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A canvas for splashing my thoughts of the day onto. This could get abstract indeed. |
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I've been meaning to start a blog for some time, so here it is!
This is where I'll share thoughts and experiences in every colour of the rainbow   Hopefully it will lead to a picture that's interesting for you to look at too. Welcome! Have a look, read and add some drops of colourful thoughts of your own  |
| Notes ▼ It's the 1st of April, and a certain monkey is sure to be very excited.  Yes, Andre, I'm looking at you. Best give the fella' som bananas to keep him busy  This is the day for pranks, as we all know. Some of my favourite ones are the elaborate pranks staged by the media, especially before the internet really changed our lives. Back when everyone had just a few sources of news that we all watched/read at the same time, and there was no widespread use of internet yet to check any online forums for answers. Some fun ones I know of are these two gems: In 1950 there was a very successful prank where a newspaper tricked people into thinking they would get free wine from the wine shop (not sure what to call it in English), if only they brought their own bucket or container for the wine. There was some nonsense about excess wine they had to get rid of. A fair number of hopeful people lined up, just in case. Worth a try, I guess. And just to make it better, that same prank was done again, successfully, in 1987. In 1995 there was a very elaborate prank in another newspaper, where they pretended that a car had been cut in half by the police's laser equipment. The police had just gotten a new type of speed measuring equipment, and it had supposedly Split a car down the middle. They had even actually cut an old car and placed it on the road for the sake of the prank. To top it of, they hired an actress, who held a crying baby in front of the "car wreck", explaining how scary the "accident had been". Not sure how many people believed it, but the effort alone was impressive. Happy April Fools' Day! |
| Notes Day 5 ▼ It's the final day of March! I'm not sure that I'm ready for it. The wind is still icy cold here, I can't quite sense the approach of April yet. Perhaps as the page of the calendar turns to a brand new month, so will the weather turn to the warmer side of spring. Ha! I'm not optimistic. Maybe when we approach May. May... be... Maybe May will be... good? I'll work on my word play skills. Honestly, I suspect that March and April are in cahoots about the weather more often than not. Now, there's a budding conspiracy theory! Not quite time to throw out any warm clothes yet, then. Although, a general clean-up feels right at this time of the year. Preparing the mind and soul for a fresh new season, that will eventually come. It will. It will! I have to admit, though, that I don't really mind the time we are in right now, it's just not particularly green and friendly yet. Nonetheless, after a long winter the longing for spring is real. Body and mind both ache for it. Perhaps I'll throw out some worn ice grippers, as a show of faith to the new season. It might appease the weather gods, you never know. A little superstition never hurt anyone. (Or has it? Might be worth investigating some other day...) Something I've brought out as March nears it's end, though, is a pair of sunglasses. The cold wind, in combination with the bright light of this transitional period, gives me a lot of headaches. Perhaps this is like the teenage of spring? An awkward transitional phase that gives everyone a lot of trouble in its struggle to find out what it's supposed to be now. Don't worry, then, I'm sure it just needs some time and positive encouragement. It just needs to know we believe in it (and that we have certain expectations regarding its behaviour). I'll throw out some worn out old mittens while I'm at it, and dig out my light beige trench coat. You never know? |
| Notes Day 4 ▼ Yesterday, I mentioned how the pandemic has affected my Easter two years in a row. In the middle of a crisis the size of Titanic, the issue of whether I get to celebrate Easter like usual, or not, might seem smaller than a flea's eye. However, it's a big deal for me. Let me tell you why. First of all, my family (mother, father, brothers,...) live further south in Norway than me. That means I only get to meet them in person when I go there during my holidays. I don't have an Easter to spare, family time is important. Spending time with my family is like the heart resurging with blood after a beat. It is simply necessary. Furthermore, traveling in a country like Norway makes a difference in climate. It's a country stretched from North to South further than a dog's ear in a child's hand. The weather can be quite bleak where I live. Not all the way North, where they have real winter. No, I live somewhere around the middle, where the weather stays grayer than a politician's morals most of the year. Add to these bleak-as-Poe circumstances that the sun is shy as a maiden for at least half of the year, only peeping out for a precious few hours each day in winter, well then you can probably understand that a journey to fairer surroundings can not wait. I need that sweet holiday sunshine as much as Will Smith thinks Chris Rock needs a smack. Fingers crossed, then, that this year will be better. I'm as excited as Putin before a war (NO, Andre!!) a child before xmas to celebrate with my family this year. After two very just-missed-the-bus years, I think it's high time for a surprise-tax-refund year, after all. It's what we all deserve. |
| Notes Day 3 ▼ In these final days of March, I've so far had rain, snow, a bit of hail, and icy cold wind. I think the Borrowing Days are living up to their reputation. I guess there must be something to that Scottish proverb. That's the thing about proverbs, they are a way of passing down experiences people have had in earlier times, so there is usually something to learn from them. They are not magical predictions, like they can sometimes seem in childhood. Rather they are life experiences put into a form that can easily be passed down through the ages. That's why they can seem a bit mysterious, it's usually easier to remember quirky rhymes than straightforwards explanations. So what could a modern proverb about these last days of March be? Step one would be to have useful information to pass on, some kind of life experience that might be useful for future generations to hear about. Step two would be to put it into a memorable form, and add some rhyme, mystery and perhaps a story to go with it. Well, the last couple of years have taught me that this is approximately the time when I find out whether the pandemic infection rates is bad enough to ruin my plans for Easter or not. Will this be relevant information for future generations? Hopefully the pandemic we're struggling with now will be less and less dangerous. However, now the flu is said to be getting worse, and who knows what else might crop up? I'm going to warn future generations, then, of what signs to look for around this time to know if they can celebrate Easter as planned or not. I guess a lot of sneezing would be a bad sign. Hmm.. lets see... Hark! Should March end with a cough and sniff and sneeze, Then Easter will not go the way you please. Of course Easter can be in the end of March, rather than April, but it still pretty much works. Waddayathink? |
| Notes Day 2 ▼ I haven't made any significant purchases lately, but I will have to soon. My mobile phone has started to act up, so it's only a matter of time before I need a new one. And with the amount of use mine gets, I would say it's definitely a significant buy. Good for the environment, good for the creativity. I'm at that awkward stage with my phone, where I have to really consider the risks carefully. There are so many pros and cons to weigh against each other. On one hand I've always really hated to change my phone before I've really "used it up". I don't like throwing something away just because it's getting a bit old and more difficult. On the other hand, it's such an essential tool in my life that I can't have it breaking down on me at an inconvenient moment. And that's not even getting started on the financial factors. It won't be a big change in my life style, though. The biggest change I've been working on is trying to learn some seeing. I would like to be one of those clever people who don't make their own clothes, either from scratch or from thrift shop finds. Good for the environment, good for the creativity. Oh, yeah, and I plan to buy a guitar. I always plan to buy a guitar. One day I'll learn to play it too. I would like for that to be my personal new normal some day. Guitar playing and good, self-made clothes (maybe I should have been born a hippie?). As for society's new normal, the world has gone through some scary changes in recent time. It's strange how, no matter how much I learn about world history, it's always a surprise when the big scary things actually happen in my own life time. Pandemic. War in Europe. Propaganda. It's just not supposed to happen "for real". On one hand it feels like we're discovering new normals, on the other hand it's like we're rediscovering history. Some things really are new, though, and it's up to our generation to figure it out (looking at you, Environment). It all gets too much and too gloomy to think about all the time, though. Maybe I should risk waiting to update my phone and just go for the guitar instead. We could all do with some cheering up these days. |
| Notes Day 1 ▼ I agree with Brother Nature about Sundays: they used to be more peaceful and quiet. Still, I do think they have kept a special place in the week for me, and I think they're still my most relaxing day of the week. I have learned in time the importance of respecting the reprieve of Sundays, and the need for separating between activity and rest. Not doing so is the road to my old foe anxiety. There's no easy way to avoid him, but taking routines for rest seriously sure is a good start. Why do routines for work tend to seem more important? I work my best when I also rest my best. When I was a child, Sundays would either be spent at home relaxing with the family, or going for a walk together in nature. I remember fondly how we would pack a lunch and go for walks along the coastline. The smell of trees and sea, the feel of cool breeze on my face, and different textures under my shoes. There is a true relaxation in being in nature, with no other aim than to experience the environment and being together. I think those excursions have given me a source of inner peace that I can still tap into as an adult. All I need is to experience the sights and smells of familiar nature again. I'll always be grateful to my parents for that. Now, however, I'm the adult and I have to make my own Sunday plans. With great freedom comes, as we know, great responsibility. I do think that I manage to keep Sunday mostly as a day of relaxation. However, it sure is difficult to keep thoughts of work and the impending week at bay. What keeps me up at night? That pesky Monday morning can be blamed even for that. |
Just signed up for a new 5-day challenge at "Invalid Item"  Getting ready for some monkey business!! (Oh, hey, Andre. Long time no see.)  |
PROMPT July 7th We've all had them, good and bad. Write about the best boss you’ve ever had. Well, I've been lucky and had some good bosses. It's so good to have a boss who really cares about people, and who cares about the work. If you add to that a trust in the employees, it's a good recipe for a great work environment. I have work I really love, so I have an internal motivation to want to do a good job. I have experienced health issues getting in the way at times, though which has been tough. For some reason I almost expected a negative bscklash at work, and a disappointed boss. That's luckily not what I got, though. Thankfully, I was met with sympathy and respect. I realized that the negativity was only my own inner critic. To be met with understanding and patience by my boss was so important. Ultimately, treating an employee with decency, trust and a supportive attitude is the best way of getting someone to perform the best. |
PROMPT July 6th Women: What is your makeup routine? Men: Tell us about your daily routine to prepare for the day. The shortest answer is that I don't have a daily make-up routine. Growing up, I was always more reluctant than my friends to try it out, so I just never got into the habit of using it. However, I did get awfully curious about the stuff some years ago, so I started trying to learn about it. After buying some product and playing around in front of the mirror for some time, I've become confident enough to put on a little bit of make-up for special occasions. I always tone it down when I know that other people will see, though. I guess I'm still not very confident with the stuff. On an everyday basis, though, not being in the habit of putting it on every morning probably is a blessing. I'll rather have the extra minutes of sleep. |
PROMPT July 5th You’re out with friends for the evening and have ended up at a Karaoke Bar. You’ve all agreed you will sing at least one song. What song will you sing? Why that one? I don't know why, but when I think karaoke, I think Bonnie Tyler. In fact, karaoke is such a rare and special event, that I would go all out with a Total Eclipse of the Heart... even though I can't sing at all! Maybe if I really give it my all, I can get a hoarse voice like Bonnie, and the impression can cover up my lack of singing abilities to some extent. Incidentally, Bonnie and her voice are a perfect example of how when things seem to go wrong in life, it can be a blessing in disguise... Making lemonade from lemons, I guess. Her hoarse voice is the result of her impatience after throat surgery, leading to permanently damaged vocal chords. Sounds like a disaster for an aspiring singer, right? But would Bonnie Tyler really have become such an icon without her characteristic rasp? Sometimes what seems like a terrible turn in life is actually just a push onto a more unique life path, where there's no telling just how far we'll get, or to what unexpected locations we'll get to go. You know what, I'd definitely sing one for Bonnie, and put my whole heart in it, even if it's a heartache. Yep, I'll sing Total Eclipse of the Heart faster than the speed of night and straight from the heart. Just don't turn around, okay, 'cause the best is yet to come. |
PROMPT July 4th Here in the United States, we're celebrating our independence today. Is this a special day to you? Will you do anything special? Have we as a country forgotten what this day really means? Yes, I know, several questions there. (If you do not live in the United States, please apply this prompt to the day your country celebrates as Independence, or a similar holiday.) Answer as you wish please. In Norway, we have a big celebration on the 17th of May. It's actually our Constitution day, and we celebrate it as the beginning of our independence, even though that officially happened much later. Our constitution dates back to 17th of May 1814, while our full independence wasn't offical until the 7th of June 1905. The time in between is considered a union with independent rule, although it wasn't free from conflict. After several hundreds of years of Danish and Swedish rule, our independence was a big deal to Norway. We had to rebuild our national identity. When we were then occupied for five years by Germany during WW2, our celebratory day of 17th of May took on even more meaning. I think Norway and USA can actually understand eachother quite well when it comes to that special feeling of hard-won freedom. Every year we celebrate with parades, happy activities for children, traditional clothes and marching bands. The day is all the happier since it usually markes the definite change from a long winter and shy spring into a green, warm season that's turning towards summer. Happy Independence Day, Americans, I understand the feeling. |
PROMPT July 3rd Do you have a list of inspirational quotes that you might refer to for guidance? Share one with us! I don't actually keep a list of inspirational quotes, although I'm pretty sure that's a project I've started and abandoned several times. I do love them though. Little quotes about life or topics of my interest always brighten my day. Here are two that spring to mind: "Do not worry about your difficulties in Mathematics. I can assure you mine are still greater." - Albert Einstein Thanks, Al, that actually helps. "Be yourself; everyone else is already taken." -Oscar Wilde Yes. So true, Oscar, buddy. That thought actually gives me confidence and calms down my worries. And it amuses me, trust Oscar to be wryly quirky and poignant at the same time. |
PROMPT July 2nd We've all read about them, we all probably have a favorite. Do you? Tell us about your favorite conspiracy theory. If you don't have one, tell us about one you recall. I don't believe I have a favourite conspiracy theory, but I'm always facinated by the ones that deal with how aliens created our ancient civilizations, especially if they're presented in media that make history and science their main identity. The idea of aliens arriving on our planet to build the pyramids, and then leaving again just gets to me. There is something so fascinating and mysterious about history in itself, especially ancient history, that I can understand why someone might want to spin the story even further. I don't blame them, I like stories too. |
| I've decided to follow the prompts of the "30-Day Blogging Challenge ON HIATUS" , even if I'm late. So here goes: PROMPT July 1st Have you ever been the recipient of, or observed the kindness of a stranger? Tell us what happend. Well, I've experienced kindness of strangers right here within the wdc community that's meant a lot. After a long break from wdc for personal reasons, I didn't have much of an active network left when I returned. So to be noticed first by a dedicated reviewer, and later gifted with and upgrade anonymously really helped with my motivation. It's turned to be a wonderful thing for me, and I've realized how much I' ve missed this community. Now I try to give back, and I only hope I can cheer someone else up the same way. |
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. Er vanligvis i Trondheim på 17. mai, eller på Østlandet.
