outside (we buried it in a box, with lots of flowers, and the print "thank you for being so sweet, little birdie, fly safely to heaven!"), or a polar bear that didn't catch a seal (we watched it on TV), or anything bad that could happen to either of us...

- that he needs to sit on my lap and cuddle too, even if he's big and strong and the others beat him to it...

Still he reminds me of these things, still he tells me what he feels and what he needs. I hope he will always do that!

Life wouldn't be half as much fun without!

2008-10-06T06:51:00.006-01:00

It's half time. Liverpool's 2-0 down. Hubby's away, but Jakob (10) and I have been 'watching' the game**). We're really grumpy... Jakob half blames one of his brothers for the defeat that seems to be unavoidable - after all, didn't the brother just laugh? Unrelatedly, possibly, but still - laugh, at this hour?!!

"Why did I become a Liverpool fan?!!!" Jakob exclaims - in real agony!

As if it wasn't enough, Ronnie just played the final of Shanghai Masters and lost. Just. It's that kind of day.

I yell at the kids for making too much noise (they're not, not really) and decide to start changing the linen. Only I can't, can I, I have to hit the refresh button every two minutes (or more) to see if there could be hope, if a text won't just ...

55 minutes - it's a goal! Torres! That wonderful Spaniard... Jakob and I look at eachother and hold our breaths. More breath-holding as City (today's enemy!) has one player sent off at 67 minutes. 73 minutes - another goal! Torres again!! I have to go down and get towels for the kids in the bath, but my mood is better and I don't tell them off for yelling (they are!)...

Skrtel (our man) has to be carried off the pitch at 86 minutes and we're down to 10 man as well. 6 minutes added time - and then Kuyt!! WE WIN!

"That's why I'm a Liverpool fan!!!" Jakob cries with glee, as we embrace eachother.

How dull must life be if you don't like football?

**)We haven't got the right TV channels for it, so 'watching' means following the live text on bbc or the Guardian or some such place!

Nightmares I

2008-10-01T09:54:00.006-01:00

I'm in a big city. (Probably American, and inspired by all the police series I actually don't watch, but that are inevitably advertised in between the football matches I do see...) It's late, I hear sirens, and I'm thinking of the number of recent murders in the city. Evidently I'm some kind of detective. I turn a corner, and there he is - the serial killer we've been hunting for weeks! A woman in his arms still, dead no more than a minute. Strangled by him. Then he turns to look at me, slowly. It's my father! He smiles at me and says "this was no. 40. Happy 40th, my dear!"

- I wake up with a pounding heart, and for 10 minutes I can't think straight. My father, though no saint, has always been nice to me and a good friend. And now, a raving lunatic... I see my whole life go to pieces! Eventually I realise it was just a dream.

Gee, who'd have thought turning 40 would be that scary, huh?

Hilarious!

2008-10-01T09:46:00.002-01:00

And sadly, rather accurate...

R.E.M. in Oslo!

2008-09-04T11:42:00.004-01:00

And I was there. More importantly - Mike, Michael and Peter were there, without whom it wouldn't have been so much fun. And it was great! But first there was The Disciplines. Norwegian band with Ken Stringfellow added. They were playing as we entered and may have been good, but I wasn't really paying attention.

The Editors followed. Now, I might have gone to see The Editors even without R.E.M. - they've got some great songs - and a very cute drummer (Ed Lay) ...

(I digress, as usual...) As it were, I couldn't quite lose myself to (or in) their music, the fate of any support band, I suppose!

And then R.E.M. entered the stage... It was a grand night! I have no great zoom lens, but rather sharp elbows, so managed to be as close as 2 ft away from Michael (Stipe!) at one point... Their setlist, and a rather excellent review of the whole evening - provided you read Norwegian - can be found at Helene's blog, where you can also see snippets of songs. I recorded some too but have been too ~~lazy~~ busy to upload them so far.

A fabulous mix of new and old songs, an excited crowd (for Norwegians, ie. there were even hips moving) and a little banter in between songs ...

- "I know you hear this all the time, but you really are such a beautiful people!"

- "I heard you've got gay marriage over here, that's great! You get gay marriage, we get ... John McCain... We really, really, REALLY hate our government"

But we love you, R.E.M.! Can't wait till you get back next time!

Our view

2008-08-15T19:33:00.001-01:00

for three weeks.

I wept like a baby when we were leaving. Can you blame me?

Meet Humphrey

2008-08-14T21:16:00.003-01:00

He may well be my new best friend. He's a week old today, and he already recognises me by my fingerprint. (Which possibly everybody else have been doing for years already, but I just love it!) Summer came, I quit my job, and our old computer died. That being said - we left for Crete shortly after (posts will follow...) and I'm realising I haven't really missed online life (!). Sure, I've checked emails on my mobile. Emails, and the gossip & transfer columns from English Premier League...

Now I'm back online I'm scaringly indifferent. Still... This is the 8th week of holidays, though, I'm sure next week's return to school (kids) and work may bring out the need to yet again stay up half the night to hammer away at a keyboard. Right, Humphrey?

Not quite dead...

2008-06-12T21:29:00.004-01:00

Today I've been baking. A lot. And will do some more baking tomorrow. I haven't decided to become a baker, but tomorrow there will be 4 brand new 8-year-olds in the house (and in the world, at that!), so naturally - there will need to be a constant flow of cakes! And lots of family coming to celebrate with us.

Saturday we'll be "celebrating" by going to a music festival in Oslo and see Rufus Wainwright (and others) - first time for the kids! They're quite looking forward to it, actually - to see this strange character that has their mother going all gooey... And to celebrate Rufus (?) - or life, actually - Norway has just passed a new marriage law, finally establishing equal rights for everyone, no matter who you love!

That's all folks, I'm off to finish my baking session for the night...

Norway's national holiday today!

2008-05-17T15:16:00.001-01:00

Today was 3 degrees C and rain. We didn't stay outside long after the parade... Even the smallest town has a children's parade like this - Oslo has a big one, walking past the palace (the royal family waves at the passers-by for hours on end...) - and the weather is no excuse! But last year wasn't too bad, here's a sample :)

After the parade this year we went home, put all the kids in the new tub (kingsize...) and had cakes and ice cream at home... Same, same, but different ...

Perspectives

2008-05-06T08:45:00.002-01:00

My friends were beyond themselves because I picked them up at the airport, took them through Ikea and other shops and on to their new home in this country.

I just felt honoured that of all their friends, I was the one who got to do all this!

My friends tell me I'm brave, courageous even, for quitting my job and "roughing it" as a freelance translator.

I just feel a coward for not being able to stay in a 9-4 job...

My family tells me how great it is I signed up for this exam, and how well I will do!

I just feel apprehensive about the whole thing, and a little bit ashamed too, for leading people on to thinking I will actually stand a chance.

My friends and family tell me how great I look after losing so much weight!

I just glance in the mirror and can't picture that posing in a bikini in a few weeks time...

My common sense tells me that blogging, facebooking, groupie-ing (read: Rufus!) are for kids.

I'm too busy blogging (ok, maybe not lately...), facebooking and groupie-ing to notice.
But my friends and family seem to agree that life's ok! And knowing that in a few weeks time THIS will be home - even if only for 3 weeks - who am I to disagree?

Apparently this is what I like to do!

2008-04-29T23:14:00.000-01:00

I stole this off Sam's. The only rule is - google "[your name] likes to" and see what you get! "Scholiast likes to" didn't have any hits, though, so this was originally with my (other...) name :)

Scholiast likes to show off and spend money like she has it
Scholiast likes to crack the whip when it comes to rehearsals but at least she's making sure you look like professionals
Scholiast likes to have a manicure, pedicure and facial with skin care
Scholiast likes to play long flowing lines, but Chicago's fans would hardly know it
Scholiast likes to take a well-earned break and perform for large crowds of "grown ups" at the Big Hoo-Haa!
Scholiast likes to shop for England And loves wine
Scholiast likes to curl up with a little cider and her address book for some correspondence
Scholiast likes to write stories
Scholiast likes to do all of the big stuff and then when it comes to the aftermath thinks its ok for the characters to fade into the background
Scholiast likes to call me

I wonder who "me" is...

sick, but not tired

2008-04-25T16:05:00.002-01:00

I'll admit to it straight - I'm no big fan of vomit. Usually it's hubby does the dirty work, I clean the kid and find a new pyjamas (this kind of thing tends to happen at night).

Wednesday night it was Filip. And Thursday morning... Thanks to the wash-hands-every-second/stay-away-from-Filip/change-every-towel-Filip-has-touched-regime, the others seem to be unscathed. Yet... Thursday night he seemed fine, though, and Friday morning he was up with the others, breakfasting. Then...

For your tender hearts' sake I'll skip the details, let's just say it involved a great deal of detergent. And yes, another clean pyjamas. Moreover, hubby's away with his job and I had to do all the dirty work as well...

And tonight... This is what made me sad. The 2nd graders have THE night of the year - they're staying over at school! Without Filip, that is... I've baked a cake, the other 3 are safely there (and thrilled about it!) - and the boys in Filip's class had unpacked their sleeping bags under a huge table... I know Filip would have loved to join them. As it is, he said "we also get to stay over in 4th grade..."

Makes your heart bleed, doesn't it?

April meme

2008-04-25T15:15:00.002-01:00

I've been tagged (well, sort of...) by EllasDevil for this meme, and why not.

These are the rules:
1. When tagged, place the name and URL of the tagger on your blog. Check
2. Post the rules on your blog. Check
3. Write 7 non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself. Ok?
4. Name 7 of your favorite blogs. I'll give it a go...
5. Send an email/comment on their blog letting them know they have been tagged. We'll see...

Write 7 non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself
1. I check my emails first thing in the morning. Before I shower... The beauty of mobile phones :)
2. I now consider 'ruphoria' and 'rufoxicated' part of my everyday vocabulary
3. I have birthday autism. I don't think that's a word, but if you've told me your birthday, I'll remember it. Or - I would, if you told me before I joined facebook...*)
4. I'm always early - even if I know the person I'm meeting will be late for sure!
5. I can fall asleep even if I just woke up after 8 hours straight. It's a gift...
6. I have a nasty fear of wrought-iron fences. I somehow seem to think that walking alongside one will make me go temporarily mad, and thread one eye down on the fence...
7. I will laugh out loud in public if something's funny, I'm not one to be embarrassed easily!
8. I have a tendency to always think of something else I need to add. To every finished list.

Name 7 of your favorite blogs
If they're in my bloglist, they're excellent! And they're more than 7... Look right!
But this week, look especially to Slap Upside the Head - you figure out why ;)

Now tag someone ...
Yeah, right... Ok, tag, you're it!

Another German invasion!?

2008-04-15T07:11:00.004-01:00

There are German soldiers in the street... Looking strangely familiar - but then I have seen a lot of films from & of the war... (Incidentally, the white building at the top of the photo is where I work.)Now, I'm not that dumb... I realise they must be making a film of sorts (some streets were blocked and parking only by permission by the police - besides, the cameras sort of gave it away...) - but this still gave me the creeps... Closer up ... This is the Norwegian Storting (The Parliament) - and except for the crane, this is just what it looked like back in April 1940...
And a jolly good morning to all of you too! Or should I say - Guten Morgen?

Lately, I've

2008-04-10T21:42:00.005-01:00

- taken to thinking in English. All the time. Which is fine, I'm a trained translator, I can translate it into Norwegian before I speak, so my kids understand me. But it's still sort of ... odd. And I daydream in English. Dream too. I even reason with myself in English. Surely it's not because of this person? - resigned my job. My dream job, remember? It sort of still is. And isn't, because I had to give up my home office. And there's more admin and marketing related stuff to do, less translation. Come summer, I'll be sat at my home office all day long, waiting for something to do. And humming to myself in English, probably...

- started listening to Renoe Alexander, a pastime I can recommend!

- found that I'm not really obsessed at all! I've ~~wasted hundreds of~~ spent a few hours on the RWMB lately, and realised that since I don't travel to four countries in one week to see Rufus I'm not that much of a fan. Really...

- decided to go for an exam that really is way out of my league, but - here's to trying :)

- watched Liverpool march on towards Champions league glory! (I swear, I almost had a heart attack during the last match - with hubby as my witness!)

- missed you guys! I keep thinking of blog posts (thinking in blog posts, even!) but to actually post...

Rufus' English school - part I

2008-03-25T09:17:00.002-01:00

Filip has been listening to Release the Stars a lot lately, and although his spelling leaves something to be wanted, you can't say he's not trying! :) Found this after he left the blackboard the other day.

Life does go on

2008-03-22T18:36:00.005-01:00

I'm not talking about my life, it goes on quite well and there may even be news to follow, but nothing much to blog about (yet).

No, I have been thinking about the couple I wrote about a while back (November?) - where one (50+) seemed happy to be fussing about his husband (60+)? Who seemed to be on his last legs.

Well, he was. He died in February. The obit read:

My dearly beloved husband
and the love of my life,
(...) died peacefully, quietly and
beautifully at home

50+ was back on the boat, commuting, within a week. And this week I saw him smile again...

Edit: Yes, DevilMood, both men :)

Last post from Scotland

2008-02-07T14:52:00.000-01:00

I promise - it's the last for a while... (With facts from our excellent guide.)
The cows, now also in Edinburgh!

The thistle, as you may know, is Scotland's national flower. But did you know it's the Norwegians' fault? This happened a long time ago, and the Scots and vikings were at war. (Well, the vikings were at war with everybody, so why discriminate the Scots?) The Scots had made camp and had gone to sleep, ready for battle the next day. But those sleezy vikings ... they planned to attack at night! Such ungentlemanly behaviour!! The Scots were in luck, though, for two reasons: 1) The vikings didn't wear proper shoes, and 2) The Scottish camp was surrounded by thistles.

You do the maths...

This, though it may look like one, is no window. In the 1690's William III issued a Window Tax, and so people started bricklaying the former window openings - but were made to keep them look like windows for architectural purposes. Many places these have survived!

Leaving Edinburgh - heading north! If you've found your spectacles by now, you may see the Firth of Forth waaaaay over there...

The railway bridge. Quite a few workmen were trapped in one (or more?) "leg" of the bridge during construction. Due to structural defects, perhaps, and possibly the fact that water was so polluted, the workmen would only drink whisky and beer... There was no way of bringing them back to the surface, and in the end, the queen ordered that there be poured poison down the "legs" so the men could die peacefully, rather than starve to death. (Apparently there was enough to drink.) Think of that the next time you pass the bridge - there be bones underneath...

Stirling Castle. Which you may know from Braveheart. (Apparently, there is some historical correctness in the film...)

Up there - and beyond! - that's where The Highlands begin...

Ewan McGregor's home town Crieff. Or the main street, at least.

- And thus ends my Scottish tale!

How do you do, PWP?

2008-02-02T21:03:00.000-01:00

Or, more intriguingly - how do you do it? I know you're out there. I've met a few of you. But I can't for the life of me understand what drives you. Or not, as it were.

Passionately posing for a picture, 1985

Now, I would walk 10 miles afoot, to look at the house of someone who once met Rufus Wainwright's neighbour. I admit it freely, I'm that ~~sad~~ ~~obsessive~~ interested. I would refrain from all other forms of shopping (that used to include food - before I had others to care for...) - for life, if need be - if that enabled me to get tickets to every Rufus, de Lillos, Sting or U2 gig there was - or to as many visits as I'd like to Berlin, Lisbon, Crete... I would give my right hand (and left arm!) for Liverpool to win another cup - let alone the premiership!

Passionately back in Greece! (I was 14 - what can I say...)

I would (and I have, in fact!) spend 8 months passionately wooing my chosen one until he broke down and promised to marry me...

But you, People Without Passion... You wouldn't even go next door to see the first alien-human offspring, would you? You like all kinds of music, you say. Any town you visit is as fine as the next. And caring about football is just plain silly...

I can't help but wonder - do you [not] have fun in the same way? Polite ha-has, no guffawing or even small giggle fits? And relationships, do you really care? "Sure, I loved him, but hey, I'll meet somebody else." Are you for real? Or are you lurking somewhere underneath, quenched by real life, chores and routines, and too weak to find a way out? Are you living, or are you just ... alive?

Being artsy in Edinburgh II

2008-02-02T21:01:00.000-01:00

I was in Edinburgh with my job (easy to forget, as I had plenty of time to roam around on my own!) and one night we were all 'cordially invited to Scottish Evening'. Which was basically a room crammed with people from every corner of the world - including England (they were mockingly insulted all evening)... It all started off with a bagpiper and then a few Scottish songs from the band. The food was nothing to write home about, and so I didn't. After the meal, and after the concert, though, we were finally given haggis to taste. The waiters looked mischievously at eachother while serving, but frankly, that was the best part of the whole evening.

See? I liked it :)
What I didn't like... This probably very nice and charming lady unfortunately didn't join the crew that night to be nice and charming, but to sing... I'm sure she'd been told she had a beautiful voice, and to match it, she changed dresses for every song!

Not that it helped. I was severely disturbed and had to stoop to playing backgammon on my mobile with a colleague to calm my nerves (and hers)... You can hear for yourselves!

Being artsy in Edinburgh I

2008-02-02T20:59:00.000-01:00

These lovely buildings caught my eye, and I walked down to see what they were.Turned out it was the National Gallery Complex, so I stepped inside and had a look around the National Collection. I obviously didn't do a good job at it, 'cause I can't tell you what I saw, but I remember that I enjoyed myself at the time...

Now, the next building - the Royal Scottish Academy Building - was interestingly clad, don't you think? And gallery open until midnight, Saturday night? We all went - it was packed!

Yup, you guessed it, Andy Warhol exhibition. Loved it!

Especially I loved the room full of helium-filled "pillows" (see below). It may look like an ordinary thing, but it was a weird feeling bouncing these pillows up - then watching them slooooowly descend. And repeat... I don't know how long I stood there - we all did, in fact - but it felt like the whole world became serene and calm and that everything was ok... Wonder if Warhol planned for that exact feeling?

The royal mile

2008-01-31T15:24:00.000-01:00

Now, if you like, walk the royal mile with me from Edinburgh Castle. We'll just walk straight out of the gate...

Then have to turn left into the alley to look at this flowerclad house, of course - Ramsay garden - before we continue.

You lazy pig! Just lying around all day...

Poor thing, I guess he couldn't take it anymore... "Pinocchio's now a boy who wants to turn back into a toy..."

How can we resist puns like these! Off the royal mile to the right, a little further down...

There's that piper again, Tony something. We go way back...

Closing in on the Scottish Parliament - and walking past it ...

... now looking back up at it

Another alleyway! Must go and have a look :)
Pretty!And it's stopped raining - that's nice.. (spot the rainbow!)

Queen's gallery, outside the Holyrood Palace (where the queen stays when she's in Edinburgh.) (In the palace, that is, not in the gallery) (I suppose, at least that's what they say. I don't actually know for a fact where the Queen spends her nights.) (Or days, for that matter.)
The gates ...

... and the palace itself.

Look! It's the bagpipe shape of Dynamic Earth! Means we've made it down the mile and more. Great exercise and good fun!

And here we are, looking up at the Salisbury Crags. Thanks for keeping me company!

Incidentally, if you felt this post was a mile long, that was intentional...

Once upon a time

2008-01-31T12:48:00.000-01:00

There was a time when this would cause panic attacks, and I'd instantly google "PST" to find out how much time I'd got...

For many months, now, I haven't even shrugged.

But today... I just noticed this message and found myself googling "PST" again (I never learn, do I).

Could it be I'm back into blogging?

And in case you've mislaid your monocle or pincenez - here's what it says: "Scheduled outage at 4:30PM PST" ...

Writers' museum courtyard

2008-01-30T22:34:00.000-01:00

I didn't actually go into the Writers' museum, it was closing as I got there, but I tried to capture a little of the courtyard feeling. (In fact thinking of my dear bloglings as I did so...)

At the very end of this snippet you can spot this pub. Owned and run by Sean Connery's brother. Apparently he's the spitting image of his more famous sibling, but he wasn't around when I was there, so you'll have to go there yourselves to find proof!

Random facts that you always wanted to know

2008-01-30T22:28:00.000-01:00

About mememe. I was tagged by DevilMood and how could I turn down such an offer...

The Rules:
- Link to the person that tagged you. Check
- Post the rules on your blog. Check
- Share six non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself. Ok, I'll get to it
- Tag six random people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs. We'll see about that...
- Let each random person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their website.

So I get to pick 6 random facts that I think you may not know about me, but don't come running back complaining if you're not shocked or repelled by any of these facts - I promise no such thing!

1) I had one doll as a child, a boy doll, named [same as hubby]. Sadly, the doll was very much neglected for my cars...

2) I sometimes get as far as the lift at work before looking at myself in a mirror (it's inevitable in that lift, they're all around!). Some days I don't look too bad, this morning I had to laugh...3) I have roamed around campus (uni. of Surrey...), pushing my friend in a trolley, while we were both screaming and / or trying to laugh like Eddie Murphy does in that film. (You may have done this too -- but we were sober, and this was in broad daylight. And we weren't even slightly embarrassed. Our friends were, though...)

4) Hubby is my first and only Norwegian boyfriend. And my last :) Before there was a Kenyan, a Dane, a South African, a Greek - and a few English. Very international, me ;) Got a very soft spot for Brits, though - and hubby's a gentleman as good as any of them!

5) I'm not interested in politics. Domestic politics. At all. I vote, but I don't read about it, and I certainly don't read detailed news. I read the sports section..

6) I always finished early on every exam, mock exam etc. I ever had. My university exam in English (in Oslo) was 8 hours, I was finished after 4. (I stayed on another hour and a half not to discourage my friend who would even be writing as she handed the stuff in, but I simply drew stickmen and wrote little poems that I threw away afterwards.) The trick is not to know too much. After 4 hours my brain was drained. I may not have passed with distinction, but I passed with enjoyment...

- And now I'll randomly choose not to tag anyone, except if you really want to, then you're it!

Famous whisky

2008-01-30T20:34:00.000-01:00

Perhaps "cheating" a little, this isn't actually from Edinburgh, but we started out in Edinburgh... And our busride took us within sight of the Highlands! Then turned right and set us off by the Famous Grouse distillery at Glenturret. (Where it turned out they're not actually making Famous Grouse at all, but Glenturret malt whisky, but you could have fooled me...)

(See? Rufus was there with me...)

Loved, loved, loved these little explanatory cartoons...

Note to self: Don't try whisky chocolate mousse and whisky ice cream unless you've started to like whisky. Urggh.. But it did look nice :)

Edinburgh castle II

2008-01-30T09:35:00.000-01:00

The main gate The most spellbinding guide ever to be found! He also took time to enlist some small soldiers...

The castle seems to grow out of rock!

I met my childhood!

2008-01-30T07:04:00.000-01:00

If anyone was watching, they may have found the following scenario slightly peculiar. It happened the other day. I was walking down the pavement towards my boat. A woman came up the pavement. Neither of us spoke, but as we got closer, we both opened our arms wide, and gave eachother a great, big hug. And another. As we hug, there is suddenly summer all around, and I'm about ten years old.

(Do you remember that scene from The Fisher King, where all the people at Grand Central station suddenly started waltzing together, for a brief moment, as our hero was watching his loved one walk past? It was just like that. Only without the music.)

No, I haven't completely lost it...

The woman was a vital part of my childhood summers. Every year until I was twelve, we'd spend summer at this island off the Swedish west coast. Every summer I'd play with this woman's sons and their cousins. I haven't seen her since then, but it was just like we'd never been apart.

And then winter returned, and I had to swish off to catch the boat and get the kids from school.

But we've got a lunch "date". Summer will return!

Media meme

2008-01-23T07:23:00.000-01:00

My week in media - tagged by Sam, who does it so eloquently you should really go over and read his instead. But in case you're still here...

What I read

Hmm. Off to a difficult start, I fear... Well, I did read a few chapters more in Wintersmith - a book I really enjoy, but still haven't got enough time to... And I browse the local paper every day to see if there's anyone I know there. (There usually is. It's that local.) Other? Yes, I've read about half of a book about hiking in Crete (it's in Norwegian - what did you expect of the link? ...) - preparing for the summer! I have serious plans of making the kids walk with me at least to the bay of paradise...

What I watched

TV. Oh, you mean more specifically? Well, I'm sure there were a few football games, but this last week I've actually been watching handball a lot. Really! And I've learnt that it's χάντμπολ in Greek, which is just the same word only with a Greek accent... (The Greeks I asked couldn't remember if there was an actual Greek word for it!)

What I listened to

No, no - I have listened to other music than Rufus too, honest! But yes, quite a lot of Rufus... And quite a lot of de Lillos too - as well as Verdi, Sting, Jamie Cullum -- and some others that just randomly appear when I shuffle - I love it!

What I surfed

The usual - which isn't that much lately, but I stop by the odd blog every now and then. That is - I stop by my friend Børge's blog every day. And Josh & Josh every week... The rest of you? Whenever I can... And I stop by Rufus' message board quite a lot, it's the most friendly place to be! (He's been nominated to the Brit Awards, best male singer, it's not just me...) And how could I forget - Slap Upside The Head - it's priceless! Love the cartoons...

What I’ve played

Playstation! The kids got PS2 for Christmas from granddad and we've been playing FIFA '08 ever since... Filip's the most eager one - the others still well into their nintendos - so I sometimes play with him. He beats me to a pulp every time, of course... And just to keep him on the right track we've decided that if he wants to be Arsenal (he was doing that too much...) he can play for 10 minutes, but if he's Liverpool he can play for a full 40 minutes. Kids need guidance, right?

Edinburgh castle

2008-01-15T08:13:00.000-01:00

1 - from Princes street, 2 - from Princes street garden, 3 - me and Mons Meg, 4 - the view towards Salisbury crags, 5 - up close

If you want to know ~~more~~ something about Edinburgh castle, look up this or this...

Edinburgh - at long last

2008-01-13T18:42:00.000-01:00

A tad late, I'm afraid - I visited Edinburgh in September! But Edinburgh's always worth a visit... And we start off with the accompaniment of a bagpiper outside St. Giles!

Update - more wonders of the internet: After uploading this to youtube somebody found and commented on it. His best friend, it turned out, so now I know this bagpiper is called Tony, and he's now with the House of Edgar Shotts and Dykehead...

The sound of winter

2008-01-04T17:15:00.000-01:00

The day before Christmas (over here that means 23rd) there was still no snow, but frost had settled everywhere, making for a beautiful landscape. And trudging around in our garden the characteristic (to me) sound of winter appeared. You'll hear it too ... shhhh...

End of year meme

2008-01-02T12:31:00.000-01:00

I stole this meme (from devilmood) to get myself started in 2008 (despite this wretched flu).

1. What did you do in 2007 that you’d never done before?
Most importantly, I met a cyber friend in real life. Two, actually. And a lot less importantly, I decided to lose weight and did.

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I didn't have any, and haven't made any for this year either.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
Not that they told me of!

4. Did anyone close to you die?
Nope, luckily!

5. What countries did you visit? USA (San Francisco), Sweden (Gothenburg), Scotland (Edinburgh) and Germany (Berlin). Which reminds me the two latter ones I still haven't posted photos from. Shame on me! I may do something about that...

6. What would you like to have in 2008 that you lacked in 2007?
I suppose I should say that I'd like to be more grown-up and sensible, but I really don't want to!

7. What dates from 2007 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
July 1st - first ever Rufus Wainwright-concert!! And the day my iPod was stolen (not by him, he only took my heart) (I know, that was lame...). October 5th, another Rufus concert and I got to meet him afterwards! And December 3rd, third Rufus concert and 2nd meeting. Obsessed? Possibly a little...

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
I don't know that I've achieved a lot. I haven't been looking to either.

9. What was your biggest failure?
Not even wanting to try a mature approach to life... Kidding! Doesn't feel like a failure ;)

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Nothing worse than this flu. Well, there was sinusitis for a while, but no big deal!

11. What was the best thing you bought?
My new iPod :) (Insurance company paid for it, but I bought it...) Oh, and tickets!! Tickets to go away, tickets to go to concerts... Escapist? Undeniably so...

12. Whose behaviour merited celebration?
Liverpool (for everything they do!), Ronnie O'Sullivan, Rufus Wainwright. Me? Nah...

13. Whose behaviour made you appalled and depressed?
I'm not easily appalled and depressed, although I must say Liverpool has tried a couple of times this year...

14. Where did most of your money go?
My money - tickets, iTunes (somewhere there's a moral streak, yes, I download legally). But our money is going mostly to this extension we're building!

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Rufus! RUFUS! RUFUS! As you will all have heard by now ;)

16. What song will always remind you of 2007?
"Between my legs" by Rufus (who else...) - not just because it's a good song (he's got so many!) but because I know somebody who went on stage with him to perform this song! (And no, it wasn't me..)

17. Compared to this time last year, are you: (a) happier or sadder? (b) thinner or fatter? (c) richer or poorer?
(a) I'm always pretty happy, despite this flu...
(b) thinner, actually, bit of a surprise, that
(c) pretty much the same I guess, I'm not good at keeping count...

18. What do you wish you’d done more of?
nothing comes to mind at the moment, well, I could probably have lived with even more travelling...

19. What do you wish you’d done less of?
procrastinate? although that's pretty pleasurable pastime...

20. How did you spend Christmas?
Family, tons of presents (not for me!), more family, lots of cookies etc. etc. -- i.e. the traditional way

21. Did you fall in love in 2007?
I've felt that heart fluttering a few times, yes, especially around July 1st, October 5th and December 3rd... I'm not forgetting my hubby, I get that for him too still! But not on specific dates...

22. What was your favourite TV programme?
Should I say the one about us? But no, it'll have to be Champions League :)

23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?
I don't hate anyone. ManUre supporters come close, but that's nothing special for 2007 ;)

24. What was the best book you read?
I didn't read that many to be honest, but was impressed by Steven Gerrard's autobiography!

25. What was your greatest musical discovery?
Hmm, now who could that be? ;) I didn't actually discover Rufus in 2007, but I have discovered friends through his fan base, real friends, although I fear I'm a little off topic here? Oh - I did sort of discover Martha Wainwright (yes, his sister...) she's amazing!

26. What did you want and get?
For Christmas? I had a hard time making a list, actually, but I got a lot of stuff that would have been on the list had I remembered to put it there :)

27. What did you want and not get?
as I said, I didn't even know what to wish for... But what did I get without having wished for? Two complete seasons of Nanny - we're laughing & reminiscing every night!

28. What was your favourite film of this year?
Don't think I saw any really good ones, I'm sorry...

29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
In theory I was 39, though going on 17 measured by maturity... My hubby'd made plans that didn't turn out, so we stayed home and had a grand Friday night in instead. (Fridays are our favourite to stay home. Ok, maybe I am 39 after all!)

30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
a ton of money so I could have quit work and followed Rufus around?

31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2007?
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA, oh, ok, sorry, well, I've got quite a few garments off the Rufus collection now, that must surely account for something? Oh - and with my liverbird tattoo I'm properly dressed for every occasion!

32. What kept you sane?
Music. In every aspect.

33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
Now, this is a tough one...

34. What political issue stirred you the most?
erh, I know I should say global warming or something, but that still doesn't stir me as much as does discrimination of people who look or think or act differently than whoever makes up the "rules and regulations". Sigh... They should listen to my kids (read below)!

35. Who did you miss?
I miss my bloglings! I've been such a lousy blogger this year. I mean last year...

36. Who was the best new person you met?
Simon :) We met through Rufus' site and we've visited each other. He's adorable and fun and we're both 17 (mentally) and deeply in love with Rufus, so what's not to love? The kids loved him too - and not simply because he brought gifts from the official Liverpool shop (although that was very popular!)

-- as Filip said; "his English is very good, and he's nice, and he's awfully cool..." Incidentally, this has lead to my kids saying that gay people are just like the rest of us, only a lot cooler. We can live with that concept :)

37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2007.
valuable life lesson? At 17? I don't think so...

38. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.

"there's a river running underground, underneath the town towards the sea,
That only I know all about
On which from this city we can flee"

- So you see, I can take you away from here! Let's escape again...

Do I disappoint me?

2007-12-12T10:41:00.000-01:00

I still feel alright about me. But I also feel trapped in a song from Chess...

I finally got the tattoo I've been wanting* - yay! And Liverpool celebrates it too by marching on in Champions League... (Yes, DevilMood, so did your beloved Porto!)
I've lost 13 out of the 14 kilos I said I wanted to lose - yay! And I plan to continue...

I'm also still with the man of my dreams (who not only tolerates my crush on Rufus, but finds it rather amusing so helps me keeping it up...) and we've got the lovely bunch of kids we wanted.

I'm still at that job I always wanted - yay!

And we've even booked our summer holidays in Crete next summer, where this will be our view for 3 weeks (except that I'll be under the sea most of the time...):

So why are these the lines now almost continually running through my head, like a muttering;

Now I'm where I wanna be
and who I wanna be
and doing what I always said I would and
yet I feel I haven't won at all!

Could it be I somehow feel I had the makings for even more? What could possibly be more?

I still haven't figured this one out, may take some time...

* go to no. 36 ...

and again!

2007-12-07T14:36:00.000-01:00

Rufus in Oslo, April 3rd Afterwards, we waited for Rufus to come out (no pun intended!)
First there were the bandmembers - here Cameron,
Si with Louis, Me with Gerry Leonard (used to play with Bowie!) -

and then...This time! Just a handful of people waiting, and Rufus took his time with us... And wondered if we'd followed him from Berlin!
Rufus and Simon (yes, Si, you do look like the happy couple!)

--- and the concert was fabulous too, yes, thank you very much for asking ...!

What if ...

2007-11-07T10:37:00.000-01:00

There's a couple I used to see on the boat all the time, both to and from work. They seemed to be working together too, as well as living together - at least they always went off into the same building in town. He is 50+ and a little chubby, He is 60+ and very thin. They always seem to be very much in love, and I know they've been together for ages. (We live in a small place after all...) The past weeks I've only seen 50+ around. I've been thinking they couldn't possibly have broken up? Or he wouldn't look so sane...

Last night I took the boat home and they were both there. 60+ now looking 80+ and fading... If he was thin before he now looked to be straight out of Belsen - and was obviously in pain, he could hardly sit still, but kept clutching his chest. 50+ looked happy though, happy to be pampering him like he always does, getting coffee, carrying his stuff etc.

It could be he's home from an unfortunate appendectomy, still painful but not dangerous. Though he looked more like he'd been sent home to spend what may well be his last days with his loved one... I have no idea.

But I started thinking. What do people do if they lose their loved one? I wasn't even considering how I'd do - that's too painful even to consider! But it happens all the time, I'm sure, and I'm just wondering how people survive? When you've been with somebody for most of your life, when it's obvious you're in a caring sharing relationship and bladiblah ... then what?

What makes you get up the next morning when there's nobody there?

Writing meme

2007-10-25T21:15:00.000-01:00

I'm supposed to mention the qualities of a good writer or good writing, Devil Mood said when she tagged me. (I have avoided reading how she answered the meme, so as not to ruin all my chances of writing something original. Here goes...)

Firstly, I don't know how to separate the two! To me, good writing is what makes a writer great, so I guess it all comes down to the writing. I'll be real subjective here! And short. So I'll stick to books rather than poetry, or plays, even though I enjoy that too. Rufus' lyrics included...

The stories I enjoy reading ... are usually very wordy. And more often than not, quite non-sensical. When we 'had to' do the neoclassical period during my English studies, I was thrilled. Jonathan Swift, Daniel Defoe, Henry Fielding - and not to forget, Addison & Steele's Spectator Essays (sic!) - were all such fun to read! Shakespeare, just the same - Chaucer I adored. Naturalism moved me not one bit, however sad the stories...

Yes, yes, I've read more modern stuff too... I've even read a few classics in my time, I'm sure. But if a writer knows his way with words, he can have his way with me! (It's a metaphor!! No reason to alarm hubby.) I'm the kind of gal who stays up late to fill my fun quota some way or other; busy day at work, quarrelling kids and lots of chores? Well, when everybody (and I do mean everybody else has gone to sleep I stay up, watch fun youtube videos, chat with friends & bluddies, play online scrabble... Until I'm full up.

Few of my current favourite authors are "up there" with the Nobel prize winners (come to think of it, I do read Shakespeare - he would have had one, surely, had he not died before Nobel was born), I love people like Terry Pratchett, P.G. Wodehouse and Douglas Adams. And Lars Saabye Christensen, a Norwegian - but worth reading still. - There are only about 70,000 words in Norwegian, compared with 400,000 in English -- but he seems to know his way around them all!

I've described before I had once had a proper goosebump moment reading a book. I didn't even think the book was all that good after finishing - but that particular chapter had me enthralled. Recently, I had another of those moments, two, in fact. Reading ... Steven Gerrard's autobiography! I know, much as I love his football skills I had never thought he'd stir up such emotion through his writing... I love the guy, loved the book, the language (ok, maybe he had a little help writing? still...) -- but my chills came when he described, in much detail, a couple of games that changed completely when they least expected it. So was it really the writing that did it? Hard to tell...

So, to me good writing is stuff that makes me

a) chuckle

b) laugh out loudc) run for a dictionary (or a number of them)

d) get the chills

e) all of the above

For more objective views on writing, try our book blog - The bluddy list of great novels. (You can even contribute.) Or go read something yourself!

... and then she spake ne'ermore!

2007-10-07T22:31:00.000-01:00

What's on my mind...

2007-09-28T09:40:00.000-01:00

Countdown To Rufus!!!

Bits and pieces

2007-09-18T15:48:00.000-01:00

Now in their 2nd year the kids are supposed to get "individualised" homework. Mathias' reading homework goes something like this:

[drawing of pig] How old can a pig be? A pig can be .. years. (no, it does state the number of years, I just can't remember..) Next page. [drawing of goose] How old can a goose be? A goose can be .. years. Next page. And so on and so forth.

Then, homework done, he continues to read The Hobbit...
*sigh*

Two days ago (16th) my blog was 2 years old! Poor thing, and already neglected...

And two days from now I'll be off to Edinburgh, which hopefully will lead to new updates - at least a few photo posts...

1968

2007-09-12T16:37:00.000-01:00

Devil Mood did a great meme, and I feel so uninspired these days I'm letting her inspire me... The task is simple - type your year of birth and click google images, and voilà! A story to tell. Being born 1968 the difficult part is what not to post. I failed miserably on the leaving out bit...

The Norwegian king-to-be is finally allowed to wed his non-royal fiancée of 9 years. The bridal bouquet... The assassination of Martin Luther King jr.
"Pepsi-cola - the taste that turns you on!" Yeah, right...
And how gay is this? H & M advertisement

The assassination of Robert F. Kennedy

Local council somewhere in Norway. Just look at them...

The riots in Paris!
1968 Cadillac ...
Yeah, it was still the 60's... Jimi Hendrix ruled!

The Beatles released The White Album
The fun people had...
Elvis at his most attractive... This was the year for his "sitdown", dubbed the world's first Unplugged...
.. and not forgetting the Black Power sign by Olympic gold and bronze medalists Smith and Carlos

Vanished? Not without stain remover

2007-08-26T20:50:00.000-01:00

devil mood tagged people like me to the following:
1. Open your library (iTunes, Winamp, Media Player, iPod, etc)
2. Put it on shuffle
3. Press play
4. For every question, type the song that's playing
5. When you go to a new question, press the next button
6. Don't lie

To make a film with a plot like this work, I'll need Orlando Bloom to star as me! But here goes...

Opening Credits: My Vision (Seal)
Waking Up: Beibi (de Lillos) – very sweet song about love-making...
First Day At School: Elskling (de Lillos) – what could have been
Falling In Love: Fragile (Sting) – well, I've been in love with Sting for a long time!
Fight Song: [track 07] (The The) – probably unknown title because I wouldn't fight
Breaking Up: Sne og is (de Lillos) – breaking up with Norwegians it would have to be
Prom: Mysteriet deg (Bjørn Eidsvåg) – extremely romantic...
Life's Okay: Misunderstood (Robbie Williams)
Mental Breakdown: The ubiquitous Mr. Lovegrove (Dead can dance)
Driving: Vienna (the Fray) – ok, I'll get directions from viamichelin right away!
Flashback: This hard land (Bruce Springsteen)
Getting Back Together: Better Man (Robbie Williams) – they always say that...
Wedding: Papa Stone (Jørn Hoel) – was he?
Birth of Child: sanvean (Dead can dance) - way to name your firstborn!
Final Battle: [track 07] (Massive Attack) – as I said!
Death Scene: Mamma (Beckstrøm) – most likely word to shout out, yes...
Funeral Song: I cried for you (Billie Holiday)
End Credits: Where is my mind? (Pixies)

I can't believe no Rufus-songs came out! [pun intended]

*********

And apart from this?

Trips planned: Edinburgh in September (with my colleagues), de Lillos concert in September (with my hubby), Berlin in October with my hubby! -- and see Rufus Wainwright live while we're there! And then Rufus is coming to Oslo in December... Have I got tickets? Duh... (While we're away, the kids will be here, there and everywhere. Hopefully, we'll find them when we get back home...)

Status: one-armed. Well, tendonititical [it's not a word, but it's tangible..], at least. You won't believe the time this epistle has taken me to type.

Status II: 6 kilos lighter than 5 weeks ago. Yay! And not even hungry :)

Status III (continual): Happy! Just extremely unproductive blogwise...

Countdown (how time pressure works)

2007-08-10T15:26:00.000-01:00

Two weeks without hubby & kids - they'll spend 3 weeks at the cabin, I'll be with them the middle week, work the rest of the time. (We have to split up like this for the kids to have a full 7 week holidays.) Last year, in my "grass widow" period, my only task was to vacuum the house. I never got round to it...

This year, my tasks were: clean the house (vacuum and wash), water the plants, change the beds. Oooh... As I had two weeks, I had every thought not to repeat last year's bloomer.

Countdown starts... [- and does not include working hours - when I was actually working, or the hours every night spent sleeping.]

Three-two weeks till the others come home:
Plenty of time to do all my chores!
Action taken: washed & hung the linen. Well, it's a start?!

4 days t.t.o.c.h:
Plenty of time to do all my chores!
Action taken: eat out with a friend and stroll around town with her till nightfall

3 days t.t.o.c.h:
Plenty of time to do everything this afternoon! It will be good to get it over with.
Action taken: washed some clothes. Needed to be done! Duh. Besides, the third book of this enthralling Norwegian trilogy came out that day, so I bought it and read it.

2 days t.t.o.c.h:
Plenty of time to do my chores still...
Action taken: worked late. Went shopping for a birthday present for Rarity. When I got home I vacuumed 1st floor! And then Champions league was on. Had to watch Norwegian RBK thrash Astana (Kazakhstan), didn't I? They won 7-1, it was worth it...

1 day t.t.o.c.h:
Plenty of time to do my chores when I get home.
Action taken: went to see a friend and her gorgeous baby. Left early, because of all I knew I had to do. Then ... I never knew there were so many photos of Rufus I had never seen before. And look at all the books I can add to my facebook bookshelf!

uh-oh. 1 hour of spare time to go (counting 11-12 pm, not counting night or next working day)...

1 hour o.s.t.t.g:
Plenty of time to ...
Action taken: searched the net for Berlin hotels around Alexanderplatz, talked to my friend on the phone and messaged my dear hubby a few times (such multi-capacity!).

0 hours o.s.t.t.g:
No time!
Action taken: see above

- 1 hour o.s.t.t.g:
No time!
Action taken: vacuumed the ground floor! Changed the beds! Hit my bed at 01.55 AM.

8 hours t.t.o.c.h - including 8 hours of work:
Plenty of time to work!
Action taken: work.

6 hours t.t.o.c.h - i.6 h.o.w:
Plenty of time to take an early lunch break!
Action taken: washed both bathrooms. Went shopping for essentials (shop 1 minute away). Really wasn't that hungry anyway.

2 hours t.t.o.c.h - i.2 h.o.w:
Plenty of time to enjoy the sms saying my clan are a little delayed and will be home about an hour later than they thought...
Action taken: well, did you ever. There's snooker on television! Easily combined with work, after I had that quick shower...

And so fare I!

Oh, the plants? Let's just hope they will have plenty of water in the next world, into which they have now wandered...

No reason to sleep, really

2007-07-23T19:39:00.000-01:00

I made this snippet at 1 AM one night, filming the surroundings of our rented flat. No photoshopping, that's the actual light. Of course, you can't see the sun itself in my hometown, the mountains surrounding it's too high - but go on top of them, or out to sea, and you will...

If you'd like to visit the same place in daytime, try this one.

Yes, I know, I was mumbling. Trying not to sound too mad out there ;)

Back!

2007-07-21T21:50:00.000-01:00

... and the only things worth mentioning we forgot to bring north were - my address book (all cards written, but will be sent ... after tomorrow) and all the kids' tooth brushes...

Luckily one of my childhood friends is now a food store manager (or whatever it's called) and Saturday night = closed shop did, of course, not stop her from rushing to our rescue :)

All photos not yet uploaded, but a quick preview! Coming in the harbour of my hometown.

Going up north

2007-07-06T21:05:00.000-01:00

In 24 hours, exactly, we'll be sailing in this harbour. According to the weather forecast, it will stay like this for a while still - hopefully they're right!
Looking the other direction, also at 9 PM, you can see the sun is still high. And it won't set until July 22nd - sunny weather or not...

Haven't been 'home' for three years! Can't wait to be back and breathe properly again...

Rebel prince

2007-07-03T23:04:00.000-01:00

Rufus - what a beautiful child... When you look good in lederhosen there is no limit! (The keenest observers may notice that the shoes he wore with the striped suit are exactly like mine! It must be fate...)

He came in, the band already playing - and released the star for us... I was so close I could count his cavities (didn't see any!), and his sweat - I know, it may not sound delightful, but... The room was sweltering and, well, we were all pretty warm. Or hot, as the guy next to me shouted to Rufus that he was. 'Well, thank you', Rufus said, shyly...

No words can describe a Rufus concert. You must all go out and experience it!

RIP, beloved iPod

2007-07-03T22:27:00.000-01:00

Sunday, while my friend M and I were jubilantly receiving the body of Rufus in Gothenburg, someone broke into our car and stole - my iPod. And M's money, credit cards, keys (to everywhere, basically), driver's licence etc. etc.

I miss my iPod. And the 4,000 songs in it. And the cover Filip had once made for it... I'll get some insurance money back, but not this iPod, of course. M will have her things restored - eventually. But the hassle... And the annoying bit of walking through all of Gothenburg at night only to find the main police station was closed. *Sigh*

Through it all, we were never completely discouraged. I even held my spirits (and eyes!) up while driving home, shipping M off with the 05:30 boat from here and returning home as hubby was getting ready for work... After all, Monday was my first day of holidays.

And Rufus ... was absolutely fabulous!

Powers of modern life

2007-06-30T23:05:00.000-01:00

My mum is in Aegina with her husband these days. (In the sweltering heat. They survive, they stay in the water, I've been told...) And she sends me photos from her cell phone. Instead of just cards (because we still get cards!) we get to see how they are - just this moment. It's pretty amazing, really.
Sunset seems unbelievable, every day...
... and tonight there's a wedding celebration at their hotel, in case you wondered :)

New photographer in town

2007-06-30T22:58:00.000-01:00

Jakob got a mobile phone the other week. Long overdue, if you ask him! And in fact, I think he was the last in his class to get one. Sigh. He's still only 9 1/2... But here's what he can do with it - in addition to texting his friend and downloading songs, which took him all of 2 minutes to learn - taking photographs! For fear of being slightly biased, I think this one's rather good...

Says it all, really

2007-06-26T22:11:00.000-01:00

We stress that our quads are individuals. And they're very different - by appearances and personalities! But somehow, they're glued together differently than other siblings... Last week Mathias and Thomas were going away to some birthday party, and Filip - unusually reflective - stated:

But I belong with them! And they are part of me!

... Before he went back to playing his brand new Nintendo DS Lite and relishing in a little alone time...

This is my life (yeah, I Robbed that)

2007-06-24T23:42:00.000-01:00

It took me 38 1/2 year, but I think I've figured it out now. I think I know what is me. These are all me, at various ages. (Note how the only grumpy face is me in a dress - and a headscarf! What were they thinking... And the only made-up face is from our wedding.) I've always loved being with kids, and having my own (here with Jakob) is no exception.I've always felt alright about me, about life, about what's happening. I tend not to dwell on what's not so good - in fact I actually forget the worst bits, and then I'm truly surprised when others drag old stuff back out again.

There are always things - about myself mostly - that I wouldn't mind seeing changed. I could've been smaller, I could have been calmer around my kids (or they could start listening, it's an option...), I could've spent less time in fron of this screen... But basically, I'm content. In fact, blogging / fooling around online keeps me content. And real life makes it all add up to happy.

It's been like that for a while already. But only recently I've made some sort of self-knowledge. At 38 1/2 it's like I woke up, stopped up, to think - hey, this is me!

This is me. I have done a lot of waiting. I've waited to grow up. I've waited to become slim (pah!). I've waited to somehow fit into 'adult woman' kind of clothes. Or conversation. But I'll stop all that. This is who I am and I really don't want to be anybody else. (Ok, I guess I'd stay myself even if I lost a pound or two. But I'm digressing. As usual...) I'll never enjoy dressing up, or cocktail parties, or exquisite food*. I'll enjoy snooker, blogging, pizza, rock concerts. And I will have an LFC tattoo after sun & bathing season...

*Seriously, I think gourmet food - 1 shrimp finely adorned in seaweed on a plate / 2 squid legs tied in a bow and spattered with liquer / 1 strip of red meat on a bed of fungus ... You get the idea - is all some lame excuse to distinguish between classy and not so classy people. I'm right there with the not so classy. And I thrive there...

Prominently featured in my next slideshow - Rufus Wainwright

2007-06-23T00:04:00.000-01:00

Rufus told me to do it!

One down - 47 to go

2007-06-22T23:59:00.000-01:00

Wednesday night, brushing his teeth, Mathias suddenly went "my tooth!" - and it was indeed missing. The first of the quads to lose a tooth! He was so proud... And luckily hubby managed to retrieve it from the pipe, so the tooth fairy didn't have to leave emptyhanded...

(Of course, Mathias hasn't got that many teeth... I just figured they all need to lose 12!)

I've got a fan!

2007-06-20T10:48:00.000-01:00

That's so sweet of you! But the house? Personally, I think it's a little over the top...

Things that I enjoy (as you can see...)

2007-06-17T22:59:00.000-01:00

- Travelling- Hanging on the outside of the cable car
- Lying on the pavement in front of Nicholas Cage's house (to be sold)
- Sitting on the bus with my niece's "job" (beautiful boy)
- Watching San Francisco and the Golden Gate bridge from the headlands

= holidays

current favourite song

2007-06-14T11:48:00.000-01:00

I just found them (on ilike), and I haven't to listened to any of their other songs, but this, i like. A lot.

And it's breaking my heart that it's unavailable as a download (itunes, limewire, whatever...), I'd have to buy the cd and have it sent from somewhere. Takes too long!

Update: Chloe just sent it to me! She's such an angel :o)

7 years ago today

2007-06-13T09:20:00.000-01:00

7 years ago today, at about this hour (9 AM), I was wheeled into the operating theatre. And a theatre it was - there were 6 people in with me (not counting hubby, who had to leave when I had that general anaesthesia), and in the adjoining room, with glass walls to hours, there were 25 people eagerly watching!

Yes, delivering quads is still pretty big over here... Those who were supposed to go home after their shift just wouldn't leave... And the rest? 4 paediatricians, 4 special this-nurses, 4 special-that nurses. And 4 other doctors I can't for the life of me remember what was supposed to be doing. Keeping the incubators warm, possibly?

Anyways...

I was wheeled in. The anaesthetist told me to curve my back. You try that with four kids in your stomach... Well, I tried. And he tried the needle in my spine. 7 times. And it hurt like anything, but there wasn't a lot I could do. Finally, he was satisfied, and the doctor started his knifing... And it may have been just that I'd been awake for two days, or that I'm a big sissy, but when I started feeling what he was doing, I screamed. Or shouted, at least. And the gynaecologist immediately lifted his hands, bless him, and said "I can't work like this. Put her out". And I was blessed with sleep...

At 11:09, Thomas was out. 11:10 - Mathias, 11:11 - Anna and (you guessed it...) 11:12 Filip was out. All rushed into the adjoining room, checked, put in incubators on wheels, and then rushed through the corridor. Past my waiting hubby who just caught glimpses of his new 4 kids! I was still sound asleep until 2 PM or so...

And today? Anna is away with all the girls in her class, they stayed over in the cabin of one of them. The boys were reading & playing nintendo before they left for school. They're all so big now! Happy 4 x 7, my darling ones :o)

Pier 39

2007-06-10T00:16:00.000-01:00

We were told we were acting like real tourists, going to Pier 39. But we didn't take offense - we were real tourists... (Besides, Oxford street is very touristy, but if you're in London...) Pier 39 has great shopping (tourist stuff, that is...). It also had a number of chocolate / ice cream / refreshment places :o)
View from Pier 39 towards Coit tower and Transamerica pyramid View to Alcatraz and Angel island [thanks, Claire :) ] While we were shopping, we heard some really strange noises. My sister and I turned a corner, and - voilá! Sea lions, hundreds of them! We obviously hadn't read the right guidebooks, and didn't know about them, but there they were... Almost like being in the middle of a BBC nature programme. Only Mr. Attenborough was nowhere to be seen.
So - did I buy anything for myself? I did. I bought two pairs of these... One pair just like this one, magnificently captured in this photo by r (well, those are his, I guess, but mine are exactly the same).
... and this is Rufus, at the very end of this video, explaining about the Coit tower (forward to 4:10 if you just want that - although the song is good too, and his smile - great...)

Palace of fine arts

2007-06-10T00:01:00.000-01:00

It's turning into a pure photoblog, this... But I've only got a few more places in San Francisco to show you. And then maybe some odds and ends...

Palace of Fine Arts

Pretty impressive size...

I didn't manage to capture any of the turtles in the pond on film (you know, on memory chip..), but they were there - as were the giant goldfish...

Weird to think it was all built in 1915 - not 15 AD. And that it was built mainly of plaster... But since people liked it so much, they didn't pull it down and had to be refurbished for zillions of dollars later. Americans... Gotta lov'em ;)

Norway really isn't that bad either... II

2007-06-08T18:35:00.000-01:00

On the way down to the sea are some of my favourite houses. I wouldn't mind any of these... And then the building with the best view of all - a carport!

Norway really isn't that bad either...

2007-06-08T18:20:00.000-01:00

Today - apparently - it's the warmest June 8th since forever around here. That is, since they started writing it down back in 1811 or something. It's been 31º C (87.8 F) in the shade. And in case you're wondering - that's not normal for this place... Even midsummer. The kids are outside, running through the neighbour's sprinkler and having a blast. Ice creams are consumed by the dozen. (Well, there are 7 kids here, mine and two friends...)

A couple of days ago I took a walk down to the sea, a little early for a proper sunset, but still a gorgeous night for a walk! Unlike southern Europe et al, the sun takes a long time to set here, and it doesn't get properly dark again until September-October (I've already forgotten, see?). In Lofoten, of course, the sun doesn't set at all between late May and late July. Can't wait to go back there :)

Walking back up from the sea (pretty steep path for an old woman like me...) I hooked up with another walker, a young man in his twenties, pretty cute... He started talking, and as the climb more or less took my breath away, he kept up the talk. And when we reached the road, we both talked... He was just really nice, told me about his daughter, about how long he'd lived here and how much he liked it here. It's just very un-Norwegian to start talking to someone like that, but it made the walk even more pleasant.

Next time I'll take hubby down for the same walk, if only someone would babysit. Maybe my new friend and his daughter?

The Castro

2007-06-08T11:19:00.000-01:00

Walking down 17th Street from Haight to the Castro - and getting thereIt doesn't really show on the photo, but this local cinema was having a "Grease - singalong" night. I felt that was very appropriate :)

Rufus sings about 14th street - and even though I don't know for a fact that it's this one, I think it's a fair assumption. I forced my sister to stand in the middle of the street just so she could take this one. Fortunately, traffic was low... Just after she took this picture, a little old lady walked up to us and actually straight onto us. Pushing us aside as she walked. My sister commented on this in Norwegian. The little lady turned around - really slowly... "I've got a steel knee and I have to walk in a straight line", she explained. (Q: Did she understand Norwegian??) Then continued - "I'm 81 years old, I've lived here all my life. Tomorrow will be another fine day like this, and then the temperatures will drop". (Q: did her steel knee tell her this?) "What did you want to photograph here? There's a nice church just down ..." At this point she waved a hand in the general direction of Mission Dolores and then left us, trying to make it across the street on green...
We'd already been to Mission Dolores. Unfortunately, it was closed for some reason (though the sign stated the opposite), so we only got to see the outside.
Quite pretty on the outside too, though!

- is that bullet holes...?

Bagdad café, where we lunched. And learnt that "small portion" is actually ample...
So, was the Castro really different? Of course, there were rainbow flags everywhere. (Incidentally, last time I was in Rome, a few years back, there were rainbow flags everywhere there too - only they were symbols of peace, and used by the 'Americans out of Iraq' movement...) I saw 4-5 couples (one female) holding hands or holding their arms around eachother. I know I saw two guys in drag, possibly a third one but it could have been a girl... And there was that giant poster advertising family planning; two hot guys holding eachother and a woman standing discreetly a little way off - the tummy mummy? Other than that, it was just a really nice neighbourhood. Beautiful houses, clean, friendly, with some great bookshops (I didn't visit any other kinds of shops, come to think of it), and a lot of cute guys walking around...
Really don't see why this would have to happen only in the Castro, though. I'm all for people holding hands, whatever their preferences may be. And I really dislike people making out right in front of me even if they're as straight as nails...

Chinatown and me

2007-06-08T10:22:00.000-01:00

I felt like I was in China. I also felt as if I were 7 feet tall. But I'm afraid these two lousy photographs were the only ones I took, I was a bit overwhelmed, to be honest... (Also, I bought winter jackets for everyone in my family, carrying the 7 of them around possibly cramped my photo-taking opportunities... But they were $13.99 each, how could I not!)
I went to the post office in Chinatown (the cards that made it to people like you were sent from here) - and immediately started looking around for cameras. Surely this was a shooting for a film "supposedly set in China"? But no, this was America, and the facts that a) I was the only non-Chinese around, and b) that I learnt "next in line" in Chinese while waiting (long forgotten now...) only added to the feeling of genuineness.
I've never been to China. But this felt like the real thing, nothing staged for the likes of me. People were going about their business - which just happened to be in San Francisco...

What, exactly, are friends for?

2007-06-08T09:26:00.000-01:00

You know the old saying that's what friends are for. And I'm not questioning what friends are for. Not friends.

But - in the last few days I've gotten 39 friends (and counting...) on my new fav iLike. Most of them I've found and clicked on "add to friends" myself, some of them have come to me and done the same. All but one have an outstanding taste in music (= same as mine...). The last one also has an outstanding taste in music, although iLike claims we're only medium compatible. Yet he keeps listening to the same music as me, so we weren't too bothered by the score...

38 of my new best friends are male (well, I like guys, what can I say... Besides, I apparently have very manly musical tastes...). The only girl isn't just highly compatible - she's also Greek and the current leader of the iLike challenge music quiz, so how could we not be friends?!

Also, some I've added on myspace and one even on facebook. Which means they're about as good as bluddies... Some have even got their own very readable blogs, like Eric R. Now, reading his blog and knowing his music taste sort of adds to the experience!

I admit it, I love finding new friends. And making friends whom you already know have a great music taste is, well, great! Mine are from 15 years old to about 60 - they're from Mexico, Belgium, Iran, the US, Norway even... Excellent.

- But what, exactly, are these friends for? Do they fill a void in my social life? Will I invite them to the kids' birthdays next week? Are they already making plans to come and visit? Or am I in desperate need of a life...? For whatever reason - welcome :)

P.S. The good thing is, this doesn't really interfere with work, either. Listening to my ipod on itunes feeds iLike and keeps my new friends up-to-date with what I like even when I'm not logged in. How simple is that?

Sorry, guys...

2007-06-05T15:28:00.000-01:00

Life as we know it has been temporarily suspended.

I've met somebody new. We are very happy together. I like...

Fooooodstuff

2007-06-02T12:56:00.000-01:00

We did have plans to eat elsewhere, honest! But we seemed to always end up at some diner. When in Rome...

Golden Gate bridge

2007-06-01T21:59:00.000-01:00

This was right next to the emergency phone...

.. and this is from the other side, our hosts took us out to the headlands. A bit windy, but I was very pleased we caught the only cloud that visited San Francisco that week on film. On pixels, rather, or however it's done :)

The Match

2007-05-31T21:23:00.000-01:00

I suppose I must mention The Match.

It was a bright and sunny - and calm! - morning, and I had San Francisco at my feet. So what do I do? I walk a few blocks down from where we're staying, to the Irish the Kezar pub, to watch the Champions league final on television. Of course I do...

The pub could probably house at least a 100 people, and there were at least 200 there. Felt like more... A handful of Italians (and the referee!) and then all Brits and Irish. And 1 Norwegian. What can I say? I was home. So we played a great first half , a more untidy second half, and we lost. The Italians in the pub were ecstatic at the end, but weren't killed, so I guess you could say there was a friendly atmosphere...
Some scouser bought me a beer, must have noticed how the 50º C (122º F) in the room also got to me. As well as the singing and shouting. Yes, I sang and shouted, songs I hadn't known I knew -- and of course, our anthem. And I will get a tattoo like that one. Hubby says I can, if he can have one too. Our families will probably disallow us, but...

When I left the pub two Americans walked out just before me. "That was fun!" one said, as if he'd been to the circus. I guess he just had...

But we'll rise again, of course, both at home and in Europe. You'll never walk alone!

Is he ill?

2007-05-31T09:57:00.000-01:00

My visitor no. 18,000 came by yesterday, from Yonkers, New York.

S/he had ended up on my page by googling for "Ronnie O'Sullivan ear infection".

I had no idea he was ill... Let alone that I'd ever mentioned ear infections! Anyway, the visitor stayed a whole 2 mins 29 seconds. Congrats - and welcome back! I'll see if I can't conjure up another disease to lure you back...

Alcatraz

2007-05-30T22:08:00.000-01:00

The notorious island appearing!

Looming large...

Our audio tour started here. With your selection of language on the headphones, you were walked around the entire place, listening to stories about prisoners, films, wardens etc. It was brilliantly made and together with the slideshow at the pier it gave a lot of detail to the Alcatraz history.
Oh no, Clint Eastwood's gone!

Great view, at least...

But did you all know this? After the prison was closed (think it was 1963), the island was "hijacked" by native Americans - of many tribes - who felt it only appropriate that the first place you meet on the West coast was Indian land. Besides, the island had no water, electricity or sewers, pretty much like the reservations they were being sent to at that time.

They were all thrown out. But returned, a few years later, and occupied it (pardon my memory, but I think) for 15 months - which made the President issue an official apology for the genocide on native Americans, and instating a law giving them the right to be their own people and not having to be Americans... So - a historic victory on Alcatraz! With all I read about the different tribes in my time - I really had no idea...

The neighbourhood

2007-05-30T21:48:00.000-01:00

For those with local knowledge... We were staying in Haight Ashbury, very close to Cole Valley :) In Cole Valley, looking towards Twin Peaks - and Jimi Hendrix' house on Haight
Sister and nieces in Cole Valley
Grateful Dead's house, at Ashbury and Waller

... some other beautiful houses!

Getting there

2007-05-30T21:37:00.000-01:00

Waiting for the airport train
Boarding! Niece and sister...
Holland seen from above...
Pretty crammed for space, yes...
One not-quite-so-gay-purser, he's holding up his wrists, see...?

AF 083 - San Francisco to Paris. Last things first...

2007-05-29T22:32:00.000-01:00

So... After the holidays, my sister and nieces left me stranded at SFO all by my lonely... Well, actually they were there too, heading to Colorado (of course), and I had Rufus strapped onto my ears so I wasn't that lonely... The plane below is the one we took from Amsterdam to San Francisco, but that's beside the point. It's the same kind...

Anyway. Imagine 11 hour plane ride alone. Even before you board you're kind of bored, right? Then, the cruel facts. I can't not share this with you. And I swear, I'm not lying, not even exaggerating. And yes, I made it home alright. Well, I made it home! Here's how it went...

I check in at the assigned desk. I find my gate, and wait. I observe the other passengers. (I also observe that the people at the gate - and later in the plane, the pursers etc. - are the same ones that were at the check-in desks. Air France short-staffed?)

* A long-haired, tanned guy, in shorts and a leather Crocodile Dundee-hat, twenty-something, is sleeping heavily, snoring, with his arms around a bag evidently full of boomerangs and surf gear. I'm guessing he's on his way back to Europe from Australia... When the plane's about to close its doors he comes rushing in so he obviously wakes up at some point.

* The cute gay couple, probably French, holding hands while they're waiting. I'm wondering if maybe they were in the Castro this morning, as I had been?

* The repulsive 50-something guy, with dyed black (BLACK, PITCH black) hair - not too much of it, though, so he'd sort of combed it forward from his neck... And tight-fitting black trousers and shirt. Oh, and the unavoidable gold chain around his neck. I thought to myself it would be just my luck to end up next to him. Oh, had I just...

Finally, the gates open and we all rush in to our seats. Even though I checked in ridiculously early I'd forgotten to ask for a special seat, so was - of course - put in the middle of three. A Frenchman - completely normal looking (to begin with) comes to sit by the window. He's no sooner seated than he starts picking his nose. Digging, rather, with an incredibly long index finger. And whatever he found, he put his glasses on to examine more closely. Then put another finger into the other nostril. I quickly turned from him...

... to the guy sitting by the aisle. A huge big Frenchman (not actually fat, just huge! His hands were the size of small planets). And that smell...? Ok, I thought, he just sat down, probably couldn't help himself, broke a little wind... Uh-oh, again? And again?? I turned my head away, but couldn't bring myself to face the guy by the window, so stared straight ahead. I swear - my neighbour kept it up for the entire 10 hours!

Three rows in front of me was the one cute gay guy. His partner nowhere to be seen, but - lo and behold - he appeared something like ten rows further up. They asked the pursers (who were extreeeeeeeeeeemely helpful, for some reason**...) to be relocated, but of the 4 people sitting next to them - noone would switch. So instead of sleeping in eachother's arms, or at least having someone to talk to, they ended up like me, bored to death and staring straight ahead for ten hours.

Oh yes, at least we had favourable winds (the plane, that is! Not me...) and the plane ride only took 10 hours instead of 11. I met up with the black-clad, bejewelled weird-haired 50-year-old by the free drinks table, he seemed totally ok. Just my luck...

Thanks to Rufus, I survived, though - his latest album is absolute genius!

** I've travelled by some airlines, and I've seen gay pursers before. Air France has got to have the most extreme, though - I was utterly taken aback by the fact they actually managed to poor coffee with those wrists!

I need to travel more...

2007-05-29T14:31:00.000-01:00

create your own visited country map

- I also need a LITTLE more time before I can relate any San Francisco details...

San Francisco loves us!

2007-05-22T09:48:00.000-01:00

Producing the nicest weather ever, according to the locals.

And we love it right back! The city is absolutely fabulous. Just thought I'd let you know! Oh, and my sister and nieces say hi too :)

It's that time of year again...

2007-05-17T01:26:00.000-01:00

It's the 17th tomorrow - globally, I guess, but over here it's our national day and much ado as well as much to do... I've just baked two cakes in between working, and will start ironing shirts shortly...

Update: I've just finished ironing those shirts. It's now 1:14 AM, 17th of May. Hoorah! And there will be much rejoicing - from me - in exactly 11 hours and 46 minutes, when it will all be over at our school... Now, I will of course enjoy watching the quads' first parade, and helping Jakob sneak out of his 4th (he hates it). I'll also meet everybody I know in this place within a 2 square mile area and 1 hour to catch up with them all.

Hoorah.

Now, I read today that Rufus will be touring Europe while I'm in San Francisco. So much for the daydream... BUT ---- I've got tickets for his concert in Gothenburg on July 1st! I'm so excited I've been grinning like mad even through all the ironing! Finally, I get to see him... (Incidentally, we saw Robbie Williams in Gothenburg July 1st last year, is this becoming a tradition? I can live with that...)

The 'film shooting'

2007-05-12T21:20:00.000-01:00

This Monday the film team showed up as we arrived from school / work etc. The interviewer / director, the camera man, the sound man and the producer. The director had stopped by a few days earlier so the kids knew her a little. I still won't pretend the dinner conversation was free and easy as there was bright lighting, microphone and camera in between the pots and pans... After the dinner we all left, and the film crew first came with Anna and me to her ballet class.

From the filming of the ballet class

Afterwards, they went off to film Thomas, Mathias and Filip's football practice, while I went back to get Jakob and his best friend (who's with us most days after school). And they continued to film Jakob's training while I brought the other one's home.

Later, when everyone'd returned, and the kids were in their pyjamases, they were interviewed about "life, the universe and everything" - and more specifically, what life was like in a big family like ours.
The kids being interviewed downstairs - the sound man (by the wall) had an excellent sense of humour, and the kids loved him :) After spending the last few hours with them, the kids weren't really nervous about the interview either. And when everyone was in bed, they interviewed us about the same things.

The programme will be sent sometime this autumn. We'll be on for something like 6 minutes - so a few hours of shooting, 2 visits to us and calling the parent of every child on ballet and football (about 60) - quite a lot of work for so little! The whole programme is about half an hour, and is about children and stress. Apart from us, there'll be a sociologist talking about this, and a feature from the States (where else...) about personal coaches for kids, to make sure they'll end up super stars. Or something...

Anyway, it was a fun experience! Everything was so professional and well-planned and all, I'm impressed with the production team :) And we'll be able to see the programme when it's put together - to see if we approve. When it's finally aired, we'll let you know!