A Roll in the Universe

Wordless Wednesday Back when it was Astroblog.

Ten years ago I got to see the Manhattan skyline for myself. This photo was taken with not so good camera 10 years ago this month. Two months later, the two characteristic towers of the World Trade Center were gone. I bring this up now because, right now, as I type, rescue workers are still searching through the office buildings belonging to the Norwegian parliament, looking for more explosives, as well as injured or killed. The main theory is that a car bomb went off around 3:30 pm today in downtown Oslo and blasted out windows in a 1 kilometer radius. The pictures of twisted metal window frames many floors up on a run-of-the-mill office building coupled with the knowledge that this is taking place in quiet, out-of-the-way Oslo is both unbelievable and upsetting. I hate that this is happening here. I hate that this is happening again. Bizarrely, someone dressed as police are shooting at a summer camp for Labor party youth while the bomb search goes on. A talking head on the news...

So over at Chez Alice's, Alice herself posted about the dearth of postings on her blog. Specifically, postings that feature writing, rather than photography. I recognize and sympathize with Alice's sense of lack since my own blog has the same dearth. The amount of time has not changed. The interest in the world around me has not tapered off. Yet all my time at the computer no longer produces creative output. Repeatedly, my creativity is spent on a comment or three on someone's Facebook status or on someone's blog. Short bursts of opinion weigh in after writing, editing, and more editing - at someone else's place. And it baffles me. Where is my initiative to polish and publish something on my own dear blog (which has been with me for 8 years and 11 months today)? Why does my creativity remind me more of junk food grabbed on the run than a proper home-cooked meal eaten where it was made? And how do I reverse this? Alice and I have challenged each other to a ...

New Year's Eve. The day when people are either scrambling to get food and champagne for the evening's festivities or are contemplating what resolutions to make for the coming year - or both. For me, 2011 is the start of the next half century of my life. I was 50 in December. It was actually a wonderful way to end the year. 2010 was turbulent at work and in my stomach. At work, the knowledge that our department and in-house printing was going to cease to exist by summer was something we all had in the back of our minds. We were, however, all so old (I was the youngest at 49) to get worked up about it. Instead, the strategy was to do our jobs and behave in such a way as to make management realize they had some great people working for them; we did not complain and we did not sic our union on anybody (though they were apprised of the situation). Our representative from HR was impressed by our good cheer. She said it motivated HR to do everything in their power to help us sta...

Astro.com tells me this about my solar return: Happy birthday! Today the Sun returns to the position it was in when you were born. As would seem appropriate with this transit, today is a day of new beginnings, and the influences you feel today will affect the entire year to come. However, this does not mean that the whole year will be disappointing if today doesn't work out exactly as planned. You are receiving a new impulse from the energy center within you, as symbolized by the Sun. Therefore any new venture that you start at this time will ride the crest of this new energy and will very likely come to an acceptable conclusion. Whatever you do or begin today will bear the stamp of your individuality more than anything else. This is the day to assert yourself anew. Beats the current Neptune square Mercury which represents fuzzy thinking. And I thought that was just hormones. ;-)

I don't know about you, but I'm rather awestruck by the idea that there are 2.5 billion bacteria in a capsule this size: 2.5 billion . Here are their names: Lactobacillus acidophilus , Lactobacillus rhamnosus and Bifidobacterium longum . In other news: I spent April Fool's day serving the gang at work cupcakes (hi, Paula !) to mark my actual anniversary which is today.

I have a habit. It is a habit of never having expectations. I do look forward to things, but I don't delight in the looking forward. It is rather an intellectual exercise to put me in the right frame of mind, but I never fantasize about the future event, and I never dwell on the expectation. Until yesterday. On my way home from work yesterday I bought some onion rings at the loca McDonald's (we finally got onion rings!) as a snack to tide me over till dinner. I then relaxed in front of the TV a bit with my onion rings, then started getting myself ready for the party. I managed to shave my legs cleanly and without any nicks. I found a spare pair of shoes in case my feet got too tired in my lovely red ones (with 3" heels). I did my hair and my make-up without frustration or mistakes. My dress fit perfectly and had shrunk a tad in the wash, so it came exactly to the middle of my knees, not right below them, cutting my legs at their narrowest point, which was fla...

The day has arrived! Tonight, in less than two hours, I will be standing with co-workers, holding a glass of champagne, and all because I've managed to stay with the same company for 25 years. I can't believe I actually did that. 25 years. Wow... UPDATE: Drunk as a skunk. But not the drunkest there. In a taxi home, with the last to leave. We danced. Everybody who was there said they had a wonderful time. As the guest of honor and sort of their hostess, that pleased me no end. More later. I'm one of the drunk ones. You have no idea how many times I hit backspace just to type this... That was posted at 2:14 am. I'm just saying...

I have the day off work tomorrow. I have one Wednesday off a month (by choice), and it is usually the first Wednesday of the month. This time, I'm taking my Wednesday off tomorrow, a week ahead of schedule. My boss is very pleased with my decision, which I made after everyone else but him had gone home for the day, meaning it was a last minute and impulsive change of plans. I told my boss that fortunately, I enjoy looking forward to surprises, so I did not open the file "Keera - song" on his computer, but he could hide such things a bit better. He then told me that his computer (on which he stores a database of all our work) and the departmental coffee breaks - both the 9 am and 1 pm one - were off-limits to me tomorrow and Thursday. I wasn't even to be wandering past the downstairs breakroom since one can hear through the door. I told him he'd have to tie me down because I've never been one to follow orders very well. He laughed in agreement. That...

Bergen has a club of sorts for people in the insurance and finance industry, and since that's the industry I am employed in, I meet a lot of current and former co-workers at the meetings. Tonight we our venue was one of the Hurtigruten's ships. We heard a talk about a new insurance company starting in Norway, and after the talk, we moved to the ship's forward restaurant for an excellent cod dinner and a view of fog settling on Fløien. (When codfish is so good it almost tastes like meat, you understand why it is such a prized fish.) We had coffee on deck 7 and I left as they were testing the ship's alarm systems; the ship will leave for Kirkenes tonight after 10 pm. I enjoyed the company, the conversation, and mentioning my 25th anniversary party (which conflicts with the club's own 80th anniversary party). But what got to me was how many of my colleagues had gray or even white hair. One had been a dark brunette before, and I had to comment on her new blonde look....

I'm getting the hang of this anniversary thing. I'm not supposed to do anything. At all. Except make suggestions for the meal. Yeah, you're asking the right person, all right. I know as much about food as I do flowers, meaning I know roses, dandelions, pizza and hamburger. I'll eat anything, but I rarely remember its name. Anyway, a few edible items have crossed my way that tasted so good to me I actually found out what they were called. And since scallops and flan both start with a K in Norwegian, I started getting an idea for the menu: All items must start with the letter K. We will likely have a four-course meal (or five, if you include the cake that comes with the coffee). So I offered my suggestions, and put the working out of details in the capable hands of a far more food-savvy co-worker (he knows how to actually make stuff like roasts and broiled fish). Said co-worker loves the idea of all K's, too, and it has given him ideas on how to design the p...

This is the photo my co-workers chose to use on the invitation they made up for my 25th anniversary party. I'm not frowning; I'm squinting into the sun with a candy pacifier in my mouth and awful hair (for some damned reason), trying to adjust the photographer. Or the camera. I forget. This photo is from almost 10 years ago and was taken during a departmental picnic. I may not have been entirely sober, either. (That probably explains the hair.) It's a crappy photo of me, but I love that it's used anyway. I love that my co-workers dare use it, dare play such a joke on me, dare risk getting me mad at them. (I did try to. I can't disappoint.) I love that I am able to shake off any upsets about not looking perfect (or even normal) on the invitation. I love that everybody in my department is having fun with my 25th anniversary. Sometimes planning a party is as much fun as the party itself. I love that I have the sense to appreciate my loony co-workers with th...

I went back to work today. I'm not well yet, and there were moments at the office when my brain refused to function because a bit of fever and a bit of nausea reappeared. I haven't drunk any coffee for several days, either. Didn't dare. The chili ayurvedic tea went down well, though. It was nice to be back, because I really needed the break from going stir-crazy at home. I spent the day trying to catch up on business cards. I'm the one responsible for making the business cards for all my co-workers (fortunately, not all of them at once). I also discovered that the fly in January was an illusion. When the outdoor blind rolled down and I saw the fly again, I made a closer inspection and discovered that it was quite dead - mummified, actually - and, perhaps caught by surprise, had become flattened and embedded in the rolling blind. Waiting for me when I got back was a buff-colored envelope, nearly square in shape and about six inches wide, with my name in full typed s...

It is fitting that a funicular that climbs a very steep hill up to a mountain with a spectacular view is a Capricorn. It is also fitting for a Capricorn that the company that runs it, is the only transportation company in Bergen (if not Norway) that has no debt and wants to expand its business with caution. I'm talking about Bergen's most popular tourist attraction, the funicular up to Mt. Floien, Fløibanen . In spite of embargoes during World War I, two teak carriages and the cable for them did finally make it to Bergen and the work started first proposed in 1895 was completed, letting the funicular make its first regular trip up the mountain on January 15, 1918. In its first year of operation, Fløibanen carried 500,000 passengers to and from skiing and hiking trails - and that gorgeous view. Last year it carried 1.2 million people, including local commuters, and the funicular's owners are looking to increase that number. The current carriages are painted metal with la...

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). ...

The wind just picked up and the rain is pouring down. I am going to have a long weekend. I'm taking Monday and Tuesday off from work. No particular reason except that I've been wanting to just Get Away From It All for a while. So sitting here, with the weekend's shopping all done, I feel at peace with the rain lashing at my windows, making it hard to see out them. I want to spend time alone, catching up on some things (like housework), and try to get myself back on track. The oven is heating for a pizza and the weather and darkening sky on this vernal equinox is encouraging me to light some candles. I think I'll choose pink and green. Bliss and harmony. My crappy mood is finally letting go. I suspect hormones as the main culprit, but it could be the month. Tomorrow, the 22nd, is Grandma's birthday, and she would have been 97. September has sucked since she died. She died in July 2005, but it isn't July that's hard. It's funny; I had this same thing w...

Midnight. Wind and rain slash at my coat, lifting it, getting my skirt wet. It's a thin skirt, with glitter on it, and underneath I'm wearing only panty hose. Although the weather is almost freezing, I'm not. I'm warm because I've been drinking. The evening started with a glass of bubbly around 7 pm, worked its way through an appetizer and "pause dish" with plenty of white wine, a delicious main course with red wine, and a dessert platter with port (I left before the cake and café avec ). In between courses, the 30 people around the table sang various songs to drink to, and the company song, as well as listening to a few speeches - and a belly-dancer. The occassion? A co-worker's 25th anniversary at our company. My co-worker was an equal mix of genuine gratitude and genuine embarrassment at the attention and gifts bestowed on him. Not a bad word was said about him. I listened to stories about him, poems written or read in his honor, and couldn'...