A Roll in the Universe

It's New Year's Eve, December 31st, and all afternoon, some kids have been lighting firecrackers and simpler fireworks. It's not legal; they need to be over 18, but not a single adult, not even me, has said a word to the 10 or so boys who have been happily lighting stuff, and diving for cover as sparks and smoke fly out of control and whistles while banging, whistling and crackling. I could lean out my window and yell at them. However, in today's world, the boys would very likely yell back, and carry on with the fireworks. I have instead chosen to be amused by them, to wish them safe and noisy fun, and to actually enjoy some of the action through my window. I do have one of the best seats in the house, for what may be one of the last new year's eves with regular folks allowed to send off their own fireworks. Because it tends to injure people, that sort of thing. (Ya think?) But as the Norwegians say, luck works better than brains (lykken er bedre enn forstanden). ...

I went a little nuts this December and bought me a bunch of DVDs. Among my purchases were a few in glorious black and white, including "12 Angry Men" , which I watched last night. I knew the plot, I knew the outcome, but what got my attention this time around, was the reaction of the men to the one juror's racist tirade. One by one, the men get up and quietly move to a position where the racist speaker can see only their backs. There is no pre-arranged agreement to do that that I could see. Each man got up and found a spot where he wouldn't face the racist, and eventually the racist shut up. And for the first time, watching an old movie, I felt a complete disconnect from the past. I did not recognize this behavior in the men, that is, I don't see people nowadays acting this way. Where did this calm but effective way of showing dissent go to? I know it was used at the time, in the form of sit-ins and boycotts, by the civil rights movement, and initially used by...

The Recipe For Keera 3 parts Sass 2 parts Slyness 1 part Passion Splash of Instinct Limit yourself to one serving. This cocktail is strong! What's the Recipe for Your Personality? Funny thing is, this actually fits. Cheers! (Found at Paula's , where else.) PS: Upon rereading my blog post title, I was reminded of the conversation in Douglas Adams' "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy", chapter 6: "[Y]ou'd better be prepared for the jump into hyperspace. It's unpleasantly like being drunk." "What's so unpleasant about being drunk?" "You ask a glass of water."

I'm watching a show about Mexico on Discovery Channel and they describe how the migratory monarch butterfly seems to sit in lifeless clumps for three months, until the February sun penetrates the trees and strikes the butterflies. Because of buildings in front of my 2nd story apartment, I don't get any sunshine in my apartment from about mid-November to the very end of January. And the day I see (should I be so lucky weather-wise) a ray of sun briefly lighting up my wallpaper is a true solar return for me. And I stop being a lifeless clump just like the butterflies do.

I tripped over a Norwegian trivia and puzzle site (finally, I may win money with my sudoku addiction), and discovered that I know more about pop stars than I do Sweden. Twice I got the question "Who is Sweden's prime minister?" and twice I gave the wrong answer. So why don't I know his (or is it her?) name? I know which Mel is a member of Spice Girls, I'm pretty clear on Harry Potter games, and I know which private detective Tom Selleck played. So why don't I know who the current Swedish prime minister is? I blame the media. No, really. A steady diet of online Norwegian newspapers over the years has left me, against my will, with more knowledge about Paris Hilton and Britney Spears than whoever runs Sweden. When Norwegian newspapers write about Sweden, it's usually about Norwegians shopping there, Swedish prices being a tad lower than Norwegian and Norwegians always loving the illusion of getting something cheap (even if the price of gas getting there e...

It's been stormy for the last couple of days. Tear-trees-up-and-close-roads-with-them stormy. I haven't stuck my nose outside (as the Norwegians say) since I was with friends on Christmas Day, which was the one day we had some lovely weather. The temperature dipped to freezing, the skies cleared and a wane sun actually managed to make a few weak shadows. We walked off some of all the good food we'd been filling ourselves with for two days, and delighted in seeing a few not-so-common birds and beautiful blue skies. So I spent two days being "housebound" (every time I thought I should go out, the wind would kick up and howl around the house corners, or a hail storm would pummel my windows). I finally got out of the house to go shopping today because today the storm abated and that's when I realized another reason why getting out at all had been so difficult: It was black out. The cloud cover has been so thick, hardly any light penetrates it. No sunshine in t...

I have joined something called Blog 365 , thanks to Paula . The idea is, for 2008, to blog every day. If the computer is not available, write something and post it later. (Leap Day is a day of rest.) Also, if you have more than one blog, then posting to one if not the other counts. And that should motivate me to write more both here and over on my other blog. I hope. Now to go find me a purty badge to stick on this here blog.

I have a friend who is an atheist. She's an atheist because she sees no evidence to the contrary, though she has tried. I have another friend who's an atheist, but he has figured out the "where do we go when we die" thing: We live on forever, not as who we are but as the stuff we are made of, coming from the stars, going back into them, and so on. Recycling, as it were, rather than reincarnation. So I may not be me, but I won't be no longer existing, either, and I like that idea. When the more mystical ones seem a little too theoretical, I like the recycling idea. I have a third friend who is not an atheist, but she's having trouble with being a theist because none of the definitions of God[1] feel quite right. She wants to believe, but she doesn't know what to believe. I have suggested to her earlier that perhaps her deity is nature itself - as it is for many people. Just drinking in the world in all its mundane glory, rather than focusing on the unsee...

Every other blogger has something to say about the holiday, so I decided to, too, instead of feeling left out. First off let me say this: I wasn't traumatized by Christmas growing up and I knew extremely early that Santa doesn't exist. I love Christmas movies, because I love the combination of magic and inevitably happy ending with a touch of moral-to-the-story. And yes, "It's a Wonderful Life" is a favorite. So what does Christmas mean to me? Nothing. That's right, I said nothing. I'm not Christian, I'm not hung up on tradition and haven't made any of my own, and I don't have to have certain things or things a certain way at Christmas so as not to feel left out or lonely or un-Christmassy. (Except maybe my own blogpost about it.) I enjoy the lights, the atmosphere, the constant greeting other people with "god jul"/"Merry Christmas", the reminders to be generous, the spirit of the season, but I don't decorate or go...

I just bought a book, Astronomy, Weather, and Calendars in the Ancient World , partly because of the introductory chapter. There, a method for "borrowing days" to predict the weather was mentioned: The weather on the day before the winter solstice forecasts the weather for the first month of winter, the weather on the day of the winter solstice itself forecasts the weather for the second month of winter, and the day after the winter solstice forecasts the weather for the third month of winter. This method applies to the summer solstice and equinoxes, too. Today we have gorgeous sunshine here in Bergen, and I'm hoping that'll keep be the case all weekend, too. Winter solstice (0 degrees of Capricorn for you astrologers) is on Dec. 22 where I live.

I think that those of us who search for meaning in our lives, do so because we need some sense in our chaos, some hope in our darkness. We have pasts that have left us with scars and we want to know how to move forward. The fact that we even think like this, is a huge strength, because it keeps us searching for improvement, for betterment. Sometimes, there are set-backs. Sometimes the past comes back for a visit and dredges up old hurts. That happened to me this summer and it's taken me the rest of the year to finally get that particular thorn out of my side. That was not necessarily a waste of time. It made me rethink a number of things, including where I want to go for the rest of my life, and giving oneself time to think is never a bad thing. However, one of the effects during this latter part of 2007 was a feeling of being separate from God. I have never read more literature that states God is not some mean man with a beard, but a life-supporting joy that permeates everything a...

My friend Max took the test and got such a wicked cool picture to illustrate his results ((sorry, no linky) so I took the test, too. If you score highly on all four elements, you get Harmony. If you score equally low on all four elements, you get Balance. As I did: Your Score: Balance ~ 44% Water ~ 55% Wind ~ 55% Earth ~ 48% Fire ~ And I know and I believe There's a way out to the sea of happiness It seems your personality is in perfect harmony; your impulses are tempered with thoughtfulness, and your emotions are balanced with a healthy amount of reason. In order to maintain that harmony, try wearing a Jade , a Chrysoprase or an Agate ; all three enhance balance and stability, as does the Snowflake Obsidian that will help remain balanced during times of change . In detail : You are more balanced than most people. Your Ground Chakra , (associated with the element of fire and representing our basic desires and driving force ), your Creative Chakra , (associated with t...

Inspired by the normalcy of Badaunt's list of seven random things (in other words, I tagged myself), here is my attempt: I have such good peripheral vision, I can see 180 degrees. I treat Norwegian "brunost" (goat's cheese) like candy. (It's kind of sweet, anyway.) I can type the ten-key pad by touch. I once provided a boss with many minutes of entertainment by doing a long list of addition without ever looking at my right hand. I use clothes pins to close bags of things, like potato chips: Quicker than rubber bands, easier than twisty-ties, cheaper than the specialized "bag closers" they sell. I tend to get hooked on one song and play it over and over and over again. After about a week, I get hooked on another song. This is why I listen to my stereo with headphones on, even though I live alone. I don't want my neighbor to think I'm crazy. Uhm, crazier. I'm proud of my breasts. Always have been. Even though one started budding 6 mont...

The first time I saw the finale to this, I actually started to panic, wondering about how the cat would get back out. It became a little too much for my latent claustrophobia. But it was a pretty darn good kitty trick! (Via Cute Overload , who were more taken with the cheesy laughtrack.)

I am so looking forward to the solstice this year! I can't wait for these gloomy days to get more daylight. We've have more overcast weather than not this year, and as of yesterday, 2868 millimeters of precipitation so far in 2007. Sure, it's in itsy-bitsy metric, but it's still a large number even when you convert it. 2868 mm is 112.91 inches. It's 9.4 feet. It's almost 3 meters and over 3 yards. You can touch it with a ten-foot pole - barely. And still it makes 2007 only the 5th wettest year on record so far. They are promising us drier weather this coming week. I am also hoping for clear, blue skies.

I wasn't tagged. I just went and stole this from Paula , partly because it looked like fun, and partly because some of the resulting answers actually held meaning (so do mine). So let's fire up iTunes and see what happens. The rules are: Put your music player on Shuffle For each question, press the Next button to get your answer YOU MUST WRITE THAT SONG NAME DOWN NO MATTER WHAT (this is in capital letters, so it is very serious). BEGIN IF SOMEONE SAYS "IS THIS OKAY" YOU SAY? "She's Out of My Life" (Michael Jackson) WHAT WOULD BEST DESCRIBE YOUR PERSONALITY? "Movement 1 From Mythodea" (Vangelis) WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY/GIRL? "Hey Hey Guy" (Ken Lazslo) HOW DO YOU FEEL TODAY? "Don't Worry Be Happy" (Bobby McFerrin) WHAT IS YOUR LIFE’S PURPOSE? "I Hear Talk / You And Your Heart So Blue" (Bucks Fizz) WHAT IS YOUR MOTTO? "Better Than This" (Hazen) WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF Y...

The last thought I had before letting myself out of my apartment, was to bring my cell phone because maybe somebody would need me to call the police or something. Yeah, right. Like that ever happens. As promised by the weather bureau, today was an absolutely beautiful day. The sun actually came out. From my kitchen window late this morning, I could see long shadows from trees and buildings weakly striping the lawn out back. Seeing those shadows and an increasing amount of blue in the sky cheered me. I finished baking the pumpkin pie I am bringing to the gang at work tomorrow (cuz that's the tradition in Bergen: the birthday person treats the others to cake), and checked the weather through my living room windows (which give a more reliable report than the kitchen window does, seeing as how weather comes out of the west) as well as the outdoor thermometer on my balcony door. I put on warmer clothes, and grabbed keys and cell phone. As I passed by the building that once housed ...