A couple of things I did/thought about today

Today I bought myself a beautiful, cute fairy, a Christmas ornament. Actually I bought two, but the plan is to keep only one and give the other away as a Christmas gift. IF I can manage to decide which one I want to keep and which one to give away and if I can manage to part from any of them.

There are actually some anti-feminist women out there, believe it or not. Women who are conservative and old-fashioned, who want nothing else than be taken care of of a man. Shame in you! Not because you think the way you do, I totally respect that. But because you blame feminism for the lack of males in your life, the lack of relationships. What's the point in blogging about your pitiful, miserable lives and blaming it on feminists? I mean, do you REALLY think, honestly, that feminists have scared all the men away? That feminists have destroyed your love life? Or are you just trying to blame someone, something for your lack of luck in the love department? Ever thought it could be your own fault? Ever thought you appeared a bit too demanding? Too clingy? Too ready for family and wedding? Too pushy? Or is it really your opinion that feminists scared the men away? If you do, then why on earth don't you run into the street and yell of the top of your lungs: I am NOT a feminist! Come and love me! Buy me a diamond ring and take care of me and support me financially! THAT should make the men flock to you like flies to shit, eh? Then you would have the pick of all the men you claim feminists have scared away, the manly men! And you could be happy in your conservative, little life. F... you!!!

The Norwegian Salvation Army degraded one of its officers this week, after 22 years in the army. He, of course, is gay, openly so and although the Salvation Army has looked the other way for quite a while, they suddenly decided to take action. What I don't understand is why this officer would even want to be in an organization that so openly doesn't respect gays (and lesbians). Some think the Salvation Army should adjust to this time and life, after all, it is 2005 so they should maybe be a bit more up to day, a bit modern and open. HELLO?! The Salvation Army and every other Christian society and organization reads, follows and believes a fairytale-book written nearly 2,000 years ago!

HAHAHAHAHA! Enrique Iglesias is to promote extra SMALL condoms. He has just as little to offer in bed. as with his music! Mooowaaaahhahaha!

The Narnia Skirmishes

Finally, the movie adaption of the Narnia-chronicles will hit our movie theaters. I've been waiting quite a few years for this one! C. S. Lewis' children's book are well-known and loved by a great deal of people all over the world. But still, I am a bit apprehensive to this movie. It's a Disney-movie and that makes me skeptic. How have they adapted these books? Is it more religious than magic?

When I read the books the first time, I enjoyed them tremendously. I wanted to be Lucy, so I sat inside my wardrobe after cleaning it out, reading the books (in English I might add!) and hoping the wall of the back of the wardrobe would open up and reveal to me a magic, new world. A couple of years ago I read them again and while I still enjoyed the magic of them, I could see the religious aspect as well. Not just an undercurrent of all-purpose, feel-good religiosity, but a rigorous substratum of no-nonsense, orthodox Christianity: If you read between the lines and sometimes right there in them these stories are all about death and resurrection, salvation and damnation. And how are Disney to play this out? There may be a good reason Lewis is among the last of the classic children's authors to be adapted for the movies: ....that in taking on Narnia, Disney has backed itself into a corner. If the studio plays down the Christian aspect of the story, it risks criticism from the religious right. If it is too upfront about the religious references, on the other hand, that could be toxic at the box office. Disney........is hedging its bets and has, for example, already issued two separate soundtrack albums, one featuring Christian music and musicians and another with pop and rock tunes.

Aslan, the supernatural lion: .. is fierce but beautiful, stern but loving; his breath is perfumed like incense; and the mere sight of him is enough to set most creatures tingling. He is, in fact, nothing less than the Son of God, who dies and then comes back to life and through the seven volumes repeatedly tests but ultimately saves the children and leads them to eternal safety.

And of course, the sinister White Witch, the evil queen who has Narnia under a wintry spell. Everything is set right to make the mother of all screen battles: not just your basic struggle of good and evil but a $200 million smackdown between the religious right and godless Hollywood, between C. S. Lewis and Tolkien.

Tolkien created an imaginary world, intricate and detailed and as self-sufficient as the real world. He created not just a story, but an entire world with maps and geography, mythology and several languages, Lewis was more of a magpie: He took whatever came to hand and dumped it all in. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is a pastiche not only of Christian theology but also of Wagner and of classical Greek and Latin mythology, of Arthurian romance, Grimm's fairy tales and Scandinavian folklore, of Kenneth Grahame and Beatrix Potter (remember the talking beavers who hid the children in their lodge?). Near the end of the book, even Santa Claus (as Father Christmas) makes a cameo appearance.

Despite all this. the books have had an influence on other writers. J. K. Rowling has said that she was influenced by them and you can also see the influence in Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials-trilogy: ...... is both a homage of sorts (it begins with a girl in a wardrobe) and also a kind of anti-Narnia, a negation of everything Lewis stood for. God in these books turns out to be a senile imposter and Christianity merely a very powerful and convincing mistake. Pullman has said of the Narnia cycle that it is one of the most ugly and poisonous things he's ever read and has called Lewis a bigot.

The books do have their faults, they're not nearly as well written as the Potter books or His Dark Materials: ......by the standards of political correctness, they commit a host of sins. They're preachy, they're sometimes gratuitously violent and they patronize girls. The villains, moreover "the Calormenes, who dwell in the south" are oily cartoon Muslims who wear turbans and pointy-toed slippers and talk funny.

I find that if you are not forewarned, then it is perfectly possible to read most of the Narnia-books without a clue to it's religious undertone. Book one, in the now canonical order, The Magician's Nephew and the last book, The Last Battle:....are respectively, a Creation story and a version of Armageddon.

The books are so much better when read without the subtext. So, if you haven't read the Narnia books yet, and want to read them before the movie comes, then DON'T read the article I've extracted from.

NOTHING and then some

The thing about this blog is that I like to write about personal things. You know, things that happens in my life, things I care about and care about, things I find interesting. I'm just trying to be my self, really.

The only problem is that after a while I start to feel like I'm eating my own head. Truly, that's what I'm feeling, like I'm eating my brain.

I've become a horrible writer lately. Not that I ever were a GOOD writer or actually could call my self a writer at all. But I just can't seem to sit down and organize my thoughts in any intelligent manner. It's like I've eaten everything inside my brain and there's absolutely NOTHING left, just a big empty NOTHING. N. O. T. H. I. N. G. !!!! It's like I've become this totally uninteresting BORE, just a shallow reflection that holds NO thoughts worth sharing, worth writing. I can't make sense on any topic, my brain has shut down. I am really starting to doubt my ability to write at all! It's not funny you know!

It seems like every other blogger in the blog-universe writes funny, emotional, personal, interesting posts and then there's the odd one out...... me! It's really hard work trying to come up with something to write about. All I could manage so far today, is all this whining! Additional, I want to mention that Madonna's new CD is out today. "Confessions on a dance floor" is a great album! The woman never ceases to amaze me, she's strong, sexy and always manages to come up with something new. She's highly adaptable and looks great! She's never been a strong or good singer and not that good a dancer either, but she does know how to get me singing and dancing! "Confessions on a dance floor" brings her back to her roots, to the beginning, to the dance music on sweaty dance floors. After 22 years this is her best dance-album and a great pop-album. LET'S PARTY!!

Things about me that holds no interest whatsoever for anybody else

For all you folks that think I'm selfish, egotistical, self absorbed and full of my self, here are 100 things about me to prove you right! It take quite a lot of time writing this list, but after having seen so many other doing the same on their blogs, I thought what the h...! So here goes:

I was born on Friday, April 23^rd.

-A child born on a Friday is doomed to misfortune.

-A voyage begun [on a Friday] is sure to be an unfortunate one.

-If you hear anything new on a Friday, it gives you another wrinkle on your face, and adds a year to your age.

-Don't move on a Friday, or you won't stay there very long.

-A child born on a Friday is doomed to misfortune

Lucky me

I'm the oldest sibling of three, always the responsible one!

I was the laughing stock of my entire school when I was 14, included the teachers, the principal, the cafeteria-ladies, the janitor and the cleaning ladies. All because of a heavy crush on an older boy. I'm sure my soul is still scarred from that year!

I had my appendix removed when I was 15. Everybody thought I would die, I was told I was only 1-2 hours away from dying because my appendix bursted 5 days before I got to the hospital. That's my nearest-death-experience so far!

Purple has been my favourite colour for at least 20 years.

I've never broken any bones in my body.

I've never been in a real fight, maybe because I'm a girl, but I've had my shares of bastards I wanna kick in the groin!

I love Cadbury's Milk Chocolate

I don't like coffee, but I adore tea

I'm a sucker for action movies

I wanna be Buffy, just so I could snuggle Spike

My mum's family has origins from England, Spain, France and Chile, and I favour her colours.

I'm sometimes mistaken for NOT being Norwegian

I hate racists, Nazis and fascists

I'll be glad when all the human ethnicities on Earth are so well blended that race no longer exists.

The farthest North I've ever been is Trondheim

The farthest away I've ever been is New Orleans

When I was young I was tall and thin. I'm still tall

I've never thought of my self as pretty, and neither did my ex. WB does though, bless him!

Sometimes I feel less than girlie because I don't care about celebrities' personal life.

Sometimes I feel less than girlie because I don't watch soaps on TV.

I love books and wish my library consisted of more than 1,000 + books

I dream of being a published writer

I wish I had time to do projects: books, arts, cards and creativeness, whatever, all the time

I SUCK at karaoke

I don't consider myself slutty

I still want to believe it's possible for a woman to be friends with a man without there being any hope for sex on his part

I'm really quite shy when meeting new people, my friends call me the Ice Queen

I want a couple more tattoos

I love a back rub

I'm secretly a geeky 14 year old

I like to cook and in another life I would be a chef

I fantasize about being rich, even though it's such a cliché!

I have a cyst in my brain

Last kiss, this morning, with my boyfriend

Last movie: Serenity. It was good

Last annoyance: This MF sales-bastard, trying to get me to invest money in some foreign investment-scheme I've never heard of and trying to convince me his name is Dan Miller, when he's got an accent thicker than porridge and I can hardly understand anything he says. And he wont take NO for an answer, that really pisses me of!

I'm too old and too tall to be scolded

I hate crappy driving and rudeness. Norwegians need to learn a bit British politeness

I fear heights and fires

I regret ever meeting my ex and throwing away 12 years of my life

I learned English before Norwegian, but have forgotten it all

I was a virgin until the ripe old age of 17 years and 8 months

I have a magpie-like attraction to things that sparkle

I read FREAKISHLY fast

One year I read over 300 books

Now I read an average of around 50-60 books a year

I make an awesome girlfriend

I also make an awesome single girl

My favourite smells are chocolate, rain, old books and freshly cut grass

I can be impatient and critical

I can also be generous, sympathetic, thoughtful and supportive

Orchids and tulips are my favourite flowers

I love the names of Scottish villages and castles

I love shopping

I've NEVER done any drugs. I guess that makes me a prune

Some music makes me sob

I always wear make-up, but NOT in my sleep

I would like nicer looking nails

I played handball for 10 years until I hurt my elbow, I played tennis for a couple of years, and these last couple of years I've been doing kick boxing. I never did any girlie things, like gymnastics and ballet

I try to go snowboarding, sailing, cycling, diving and white water kayaking

I love the ocean

I love the mountains

I love to swim

I'm fascinated my eastern culture

My favourite artists are Turner and Michelangelo

I love music

I love the words neophyte, loquacious and gewgaw

And the words virago and alpenglow

I've got a mole on my cheek, in earlier time it would have been called a beauty spot

I'm nearsighted

I don't like cows, they're big, slow, clumsy, stupid and dangerous

I'm lazy

I think a long walk in the woods or in the mountain with hot chocolate on a thermos is romantic

I make my own X-mas cards, 50 each year

This year I'm also making some of the presents I'm giving away for X-mas

I don't want kids

I dream of my own garden

I love my friends and my family

My only living grandparent is my maternal grandparent, who's soon 95

I have a nephew I don't see as much as I would like

I'm looking for a house to build

My boyfriend and I have just bought a piece of land

I'm still angry at the MF who owns a murderous Rottweiler that savagely attacked my poor Leo and bit a hole in his neck.

I would like to hospitalize that dog-owner

I smoke

I love sleeping

I hate ironing

I want more hours in the day

I spend far too much money on magazines

I've got at least 100 books that I haven't read yet

I think Keanu Reeves is LOOKING GOOD

My favourite actors are Johnny Depp, Liam Neeson, Jeff Bridges, Michael Caine, Judy Dench, Anthony Hopkins and Tom Hanks

My favourite comedian is definitely Billy Connolly

I would like to eviscerate that Rottweiler

I like to think my life is worth living

I'm having a hard time finding 100 things about me

I'm gonna have a cup of tea when I'm done with this

Then I'm gonna look at the show with nerds trying to play soccer

I would like to be a painter

I love fairies, elves, dragons, unicorns, wizards, trolls, dwarfs and all thing magical

I'm happy to be done with this meme!

Avian flu, the scare of the decade

Why is the media so obsessed with avian flu? Why do they spread this kind of terror amongst us? A few years ago the scare was anthrax and smallpox, a few years before that it was the "flesh-eating bacteria", and before that it was the Ebola virus and Lyme disease. It goes so on into the distant past. And this year it's the avian flu. Shouldn't we concern ourself about what's REALLY scary, like the things we encounter everyday? About the cigarettes we smoke or alcohol we consume? The fat and the sugar we stuff in our bodies? Unprotected sex? Violence? Domestic violence? War? Trafficking? Famine? We could die in a car crash tomorrow, you know! What about pollution? The thaw of the polar ice? So much threatens us globally and locally, so many things are more real to us than the POSSIBILTY that the avian flu some day will be contagious between people. But then again, maybe it's easier to be afraid of something that's not real. This is an extract from an editorial in todays The New York Times, written by Abigail Zuger, M.D.

Scare yourself silly, but the Real Terrors Are at Your Feet:

"I was crossing Third Avenue yesterday and I was coughing so hard I had to stop and barely made it across," a patient told me last week. "I'm really scared I'm getting the avian flu."

I just looked at him. What could I say? He has smoked two packs of cigarettes a day for the last 50 years. He has coughed and wheezed and gasped his way across Third Avenue now for the last 10 years. His emphysema is not going to get any better, but it might stop getting worse if he were to stop smoking.
He made it clear long ago that this is not going to happen. When it comes to the whole cigarette/health question, his motto, apparently, is "What, me worry?"

But the avian flu - now there's a health scare a person can sink his teeth into. So scary and yet, somehow, so pleasantly distant. So thrilling, so chilling, and yet, at the same time, so not here, not now, not yet. All in all, a completely satisfying health care fear experience. Unlike his actual illness.

Scary movies give children nightmares. Scary health news gives adults the extraordinary ability to ignore the immediate in favor of the distant, to escape from the real (and the really scary) into a far easier kind of fear.

A few years ago, a young woman waited patiently to be seen in our office after hours. She was a patient of one of my colleagues, but she couldn't wait for their scheduled appointment; she needed to see someone right away.

"I'm worried I have Lyme disease," she said. "I have all the symptoms. I think I need to be treated."

"But you have AIDS," I said.

"I'm tired and weak and I have fevers and sweats. I've lost my appetite. I can't think straight. I'm losing so much weight!"

She had seen a TV news report on Lyme disease, and then she had checked the Internet. All her symptoms were right there.

"But you have AIDS," I said. "And you don't want to take meds. That's why you're feeling so bad."

"I'm really scared about Lyme disease," she said. "I really need to get treated."

"If you want to be scared, how about that untreated AIDS of yours?"

We looked at each other. It was an impasse. The fact that logic was on my side mattered not at all: evidently the real was just a little too real for her. How much better to find another illness to be scared of, obsess over, get treated for, get rid of.

Eventually she coerced my colleague into testing her for Lyme disease and treating her despite negative tests. Then she decided her symptoms might actually be due to a brain tumor, instead. And so it went, until she died of AIDS.

Of four patients I saw in a single hour last week, three announced how scared they were of the avian flu. I reassured them, but there was quite a bit I did not say, and here it is.

I did not say: If you want to be scared, then how about that drug habit of yours you think I don't know about? How about the fact that you are 100 pounds overweight and eat nothing but junk? How about the fact that in a few short months Medicaid is going to stop paying for your very expensive medications and no one knows how just high that Medicare Part D deductible and co-payment are going to be? I did not say: If you want something to be scared of, how about the drug-resistant Klebsiella that is all over this very hospital, an ordinary run-of-the-mill bacterial strain that has become so resistant to so many antibiotics that we've had to resurrect a few we stopped using 30 years ago because they were so toxic.

That Klebsiella is one scary germ. It's in hospitals all over the country, and by now it's probably killed a thousandfold more people than the avian flu.

But you don't hear much about our Klebsiella. Like our bad habits and our dismally insoluble health insurance tangles, our antibiotic-resistant bacteria are with us, right here, right now. Apparently they all lack the drama, the suspense, the titillating worst-case situations that energize our politicians and turn into a really newsworthy health care scare.

They're all just too real.

Where did fall go?

Today it snowed............... Winter is obviously here. It had been a nice fall, lots of sun, yellow, orange and red leaves falling down from the trees. The only drawback is that it gets darker and darker and darker...... The sun is not up when I get up in the morning, it's dark when I take Leo on his morning walk. It gets gradually lighter when we're out in the morning, but then it gets dark again when I take him for his afternoon walk. It's actually quite depressing and no wonder many of us feels dog-tired this time of year! We're suffering from lack of sun! October is a month of fall, it shouldn't be winter now! It's not even Halloween yet, and winter's here. I wish it was still fall......... On the bright side, the weather forecast for the next few days are looking good! It will be warmer, so I guess the snow hasn't come to stay!

I Love Fall

I love fall! Fall is exciting.

It's apples and cider.

It's an airborne spider.

It's pumpkins in bins.

It's burrs on dog's chins.

It's wind blowing leaves.

It's chilly red knees.

It's nuts on the ground.

It's a crisp dry sound.

It's green leaves turning

And the smell of them burning.

It's clouds in the sky.

It's fall. That's why....

I love fall.

A Little Elf

A little elf

Sat in a tree

Painting leaves

To throw at me.

Leaves of yellow

And leaves of red

Came tumbling down

About my head

Fall, leaves, fall by Emily Bronte

Fall, leaves, fall; die, flowers away;

Lengthen night and shorten day;

Every leaf speaks bliss to me

Fluttering from the autumn tree.

I shall smile when wreaths of snow

Blossom where the rose should grow;

I shall sing when night's decay

Ushers in a drearier day.

Fantastic!

A colleague told me about this really interesting site, librarything.com. It lets you catalog all your books and use tags to organize them. I love the fact that it has the ability to merge information from over 30 libraries around the world, including amazon. com and .co.uk. It easy to use, practical and simple. I love it! You can choose whether you want to keep your list private or share it with others. It's highly useful, easily accessible, has flexible means of storing, sorting and retrieving information. I've always wanted to catalog my books electronically, but never got around to it. I had most of them written up manually, but librarything,com changed all that. It does take a bit of time though, when I don't have my books electronically ('cause then you could just import the list!) and I've found out that I have far, FAR fewer books that I originally thought. I will pass 1, 000 books, but I really did think I had more books than that...... Anyway, it's wonderful! I am completely and totally addicted to this website!! Check it out!!

Finally!!

At last, L has delivered a tiny babygirl, weighing only 2800 grams. It happened tonight and I bet she's beautiful!! I can't wait to visit and admire this little wonder! I am so happy and excited and want to congratulate the parents!

Things that annoyed me today, annoyingly annoying!

People smelling of old sweat!

Mothers with prams blocking the whole pavement, oblivious to other people and walking really, REALLY slowly, thinking they can do what they want, with no regard for their fellow pedestrians. This do not only annoy me, I HATE this! And one other thing, when these same women get on the tube, they have absolutely NO respect for the people already there, even when the tube is PACKED and there's no room for anybody else and certainly not for a pram, they just push their pram in front of them like a pile driver. crashing into legs and driving over toes without any apology. It should be a law against mothers using buses, trams and the tube during rush hour.

There's something that happened at work today, and it's NOT the first time it happens, and it annoys me, but I don't think I should write about it.......... Even though it's just SOOOO stupid!

I have a neighbour that annoys me. I cringe every time I see him, and I go out of my way to avoid him. Sometimes an encounter can't be helped, because he hears me coming down the steps or he sees me coming in the front door of our building (he lives on the ^1st floor) and then he comes out in the hallway to talk. He truly can't be right in hi s head, there's something wrong there. He's not Norwegian, he's afraid of his father, so if I meet him in the hallway and his father is home, he just whispers to me. And HE ALWAYS WANTS TO TALK!!! I can hardly understand him, his Norwegian isn't good. And HE ALWAYS WANTS TO SHAKE HANDS!!! What's with that?! Oh, and HE ALWAYS REPEATS HIMSELF!! These last few times I've met him, he's saying: "nice people, nice people, nice people go filst ( he can't say r), nice people go filst" and he lets me go out the door before him. Other times he says: "How ale you? I am fine, thank you, thank you, how ale you?", all the time bowing, he's always bowing when talking gibberish to me and shaking my hand!!!! It's weird, spooky! And it annoys me........ I am too polite to brush him off.

Today I annoy my self as well, see post below!

When will I ever grow up??

I REALLY DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH MY LIFE! And I don't mean family planning or anything like that. I mean what do I want to do? What do I want do do everyday for the rest of my life? What do I want to be when I grow up?! Can I continue doing what I am doing? What kind of work would make me happy for the next 35 years? I would like to have something to do that I can decide for myself. I would like to decide each day what I should do that day, I would like something I find giving and fun, something different and challenging. I would like to manage my work hours myself. I could easily live with working from home, doing something I really like. Maybe writing........... But then I would have to get much better at it than I am now! Or maybe photography......... But then I would have to get much, much, MUCH better at it than I am now! I am quite happy with my life right now, but I am in for some big changes if I am to move away and build a house with WB. I truly can't see me doing the same thing I am doing now for the rest of my working life. So I have to find something else, something fulfilling.

My life right now consists of the man I love, but I am painfully aware that I have no guarantees that it will last. It could change over night, I have experienced that before. I have a job I like, at a place I enjoy and with colleagues I (mostly) like. Unfortunately I can't keep this job if I am to move 2 hours away. And I am not interested in just finding another job just to have a job. We own an apartment I like, in a place of Oslo that I like. I have my family in this city, nearly all of my friends and everything I find enjoyable. If I am to make these big changes in my life, then at least I want a job doing something I really like. Something completely different maybe... The ultimate dream is like I mentioned, writing and photography. But I am not experienced enough or even good enough to make a living out of it. I do like cooking as well, but I can't see my self either running a restaurant or working as a chef. I am no Jamie Oliver! I am no chef at all, I just like to cook.

I think I have to picture some kind of goal, something I can work towards. If I had the money, then I would go back to school full time, But I can't afford that, especially if we're gonna build a house! So are my options to just find a reasonable well-paid job doing the same things I do now? That would be the safest thing to do, but I am not sure I want to.......... I should have a bit more faith and confidence in my self and my abilities, I am seriously lacking in that department, thanks to my ex (he really blew my self-esteem!!). With more guts and willingness on my part, maybe I would dare try to do something more about my writing. And I could try and bring out the passion I once had about photography. I do have this idea for a children's book, a kind of a fairy-tale.......... But all this demands some serious re-thinking on my part. And the whole thing is starting to deeply annoy me. How pathetic I am, that I can't find out or decide what to do with my life?

Zzzzzzzzzzzzz..... Sleep tight!

And don 't let the bedbugs bite!!

Today we got our new bed! We've been waiting four weeks now, but itś worth the wait. The bed is FANTASTIC! So inviting, tempting and attractive, it beckons me to go to sleep. At last, the old monstrosity we called our bed, is thrown away. I am looking forward to sleeping like a baby tonight!

Holy War, lunacy runs in the family

I have never doubted Bush's lunacy:

Extract from BBC News:
Mr Shaath said that in a 2003 meeting with Mr Bush, the US president said he was "driven with a mission from God".

Holy war?

"President Bush said to all of us: 'I'm driven with a mission from God. God would tell me, George, go and fight those terrorists in Afghanistan. And I did, and then God would tell me, George, go and end the tyranny in Iraq... And I did.

"'And now, again, I feel God's words coming to me, Go get the Palestinians their state and get the Israelis their security, and get peace in the Middle East. And by God I'm gonna do it.'"

I always thought Jeb was the brain in that family!!

This was taken from thinkprogress.org:

Jeb Bush Reveals His "Mystical Warrior" Friend

Last week, after more than an hour of solemn ceremony swearing in Rep. Marco Rubio (R-FL) as House speaker, Gov. Jeb Bush stepped to the podium to tell a short story about "unleashing Chang", his "mystical warrior" friend.

Below, courtesy of the Gainesville Sun, are Bush's words, spoken before hundreds of lawmakers and politicians:

"Chang is a mystical warrior. Chang is somebody who believes in conservative principles, believes in entrepreneurial capitalism, believes in moral values that underpin a free society."

"I rely on Chang with great regularity in my public life. He has been by my side and sometimes I let him down. But Chang, this mystical warrior, has never let me down."

Bush then unsheathed a golden sword and gave it to Rubio as a gift.

"I'm going to bestow to you the sword of a great conservative warrior," he said, as the crowd roared.

I have an imaginary friend as well, her name is "Nussa", she's a 6 feet tall squirrel who helps me fight crime..................

The crowd roared? With hysterical laughter!!
Me thinks Jeb has been playing too much World of Warcraft!

I am a "closet-Brit"!!

I was able to see a rerun of BBCs "Last Night of The Proms" on TV today. Every year I try to watch this show, it's a tradition of mine. And every year I just fall to pieces.... Yes, I know it is a bunch of posh people bobbing up and down, honking horns, waving their flags and making one h.. of a noise. BUT, you can't fail to be roused by Land of Hope and Glory (Pomp and Circumstance), the Sailor's Hornpipe, Jerusalem... I know I can't and that's why I always get tears in my eyes and a lump in my throat. I grin like an idiot, tears running down my cheeks and I am not able to talk, only unintelligent gibberish comes out of my mouth between the gasps and sobs. I cannot understand why I am so sentimental!! It's really quite weird...... I am a Norwegian, not a Brit!! Or maybe it's my British genes acting up, trying to show themselves, trying to get the edge over my Norwegian genes? At the end of the night, when the concert is over and the audience starts singing "Auld Lang Syne", then I burst into tears for real!

!!! RULE BRITANNIA !!!

For auld lang syne, my dear,
For auld lang syne,
We'll tak a cup of kindness yet,
For auld lang syne!

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And auld lang syne?

And surely ye'll be your pint-stowp,
And surely I'll be mine,
And we'll tak a cup o kindness yet,
For auld lang syne!

We twa hae run about the braes,
And pou'd the gowans fine,
But we've wander'd monie a weary fit,
Sin auld lang syne.

We twa hae paidl'd in the burn
Frae morning sun till dine,
But seas between us braid hae roar'd
Sin auld lang syne.

And there's a hand my trusty fiere,
And gie's a hand o thine,
And we'll tak a right guid-willie waught,
For auld lang syne

Phlegm, mucus, fever, lack of appetite, watery eyes, lack of energy and beeing depressed.

Since Thursday morning, I've been sick. Feverish, cold, warm, sore throat, tight chest, no energy, runny nose, no appetite, lousy temperament and an aching in my whole body. Very nice time to be all alone, because of my dog Leo. Even though I felt like I would be better of dead, than this sick, I still had to take him for a walk. What a nightmare, seeing double because of the fever, dizzy and sweaty. Sometimes I wish Leo was a cat, so he could take him self out for a walk...... Poor Leo, I feel so sorry for him, having to endure an owner like me, so selfish and egotistical when she's sick! For three days now, all I've done is using pack after pack of Kleenex, coughing up phlegm until my chest caved in, feeling sorry for my self, crying for being so lonely and trying very, VERY hard Not to cough because GOD it hurts! It's actually quite amazing that the human body can produce this abundance of snot!! I have already used 25 packs of Kleenex and it doesn't look like is going to stop anytime soon! M mm, how lovely!

This just had to happen now, the only weekend WB is NOT coming home. It's like my body hates me, it just KNEW he was gonna be away, so it planned to punish me with this awful cold. How have I possibly wronged my body so? I thought I was being nice to it, taking care of it, you know, drinking over 2 liters of water every day, sweating the same 2 liters when I cycle home from work, trying to eat a lot of fruit and some vegetables, taking long walks in the wood, swimming, doing exercises for my back, sleeping well and taking vitamins. But oh no, that wasn't enough evidently. So here I am, enduring my punishment. I am taking revenge tonight though. I am eating chocolate and drinking Coke, so ha ha ha, stupid body, I've got the last laugh!!

It has been awful, I've felt so lonely because WB wasn't here. He SHOULD be here when I am so sick! He should be here and take care of me, making me feel better, walking Leo, making me hot chocolate or tea with honey, making sure I got some food, do the shopping and tucking me in at night. In stead I've had a living hell and poor Leo is the one suffering for it. I tried to make it up to him tonight, he got lots of chocolate as well. Especially for dogs that is, I don't want to punish his poor body as well as mine! I am so looking forward to Friday, when WB finally comes home. I miss him so much! Lucky him, having escaped my misery! Lucky him for being away with his colleagues on a three-day seminar at a mountain hotel eating gourmet food, while I don't have the appetite for anything at all and not having taste buds that work because of a blocked nose so it's really no point in eating anything at all!

My fever is gone now I think, maybe that's why I feel a little better, at least well enough to write this. Maybe tomorrow I have to join society again and at least look at the news to see what has been happening in the world. But for now, I am content taking Leo out for his evening walk and going to bed. Night, everybody!

Yeah, I know, it's been a while, a good while actually, but my mind's been so busy with unwanted thoughts lately....

Took the day off yesterday and went to visit a very pregnant friend, L. She lives an hour and a half from Oslo by train. I went with a mutual friend, S and her baby boy. God, he's so adorable!! Amazingly cute! And always laughing and giggling! Anyway, the last couple of weeks I've been thinking of babies, ever since T told me that she is pregnant and A divulged her thoughts about adoption. I have never wanted a baby, never had the urge to get pregnant and (formere meg). It's not like I don't like kids, because I really do. But I never wanted one of my own. I know many think it's selfish to choose NOT to have a baby, that I am egotistical. I, one the other hand, believe it's the other way around. I mean, what reasons do people usually give for having a baby or deciding to get pregnant? It's always "I want a baby", "We want a baby", "We (I) think it's time to have a baby", "A baby fits in our life right now", "A baby is the ultimate symbol of our love", "I want somebody to look after me when I am old" etcetera. It's not like the baby can choose! You never ( or I never) hear anybody say that they think this world is such a beautiful and wonderful place that they think a baby deserves to grow up in it. Come on! It's always selfish to want a baby! So I don't think that I am that selfish to NOT wanting a baby. And I think people should respect that decision.

Anyway, the last couple of weeks, I have been thinking about babies. Soon it will be too late for me to have a baby. I am in my thirties already! So will it be right to have a baby just because I MAY want a baby in a couple of years or more? No, I don't think so. Since I don't want a baby now, I just have to take the consequences if I change my mind later in life. Maybe I then will regret the decisions I have taken so far, but that is certainly not reason enough to have a baby now. Although I have to say that IF I got pregnant now, I don't honestly know what I would do. And I don't know how I will think about this next year or in two years or three years. I could change my mind, I don'(utelukke) that. Maybe if we get to build our dreamhouse next year, we both want to be a "proper" family. But for the time beeing, I am happy beeing baby-free and pregnant-free. Time will show wether or not there ever will be a mini-me out there!

I work in admin...........

Today:

Me: Hello? I need help. I can't get in to my system. I get this (stupid) message saying I´m already logged on, maybe on another computer and that this could be a network problem.

Support: Ok, right-click on the systems icon, choose properties and write ....... in the target-area. Then click "ok" and try to log on the system with this emergency-password.

Me: Yess!! It works!

Support: Then log out, go back to properties and delete what you wrote in the target-area. Click "ok". You should now be able to log on as usual.

Me: okay..... (What I wanted to say: How could this fix anything, I haven't actually done anything, wont this just set the system back to where it was, where I couldn't log on?)

It worked.

1 minute later:

Me: Hello, I need help, I tried to register this months bonuses etc. beacuse payday is just a couples of days away (Yippi!!) and I REALLY have to finish this and send it to the bank (otherwise I'll be totally broke), but I get this error saying "Salary calculation failed" everytime I try.

Support: Well, did you.....

Me: No

Support: Have about....

Me: Nope, haven't done that either

Support: Well..... (I can hear him looking through his easy-support-answers), ehhm, I have to talk to our technicians, I will call you back.
(How come support doesn't have people who can answer anything else than FAQ? And why couldn't the support-guy let ME talk to a technician? Are they so technically busy that they don't have the time to talk to and help their customers? Who, by the way, pay HUGE sums of money just to GET their help! And why, WHY, does this have to happen to me, who are late calculating this months salaries because I was on sickleave for a week?)

Me: Ok

3 hours later I was still waiting, stressed out and fuming, pissed actually.

10 minutes later I called repeatedly before I came thru on the phone.

Support: We need you to send us a back-up copy of your SQL Server, so we can take a look at what's wrong. And maybe we can have it fixed for you tomorrow.

Me: Ok, will do (but tomorrow is a bit late!!)

I probably wont be able to pay out this months salaries to our employees.............. Support stinks, this is what our company pays over 4 dollars per minute for??!! S***!!

To idle, idling

I idled for to long apparently, so my long and wonderful post just vanished!! I spent HOURS writing it!!! This is just too much. IT IS LOST!!!! Am so angry I could just throw this piece of shit laptop out the window, after smashing it with a hammer. So unfair!! Can't even remember everything, so how I am gonna post it now?! Stupid, f...... "idle" thingy!!! Can't even go back to copy what I wrote, AAAAARRRRGH, am furious now!!!

Anyway, are sitting here in my sofa and eating home-made chocolate cake with a clean conscience. Yesterday and today I rode my bike to work and home again. And today, of course, it was raining when I was getting ready to cycle home. Would you like to cycle uphill 10 kilometres in pouring weather? No, didn't think so. I was soaking wet, my make up made me look like a zebra and the wet mascare got in mye eyes constantly, sooo irritating!! I huffed and puffed like a French Bulldog on a treadmill and weird as it was, everybody else cycled so much faster than me today!! Had to be something wrong with my bike!! Think I somebody sabotaged my bike with syrup on the wheels!! Even though I was dripping wet, even though my legs hurt and my lungs SCREAMED for more oxygen, I kept going. And am proud of it now, becuse I feel so good! Anyway, that's why I am enjoying my chocolate cake right now!

A general election to the parliament of Norway was held yesterday. Couldn't care less, but did my civic duty of course. Although the party I voted for didn't get more than 10 seats out of 169....... Not much influence there!! Now we're getting a socialistic government, a red-green coalition. And I am ready to complain and bitch about the new governments decisions and the consequences of their budget. And I can you know, beacuse I didn't vote for them!!! Higher taxes? Of course, what did you expect voting socialistic? They want more money so more people can live of social welfare!!! Higher unemplyment? Duh!! Not good conditions for trade and industry you know!! Higher interest? Would think that to be a natural consequence, yes. Been there, done that! We have had socialistic governments before, you know! All they want is your money, I believe they think of my salary as their money, only allowing me a monthly allowance. They even use the word "give" about MY money!! They reduce the taxes (IF that happens) to "give" us more money. GIVE?! It is my money to begin with!! The more you earn, the more they want, and they don't care if you work your butt of, don't have any spare time, don't have time for family and friends because you work overtime every day, have bigger student loans than house loans and the only compensation you used to get is a nice bunch of money at the end of the month. I am so gonna bitch when all this happens!! Yes I am!

My good childhood friend T, is pregnant. Oh my God, she's gonna be a mum!!! I can hardly believe it!! Congratulations, hon! Am looking forward to a mini-you!! I hope your views on babies will change now! T has never liked babies, she's always thought of them as irritating and annoying, snotty little creatures other people are saddled with. But never her!! I used to share her views on kids, and actually didn't think she would ever be a mum, but we are getting older and hopefully wiser, and I think that's what happened to T. Anyway, if she's anything like her own mother, she'll be a great mum!

Signed up at flickr.com today. This site is supposed to be great for storing, sorting and sharing your pictures so I guess I am finally getting my pictures in order on this blog! Have a lot that I haven't posted yet.....

Still bummed about my last post that just disappeared, so am gonna eat the rest of my cake and be depressed about the "post that disappeared". By the way, have plans for posting a lot of recipes, so if you wanna share, please send me mouthwatering, heavenly things!!!!

Poor, helpless animals, victims of Katrina

Who cares? In the news here there's been little or nothing about the pets left behind in the wake of the disaster. I love animals and when I read this, I got so depressed:

"Many of those animals sit forlornly on the rooftops of flooded homes, slowly starving to death as rescue boats ignore them, looking for people instead. Some have even tried swimming to boats, only to be rebuffed by the rescuers."

But thankfully, help for animals is coming:

"There are hundreds of people on the ground now, who are trained in emergency animal rescue disaster response, just waiting to get into the areas hardest hit," Betsy Saul, president of Petfinder.com, told CNN on Monday.

I am so grateful there are people who care!!!

That's what getting old gives you

Damn back!! I have been home from work all day. My back is really bugging me! Everything is hard, I can't walk proparly (think Donald Duck!!), I can't sit, I can't stand and I can't even lie down in a normal and restful position. Of course the day gets SOOOO boring, I've read a book already, and started on another one. I hate beeing alone, everything gets so much harder. The whole weekend with WB got ruined because of my back and now it seems this week is getting ruined as well. I can't take my dog for a long walk, I can't work, I can't ride my bike, I can't take the subway to town or to our boat or anywhere. I can't even do anything at home. This has been a LONG day!! Hopefully my back will be bent less than 45 degrees tomorrow! I just have to pick up the pieces of my broken body tomorrow and hope it will work a bit better than it has today.

I am New Orleans

I am New Orleans

Queen City of the South;

As fabulous -- as fantastic and unreal as the cities of Arabian Nights.

I am America epitomized:

A blending of everything -- Latin, Nordic, and Negro,

Indian, European, and American.

.........

Out of the swamps of Louisiana,

Out of the blue mud and sand of the Delta,

Out of hurricanes, storms, and crevasses,

Out of Indian massacres and slave insurrections,

Phoenix-like have I risen;

Out of French, Spanish, and American dominations,

I have preserved my soul.

...........

By Marcus B. Christian

Sad....

Sad and very, VERY angry as well, how can a self-proclaimed GREAT nation like the USA not be able to give it's own citizens the help they require? How can they sit on their asses several days after this disaster and NOT SEE THE GRAVITY OF THE SITUATION????!!!! Not to be able to give these poor, poor victims water, food, shelter, medicines, to protect them from harm, from thugs and criminals, not be able to have them evacuated? How in the world can a (self-proclaimed) GREAT nation like the USA be intimidated by these thugs, thieves and worseless criminals, let them rule a great city like New Orleans, rape, shoot, loot, use violence and scare the helpless victims of the hurricane? How can a (selfproclaimed) GREAT nation like the USA let its own citizens die because they are not rescued in time, not evacuated, not given the treatment they need. How on earth can the American Government spend time on petty arguments with the local governement instead of reacting? And, sweet Jesus, why didn't they react sooner?!?!?!

My heart goes out to all those affected by this terrible disaster. I am so sad, my tears cannot help them, my thoughts or awkward atheist prayers cannot help, but hopefully now, nearly a week after the disaster, they can at last be rescued, all of them. And eventually, I hope to come visit and admire your great city of New Orleans again.

Prolapse in the vertebral column, walking like I'e got a stick up my bum!

Not really funny, but very unpleasant! Have to walk really slowly and really, REALLY carefully if I want to avoid any pains. Feeling sorry for my self, unable to enjoy todays wonderfully nice September-weather. Unfair world!

Ruduyard Kipling

If

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or, being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with triumph and disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with wornout tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on";

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch;
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run -
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man my son!

Fishing

Yesterday I took the day off from work. I got up early and instead of relaxing in my favourite position on the couch, I made some food, packed my fishing pole and took Leo the dog on a five hour hike in the woods. An extraordinary way to spend a day off! No fish, of course, but I did take a swim, so obviously I scared away all the little fishes. Don't care, it was a really refreshing swim! I took some pictures and are showing you one of them. Right now I'm gonna see the two last episodes of Revelations. Good Night!!

IVF

A friend of mine sent out an e-mail explaining that she was on a sickleave and wouldn't be reachable at her work e-mail. She's going thru an IVF-treatment. She started with hormonal nosespray (four times every day!!) three weeks ago. Last week she startet with her shots. She says she's too chicken to give them to herself, so her boyfriends has to. Her hormones are raging, of course. She's super sensitive and cries at stupid commercials. She feels like her ovaries are about to explode, she's going thru hormonal hell! Oh, poor sweetie, I'm so glad it's not me!! But hopefully this treatment will give som results, she could actually be pregnant next week!

Life is so unfair! So many people get pregnant that doesn't want babies, other shouldn't have babies, but get them anyway and then there are those who want and should have babies, but can't get pregnant. Why is that? You should think life could be more fair handing out the chances to get pregnant. I really hope this treatment works, she deserves good news next week when she's going back to the hospital for a chech up. I'm keeping my fingers crossed and are looking forward to a baby-sweetie!!

I worry.....

I'm getting worried. Wonderful Boyfriend hasn't called or answered hos mobile. I know he was supposed to go white water-paddling after work today, but it is getting late and I worry.....

Bread

Today I made bread. How exciting! Not. But that's what I did today. I went to work, did my job, went home, walked the dog and startet making bread. I made two breads with pumpkin seeds and two bread with sunflower seeds. Healthy breads, no doubt. And they actually tasted good! Now I think I have to write a couple of posts to a friend's blog. If what I write is good enough to be posted, that is. I would like to be a writer, but I just don't think I've got it in me. WB says it's just lack of confidence on my part, but I don't agree. I'll give it a try anyway! Obviously, todays post is about absolutely NOTHING, so not interesting. But still, I felt I had to write something......... I miss WB, he won't be home until friday evening, sadly.

Later this evening I'm gonna watch the last two episodes of Revelations. Anybody seen this yet? I like it a lot, it's just something I would enjoy!! Actually it is not "Roger" that gave med Revelations, but another colleague. Dont I have amazing colleagues?! I just know you are envious!

By the way....

Posted by ybd on 08/23/05

I have (after MONTHS of thinking) decided to move. Yup, me, I am going to move, yes I am. Leave the glorious city of Oslo.

Move away from the city, move away from my friends, my family and my work. Move away from all things splendid in the city, everything I take for granted (WHAT HAVE I DONE?????). My Wonderful Boyfriend and I have plans to buy a piece of land and build a house of our own, in his childhood town (if it can be called a town, it has about 4500 inhabitants, does that even qualify as a town?). I 'll be like the settlers of the old West, leaving behind everything near and dear, to a new and promised land! I will of course, have to do without quite a lot of things!! I mean, come on, THEY DO NOT EVEN HAVE DECENT TEA THERE!! What am I without my tea? That's like Churchill without his cigar, Juliet without her Romeo, a bear without claws......... On the plus-side, there is a small city only 20 minutes away, HOPEFULLY I will be able to find my tea there.......... (I did say hopefully.....)

And WHY would I even think of such a thing? My Wonderful Boyfriend is to blame!! Who else?! WB could not stand the city anymore (Hey, he grew up seeing only 10 people, so I could understand that!), all the traffic, the people, the crowds etc. etc. etc. blah blah blah. That's when he decided he wanted to move AWAY from the city. As a compromise he found a job where he wanted, but comes home to me every weekend. Obviously, that did NOT work very well! Otherwise I wouldn't have decided to move!! But hey! It could be wonderful, even fantastic, enjoying the nature, the mountains and such! It is certainly a chance, but you only live once. And it is not going to happen this year, anyway. I REALLY have to get used to the idea first!!

It's Tuesday and it is raining.......... I am at work, trying to give the impression of having lots and lots of work to be done (wich I do) and being as effiecient as ever (wich I certainly am not today!). But it is SO boring!! Think I am suffering from "weather-sickness", it has sapped all the energy out of me. Do think I have to go for a little walk and buy myself a small bar of pure energy.......... Yummi!!!

Finally!

At long last I am blogging!! At least I think I am......... Have to test this and see if it works proparly, but optimistic as I am, I think it really does. So now I am writing for the first time a post to my blog. Aaahhh, where to begin, what to write? I don't have a clue actually. But I think it's all going to be about me, me and ME!! My thoughts and opinions about what I like and what I find interesting. Anything from having a bad hairday, to the things I experience in my life, things I read, films, tv-series, friends and family. Nobody but my friends and family will have any interest of reading this blog, so I don't have to care about beeing funny or entertaining or morally correct or having profound and deep thoughts, thank God!! I would also like to take several pictures every week and show them to you all. So keep in touch!!