017. Question of morals

Even though I know that this 'discussion' will lead nowhere. Here are my 2 cents worth. 

(Considering this discussion have been going on for years and years long already, almost like the topic of abortion or if the question if God exists ... would we ever come to an agreement?)

Though there is certainly hope, I know for a fact that I am definitely a Pro-Choice. But we can discuss that some other time. :)

And about religion, I know I am a Buddhist by heart though I rather like to believe in a divine being. I call it Faith. It is what carries me through when everything seems to be crushing down on me. But thats enough about my religious nature. And for this matter as well, I too have my own 'preference'

But I cannot help but wonder, while reading the Medicines and Drugs Option for Chemchem. This and that somehow in some strange way relate. :)

Anyways, a couple of days ago I stumbled upon this while blog hopping

I think this is a certainly one of those things one should perhaps watch. 

Since I have yet to be able to learn to embed on Blogspot, you would just have to click here.

Its so heartfelt and you could almost just feel like your listening to her and not over Youtube or anything.

*There are countless more on the Internet I am sure, of video's like this, or against Euthanasia for that matter.

**Question : Why does it happen then when I copy and paste on Blogger, my paste seems too end up at the bottom of the page. Am I suppose to edit the html before embedding?

Incase you cannot be bothered to click on that link, it was a dying cancer patient Angelique dying letter to the Prime Minister of Australia to legalize an act? of euthanasia. 

Euthanasia and I quote

Euthanasia is the deliberate killing of a person for the benefit of that person.
In most cases euthanasia is carried out because the person who dies asks for it, but there are cases called euthanasia where a person can't make such a request.
A person who undergoes euthanasia is usually terminally ill, but there are other situations in which some people want euthanasia.

So, the ever infamous question here is. Should a person be allowed to end ones life, if severe suffering is the question. Of course it is easier said now that I am on the other side of the spectra. This are life choices I am making when I am healthy and able bodied. I am sure, it is so much more difficult if I was the one needing to face this decision.

I think I can skip the discussion as to why one should or should not do it. There are about 120948 pages on Google about people discussing this. This are some good sites if you do want to read more.

Website AGAINTS Euthanasia (very good site, made me rethink some things)

But here are my other 2 cents worth. The way Angelique puts it. You can almost somehow feel the pain that she is really going through and its almost unfair to say this, but maybe the best way to end all this is by putting an end to it. And do not get me wrong, I value life. Living is really an amazing feeling.

I personally would have wanted to end all the pain myself. If living is becoming unbearable as like she puts it (again,I know we are not on the other side) but when one is in constant pain and sleeping,eating,breathing,talking is becoming like a torture. 

Really, is it worth putting them under such scrutiny?. I myself can almost not bare the pain of the migraines I have, but I know that it would all go away sometime.And I think that is one determining factor, my headache, goes away. This on the other hand, will probably not. If your a female, then I suppose you could ask yourself, how many times have you wished that all this pain could just end when your having your PMS. Then again, you have Ibux to cure that. What if you did not? What if its everyday, and about 1000 times worse.

Another thing is, it is not usually about the pain in most cases, but I think the lost of mobility and independence that makes things worse. Being put in a diaper and needing to be cared and carried for at all times, is not something anyone would like. If a brain dead person, gets to end their life by the choice of SOMEONE else. Why can't a normal living, breathing person make that choice themselves too? Shouldn't one like Angelique puts it, be allowed to at least have a pain free leave.

Then there is the question of believes. You know where I stand on this. I do not think religion should make choices like this for me. Then again, I am not religious. But this is a whole other matter to me I think.

There are about another 1000 reasons why one should or should not do this, from the competence of the sufferer (?) to the fact that, taking ones life is the 'easy way out' and there might be a chance or hope that medical and science is able to change that.

I think I should stop now, not that I do not have more to say, but I think the whole idea is just making me sad. :(

Its never easy when one talks about one's life. And this time, literally, life. 

** Interesting fact from BBC :It's not euthanasia to give a drug in order to reduce pain, even though the drug causes the patient to die sooner. This is because the doctor's intention was to relieve the pain, not to kill the patient 

*** Slightly disturbing facts while I was doing my reading. The machine that allows you to take your life away. 

016. Beauty pt.2

* I shall start by saying I am now about 1 NOK (after conversion) richer from the blog advertisements!

Now, I wonder if there is a way to check my GoogleAdsense account. Maybe there I might also be lucky enough to generate another 1 NOK :). Ahh, bliss. One step closer to getting that Ben&Jerry's Chocolate Brownie ice-cream I really really want.

At this rate, keep dreaming Lisa.

In the midst of some confusion and just the general excitement to write about something else, I did not remember the other few rather interesting perception of beauty in the world, featured on that episode on Oprah. :)

(I am starting to wonder, if I am really intrigued by the general perception of beauty or the usually unique locations of these places, which I never knew existed before!)

• Maori woman and their chin tattoo's

Picture source : Google

Personally, I thought this was rather interesting as well. The Maori people are actually indigenous people of a Polynesian from Aotearoa (which if Sharanna wasn't in Sweden, she would have been here :)). Anyways, one of the Maori people's definition of beauty is to have tattoo's done. I believe they are called Ta moko. Ta moko is different from tattoo because the skin is craved instead of being punctured (source : Wikipedia)

Woman of the Maori tribe, perceive beauty as having getting a Ta moko done on their chin and lips. And woman with blue lips are considered very beautiful. I suppose this is another good example of how beauty is ultimately subjective. I wonder what are the main reasons that one would consider going through such changes, and for the Maori's I think it is for the sense of pride. Pride that they belong to the Maori tribe. :)

I only wonder, if I would ever have that much attachment and pride towards my own heritage to do anything of that sort.

And on the bright side, They never have to worry about the correct shade of lip stick. :)

• Long Neck Woman of Thailand (?)

Picture source : from Google

Surely we have all heard about this before, woman who uses brass rings to elongate their necks. I never knew the woman who practices this was from Thailand. With questionable resources, this woman are apparently from a place called Mae Hong Song just around the border of Thailand and Burma. 

Out of curiosity, I wonder if they are in any pain, apparently the weight of the brass rings could weigh up too 12 pounds. And then I wonder, without the brass rings, what happens then?

Anyways, I found a rather interesting article about this on the net. I suppose its only a matter of time before people start taking advantage of people who simply do not fit the same persona we think is normal.

• Lip plates

Now, this was not featured in Oprah, but I think it should have, because personally I think its really interesting yet rather disturbing all at the same time. I am sure we all have heard of the woman from a remote tribe in Ethiopia (?) who stretches their bottom lips so they are able to find a husband. And apparently, the larger the bottom lip is the higher the dowry.

Picture source : Google

Now, that MUST hurt? Gladly enough, I think this practice of self modification is no longer practiced as much as they use too.

I suppose if you were to ask me, the first question that would cross my mind when I read and hear about all this is whether or not the woman were presented with options. I understand that usually, they are not presented with options and all this body modification are usually forced upon. For example the lip stretching starts from a little girl. I think being raised and being thought of all the human rights, I do not think its acceptable. Again, who am I to say...

Most times, the people who practiced all this are secluded from society and have no access to the outside world. How are they then supposed to know what is acceptable and not. And 'acceptable' again, is another utterly subjective term. Surely it's acceptable to them, and if they have been practicing it all this time, would it then be okay to take it away. Take away their culture, heritage, practice.

I am contradicting myself aren't I. Oh well.

If it was your own personal decision too allow this to happen (with full knowledge of consequences), I really do not see such a big problem with it then. "Asalkan bahagia" as I like saying. "As long as your happy" :)

** I was thinking, if I was crazy enough and want to look for something to show my pride, what would I do.. Then I remembered, the Chinese woman's and foot binding. Shocking.

Picture source : Google 

You know what I say. I say I'll pass. Maybe I don't love it that much after all. :)

015. Pictures

Today's picture feature : Johanne 

Seems like there are more pictures of you then anybody else! Heh.

I supposing it is Johanne's camera, I would say not that surprising.

Namnam*

"Mysterious" 

Confused*

Depending on the bitchy-ness of the internet connection. Here are some pictures taken by with Johanne's very sexy camera mostly by me and by Johanne. *pats in the back*

Lisa likes this.

Johanne 

Flower in the hair

More artsy fart-sy pictures :)

Coriander by Yours Truly

Shopping with the kiddo's. As you can tell, I was the walking coat rack.

*I am really starting to like taking pictures! 'Photography' as they like calling it :)

Thought of the day.

Would you give everything up,

In a pursuit of something more?

Something unknown,

an illusion, a hope.

Knowing it's perhaps not the right thing.

But perhaps for the best.

Thoughts.

014. Beauty

I was watching Oprah the other day and there was this very interesting episode about how beauty was perceived differently in different parts of the world. 

I think ultimately, it is true when one says, beauty is in the eyes of its beholder. In addition, it is also true that our perception of beauty is very much based on what others in society think is beautiful. Take an example of tanned skin, in Asia woman try and achieve as fair skin as possible, while in the Western countries people seek tanned skin and would go to extreme lengths to achieve it.

Personally I thought this episode was really fun to watch and rather enlightening. Lets see if I can remember a few of the different interesting definition of beauty and facts from different parts of the world. 

• Mauritania (a.k.a The Islamic State of Mauritania)
  

Mauritania (from Wikipedia)

I suppose we could start with the most interesting one. Mauritania (no, not Mauritius). First of all, when they introduced Mauritania, I could not help but wonder where in the world in Mauritania. In my naivety, I honestly did not know Mauritania existed. Then again, there are a lot more countries in this world, which I certainly do not know the location of. Anyways, Mauritania is a country in Northwest Africa and its capital is Nouakchott. Other than that, I did not even know that this country had a coup d'état not so long ago, in 2008! 

Why did I not know of this?

Anyways, as I was saying their perception of beauty is most definitely interesting one, according to them beauty for women is woman who is fatter, has stretch marks, and a divorcée! Now that is definitely something. According to a women they interviewed, some of the most desired women are those who are divorced, few times over and happen to be larger!. Ah, I see hope at the end of the tunnel. :)

I think the point of them showcasing this country was that it is true how again ultimately, beauty is subjective and is in the eyes of the beholders.

• Hair extensions

I don't know but I think this image is slightly disturbing (from Google) 

Hair extensions are now some of the new rage this days and they discussed if anyone ever thought where the hair comes from. And apparently about 25% of the hair comes from India. Not only that, some of the hair that they use are usually those that comes from devotees who sacrificed their hair for religious purposes and then sold to companies who then I assume cleans and dye and repair hairs to be then sold. I think according to Oprah, the temple makes about 18 million a year from all the hairs sold. Now, thats a lot of money!

I suppose this is something questionably morally. Considering the devoteé probably do not know where all their hair goes after this. But I'll not discuss more about that now :)

In all honesty, I really don't understand how can one put someone else's hair on their head and not feel slightly weirded out by it. I understand that it is probably clean and all, but still. I cannot seem to come to grasps the whole idea of it. The idea of carrying someone else's hair... 

I suppose this is easy to say now as I have long hair myself, and need no extensions for now. :)

* I finally got around to watching Twilight! Got to say, its not all that good, but definitely one of those awwww movies again.

** As I was typing this blog, I am also watching The Weakest Link on BBC Entertainment, and guess what! its the first time that I have seen the contestants reach the 1000 pounds mark! :)

*** I was going to put up some pictures from Johanne's camera which she left at my place but there is no way of getting the pictures out...

****After what, 2 years of having this Macbook, I only now realize where this symbol ' was! All those times wasted corrected can´t when I could have just used can't! *smacks head*

013. Café People

Iced Mocha (...) and Mocha (...)

What have I said before about the fact that it was just the blogger bug that has been biting me, updates are starting to get mellow. I think there are possibly 2 factors that is causing this.

1. Life is simply getting busier and busier everyday.
2. There is no more fun camera´s to play with so I can take ridiculously clear and focused pictures.

Anyways, just to keep my blog alive. Here is something I plan to do in a short while. Since a certain Boy and I share the liking of going to cafés (or we are always slightly bored) 

Lately, we are into the whole idea of "independent cafes", I suppose we would bump into a few more along the course of the next few weeks.

*Just to clarify, independent meaning. Not where we go everyday/often. It also should not be some mainstream cafés, with MANY exception due to the fact that Norway always have chains of the same cafés anyways. Just like Starbucks I suppose.

I was thinking I could soon write about some absolutely awesome cafés around Lillestrøm and Oslo or those worth talking and recommending too. 

Yesterday it was "the first café that we see after 3 blocks, regardless if it is nice or not" and we happen to stumble upon Stockfleths (spelling questionable) just about one street down ever famous Karl Johan. 

After my horrible, and I mean horrible experience with Iced/Blended Coffee´s in Norway. This one was acceptable. Not in any way great or in any comparison to Starbucks. 

This was again acceptable. :)

If ever you are a fan of tea, you should most definitely come here to try their Chai Latte. Not that I know what it tastes like, but you get to see the woman behind the counter "preform" a sort of "pulling" motion with her tea. In Malaysia, its almost like the drink Teh Tarik. Just ask my best friend Google, if you really want to know. 

The location of this place is slightly harder to find, but just know "3 blocks down Karl Johan, first right from Østbanehallen" :) You can also get the same chain of coffee over at Oslo City.

Oh, another thing about this place is that, because of the size of the place, you could smell all the new freshly brewed coffee and tea. *Yummmm

One place one should never. I repeat, never. Try the Ice-Coffee from Ritazza in Gardermoen Airport. It was been almost half a year since that "incident" and I remember every bit of the horrible taste of what I thought water from left over beans of coffee scraped off the bottom of the pots and pans coffee. Yuck. Oh, if that is not bad enough it was really expensive!

I suppose in their defense, at most times the taste and quality is variable with the person making it. So, one should not be too critical I suppose. 

Vanity

*It was such nice weather today. I hope this last till after the IB exams! Makes my mood so much better and therefore, a happier me!. Ever stopped and notice, how weather has so much influence on ones mood? Or maybe it is just me...

Lets just pretend this was "artistic" :)

The daily walk

Postboxes

**All that advertorials in my blog is starting to generate revenue! Who would have known...

I am now, a whole 50øre richer! Oh my! 50 øre! :) I can now go get... quarter a breath of fresh air in Norway. Would that be enough?

012. Guide to hosting a dinner for dummies

In an attempt to make myself look and feel more like a useful person and able woman. I decided quite a while ago actually that I should cook!

Not the usual "cooking" in Lisa´s term, meaning throwing some frozen food in the oven and wait 45 minutes, and ta-dah! "Dinner"

*in case you have yet to notice, cooking is not my forte. Eating is :)

Anyways, that was yesterday. So, guess who my poor victim was? 

I look horrifying! This is an example, of a picture taken from someone who doesnt know MY angles well enough.

Anyhow, here is my guide on making dinner. :)

• Pick your guests.

I think this is key. Usually, pick guys. The boyf. if you must, as then you know your almost save with whatever you serve :). Moreover, dudes seem to eat almost anything. And because you put "so much effort" into it, even if you might have accidentally spilt way too much salt on your potatoes, you will not hear them complain and still see a happy face.

• Prepare a menu plan.

Do not over achieve. Do not plan to make some fondant, or soufflé, or some lobster bisque. Leave that to professionals. Aim where you might achieve. For my level, frozen food or simply over a pot of boiling water. I was going to try and make some (insert hard to pronounce seafood dish) but after reading the recipe, I realized I do not know half of what goes into it. Make something you have made before. Never try to flambe! Lesson learnt a while ago. Fire in the kitchen and a totally sensitive fire alarm is definitely a no-no.

• Buy ingredients

Buy some fresh ingredients, so you keep with the whole "being able to cook theory". Buy a little more then you need, as there might be a slight chance you would mess something up, like boiling carrots. 

• Set the mood and atmosphere.

I believe table setting is almost as vital as the food, place loads of serviettes and arrange plates so they look good. Serve most food on a white plate, somehow everything taste a little better on white plates. Candles! candles! and more candles! Put on Jack Johnson for a nice slow and mellow feel too.

• Prepare the ingredients before guest arrives

I found out that this was actually rather important, as when cooking with pungent items such as garlic and onions, you might want to take a shower after that. So, chop up all those things before hand and when guest arrives, you just need to throw it all in a pan and dinner is ready. This is also the perfect time to mess around and take "artistic" pictures of things. :) 

• Prepare wine just to get the guest drunk and distracted if the food turns out bad

Wine and food, goes together like Chanel and her Little Black Dress. Find a wine with the right amount of alcohol content, in this case about 14% so the guest might get slightly tipsy, but not totally drunk and knocked out. Then all your effort would have just gone to the waste.

• Make the food

It is important to remember not to assume that just because other people have salt shakers that only exerts a small amount of salt, that yours would happen to work the same way. Do not tilt half a box of salt into the potatoes!, also do not assume that just because your dried chillies are smaller then you think, you should put in 5 times the recipe. So, yesterday I made some "Salty" Roasted Potatoes :), Fettucini with Garlic, Chillies and Onions and Boiled Vegetable (which in my world, counts as cooking!)

Pretty good stuff, and dead easy to make!

• Prepare back-ups

Incase your an utter hopeless at this, you might want to prepare back ups. In other words, bring out your defenses! In my case, frozen food from the box. :) In Norway, Findus. They actually make quite decent food if you ask me. 

• Prepare conversation topics

If needed, I suppose one could prepare a conversation topics, but usually for me. I think the juices flow quite enough as it is. Preparing any more would be pretentious and unnecessary. 

• Last but most definitely not least!

Put on your prettiest smile and the most cutest dress you can find, so if needed there are more ways to distract the guest from the food. Use your assets as they like calling it. Smile! ;)

There could be no way to resist that now.

Ultimately, it is all about having loads of fun. This is where the point #1 comes into play. So, have a great time, and everything would be smooth sailing. Until the guest leaves, and then the cleaning up ... Oh happy thoughts Lisa, happy thoughts. :) 

*I skipped school today. Wasnt in the mood at all. Instead I did 3 Physics labs. Oh the joy.

011. Dinner in Eidsvoll

Route taken everyday

Train ride. ;)

I was over at Johanne´s today. Where I help made the food for their international dinner. This weeks dinner happen to be dinner from the Gaza Strip. 

"We" made some (insert hard to pronounce Chicken) and some (more impossible to spell out vegetables). It was really yummy though!

And being Johanne being Johanne, we embarked on our little experiment of making some Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice-Cream. I think we were inspired by Ben&Jerry´s but lets face it, the prices for some B&J are ridiculously pricey especially here in Norway.So we came up with the ultimate solution,to simply make our own.

Basically the steps are relatively easy.

We took the recipe of the back of some Nestle Toll Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips and just mix it in to some plain vanilla ice-cream. Refreeze the ice-cream.  Mix it around and ta-dah!

Amazingly yummy stuff. Emphasize amazing. 

We also watched Little Miss Sunshine. :)

I still do not understand the whole "pop-phenomena" with the Little Miss tees, or if it is the same relevance to the show but I am sure my best friend Google can help me with that. 

Anyways, I think that movie is an utterly adorable one. It wasn't really a chick flick, but it was one of those awww, feel good movies. 

Even more, one of the Røkholts guest is an dentist, so I had a free consultation. So here are some myths about white teeth. Dont we all love it when we know people of different professions. :)

Johanne, you might want to correct some points, if I did not get them right.

• Tea will actually do your teeth more good then bad. Not in terms of whitening it, but the overall "health" of the teeth. So drink tea!
• Coffee really does no harm to your teeth, unless you have got plague. Then it could take the colour of the coffee.
• Most of the whitening products are usually more harmful then they do good. 
• People with amazingly white teeth usually are either fake, or their teeth are actually "spoilt" (for the lack of a better word)

Now, if only I could lay my hands on Johanne´s pictures as the only pictures I seem to have is my vanity ones, and the fact that I have just found out after, what 4 years, that the camera can take black and white pictures! 

Vanity.

010. Lillehamer

Lillehamer

The pictures really doesn´t capture the true beauty of this place. :(

"Road tripping", 

Yesterday I took a trip to Lillehamer!

In case you don´t know what Lillehamer is, Lillehamer was the location for the 1994 Winter Olympics and I think its obvious from walking around the city that the fact that it was the the location for the Winter Olympics was quintessential. Everywhere you go, your quite reminded of it. 

Slightly off Lillehamer as well, lies Tretten. Where Magnar´s Bestemor lives, and she had to back after some days in Lillestrøm, which could possible the main reason why we were going there. But I rather like the sound of road trip better. So road trip it is :)

Lillehamer also happens to be my first location outside Akershus and Oslo, its quite sad to know that even after almost 3 years living here in Norway I have yet to go outside Oslo. I suppose going to Torp doesn´t count as whenever I am there, I either fly to Dublin or London.

Anyhow. It was an extremely fun trip all in all, and the fact that I went to some deep sleep right after I got home, would probably tell you that I was definitely worn out from all that fun.

Lets try and see, if I can sum the entire day as concise as possible.

Our road trip started at about 9 and after about what I thought over an hour of driving. I simply asked, "Where are we?", and guess what Boy casually answer, "Kløfta" (which is where I go every week) :/

All that excitement for nothing.

Anyways, more hours on the road and we stopped in Espa where they claim to sell "The worlds best buns". I thought they were above average, but "The Best" is a bit over-rated. By this time, the battery on the Macbook has died out, and I have already watched the newest episode of House. So, time to absorb all that pretty view.

It was an utterly amazing feeling going away from Oslo, and the city and all its hustle, to clear white snow, mountains and clean air!

To keep to the "concise" attempt. We reach Tretten at about 2.00pm ;)

Went on the sledge (or whatever it might be called), über fun!

Got the car stuck on the Hjelmstad´s farm.

Walked on dead bodies, I suppose people call it the graveyard to see the Bestefar.

Ate waffles and had some cocoa. Look at some memorabilia.

*Fast forward*

Lillehamer City, slightly like Karl Johan

Drove to Lillehamer :)

Saw Hafjell, sort of understand now why people go skiing there frequently.

Went to the Olympic ski jump. Walked up to the ski jump. Took us over an hour to get up and down again mind you!, it was almost like a crazy workout. A fun one if you must.

Got hungry, went to the city for a small walk.

Lillehamer does remind me a little bit of Oslo, just slightly less dense.

Ate at some Italian restaurant. :)

By the time, it was almost 7.00pm. Got to start the journey home. By this time we were both a little bit tired.

So, this comes the extra fun bit of the trip. Somewhere about half way through the journey home...

While I was busy sms-ing and fooling around, there is this wave of uneasiness that arose. You know that intuition that something was not right. So, I put the phone down and looked over at Magnar.

 And then he said ;

Magnar : "Yes, we are not running on any engine" (or something along those lines)

Lisa : ... (You can tell instantly he is not kidding, what else can one say)

Magnar : "And Yes, I am scared"

Lisa : ... =_=", Perfect.

With the blinker lights on and Magnar attempting to start the car again, we were pretty much "rolling on the highway" (somehow that expression sounds so much better, on a happy situation) :P, we were rolling and rolling for about, 200 meters or something. Scary.

As every time Magnar tries to start the car again, all the lights would go off for a fraction of a second. And be reminded, there was cars coming at us! 

To make things worse!, they were building on our side of the road, so there was no curb we could pull into onto our side, and had to pretty much look for another spot across the road. With cars still coming at us... 

Anyways, eventually the car started again right when we turned into the curb. So off on our way again.

Stopped at a petrol station, made some calls.

Kept on driving as I think the car was just going on some hormonal issues. There was absolutely no reason why that should have happened. What´s amazing is that in all this the Dude is exceptionally good at keeping calm and composed. ;)

*More fast forwards*

Drove to Johannes place to pick up her Manedskort.

And while we were on the same way, dropped by George´s place in Fenstad too. 

All for the sake of nothing. :)

Got home at about 9 or something. 

Boy spent some time in Bodung, then went on his way home.

Johanne came over at about 1 am. While I was in some really deep sleep. :)

All in all, absolutely fantastic day. Thank You.

Result of a days work, it was sparkly clean when we started!

009. What can one do in Oslo?

I now understand when people say, once you go over to the DSLR world, you cannot turn back. Because its so true... My pictures are so uncool today.

Back to the daily hassle and bustle of life for another 5 days. Then weekend again :)

Only life really isn´t too bad. Always look at is as half full. Surround yourself with people who brings out the best in you. They ensure that life is fulfilling and most of all, keeps you happy.

(Gee, I must have been reading too much self help books at Tanum earlier), Tanum in Paleet is effing amazing.

I morn er min Norske muntlig eksamen. :(

Jeg skal snakker om Hedda Gabler av Henrik Ibsen på 5 minuter. Jeg tror at det kan blir litt problematisk fordi jeg har så mer til sier, og 5 minuter er ingenting! 

Etterhvert skal jeg snakker for 3 til 4 minuter med læren om den. Jeg håper at jeg ikke fikk en spørsmal jeg har aldri tenker på. :)

Den, skal jeg bruker 3 til 4 minuter på en "ukjent tekst" og snakker om det. Men, I dag har jeg velg 5 emne for i morn :). Jeg har valgt til a snakker om "Min liv etter IB", "Stortinget", "Hva kan man gjøre i Oslo", "Skole i Norge", eller "Norske vinteren"

Anyways, enough with the Norwegian for a while. I obviously have got some work cut out for me. Although so, the harder part of this would be the last part of the orals as you dont really know what to prepare yourself for. But I did sort of hint to Guri that I would rather speak about "What can one do in Oslo" or the "Parliment". So, brainstorming time for me.

Lets start with the

"What can one do in Oslo"

I was thinking since you all also live relatively close to Oslo, and practically go there daily you could help with the ideas. :) I was hoping to make the presentation as personal as possible so the examiner might feel some sympathy on my questionable Norwegian skills.

• Oslo is the capital city of Norway. :)
• Has a population of about 580 thousand, therefore is one of Scandinavia´s largest growing city
• With the population comes numerous and countless of things to do
• First,right of the train at Oslo S. One can start the tour with the visit to new Opera house. The Opera was completed in 2008 and attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors each year due to its architectural value,and the fact that one of its main attraction is that visitors can walk on its rooftop and take a magnificent look at Oslo City from up there.

• Once we soaked in the magnificent view of the fjords and the city, we would then proceed into walking down the ever so famous Karl Johan Gata. 
• Karl Johan Gata is the main street in Oslo, and  holds most of the cities stores.
• Definitely a shoppers paradise, with over 200 stores all lined up and compacted into one street, ranging from well known brands such as Loius Vuitton to general department stores such as H&M

• Other than that, by just walking down Karl Johan, there would be numerous of places to take a quick bite, with the various cafe´s and restaurants along the street. Along Karl Johan we would find TGI Fridays, Hard Rock Cafe or just regular Norwegian cafes, perfect to soak in the Norwegian lifestyle.
• While walking down Karl Johan as well, one would be greeted and bombarded with a lot of things to see. To the left, half way down Karl Johan, we would be greeted with the Norwegian Theater, and the Norwegian Parliment. Both these buildings are an amazing spectacle of architecture.
• Above that, if the time is right, the Parliament host a free tour of the building and therefore could be very interesting to historical buffs. 
• Once that is done, at the end of Karl Johan one cannot miss to pay a visit to the Norwegian Palace. Maybe if you are in luck, the flag would be raised, and then you will know that the King is home.
• If your in for more adventure, one could then take a short walk out of Oslo, to Aker Bryggae and sit by the sea side, admiring the yachts and boats parked there. 
• Being part of an European culture, Oslo also has loads of parks where one can take a walk and enjoy the fresh air. One of the more famous parks is the Frogner parken where we could see statues of naked people formed and sculpted to a spectacle of arts.
• Oslo also offers numerous Museums such as the Munch Museum, The National Gallery, The Henrik Ibsen Museum, etc. etc.
• In conclusion, Oslo is a place of wonders. Its just about taking a walk, and there certainly is something to witness and to see. :)

That felt like I wrote a Travel Guide to Oslo. Pfft, if you want a personal guide to Oslo, mail me. Because after this presentation I would be like a pro-Oslo-er :P

Now, I am sure that was at least 10 minutes. But since I have to do it in Norwegian. I would probably skip half of it :). Perfect. Now, only got to prepare 4 more... :( AND my Hedda Gabler presentation. Can you feel the joy in my voice!

*Yes, I am aware I now have a new Ad unit on my blog. Google´s Adsense :)

**I think my tab on the left side is slightly whacked up, as you can tell.. the corners doesnt align. Anyone know how to fix it?

The Boy, he must quite like the roofs :)

008. Back to manic Mondays.

I took that picture of Mr.Dog

I realized how much I have been blogging lately, its almost ludicrous. I really do think that its probably the blogger bug, and its effects should soon see the end of it. 

Now, I am just thinking. If I manage to do 52 blog post (which is the magic number), would that mean I succeeded in my "Project 52?" :). I suppose as always, the term "success" is totally subjective.

Here are some things that I was pondering about yesterday.

1. Comments 

Although according to the visit counter, I generate about 50-60 new readers each day. With that being said, I only receive about 2 comments to each post I make, usually none at all. 

Sounds like I am bitching about it, but not No. I am not bitching about the fact that I do not receive comments, because as Sofie once said in a comment, I tend to write to much that by the time it comes to commenting, people usually do not know what to say any longer. :P

Fair enough if you ask me, I blog hop so much but I myself rarely leave a comment. Because what do I say, "Nice day!!!!, hip hip hurra! We should all hail you" =/

Afterall, my blog tells about my daily rants. And there really is nothing to say about it. I do it for my own personal pleasure.

So, I thought I should just shrug this "agenda" aside for now. But I am starting to think that people are here just to look at the pictures I post up and rarely read what I write. That is okay for now. I did put the pictures there for a reason to begin with. :)

2. How much should one reveal on blogs

I have always pondered a little bit on this one, blogs to me are a little bit of a private space where I write and allow readers (most of whom I do not even know about), into my little world. And of course, people being people. They talk.

Sometimes I edit, re-edit, and re-re-edit blogs and consider for a while before I click the "publish post" button. I wonder if what I am saying now could and perhaps will be used against me later in life. Usually there are many post that never made it out to public anyways. 

But then to counter that, I then also occasionally wonder, why am I not wanting to just say it aloud? What is it that could be so important that I am worried could be used against me. Why write then if you might ask. I ponder about this point for a while now, so here is an except of my once "Private" blog post on my former blog, written in mid 2008 :), I cant remember why I wrote this. Nostalgia... :P

" I sat wondering today, while being late to school, 

Why am I not writing to public?

Why am I hiding all this thoughts I have.

Who am I running from anyways?

Answer is clear. Really.

Fear.

Fear this information might one day be used to get back at me.

Why open up to the world that much right.

They dont really care about you anyways. People are just looking for things to talk ABOUT you anyways.

Not with you.

Why then blog at all you ask?

Well, I cant bottle that much up.

There is a volume and measurement in my head I can take, and it is really starting to fill up.

And, if you think this is remotely even close to whats in my head.

Then, your certainly wrong.

And, I believe that I am much better at expressing myself in words anyways.

Written ones. Not verbal ones.

This is my blog.

My words.

And my thoughts.

Its none of your concern what I do with it.

Or what it is capable of.

And, if I do tell you, its then a privilege

And I choose to tell you"

*Goodness, must be when I was going through the mood swing period, so emo. Mood swing = part of puberty = part of growing up. :P

That pretty much sums it I think. Plus I don´t think you guys want to see the more super emo-sensitive side of me anyways. :) There are so much bigger problems in this world to be bothering about small things. Plus somethings I like holding it dear to just me. And me only. Everyone needs a little bit of privacy too right.

Above that, lets face it. I do have the tendencies to tell a bit, at least sometimes I think so.

*Random note : Incase you do not know, I am sort of a closet poet. I do not write very well, but I do occasionally write poems, and my private posts as I have came to notice are usually poems showing my "softer side"

3. Length of each blog posts

Curious question : Do people really want to read all this rants?, should I keep my posts as short as I could without compromising content?, should I insert less pictures?

This is a baffling question that I have always pondered upon. I have a tendency to write to much, unknowingly if you must. Then by the time I do some corrections I realized, "Oh my! That was such a long post" =__=

A little bit like this one if you must. So, I should shut up now.

Ill rant more sometime. :)

Such a retarded picture of me... :(