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Showing posts from February, 2007

Dealing with stress

Over on a friend's blog, I left the following in a comment, as a response to someone else's frustration with getting worked up over deadlines, travel, etc.: My way of dealing of with stress may not work for everyone. (It doesn’t always work for me, either, but usually because I sabotage myself.) I pray. I also use affirmations, usually calling on divine mind and such, but affirmations don’t necessarily have to be religious. You could do something like, “My higher self knows what’s best. I am safe as long as I am breathing, and I acknowledge and trust my inner guidance. My priorities fall easily into place for me and I accomplish what is necessary with peace, joy and success.” If “higher self” doesn’t sit right, either, try “inner wisdom”. Affirmations work for me because they both focus my mind towards something positive and distract me momentarily from my worries. Sometimes, that break is all that’s needed. You know, shoving the hamster off its wheel.

The stuff of bodies

In catching up on my Usenet reading, I came across a comment about how Gila Monster Spit [sic] in synthetic form was helping a woman with her diabetes. I thought it was some kind of inside joke, but no. It's real. One article I came across about it, tells how the endocrinologist who discovered the helpful ingredient (exenatide), made his discovery, and then finally got to see the animal itself. One quote from the article: "[W]e talk about how infrequently Gila monsters eat, and how this chemical helps them digest meals slowly over time." The article's a fascinating read. I'm not quoting the WebMD article, because it starts off with "You wouldn't want to meet a Gila monster in a dark alley […]". Not only is it a cliché but it is cliché that misleads the reader. Gila monsters are out in the middle of nowhere, otherwise known as the southwestern desert. You meet them in dark crevaces in rocks (well, that's where I saw the one I saw). Not that

Snow day

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Snow day 2007-02-21 - 3 by thinkbigshrinktofit . A good 4 inches of snow fell during Tuesday night, so we woke up to a beautiful, white world, and relatively clear skies. It was simply gorgeous, so I took a number of pictures on my walk. But farther south, "snow day" had an ominous meaning last night and today: In both Denmark and on the southern coast of Norway, snow came down in such amounts that people were snowed in. It was the worst blizzard in 20 years on Norway's southern coast, and left motorists stranded overnight, and police forced to close highways so they wouldn't have more than the already 100 stuck vehicles to rescue. And the passenger train between Bergen and Oslo derailed after hitting a snowbank, but fortunately, no one was hurt. It sure is a challenge to get help to the area, though, and with only one track across the mountain, we desperately need to get the train moved. In other "news", things have been oddly stressful, fraught

Cute lesbians in nylon

The subject of spam I got today. Rather rolls off the tongue, doesn't it.

How to disgust Norwegians

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(Title changed to what I originally intended.) Reeses_peanut_butter_cups by thinkbigshrinktofit . Peanut butter is definitely an American thing. Many years ago, I travelled with the coastal steamer up to the North Cape with a girlfriend. We were roughing it ("interrail" on the boats, actually), and so brought our own sandwich fixings. Peanut butter's advantage is that it is filling, tasty, and requires no refrigeration. So I buttered crackers with peanut butter and jam. Much to my friend's disgust, I found out when her boyfriend joined us after a week and made a face. "Yeah, I know," my friend said to her boyfriend. "I've had to look at that for a week." One thing I haven't found here before, is Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. I remember when they first came out in the States. I thought the commercials were stupid, but the product tasted great. And there they were, in the candy section at the movie theater (finally saw the new Bo

Lent

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Fastelavnsris by thinkbigshrinktofit . For those who celebrate such things, Lent - the period of fasting in the Christian faith - has started. I know this because the fast switch (as in Lent and spanking), called "fastelavnsris" in Norwegian, is sold for a couple of days just before Lent starts. This, along with the sweet, cream-filled buns made at this time, are the last vestiges of marking Lent in Norway. The switch is based on a heathen custom in Sweden.

Oh, is that why!

I subscribed to an online Page-A-Day calendar last year, and for Valentine's, they gave me a code to subscribe to one for free this year. So I opted for the Fact or Crap calendar. Browsing January, I got the answer to a puzzlement: Why do you see the whole moon even when it's new? Y'know, you look up, see that bare line of a crescent, but can also make out the rest of the circle, the rest of the moon. Why isn't the dark part completely invisible? Earthshine, that's why. Just like the moon, the Earth reflects sunlight, too - enough to let you make out the whole moon even when it's dark. The strength of the earthshine depends on Earth's cloud cover. I knew the Earth reflected light, like the moon, if not as well; I just never realized that was why a new moon is visible. UPDATE: There was a derailment in the comments; two trains of thought couldn't stay on the same track. My American pop culture references do not extend to TV-series of the 1950'

Walkies [your favorite Roman numeral here]

I now have over 10,000 steps on my pedometer since 9 am and I still have over 1000 coming tomorrow before 9 thanks to my walk to work! Yes! That makes up for the pathetic six thousand something of yesterday. I realized that I need a reason, a real reason to leave the house. You know, an errand or starvation or something. To just stop what I'm doing to go take a walk for the walk's sake isn't motivation enough (though sometimes a gorgeous sunset or achy body due to too much sitting will do it). So I got home, had dinner and relaxed, then grabbed my plastic recycling and walked to the recycling bin which is right near where I work. And then took the long way home. The air was a little bitter, but the temperature was rising. As I rounded the pond the first time, the whiteness was almost gone, suggesting that the temperature was rising in the water, too. And then the firecracker went off. Somebody shot off a bit of fireworks on and across the frozen pond. I passed by an Asi

Walk Feb 12 2007

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Walk Feb 12 2007 by thinkbigshrinktofit . Temperature's rising; it's now at 0 C (32 F). Whew. I saw a father with his toddler on the ice, but I wasn't sure it's safe. I wanted to warn them, but just wasn't sure if they were really in danger, so I walked past as fast as I could so I didn't have to think about it. You can make out a line in the snow-covered ice in this photo and that's where there's current underneath or something. The ice is thinner there. The father and his kid weren't far from a couple of seams like this, but they were only a few feet from shore. Swan update: It's a mute swan ("knoppsvane"). It managed to hold its head in such a way that I finally could see the bulge on its bill which gives it its Norwegian name. Very likely a juvenile because of the grayish coloring of head and neck.

Not fleas, but bacteria

Supposedly, a good Arabian curse is, "May the fleas of a thousand camels infest your armpits." Those fleas may have to fight for space, though. New York University researchers believe that every person has their own personalized zoo. They discovered that not only does each of us walk around with at least 182 different types of bacteria in our armpits, but that as many as 8% of those bacteria are unknown to scientists. Not only that, but the mix of bacteria is highly personalized and subject to change over time, though there are some regulars that stay put. I wonder what the point is of having such personalized bacteria. Is this one way we create a unique odor, or attract certain mates? Do the bacteria make us unique, or does our uniqueness attract certain bacteria? And what else are they all doing on our skin (besides being harmless)? This is like discovering squatters in your basement - and the remnants of their keg party.

Ortuvann Feb 11 2007

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Ortuvann Feb 11 2007 by thinkbigshrinktofit . I got a late start and took a shorter walk. I find that having to walk (because of the departmental competition) is annoying. Oh, well, I did get off my butt and move some. Result: Heaps of mallards Smaller heap of wigeons A half dozen black coots One swan Half dozen blackbirds Townfull of crows Handfull of magpies Two European robins One brown rat (it looked at me like I was the most disgusting creature it had ever seen; where would it get such an idea?) The seagulls were probably out to sea. More open water there.

What makes Norwegians Norwegians

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What makes Norwegians Norwegians by thinkbigshrinktofit . There are various types of so-called brunost (brown cheese) in Norway. The most common is made of a mix of cow's and goat's milk. The one in the picture is pure goat's cheese ("ekte geitost"). All the variations of brown cheese are in this rectangular shape. They taste nothing like Greek goat's cheese (feta). What they do taste like? You'll just have to drop by and sample. Below is a lid specially made for these rectangular cheese, available for free in supermarkets. Under the TINE logo (Norway's largest dairy brand) it reads (in English), "One of the things that makes Norwegians Norwegians." I agree. (The cheese slicer is another one of those things.) This is a very typical Norwegian sandwich: Modest, unadorned, open-faced (there's a whole industry in thin plastic sheets to put between open-faced sandwiches for your lunchbox). These two cheese-on-rye and another cup of

Walkies V

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Ortuvann and Løvstakken 4.43 pm by thinkbigshrinktofit . A bit of variation from day to day, even in this scene. I wouldn't have noticed it, if it hadn't been for a rather low count on my pedometer. Even after the walk around Lynghaug pond (see my Flickr photos), I still hadn't racked up much more than 4000 steps. After one round around Ortuvann, I was in the 6000's. (I was off work so didn't have all the walking there to help my count.) I debated whether or not to walk some more. I had been out for over an hour and although I was no longer cold (nor sweaty), I was tired and rather annoyed that my pedometer didn't show more. I made myself go one more round around Ortuvann, and I'm glad I did. A woman was feeding the ducks in the water, and they would chase each other around, splashing, trying to take the food out of each others mouths. The swan had moved to this side of the lake and was watching the going-ons. It occurred to me that the swan was ac

Two more linkages

I've been reading Archer's blog LawyerWorldLand and Dawn's blog Tiny Voices In My Head for quite a while, but haven't linked to them until now. No, don't thank me. Several blogs in my blogroll have not been updated since I added them. No, I'm not the spawn of the Devil. Yes, that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Steve Jobs reads my blog

No, he probably doesn't read my blog, but after I posted about the US government's suggestion to do more business in Norway, I read this report that Apple has purchased Norway from King Harald V. Now, where do you think they'd get such an idea from, hmmm??? This is good news that couldn't have come at a better time. Not only will this lay to rest the squabble Norway's consumer agency is creating over iTunes Store's DRM , but it'll probably help pay for Harald's 70th four-day birthday bash starting February 21. Ooh! That leaves me with only 11 days to find a suitable formal gown! Gotta go!

Walkies IV

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Feb 7 2007 walk by thinkbigshrinktofit . I took my walk in the cold a bit later than my other walks so far this week and was therefore out and about when the street lamps on the foot path came on. In other news: Yesterday was the first day this winter that all of Norway had freezing temperatures. I remind you that yesterday was in February. Not January or December or even November. But now the meteorologists claim winter is here to stay. And although the cold bites at my cheek and chins, and toes and fingers, I don't mind the clear skies and white on the ground. Beats gray skies and rain. Swan update: Still can't tell what kind of swan it is, but it's somewhat grayish on head and upper neck, so I'm thinking it's still adolescent. It looked at all the mallards going nuts over 4 pieces of bread, but did not come over to investigate. That makes me assume the bird is wild and not an escapee from a city park.

Nerves

I keep telling people that this one molar has a whopping cavity in it because when I got in the 9th grade it hurt so bad that I screamed and cried and made my dentist cry. Well, today I learned something completely different. The weirdness of the human body is such that its sides don't match, sometimes extremely so. In me, my teeth are more crooked on the right side of my mouth than on my left. And on my right side is the molar mentioned above, which likes to act up according to my menstrual cycle. Its filling was changed almost two years ago, and the dentist said I might feel that the filling was too shallow. I finally decided it was and was back in the dentist's chair today. After making sure my tooth had no cracks (it didn't), my dentist set to work. She managed to remove the old filling without anesthesia, and put in a new one without me hardly batting an eye. I was surprised at how easy and nearly painless the whole thing was. "Man, you're good!" I s

Walkies III

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Sledding hill, Ortuflaten by thinkbigshrinktofit . I live behind this building, up to the right. The long steep slope is a favorite for the local kids to sled on, and a light is set up so they can continue to play after dark (which comes early in winter). This was taken just before 6 pm. Currently, sunset is around 5 pm. I am taking walks around the pond every day on my way home so I can get some pedometer action, and it is rather nice to walk the same stretch and see something different each day. Today I saw a black dog in a bright yellow reflective vest, rolling himself in white snow. I found out why shopping carts likely end up in the pond, far away from the grocery stores: One teen boy in the cart being pushed by his buddy. Not going too fast on the icy path, but fun enough. I saw the swan again, too, closer to shore, but now it was too dark for me to see it clearly, anyway. That bird is staying a mystery.

Walkies II

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06 Feb 2007 walk by thinkbigshrinktofit . Contrast this with yesterday's photo. A bit more snow, a lot more sun. Gorgeous! (Though I'll admit I like yesterday's photo, too. The light's so different.)

Walkies

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05 Feb 2007 walk by thinkbigshrinktofit . My department decided to have a walking competition. My boss happened to mention the idea to his boss, and next thing we know, all the departments in our division are having a walking competition. Pedometers have been purchased and handed out and we started officially this morning at 9 am. I therefore took the long way home, that is, detoured around Ortuvann. The weather was crisp and clear and no rain was forecast, so I expected a nice walk. I was rather fascinated by the light and the white. I saw a swan sleeping in the water, too. And then it started to hail - fine, little grains. I have never been bare-headed or without an umbrella when it hails before, so I made a new discovery: It tickles my scalp. I stopped by the local grocery store and bought milk and made another discovery: Hail in hair melts and drips everywhere.

Do business in Norway

Via my local newspaper, I have come across a pitch from the US government to American businesses seeking to expand abroad. Doing Business in Norway states that Norway and its neighbors are a good market for an American company, with a high number of enabled consumers and capitals that are only an hour apart from each other by air. And most folks speak English. I can hardly wait to see the look on the Americans' faces when they discover all the rules regulating our market, the sales tax, the workers' rights, and the fact that the above varies from country to country here in the north. The Finns and the Danes want to go through channels, the Swedes want full documentation and time to think about it, the Norwegians won't bother much with formalities, but there is the problem of getting the product out to Godforsakentown on some fjord or north of the Arctic circle. But we all offer akevitt, open-faced sandwiches, weird fish dishes that aren't sushi, and bad weather.

In the shadow of WWII

Where I grew up in Norway, there were some concrete bunkers built by the Germans during World War II. A friend of mine in Hordvik could not stand to go near the things. Some were very small, possibly just a guard's hut or something and nothing to see inside, but my friend would not approach. At the time, I didn't understand her. She did explain that she'd heard so many stories from her parents, who were children during the war, that it felt as if she had been a child during the war, too. My generation was taught all about World War II in school. We were taught about the occupation, the rations, the Gestapo. We commemorated the start of the occupation (April 9 1940) and the end of the occupation (May 10 1945). Even for me, April 9 is a "loaded" date. It's hard to look at it neutrally on a calendar. I understand my friend's reaction better now. It creeps under your skin. Just knowing, just listening to the old folks talk, the unobtrusive bronze plaque at

Faith — Tro

But what is fear? Nothing more nor less than the negative use of faith…faith misplaced; a belief in two powers instead of One… — "The Science of Mind" , page 156 Faith is a difficult notion. So many try to compensate for a lack of faith by using will-power or rituals. And so many feel they have no faith; they feel they constantly fall short of believing in whatever deity they want to believe in or they feel that their efforts to believe are going nowhere. In my metaphysical readings, I came across the statement that faith requires - faith. That's not as unhelpful as it sounds. Here is what is meant: Faith isn't something you start out with, faith is something you give yourself by just believing it is worth it. Faith isn't something you have; it is something you build. You need just that one belief: That there is a power in the Universe that wishes you well and that you are a part of and therefore can use and rely on. "To take the first step in faith, you don&

Friday, no, Saturday Five

Stolen from gekko . (A steal I'm sure she won't mind; see 4 below.) 1. What was your first job? My first full-time job was right after high school, for a commercial insurance company in Los Angeles. And it was there that I first encountered computers. During the job interview, my supervisor-to-be showed me the form I'd be doing data entry from, and I panicked at all those squares and absolutely did not want the job. I was told to take it because they wanted me, and not many employers wanted a 17-year-old. So I took it, they showed me the computer room, taught me how to use it, and showed me also what to do if I made an error. Oh, you can fix mistakes? Why didn't you say so! After my first afternoon, I was sold. I've loved working with computers since. 2. Do you remember your first crush? My very first? Sheesh, that must've been the boy in 2nd grade who had one brown eye and one green and whom I annoyed terribly because I couldn't shut up about his eyes

V and W

Via Tim , I have been introduced to Emily's blog , and her adventures as a brand-new immigrant to Norway (which I am reading with almost as much wonder as a native Norwegian since I have never been that kind of immigrant). She is going through the experiences most immigrants to Norway go through, including the Norwegian for foreigners classes. I never did that, so there are some aspects of Norwegian that I have never questioned, having learned it as a child in a Norwegian school, but Emily did. She was wondering about W . This is part of the comment I left on her blog: W is [...] not used in actual Norwegian. It, along with c, q, x and z, exists mainly to accommodate old-fashioned spellings of names, like Aschehoug (Askehaug) or Wiik (Vik). (The Norwegian alphabet has been through some evolutions, as has the English.) To a Norwegian, W looks like V, anyway, a concept that is baffling to an English-speaker. But V and W are interchangeable to a Norwegian as they sound exactly the

Odel, bunad and Tubfrim

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Man, I blog like tons and tons all at once and then stop, and still some of you still expect me to blog daily! (Hi, Mark !) I got busy. I'm webmaster for one site (sorry, work-related and that's off limits for this blog), catching up on some reading, and trying to post more often on my other blog. And I worked late Tuesday. I've been happily busy. I really like doing all this blogging. (But it means some of you are also waiting for me to answer e-mail. Hi, Robbi!) Odel First off, I spent Saturday researching some Norwegian women who emigrated from Norway to the US in the 1800's and made a big splash in their new home country. My mother is putting together a newsletter and wondered what I could tell her about them. Well, I could tell her that the history of Norwegian emigrants is not taught in Norway. We know nothing about what happened after the sons who couldn't inherit the farm left on a leaky, creaky ship for "Junaiten" ("yoo-nighten"