Feeling gay on Christmas Day

Gay as in happy. Christmas is finally upon us, our saviour is born and all the world can rejoice for his coming. First of all I want to wish you all a Merry Christmas, I hope that wherever you are and whomever you're with you will enjoy this day to the fullest.

For me Christmas day was a boring one, but only because Norwegian customs call us to celebrate Christmas eve in stead. So after work I came home, helped my mother pack the last present for our cat and put it underneath our tree, before I started on the turkey (I am the only one who knows how to stuff it right, so they just let me do it ;p). After dinner we gathered round the beautiful tree and opened our presents.

I got everything I wished for with a few surprises as well. For example, this year Santa gave me a potato peeler :D I think he's trying to send me a message, but I'm not sure whether it's "you've been a naughty girl this year so get started on those potatoes to redeem" or "you're such a good girl and you're cooking is wonderful - here's something to make it easier". Oh, and did I mention that the it peels the potatoes itself? No? Well it does, and that's why I absolutely LOVE it :D No more potato peeling for me, weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee. Gonna turn Irish and have potatoes every night ;)

What did you guys get? Anything fun?

Anyways, gotta go....potatoes are waiting for me :P

All work and no play

First day back at work. I felt like I'd never worked there before, everything seemed so unfamiliar and strange and I hoped against all hope that the day would go by effortlessly so that I could have some time to get back into my routine. But of course - all hell broke loose.

There were tons of customers all whom were buying a million things, getting through each one took ages and that created a long cue, plus I was extra slow today because I'd forgotten every code I once knew. People were getting frustrated and I was getting stressed. When one customer had exceeded her credit card limit and wouldn't give back the groceries saying it was a system failure on my side, I thought it was just bad luck, but when the scales on my counter broke I knew that this just had to be one of those days. I was right, as more crappy situations came my way, and I didn't even get to have a proper lunch even though I'd had to wait for it for ages. I also had to work overtime because loads of people came in 5 min before closing time and I had to stay there until everyone had left :(

I'm so thankful that this horrible day is finally over...more work at 8 tomorrow, goodie :(

Back to basics

Hey everyone, I'm baaaaack! You'll never believe me if I tell you why I've been away for so long, but here goes:

At first it was just the obvious lack of Internet that kept me away, but then something much worse happened. My laptop decided that it was a good idea to completely die on me, just for fun...to see how I would react. So I reacted the only way I could - by calling up my mom and asking her to fix it. She told me to call up Dell support, which I did and they came, saw...and then turned around and left without fixing anything. That's when I panicked and shut myself in my room on the phone to various people I know who study IT, all to no help. At last, when I came home, yesterday, my mother was finally able to figure out the problem and fix it :D I am now a very very happy girl. I missed my laptop and I missed blogging, but now I'm back and I have a few things to tell you about first term.
I think I'll start off by telling you about my journey home. Boy was that a challenge! You see, the Brits don't get snow very often. Most of the time they get to see it once a year, and only for a few days. Because of this they are, of course, completely unprepared to face it when it actually does come. During those days everything shuts down, and by that I literally mean everything. No buses, no trains, no flights, no lectures, no work and no cars on the roads. Everything is cancelled and shut because of the "bad weather conditions". The conditions previously mentioned are nothing more than 10cm of snow...at most. Now, people in Norway and Russia (where I live and come from), laugh at the British 10cm because having about 2m of snow is a given thing in these countries. There is no big fuzz about the weather, and no cancellations at all. Here is what happened to me:

Midday Thursday I was in town buying a present for one of my friends when it suddenly started to snow. I was very happy for this development at first because the snowflakes were tiny and didn't settle on the ground. While on the bus home, i noticed that the snowflakes were getting bigger, but rain came in between, so I figured there was nothing to worry about. Later that day, after having Christmas dinner with the trampolining society, we were preparing to leave for the Snow Ball. Little did we realise that in the few hours we'd been inside the restaurant, a blizzard had come our way and completely snowed us in.

After a brave rescue from our friend's boyfriend, we went to Snow Ball, hoping that the bad weather would pass by while we were there. No such luck. So my housemate and I ended up at our friend's house because we lived too far away from campus and there were neither buses nor taxis running anywhere.

Nothing worked till late Friday. The day was started off sunny. I was almost calming down and starting to hope ever so slightly that my flight wasn't cancelled and that my coach to the airport would be running. Then it started snowing again. I called to order a taxi for Saturday morning so that I could get to the coach station. They told me the roads were too slippery. I panicked again, called two of my friends begging them to drive me, got a refusal from one of them and nearly gave up when my other friend said he'd drive me. To him I owe a HUGE favor. He literally saved me! He collected me from my house the same evening and drove me to his so that I'd be near campus in case his car couldn't manage the roads in the morning, and sat up with me all night watching anime because I was too nervous to sleep. He also waited with me for the coach and calmed me down when it didn't come for 20 min. He is my hero right now!!!!!

After I hd gotten to the airport and waited for 4 hours for the plain to get there...you guessed it, it was also delayed, I could finally get home. And boy am I glad that I'm finally here. Oh yeah, and the reason I'm saying "Boy" so much is because I just finished reading "Catcher in the Rye". I may even review it on here later...but I'll doubt you'll like my views on this book, I really didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I would.

Anyways, I'm off to catch up on Grey's Anatomy :)

Sorry!

Hey everyone. I just want to apologise for not being active the last few weeks. Thing is - I've just mooved into my new house and we don't have internet. I can only use the internet at the university library, and it doesn't allow me to go onto blogger, facebook or twitter :(

We don't get internet till next week, and it will probably take me some time to catch up with all your blogs, my lovelies...but I sure will try!

Love ya all <3

Soothe your pain

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This is bad...I need my life back!

The Best of Times

Guess what?! Yesterday I went to the Dream Theater concert :D They were absolutely fantastic! I managed to sneak my way to the very front and I could therefore see everything.

Just to give you all an idea of how close I was standing ;)

The view was terrific - John Petrucci (the guitarist) was standing right in front of me playing on the strings of my soul. Right behind him the massive drum set was taking up half of the stage and Mike Portnoy, it seems, was drumming to the beat of my heart. On the other side of the stage Jordan Rudess' magic hands were flying across the keyboard and John Myung's base was spreading from my stomach to the very tips of my fingers and toes. I felt completely in sync with the music, and was one with the lyrics sung by the great James LaBree. It was AWSOME, to say the least.

A criminally bad picture of the whole band where you can't even see Portnoy (he was hiding behind the drum set)

Although the concert started at 18.30, DT didn't appear on stage until about 21.45 and the time in between was filled with warm up bands - Unexpect, Big Elf and Opeth. Unexpect was way to noisy for my taste, Big Elf made a great impression and I think I might even start listening to them, but by the time Opeth came on my feet and back were killing me because I was still standing in the 2nd row, so I didn't really enjoy them that much.

Rudess, Petrucci and Portnoy. My favourite trio :D

None of it mattered when Dream Theater went on. As I pushed myself to the very front, Petrucci, Myung and Rudess came out, the curtain behind them fell down, and the whole room exploded with cheers. I clambered myself to the rail, receiving the evil eye from those standing beside me and though to myself: "The only way you're gonna get me away from this spot is by carrying away my copse, otherwise I wont budge an inch. I'm here to stay!"

Playing "The Count of Tuscany"

They opened with "A Nightmare to Remember" and my heart filled with joy. The next few songs were from different albums, which was genius because it meant that I could sing till my throat got sore (which I did...and then I sang some more ;p). I almost cried when they played "One last Time", Petrucci looked me right in the eye while I was singing along to "In the name of God", and I screamed my heart out to "Prophets Of War", "A rite of Passage" and "Solitary shell". I don't even remember what other songs they played, lol, I was in a state of complete ecstasy! They finished off with "The Count of Tuscany" and sadly cut it very short :(

After the concert I bought myself a new t-shirt.

And a scarf...just because I wanted to ;P

Oh, and here's a little solo from the best guitarist in the whole world - John Petrucci

PS: Please excuse the very bad quality and the fact that it's the wrong way. It was hard to hold the camera and I don't know how to turn the video *angel eyes*

Is it any wonder?!

- 10 hours on a train (which was 4 hours late)

- 7 hours at work

- 3 hours of sleep

Is it any wonder that I'm tired?

Grey clouds in the sky

No wonder, since I'm in Bergen (it's generally considered as the rainiest city in Norway). I came here on sunday to visit Ingrid and I was supposed to leave earlier today, but I missed my train so now I'm pretty much stuck here till about 23:00. It's not too bad of course, cause I get to take the train with Ingrid, but my mother wasn't particularly happy that I had to spend more money to buy a new ticket. She also wasn't too thrilled over the fact that she'll have to wake up at 5 am to get me from the train station.

Today would've really sucked, if it weren't for the fact that I finally got my results back! I passed with a very good mark, so there was really no need to worry the way I did (had nightmares and couldn't fall asleep. Didn't eat alot cause I had a knot in my stomick and generally just worried the hell out of myself). So, despite my horrific incident with the train, loss of alot of money and nerves, I am actually pretty happy. Can't wait to move into the new house with the rest of my friends. It'll be perfect, I just know it.

But before that I still have to catch the next train home, work, go to a Dream Theater concert on saturday (SO looking forward to it!!), pack my stuff and avoid irritating my mother for 10 more days...a task not easily accomplished after todays fiasco.

Presenting my Bucket List

Carrie, over at [carrotspeak.], wrote a Bucket List on her page and encouraged her readers to do the same. As you know, I am all for lists, so I was thrilled at this chance to make yet another one. Here is a list of all the things I plan to do before I die. I have only put things that I haven't done yet, cause I though that it'll give me a challenge.


- Grow old with the person I marry (also marry the person I love)

- See ALL the art in Louvre

- Go backpacking through Europe

- Join a war reenactment

- Get a scuba certification

- Build a matching rocking chair set for me and my hubby to sit in when we're old

- Never hear my children say "I HATE YOU", even in their teen years (should have children first though)

- Learn at least 10 languages

- Read all the books in a library

- Never loose touch with my family and my best friends

- Cook all the recipes in Julia Child's cooking book (although I don't think I'll be attempting to do it all in one year)

- Learn Japanese, and watch a whole anime without translation :D (also go to Japan)

- Visit all the continents in the world (and try their food)

- Have an amazing life story told to me by the person who lived it and write a book about it

- Go to an AC/DC concert before they quit

- Learn to play the bagpipe just so I can annoy the neighbours while I'm learning

- Pet a lion or a tiger

- Ride an elephant, a donkey, a horse and a camel...oh and a sled pulled by dogs (or even one pulled by deer)

- Get a tattoo that I won't be ashamed of even when I'm 50 ;)

- Have a job that I love for the rest of my working days

- Live a life I'll be proud of

DRINK! Mazeltov ;D

The 8 Least Original Moments in 'New' Bruce Willis Trailer -- powered by Cracked.com

I'm sorry but I just had to...this is too funny not to share :D

I play, do you?

Meaning nothing else than me finally finding a book store online with low prices and free delivery. Play.com is a really wonderfull internet site that allows you to find books, DVD's, music, clothing, electronic devices - pretty much everything you would ever want to purchase online - for the price and the condition of your choice. The dispatching time is usually within 48 hours of your purchase, and they send it wherever in the the world that you happen to be, free of charge :D

It is safe to say that I am completely in love with this site, as well as another pretty handy online book store - The book depository - which left me suprisingly satisfied with my new purchase of no less than 8 books from my reading list. Lovely titles such as I capture the castle, The five people you meet in heaven, The lovely bones and Wuthering Heights are awaiting my arrival in England at our new house (which I, of course, can hardly wait to move into). I am delighted beyond all imaginable when I think of the prospect of reading all those books!

Also I beg you to excuse my changed forms of writing. I have recently been engaged in reading The Woman in White, thus I have been influenced by its unmistakable writing style. It is the second book from my reading list and I expect to finish it my tomorrow.

(My reading list, as of now, consists of 36 books which I plan to read before the end of this year. The final list will be posted online after I have obtained most of the books, as well as updates on my progress in reading them.)

Relax!

In these hectic days filled with work, school, worries and duties we should all find a little time to relax. I found this video on [carrotspeak] and couldn't resist sharing it with you. It's beautiful and very soothing for the nerves. Made me think how wonderful some things are...she simplest things. I recommend watching it in full screen to get the best effect.

A loud protest against the "No cats on the internet day"

Those who know me, will of course immidiately understand why this makes me so outraged. How dare they proclaim the 09.09.09 (today), the no cats on the internet day?! What a silly thing to do.
Cats are lovely and loyal and very smart *love*

In protest against this day I present to you a very cute picture of my own cat - Sherlock, and his friend, who are, no doubt, also outraged by this day :p
And a LolCat...just because they're AWSOME

My new reading list

The BBC believes most people will have read only 6 of the 100 books here. How do your reading habits stack up?

I've read 32, and I plan on reading at least 30 more. The books I've read are marked green and the books I plan to read in the nearest future are marked blue ;)

1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling
5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
6 The Bible (in entirety)
7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens

11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott
12 Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
14 Complete Works of Shakespeare
15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulk
18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
19 The Time Traveler’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
20 Middlemarch - George Eliot

21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald
23 Bleak House - Charles Dickens
24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
25 The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame

31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis
34 Emma-Jane Austen
35 Persuasion - Jane Austen
36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis
37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
38 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
40 Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne

41 Animal Farm - George Orwell
42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44 A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving
45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery
47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
48 The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood
49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding
50 Atonement - Ian McEwan - No

51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel
52 Dune - Frank Herbert
53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night - Mark Haddon
60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez

61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt
64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac
67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
68 Bridget Jones’s Diary - Helen Fielding
69 Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie
70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville

71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
72 Dracula - Bram Stoker
73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
75 Ulysses - James Joyce
76 The Inferno – Dante
77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78 Germinal - Emile Zola
79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
80 Possession - AS Byatt

81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker
84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
87 Charlotte’s Web - EB White
88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton

91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery
93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
94 Watership Down - Richard Adams
95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare
99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo

Still the same

Still in the mood for Muse. Don't even know why. Just been feeling a bit lonely lately. Listening to Muse and Keane all day. Waiting. Wondering how it would feel to be at one of their concerts. Somehow becoming a stranger to myself, and watching as others become strangers to me. Waiting. Mindlessly passing time by staring into an empty screen. Waiting. Feeling that life is passing me by.

Waiting for it.

Waiting for them.

Waiting for you.

The Hot Cyprian Air

Didn't save me from getting a cold. In fact, it actually contributed to it, in a weird way. 36 - 38 degrees all week led to us setting the air conditioner to 18 degrees over night. Which of course meant that bathing in the windy sea for 2 hours the next day was a bad idea. Nevertheless, I did, and got sick for the better part of our holiday. Of course, that didn't stop me from having a great time!

We arrived in Cyprus on monday, feeling very much like stuffed turkey that had suddenly been crammed into the oven, very tired and somewhat hungry. At the hotel we had to wait two hours before we could check in, so we took a stroll along the beach, suddenly realising that all our tiredness was being swept away by the warm sea breeze. The view was amazing, and so was the hotel! That same day, after moving into our apartment and swimming in the sea for a while, we went on into town exploring. I soon realised that this was a family/couples resort place, and that we were the odd ones out. But that didn't really bother me because the whole place had a very nice atmosphere.

During the first few days we didn't do much more that relaxing. Mostly I was just reading my book in the sun, and sitting on the rocks in the water (note: I can swim, BUT the sea water is salt, duuuh, which means - it irritates the skin on my face...so basically my face is allergic to it but the rest of my skin is fine and since sea water is so good for the body I found rocks in the water I could sit on). We also did some paragliding and pedalboating (was great fun!). Sometimes there were activities going on in the pool, like water gym, water polo, water volley etc, that I willingly joined in on. And after a while I befriended the entertainment guy so I knew exactly when all the fun stuff was happening. I even participated in the table tennis tournament! I lost, of course, but I wasn't far behind and I was playing against the teacher :D

By the end of the week we were getting a bit bored with just laying around in the sun, so we went sightseeing. Travelled across the border to the north, Turkish occupied side of Cyprus. Two words - flags everywhere. I guess someone really wanted to make it clear whose land it was. I think someone was trying too hard.

But anyway, the trip itself was about two castles and one church (monastery). One of the castles was build over centuries, finally finished in the 14th. It is very beautiful, high up in the mountains, and it looked more like it had just grown out of the mountain itself, rather than someone having build it on top of it. Apparently Walt Disney (who, by any account, had a great imagination cause I sure couldn't have imagined it and still can't see any resemblance) got the idea for Snow White's castle after seeing this one. As a matter of pride we, as always, climbed to the very top of the building. Took us about an hour with all those crooked steps, but we made it, and were rewarded with a magnificent view.

The other castle was less impressive. The only good thing there were the chambers of torture and the 4000 year old ship they managed to lift from the bottom of the ocean. The monastery was far more interesting. The chuch there was the only greek orthodox chuch that still had all the original icons (because during the occupation people barricated themselves in it for a year and after a while the turks just couldn't be bother to rob it). And the monastery, although roofless (due to colonists that smashed it to get building materials for the english channel), was very well preserved. Anywhooooo, I liked it, and although my feed were bleeding from my new shoes (yh yh, I know, silly girl in her silly shoes...but they're so pretty!!), I enjoyed it.

Last few days were all about souvenirs, eating at local tavern's, and packing. We went to "Cyprus night", and got to see lots of national food and dancing. It was great, they even made us dance :p I won't say anything about food portions, only that after the 9th plate I couldn't even look at it anymore.

We left on monday, our favourite tavern being Marco's, where the food was awsome, the portions less overwhelming and thus eatable, and the menues were in russian :D

I'll miss Cyprus, but now it's back to work.

From Russia with love

Busy 2 weeks indeed. Had a lot of things to do and not nearly enough time to do them :( During the first weekend I was busy running around making plans for the rest of my stay. Handed in papers for my new passport, fixed my sandals and bought a new handbag <3

As soon as the new week began I headed out to our summer house to do some painting. Was easy and got help from Andrey (who was nice enough to come with, even though he had the flu), but as soon as we were done with the first layer - there was a storm. It was pouring down for four days straight! And although I got to meet up with my brother and my two oldest friends, after thursday I gave up waiting for the sun and went back into town.

Tried to squeeze in some cultural stuff, but failed as all the theaters were either closed or fully booked. Had three good, rainless days where I didn't get soaked as soon as I walked out the door, and used those to 1) walk around town and eat sushi *love*, 2) travel out to the nearest island "Kranstadt" that was used as a fort during the two world wars keeping the enemy away from our shores, and 3) to collect my passport and meet up with people I had no time for earlier in the week.

I really liked Kranstadt. I'd never been to a fort before and Julia (a friend of Andrey who lives there) was kind enough to show us around. We saw all the main sites, drove around on rollerblades *DESTROY now and never look at again*, and klimbed the fort walls. The day was nearly perfect (except for the fact that we didn't get into any of the museums and that those rollerblades made me hate the world, my life and the certain someone who thought it would be a good idea to scate around town).

Meeting the family was good too. I'm glad my father stayed away though, don't think I'd be able to handle him. Was a pity that I didn't have more time so I never got to meet my other brother or my granfather, but at least I now have a motivation to come back sooner.


I'm glad everything turned out the way it did. Even if it means that life will be more complicated.

Back to the roots

I am finally leaving for mother Russia (in a few hours that is). Can't say I'm thrilled to go, because I still haven't finished writing my coursework (only 1500 or so words left :S). I'm hoping that my friends can help me with internet and computer loans so that I can finish it. It sucks right now, so I hope someone can proof read it as well. Oh dear god I need to finish this awful coursework, cause I really want to come back to uni and live with my friends and have a great time! Feeling like an idiot for not having turned in my work in time :(

Another interesting fact is that my ex...the one I've been telling you guys about - the two year relationship that made me who I am today...well, he's decided to meet me at the airport and help me with my coursework. I can't say it's a bad thing, but I definitly don't get a good vibe from it either. How the hell am I going to survive this stay. Will my feelings for him come rushing back to destroy the past two years of trying to forget him, or will it all be cool with no feelings left. And if there are no feelings left will I be sad that something so powerful - that I thought would last forever, is gone? All these stupid questions are in my head right now and I can't do anything about them.

Also my father scared me by saying he might show up to meet me as well :S I don't like him, I don't want him there, and most of all, I do not need a frickin' welcoming party either. It'll all get waaaay too complicated if both my grandma, my dad and my ex will be at the airport. Bah, I hope my ex and I will be friends. And I hope he doesn't think I've changed to the worst. And I hope my dad stays away!

My grandmother has promiced me that these two weeks are going to be busy. Which usually means that I'll have to do loads of work and run about the town not even getting a minute to myself. I hope she's kidding, cause I have no intentions of painting fences and changing locks (don't ask). Oh and I'm supposed to be meeting loads of my friends too, and my brothers. Gah, this'll be interesting. I think one of my friends might think I like him (should really fix that before it gets too late! Wooopsie!), so I have to make sure we don't hang out on our own.

Whatever this turns out to be like one thing is for sure. I definitly won't be bored!

Anyone seen the toothfairy?

Cause I'd really like some compensation for the pain I've gone through today.

For those of you who don't remember the sad story of my tooth here it is; Last october I had a rootcanal done...or started to anyway. The doctor did the thing he does, left th tooth filled with a temporary filling and told me to come back in december...which I comepletely forgot (of course). Then the holidays came and I didn't do anything about it till february, when I visited the doctor anew. On this visit he asked me if my tooth was hurting, and, as it was, he did the rootcanal again. I was then supposed to come for a new session in may, but, stupid as I am, I forgot which dates my exams were and set my appointment up on the date of my exam. A week after the tooth cracked in two.

Because of this stupidity I now have to get an implant (bah, I'm only 20 and already I can't even say that at least I still have all my teeth :S), which will probably cost me all of the sallary I'll get from my job. This sucks! And if that wasn't enough, they (quite logically but increadibly painfully) had to remove my poor tooth. It nearly fell apart when she pulled at it, but luckily it came out in one piece.

Am now in obvious, although not very strong but very irritating, pain. Furthermore I'm forbidden to work today, but I can't call in sick cause I'm not qualified. This is going to be a long long day :(

There and back again

Six hours, sitting in a bus and looking at trees and mountains as they fly by. Six hours of complete and utter boredom, of staring out the window and wishing the time would go faster...or that the bus would. Six hours of bus, and then an hour and a half by car, over the narrowest road across the mountains EVER. That is the journey I had to make to get to Ingrid (my best friend). I only went for the weekend and spent most of the time sitting on a bus there and back again, but it was totally worth it! Not because I happened to catch the latest Harry Potter film while I was there (because it sucked awfully, so don't waste your money on it), but because I had so much fun while I was there.

I got to see and play cards with Ingrid and her family (who've been like my second family for 10 years), and a couple of people I hadn't seen for nearly 2 years, I had time to participate in the making of a movie (I played the boss of the Russian mafia in Norway, wooohooo), AND Ingrid and I finally had time to organise and plan our interrail trip for next summer. It's gonna be so awsome :D

Sadly I had to leave all too soon, but I had to get back to work to earn money for our trip. But I love visiting Sauda, so I'm probably going to head down there again sometime before the term starts. Either that, or I'll visit her in her new appartment in Bergen ;D She's planning to live there and study maths (CRAZY girl :P)


Here are some pictures from the set of our film:

Drive safe!

I just saw this video and it made me cry! So many lives are lost to traffic accidents that happen because of uncareful driving manners and speeding, please PLEASE be careful on the road. For the sake of your own life and the life of others.



"This is a reminder to all drivers that we operate in a machine that kill, destroy, and maim not only our family, but families with others. This happens every minute of every day in our world.

Show this to all drivers that you know and remind them to drive more carefully!."

Working 9 to 5, what a way to make a living!

Except for the fact that I'm working 8 to 4 :) Oh yes, you read it...I got a job. I'm working in a food store, just a 7 min walking distance away from home. The money is good and the work isn't too hard, so I'm highly pleased about it.

My first day (which was yesterday) was very good, even though I was comepletely lost and didn't know what to do or where everything is. One of my superiors, Elisabeth, showed me around and helped me adapt :) I like her. Most people there are very nice, except for the evil EVIL box man (I was unpacking loads of boxes and putting everything in place, and each time I was nearly done with unpacking all the boxes in one aile, this guy Roy showed up with more boxes :S). I cut my finges while opening those boxes and I had trouble lifting and carrying the flour, but it was otherwise OK. All the time I was talking to Dace, she's lithuanian and she speaks russian, so it was great! Basically the day was all bliss untill I had to sit behind the counter. I've never sat behind the counter, and although everything pretty much goes on autopilot (you just have to scan the products) there are loose weight items and baked goods that don't have a barcode. There are seperate codes for those products, codes that you have to remember by heart...aka codes I don't know :( So I have to either shout across the room to Michael (who sists at the other counter) or have someone stand beside me at all times to tell me these codes. PAIN!! But otherwise it's fine.

Today however I didn't do much besides occupying the counter, and allthough I've learnt how to find codes for the groseries, I have to know the name of them to find it. You would think it to be an easy task, except for - it's not. Thing is that all the baked stuff have weird names and I have no clue what they are, so each time I get something from the bakery I have to ask the customer what it is they are trying to buy (very embarrasing and it takes time to find the code, so while I'm trying to figure stuff like that out the customers gets annoyed and the line becomes huge). Another thing about sitting behind the counter is that it kills your back and makes your mouth dry from asking everyone how they are, if they'd like a bag and if they want the receipt. Well, at least it's not boring, and I got to annoy one of my co-workers Martin for the whole day, lol, he was stuck with me (standing beside me at the counter or having me follow him around the store. Not my fault thought :D I'm still in training)

More work tomorrow. 8 till 4 again, although I'm not complaining cause I'd rather be working that shift in stead of the one from 11 to 7. That's when the worst crowd comes. Also stinks that I can't stay long at Ingrid's now, because of work. But hey, at least I'm not wasting my holidays anymore, weeee :D

The Shadow of the Wind

The Shadow of the wind is a book you feel with all your being. The laughter, the suspense, the tragedy, all of it captures your soul and remains in your heart as though you yourself are in the story which dragges you into its dark alleyways of the spanish capital, slowly unfoldig the mysteries of the city and the life story of the brilliant author Julian Carax. I laughed, I cried, I was scared and suprised, and shook to my very core, all by this book.

This story is about a man's books and how they changed the lives of those who knew him and those who happened to realise the true value of his work. And also about a boy, who risked his own life so that the life of his favourite author would never be forgotten.

Short summary: One evening Daniel's father takes his 10 year old son to the "Cemetary of Forgotten Books" where he is allowed to pick out one book to take care of. By slim chance he picks out "The Shadow of the Wind" by the mysterious author Julian Carax. As time passes Daniel becomes more and more intrigued by the book and it's unknown writer. He discoveres that dark shadows lure in the streets of Barcelona, all trying to get a hold of his book for various reasons. As he begins to investigate Julian's past a story of great pain, love, jealousy and hatred unravels before him, sucking in him, and those who are close to him. What secrets will Daniel find while hunting this shadow of the wind?

If you haven't read this book I urge you to do so right away, the feeling it has left me with is undescribable, and yet it seems so familiar. It is the breathtaking feeling you get after reading a great book. One of those rare books that are really worth reading. A feeling well described in this book by the way, because it is, after all, first and foremoast a story about books and how they influence our lives.

Ice age 3

I finally found the time (and the company) to go watch the last ice age movie, and it is awsome! Very funny in a true ice age style, with a right proportion of old and new characters to capture one's attention.

This time around Manny and Ellie are having a baby, which makes Diego realise he's got to leave, and Sid that he is not part of this new family. Sid is therefore thrilled when he finds 3 eggs underneath the ice. He declares himself their mother (oddly enough) and calls them his new family. The suprise of the eggs holding tiny t-rex dinasours is nothing like the one of their mommy showing up and taking Sid with her under the ice where a whole new pre-ice age world is in full blossom. Manny, Diego and the others follow to save their friend. They soon realise that the world under is nothing like the one above and previously unseen dangers lure behind every corner and they soon realise that a guide would be nice. This is where they meet Buck - a one-eyed, slightly crazed, british weasel, who helps them find their way.

Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs is cute and interesting with a quite a few grown up jokes (which I can't see the kids getting), the visuals are stunning, especially since it's 3D. And if you forgive the obvious historical loophole (there were no dinosaurs during the Ice Ag, duuh) you can actually have quite a good time. The dinosaurs add a lot of thrill to the plot, and there's actually a very nice sense of adventure throughout the film. I would not hesitate to recomend this film to everyone!!!

Hunting in the jungles

For a job that is. Because although I'm not exactly short on money, the matter of fact is: I'm bored. My mother left for Russia today and I am now the single occupant of our house for the next three weeks. Sure I could find something else to do with my time, like cleaning or reading or chasing after my cat trying to get him to spend time with me (although it's useless really, he always manages to get away somehow). However, all those things only take that much time...so what do I do with the rest of it? The weather is gloomy as well...so I can't go swimming or sunbathing :( And all the rest of my friends are working.

Anywhooooo, I decided to finally get off my bum and start looking for a job. I went to all the stores and cafès around the area distributing my very short and highly unimpressive CV and a dreadfully dull application. On my journey through our town I found out that nobody really needs help now, and that I should've probably applied a while back :( There is one place I have some hope for though. Very close to home and in need of a person who can work other holidays as well. So hopefully I'll get that one!

A terrifying terrorist!!

Those of you you happened to have caught me online the few times I've been on know that our household currently holds visitors. My mother's friend from Sauda (the place we used to live before we moved to Drammen) and her 6 year old daughter Sophia are currently occupying our guest bedroom. Needless to say I am not entierly happy with this visit because as you all know I have no tolerance for human creatures below the age of 14! This one has also turned out to be quite a challenge. Apparently the creature adores me and is therefore hanging around me like a dog on a leash. She never leaves my side and insists on telling me every single little detail of her days. Believe me when I say that she can make a whole 10 page long essay on how she was bit by a mosquito. By telling me all of this she also interrups my reading of the one book I've had time to read since my last holidays.

The one interest we seem to share are cats, but even there she manages to make the conversation as dull as a white sheet of paper. Yeah, yeah, Iknow she's only six, but she is six and very very uninteresting. Her mother, seeing that the child has fun torturing me, keeps on suggesting that we do stuff together, like play a game or something. But I am not a babysitter!!!

Although to be fair I've grown used to her now, and sometmes I even enjoy her company. She is funny and reminds me alot of myself when I was her age. She can laugh for hours on end jst because she thinks that pulling faces is funny. Makes me wonder how it'd be to have a sister :)