But now I have reconsidered the importance of HSE. After beeing caught in the fire one too many times, I'm now locating the fastest and safest way to get out, if disaster strucks. I'm thinking Australia. Or maybe home to mum.
Yesterday I was tagged by Angela in this "Four Things Meme". I must confess I didn't know to begin with what a meme is. But that's me, amazingly unknowing at some points. My excuse then is that if I don't know, I do my best to educate myself. Dictionary.com is a good place to start, and here I found a rather short and handy explanation. Further, more substantial reading, was found on Wikipedia. Excellent!
Now that I had regained my belief in not beeing totally unaware and ignorant, I started to trace this meme backwards, to see what I would find. I must say, if this had arrived in it's original form, and without me reading Angelas inspiring ponderings about the online meme-phenomenon I would probably not have been doing anything about it. Because this meme thing is, to quote Bruce Lawson some seven steps back, "just geekspeak for “Chain Letter”", and I don't do them. (Stopped doing chain-letters when a "foolproof" one came around which should have provided me with lots and lots of nice wine. I delivered my bottle personally and went home, eagerly waiting for the followers to execute their part. Needless to say, but no bottles ended up on my doorstep.)
Only two steps back from me I found "The Ramblings Of Linden Langdon", and it's about now I once again realize why I don't read too many blogs on a regular basis. For the same reason I try to stay away from some new TV-shows and Smith's Crisps - They're too good!, I get so easily hooked and then I just have to continue. (reading, watching, eating...) But I think Lindens blog will be added to my daily sitevisits, much thanks to the artistic perspective. Very impressive! (and Langdon senior is a ceramist, what can I say?)
I followed the memetrace even further and 14 steps and only 4 days earlier Michele Finotto in Italy was tagged. A couple of days later he made this statement which I in a way can relate to.
It soon became evident that it would be quite impossible to find the source of the meme, not to mention absolutely pointless, so from here I instead tried to find out how many chose to continue the chain. That turned out, not surprisingly, to be a rather tedious task as well, but I think my conclusion is that not too many can be bothered. So we're kind of back with Angelas thoughts again, because even if we perhaps don't like these kind of memes, we'll still need them around if we're going to elaborate around the actual concept. Trapped once more!
I think I've mentioned it before, but I really don't like lists. I'm always afraid that some misconceptions could be read between the lines, and that might validate the reasoning of "favourites as identity markers", as Angela and Linden suggested. Very much in my own line of thinking, and certainly worthwhile pursuing sometime. Perhaps the fact I'm not going to write a list of likes and dislikes, is telling just as much about my personality and identity as if I had?
Somewhere else in the line I followed, I found this handsome young man. He seemed to be quite enthusiastic about this meme, but it might have to do with his young age, in time he will most likely be as cynical as the rest of us... He's even sticking to the "rules"! I'm not! Another trait of mine, beeing unruly (but yet conscientious - what a contradiction).
So my deepest apologies, Angela, for not following through, but hopefully it wasn't a total waste of time. I enjoyed it, even if this particular track stops here. Perhaps I'm just too lazy?
There's another candystore I really like, namely the bookstore. And today I'm going there to pick up a real treat I ordered a couple of weeks ago.
I like funny, and in my opinion Gary Larson is one of the funniest people on Earth. Too bad I don't really have time to dive in too deeply into his world right now. Maybe I can incorporate his works into my litterature-course somehow?
This pic is stolen from the internet without any permission what so ever, if any objections I'll remove it promptly.
Last week I went into the same candystore I treat myself with a couple of times every year. Already long before I entered the shop I had been thinking about what to choose, and the possibilities seemed to be endless. The shelves were overfilled with boxes and jars, and I also knew that there were even more hidden behind the counter. So let's see, how would I go about this then? How on earth should I be able to narrow down my choices and stay within the limits?
Here in this shop you could simply find sweets and treats to suit any taste. First you have your plain sweet drops - solid, colourful and with fruity flavours. Hm, should I go for them? And if I did, would I be able to let them slowly dissolve in my mouth or would I rather as usual chew them too quickly? On the same shelf the shopkeeper displayed a jar of this standard hardboiled kind, but with a new exotic flavour. Tempting, I must say.
There were also a couple of boxes with some kind of chewy caramel. Original. Original, but with a chocolate coating. Original with a mint swirl. And strawberry chewy caramel. And a few more different varieties I even can't remember, but what they all have in common is that they always tend to get stuck in my teeth. Out of the question.
Liquorice? Isn't that good? Sweet or salty, then? The small Dutch figureshaped ones, or maybe soft liquoricesticks? But even in some of the sticks they have put different fillings, just to make it harder to choose. I think lemon is my favourite. Or mint? Lemon? Heck, I think I'll just skip the liquorice...
Oooh, and then we'll have the chocolate... I could go on for ever talking about this utmost refined cocoabeanproduct. Everything from the light, milky type to the darkest and richest. Now recently there have been a lot of discussions around regarding these purest of chocolates, and I think some of the conclusions are promising - dark chocolate might actually be good for you! Almost healthy... Another nice thing about a bar of chocolate, is that you could break it up and share with friends. If your lucky they might offer something else in return, from their own bag of sweets.
Lollipops are nice too. Fun and easy. And with a lot of different flavours too. (The stick also gives you a chance to take it out of your mouth for a while if you find it too much.)
But what about all this wrapping? Some sweets are all covered up in brightlycoloured paper or tinfoil, or both, that sometimes is just downright impossible to get off. And worse - if you do manage to unwrap it, you might get dissapointed finding out that you didn't get what you thought you were going to get.
When I came in to the store, one of my choices was more or less obvious, but what about the rest? Should I go for something similar, or should I be brave and try out something completely different as a contrast? And what if I don't like them? Is it OK to take a little bite, and then spit it out and ask for a refund? Or could I choose something else?
Did I tell you what this shopkeeper insists on as well? No? Well, he has this rule that you can only buy what you can reach without help. He won't bring anything down from the shelves that are too high up for you. So some of those delicious treats won't be mine if I don't grow a little. But perhaps that's only fair, it's probably good to have something to reach for.
I will probably not be shopping here for ever, but for now I find that the University of Bergen has got what I need to satisfy my sweet tooth.
I'm working on it right now actually, just have to go to the store first and stock up for the weekend. Then will probably the rest of the evening be spent in front of the computer, writing another of those silly stories.
I tried not to, but I'll just have to admit it to myself - I need to write.
It looks promising, this new year has started out real nice. So if I’m in a good mood, what am I supposed to write about then? Have no idea, but since this isn’t a job and I don’t get paid for writing here, my postings might appear more sparsely. And besides, when I started to write this blog, a friend of mine asked: Why? and that is actually a very good question. Why do I put my thoughts and frustrations out here in the open? In the beginning I didn’t have any choice, since it was part of a course, but later on I simply regarded it as a safety valve, letting steam out when the tension built up.
And now I’ve found out that I love to write. I always have actually, I just didn’t do it for nearly twenty years. But doing it so publicly as in a blog, has recently made me feel a bit vulnerable. On an abstract level and realated to my field of study it’s kind of interesting, but as a private person I’m not so sure anymore. How do I know that I'm not misunderstood or misinterpreted? Who am I in the blogospere? Is it my real me or is it fiction? I believe the questions are innumerable. Also I have personally witnessed what people with bad intentions can do to someone that is trusting and open, so If I am going to continue this I have to be more careful with the content, I think.
Another thing is that over these past three years so much has happened to me and I have evolved as a person, hopefully and probably for the better. With that I have gained a new confidence, and I’m not so confused these days. In my case I think a lot of my postings have come to life in a state of utter distress or total bewilderment. (I hope it doesn’t sound like I mean the rest of the blogging-world consists of flaky and unsecure nuerotics! There are a lot of intelligent, sane bloggers around. None mentioned, none forgotten...) What I’m trying to say is that I’m not that desperate for affirmation any longer, I have developed a more true sense of my identity and value now. Thanks for that, my friends, you know who you are.
I’m pretty sure there still will be tears, that’s part of life, but I have made a few decisions now and that feels good. Being more at ease with the situation I think I can look forward to a much better year than the last one, and my new motto is: easy does it.
In the meantime: read a book!
These days there are a lot of people spending their time contemplating over this past year, often resulting in a New Year resolution that in most cases will be abandoned before Easter. But even if you're not in the habit of making promises you won't keep anyway, it's still a good time to at least do some heavy thinking. So that's what I've done.
Not that I don't think during the rest of the year. On the contrary, I often do that too much, and it's not always I reach a satisfying conclusion. Just as often I end up in tears. So if I actually were to make silly announcements at midnight the 31st of December that might be one: think less.
(I guess some of you're thinking another one should be: talk less...)
Anyway, I found out that with all the thinking I've done lately, I'm finally starting to understand myself a little bit better, and I'm actually amazed to find traits I didn't know I had. For instance, I have always been interested in astrology. Not to the extent that it at any point has ruled my life, I have simply noted that it could have some relevance to a persons character. But as a Taurus I should be stubborn and patient, and that one I couldn't figure out. According to my starsign I should be a person who always works hard and determined to reach my goals. Well, stubborn was one thing, but patient? No, I didn't think that. Probably because someone used to make me feel impatient, and in fact I believed myself that I couldn't pursue anything. But now that I'm free from that influence I've discovered that I do have it in me. I can finish what I've started. And I am patient. And stubborn.
The Taurus is also known not to settle for anything but the best. That one I always knew... The thing is that I now realize that "the best" isn't about money or things at all. It's about quality. Quality of life and friendships. Quality of feelings.
This post turned out to be almost an analogy for life itself, since it didn't turn out the way I had in mind. It just took off in an unknown direction and I can't tell if it is for the better or the worse. As in life, you never know, you just have to make it work as you go along.
Only 45 minutes into the new year I thought it would be a good idea to post a few reflections. How original!
We went outside about half an hour before midnight to take part in the bizarre tradition of literally blowing money away. Over 35 million USD have just been set on fire here in Norway, purely for entertainment. Even the Norwegian Red Cross thought we should celebrate New Years Eve the traditional way (with all the fireworks) with a clear conscience, and rather incorporate a wish to contribute to the relief work during the rest of the year in our new-year resolutions. I don't make any. And I also spent almost 30 bucks on rockets. But I did put the empty wine-bottle we used for support in the recycling bin.
Happy New Year!
or
What's All The Fuzz About?
