Life wouldn't be half as much fun without!

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!

Lately, I've

- 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...

How do you do, PWP?

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?

Media meme

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?

End of year meme

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?

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 ...

The Match

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!

Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeessssssss!!!!!!!!!!!!

Liverpool's in the finals!



This was the last time we beat Chelski in the semi finals (2005) but the singing is just as magnificent as it was today, "the special one's" sour expression is priceless..

This is just not on!

I don't know if anyone else cares, but really - here I am, peacefully, browsing Amazon. I stop by (natural choice) the world's greatest footballer, and they team him up with that?!!

It really is unheard of. "Perfect partners"? Pah. Glad I got that off my chest...

- By the way, don't mention this to my hubby. His birthday's coming up... And no, he doesn't read my blog :)

Football in our hearts

First, there was the football tournament. With Filip in one team, Mathias and Thomas in one (they're in different classes) and Jakob in one. Meaning 12 games altogether, the ones who weren't playing managed to see most of the games -- and Anna, luckily, had a birthday party to go to in the middle of it all. There were wins, losses, Mathias scored, Thomas saved, and a good time was genereally had by all! The cups they all received at the end also helped, of course!

Then there was football on television in the night. Norway was playing Bosnia home. A few of their "fans" spent the first 40 minutes of what should have been the start of the game throwing bengal lights on the pitch, their own goalkeeper, setting fire to the billboards... Well, eventually the game started, we still lost (1-2). Not as bad as Greece though, who were slaughtered 1-4 by Turkey. A sad night indeed.On the bright side, Filip has made a little football story: Here's Liverpool FC vs. France (well, it could happen...). Reina shoots from the goal, Kuyt heads it on... ... to Gerrard, who kicks it to Riise, heading it on to ...
... Pennant, kicking it on to Gonzales, who does an amazing trick shot on to ...

... Crouch, who kicks it fiercely into - the crossbar...

No worries, though, they (= LFC!) still won 1-0, according to Filip. And yes, the names and the story were entirely his, as are the drawings.

Saturday tale...

I had two boys weeping, no - sobbing, wailing - this afternoon. Liverpool played an excellent game for 90 minutes (= full time), then the unmentionable team scored - 1 minute into injury time. And won. As is their wont. The ba**ds... Luckily, all of our membership cards, diplomas and stuff that arrived in the mail last week comforted the kids slowly, but surely.

Possibly, the huge bar of chocolate entered into the equation as well...

Anna hadn't been watching the game at all - she hasn't got any interest in football, and played happily around by herself for the 90+ minutes. The other two boys didn't cry - they tackled the loss by suggesting a number of quite interesting things we could do to the players of the other team and to the referee, not least.

And after an hour or so, all 4 of them had found the solution to LFC's problem - they'll all play for Liverpool when they grow up! My boys ;)

Yaaaay!!

Oh, I love football! And I love it even more when Liverpool wins!! And I love it to bits when they beat unbeatable Barca!!! We're on our way... How convenient then, that our new membership cards from LFC fan club arrived earlier today!

***

On a different note, I've taken on a couple of extra translation jobs and haven't had time for anything but lately. Stayed up till 2:30 last night and it really wasn't as much fun as I thought it might be... I'll hand in the first one tomorrow (thanks to proofreading Merujo!) and the next one isn't due till mid March, so I might pop by again.

In the meantime, I may also be found over at Facebook. I'm sure I'm supposed to be way too old for this, but I think "poking" my friends and tagging them in photos from 1980-something is absolutely hilarious :D

***

It's winter holidays over here, and the kids are home. Today we've played kiddie pool, cards, yatzy in between my "working" attempts...

***

Today was Thomas' turn to go to the dentist. He's been talking about it for the past two weeks - making sure we didn't forget, he's been so happy! Whereas Anna cried herself to sleep the other night because it wasn't her turn... Everything turned out fine - no cavities - and Thomas will have to wait a year or more for a joyous return...

***

Oh, and I believe I've developed a rather serious case of Smileyaticus Sentencis Vulgaris - the state of not being able to finish two sentences without at least one Smiley on board... ;)

All is well with the world - and I know where it is!

The weekend has brought:

Snow. Which makes the kids happy and which makes me hope maybe global warming hasn't gone as far as they say. Yet.

Liverpool FC beat "Chelski"! 2-0, no less. And there was a lot of screaming around the place... Jakob had gone to watch the match at a friend's place (we haven't got the channel that shows English football live), and the rest of us were listening on the radio. Bliss...

Ronnie O'Sullivan is playing really well! The final still isn't finished while I'm typing this, but he's 8-3 up, and first to 10 wins it. The way he's playing I feel pretty confident he'll win the Masters!

*** And about knowing the whereabouts of the world -

I stayed up till 01 some nights ago (yes, it's sort of silly, as I'm up at 06 and really need 7 hours of sleep...) after discovering this geography quiz link... I hadn't even heard of Prince Edward Island before (my apologies to anyone living there..), now I can do all of Canada blindfold... Also, it turned out I'm pretty good at Africa, and amazingly accurate at placing Central American countries, but that my knowledge of US states had decreased substantially since my heydays..

- Back in this world, Ronnie's on his way to 9-3... So, how was your weekend?

Several reasons to be happy - despite the torrential rain

Liverpool FC won last night's game against PSV Eindhoven, and is through to the final 16. (Porto also won their game, as I'm sure DevilMood has noticed...) And there is more - Chelski lost. Hah... And Man United lost! To Celtic!! And what does Celtic and Liverpool have in common? Actually, quite a lot - but also the "anthem" You'll never walk alone.

... Which - not incidentally - is also the ringtone of this, hubby's new phone!
That's the Kop singing on his phone as well... We're not pretend fans! ;)

The wonderful art of self preservation

I know this woman. We're acquaintances, I guess, but we get on really well whenever we meet. Especially since she and I share the same idea that our hubbies are our soul mates, and that married life with our respective spouses is pure bliss. They have three children, the youngest as old as our Jakob. Her hubby also had a child before they were married, who lives with them.

Now her husband is dying of cancer. There is no hope. They've stopped treatment. He half sits, half lies in a chair, he barely has the strength to call his children's names. He used to be a wonderful, fun family man, and he loved the great outdoors.

So, what do I do? I give her a hug, when I see her. I don't ask about his health, or hers - even though she's said she doesn't mind talking about it, it's somehow therapeutic.

But I can't bear thinking about it. When I really get into it, when I start imagining that in a few months, maybe only weeks, she's a widow, the kids fatherless - my mind shuts off. I start concentrating on a hair in my eye or the noisy traffic.

It's only too sad. For me! And she lives with it!!

Even as I'm writing now, I can't delve deeper into this, I just concentrate on being grateful and happy that it's not me. It's incredibly egotistical and callous, perhaps, but it seems to happen automatically. Body & mind shield sets in...
On a more lightweight note - these are other things that have made me happy recently:
- Liverpool are through to the FA Cup final!
- "Chelski" got thoroughly beaten and chucked out of the FA Cup.
- These events happened in the same match!
- Ronnie O'Sullivan is through to the quarter finals of the World Championship.
- My new job is only 36 days away. I keep getting mails from my manager-to-be, questions sent in by people in search of a word that is not in the dictionary. Yet. I love the detective work trying to find the proper translation - asking everybody I know in a similar trade - and to think I'll actually be paid to do this! I can't wait...

On the road again (II)...

Autumn holidays coming up next - first time we'll all be off at that time, and of course, the winning destination is:




Yes, Greece should be coming up next...

Is not that strange?

The world has so much to offer - yet this is where I'd like to go..

Ever since I was a kid I've loved the reds. I married another fan (ok, that wasn't why I wooed him for months until he caved, but still..). Now we're raising a bunch of the same.

But how is it - a bunch of overpaid footballers I've never even seen plays such an important role in our, relatively normal, life?

I won't go into details about the nausea I felt when Michael Owen signed for Newcastle... But it was physical. No dessert or extra playtime for the kids that day. Only grunts of 'goodnight' and 'get lost'..

I would like to think it's a good thing I can get so involved in things. But making people believe that screaming about goals, or pots (in snooker), without even considering this might wake the kids, has so far proved quite strenuous... Am I the only one?