A Roll in the Universe

Ah, spam. Can't say I've eaten the stuff, but I certainly have read some. ;-) Today's is "See my little sister Jenny naked!" Which reminds me: I have pictures of Samantha Fox with no clothes on. No, really! I have one of her in my couch and another in my bathroom. Check out home.online.no/~kafox/Sammy.html . P.S.: Did you know that "Samantha" is an Arabian name that means "one who listens"? I didn't know that when I named my cat, but it sure fits.

What I like about foreign fashion magazines are the perfume samples, the pages that have scent on them so you get a whiff while reading an article. It's a little bit of luxury. Sometimes I wonder why we like the scents we do. I prefer light citrusy, floral types and some tree scents. My current favorite is The Body Shop's Moonflower . I love the scent of roses but wouldn't wear the scent. I love the scent of vanilla, too - in food, not on me. But every once in a while I take a bath with essential oils in it. My favorite scents then are orange and germanium, but I use all sorts of oils to accomplish whatever it is I need: Fighting off a cold, relaxing, easing muscles, focusing. Then I use lavender, eucalyptus, ylang ylang, jasmine... My enjoyment of scent seems to be connected to my Moon, which is in Gemini. I have yet to fall for the musky scents or Oriental spicy ones I've read are suitable for Sagittarians. I do not care for musk and heavy spicy scents. I'd ce...

Rather fun to be watching the Norwegian news and suddenly hear that Lofoten is going to compete with California and Hawaii – as a surfing paradise. Lofoten is an archipelago directly north of the Arctic circle. It is dramatic and beautiful, and apparantly offers some great waves. It's not news to the surfers; what is news is the increase in popularity. Here is one personal account I found on the web. Here is an official tourist site for Lofoten, which is pronounced sort of like LOW-foe-tin. You can also travel there with the coastal steamer, Hurtigruten . The best starting point for getting there is where I live, of course: Bergen. ;-)

I got all excited. On VersionTracker (my favorite place to go to check for software updates), I saw this today: "Beertje 2.6 - Bear floating on the screen". I read it as "beer floating on screen". Knowing full well that in the world of computer programming – and computer programmers – this makes sense, I went to have a look. That's when I saw the little teddy bear icon and stopped being excited. Oh, well.

For some of us, the question about what to be when we grow up, is perpetual. It just seems unanswerable. For the past couple of years I have had some serious discussions with myself about what I want to do with the rest of my life, what job or activity will truly fulfill me. Lately, those issues have become so conscious, they are the topic of discussion between me and my friends. Astrologically, I have Pluto transitting my 12th house, opposing my 6th house, which means the issues of spiritual service (12th house) and plain ol' work (6th house) have been in focus and the desire is transformation (Pluto). Recently, the Lunar Nodes (Dragon's Head and Dragon's Tail) have also been transitting these houses in my chart, and currently are triggering my natal Sun (sense of self, identity, core desires) as well as my natal Lunar Nodes. The Nodes are considered karmic, meaning that they deal with large issues that have to do with our (spiritual) growth as a person. They are one area...

I have come across a web site that presents new words in the American language. Perhaps not even in the dictionary yet. Check out www.wordspy.com and see what "meterosexual", "social swarming" and "bridezilla" mean. It's tea and candles time. Outside there's a north wind, it's raining, and it's dark out. Only a month ago the sun would have still been up, the evening long and fair. There's nothing to do about it, but enjoy the change, and light some candles to chase away the dark and brew some hot tea to chase away the cool.

When I was a kid, I hated autumn. The dreariest, grayest time of the year. As an adult I realized I was focusing only on that period after the leaves have left the trees and before the cold and frost really set in. Now I appreciate the beauty of autumn. The multitude of colors that trees and bushes offer up, the crispness of the air, the softening of the sun, the whole sense of change now makes this a beloved time of year. It is like the grand finale of a great musical: You know it'll be over once the music ends, but in the meantime you are totally engulfed in the spectacle, enjoying every second of it. For mine venner i Bergen har jeg laget et værvarsel for Bergen (lavlandet), basert på astrologi. Se hovedsiden min .

Flags are flying today in Norway. It's the birthday of the Princess M&aumlaut;rtha, older sister of the Crown Prince. It's also my grandma's birthday. And contrary to popular belief, not all Virgos are fixated on details. Well, the irritating details. ;-) Anyway, a couple of friends who also enjoy astrology are coming over to join me in visiting my grandma (cake and sherry are already packed, and, yes, I do sort of feel like Little Red Riding Hood). And I have to get the house looking a bit better. Here's some help and inspiration if you are as lousy at housekeeping as I am: FlyLady.net . It's very encouraging to be told that you can do anything for 15 minutes. :-) It's also very encouraging to see just how much you can get done in just 15 minutes! Now, I'm going to set my timer and get the vacuuming done!

Hvis du har sett artikkelen i VG i går om påbudt ID-brikker på katter , så kan det være greit å vite at hos www.dyreidentitet.no kan du få mer informasjon. Kjenner du nummeret på ID-brikken til et dyr, kan du søke etter eierens info her.

I love jigsaw puzzles. Here's a couple I have found online. www.jigzone.com offers a daily jigsaw and a whole archive of puzzles, and you can choose the number and type of pieces. www.shockwave.com's daily jigsaw offers a new puzzle every day with helpful features like isolating the edges only. Requires a Shockwave plug-in.

Today is Independence Day in Chile. I found that out from the sweet Chilean nurse who put my grandmother to bed tonight at the reconvalescent home. Norway has a lot of Chilean nationals, people who came here as refugees after Pinochet came to power (with the US' blessing) in 1973 . Sometimes I'm embarrassed to be an American when I meet Chileans but that's me; the Chileans I've met haven't reacted negatively to my nationality. I didn't ask the nurse if she'd be having epinadas, which is traditional food on Chile's Independence Day, but I assume she will.

Well, hasn't it been a while! I have still been busy looking after my grandma and her affairs. I've been visiting her regularly, trying to keep her in good cheer, and that takes time. So much so, that I started to feel I didn't have enough time to myself. So, I got sick. I actually got an abscess that is placed such that I can sit only in certain positions. Now I'm going through the new experience of having my bandages changed daily. But the human body impresses me mightily. For both me and my grandma, the same rule applies: The body insists on healing. Progress is constant. It's pretty amazing, really. We don't control our healing processes at all. The body does it automatically and it knows exactly what to do. With a little help (proper care, antibiotics), it heals perfectly.