Educating Myself

There's so many ways to improve ones knowledge, and so many areas that are interesting. I try my best to be open-minded and indulge in more than a few of life's aspects. Informatics, philosophy, psychology, art, literature and more. Could go on for quite some time, but that's not the point here. But one important thing is to explore the spiritual side of me, and this weekend will be the final of the second year of the Angelos Method. I have a feeling this will be a challenging one, and a lot of stuff will surface. I really look forward to it, I'm going in - ready to face myself. Which is usually the hardest part for everyone.

Adiós, amigos!

In My Sphere

As it has been established for quite some time now that the Earth is round (or spherical), not flat, it shouldn't be any danger involved pushing ones boundaries, right? Seeking out my limits shouldn't mean I will fall off the edge of the Earth? I guess when I broaden my horizons the way I am now, the only thing I risk is seeing the whole World then? Exciting thought. I'll send you a post card...

Home Security

Security can mean so much, and although I think I'm not reckless with my self and risk my own safety, I don't care that mach about locking doors. Well, the front door I always lock, but the backdoor in the kitchen I often forget. And mind you, it's not that easily accessible anyway. But it can be reached, which I proved yesterday.

When I got home from the university, just in time to watch the final minutes of Friends, I found out that the key wasn't in its usual hiding place. (An arrangement we have to use while we are more people staying here than I have keys.) I immediately thought of the other door, and hoped that it was open. But how would I get there? I've seen a ladder hanging somewhere around here, on one of the buildings, and went looking for it. Found it, but it was secured with a chain and a padlock. For which I needed my house key...

Luckily enough I have friendly neighbors, so I asked for help. (See, I also need help from time to time. and I have no problem asking for it either.) Irene lent me her key and I went on the mission of "breaking" in to my own house. It all went well, but you should have seen me on the ladder... Due to certain circumstances it needed to be placed in a low steep which made it extremely wobbly. And me too... But the victorious feeling I had when I stood inside was tremendous.

Easy Peasy - Copy & Paste

This is an old one, still funny though...

Subject: George Hu?

(We take you now to the Oval Office.)

George: Condi! Nice to see you. What's happening?

Condi: Sir, I have the report here about the new leader of China.

George: Great. Lay it on me.

Condi: Hu is the new leader of China.

George: That's what I want to know.

Condi: That's what I'm telling you.

George: That's what I'm asking you. Who is the new leader of China?

Condi: Yes.

George: I mean the fellow's name.

Condi: Hu.

George: The guy in China.

Condi: Hu.

George: The new leader of China.

Condi: Hu.

George: The Chinaman!

Condi: Hu is leading China.

George: Now whaddya' asking me for?

Condi: I'm telling you Hu is leading China.

George: Well, I'm asking you. Who is leading China?

Condi: That's the man's name.

George: That's whose name?

Condi: Yes.

George: Will you or will you not tell me the name of the new leader of China?

Condi: Yes, sir.

George: Yassir? Yassir Arafat is in China? I thought he was in the Middle East.

Condi: That's correct.

George: Then who is in China?

Condi: Yes, sir.

George: Yassir is in China?

Condi: No, sir.

George: Then who is?

Condi: Yes, sir.

George: Yassir?

Condi: No, sir.

George: Look, Condi. I need to know the name of the new leader of China. Get me the Secretary General of the U.N. on the phone.

Condi: Kofi?

George: No, thanks.

Condi: You want Kofi?

George: No.

Condi: You don't want Kofi.

George: No. But now that you mention it, I could use a glass of milk. And then get me the U.N.

Condi: Yes, sir.

George: Not Yassir! The guy at the U.N.

Condi: Kofi?

George: Milk! Will you please make the call?

Condi: And call who?

George: Who is the guy at the U.N?

Condi: Hu is the guy in China.

George: Will you stay out of China?!

Condi: Yes, sir.

George: And stay out of the Middle East! Just get me the guy at the U.N.

Condi: Kofi.

George: All right! With cream and two sugars. Now get on the phone.

(Condi picks up the phone.)

Condi: Rice, here.

George: Rice? Good idea. And a couple of egg rolls, too. Maybe we should send some to the guy in China. And the Middle East. Can you get Chinese food in the Middle East?

(HU'S ON FIRST - By James Sherman

Clearing Away

It's not hard letting out a helping hand to my friends, at least not when they pay me so well...

Jokes aside; I'd gladly help them any day if I could, and this weekend I had the privilege to assist not less than two needy creatures. That was also a joke, they are very competent women, and are fully capable of taking care of themselves. Furthermore, one of the rescue missions wasn't even asked for, it just happened that way.

First one out was a kind of technical support, my friend wanted to buy a new mp3-player and thought I had some valuable input. (Me? A techno-freak? How did she ever get that idea...) We met in town, but as I told her I've seen one in the paper suitable for her (Crazy lime green too!), at Lefdal, we drove out to suburbia. The purchase went smoothly, and after that I gave her a ride to her work, as I was going that direction anyway. My son at Haakonsvern had forgotten his charger and watch...

Next appointment on the list was my lady friend who these days is emptying her house; she's moving out in less than a week. I told you about this love story a while ago, and now she's getting rid of everything in order to travel as lightly as possible. Like I said I didn't go there to help, we just thought a last Saturday night together would be nice - she'd cook up a pizza with mozzarella, sun dried tomatoes and olives. And I'll bring a bottle of red. I also brought my new therapy table and she had a lie down, while floating off to Indian's land flying with the eagles... So the table is consecrated and I'm ready to send the next poor soul off to Dreamland!

Obviously I won't drive after consuming alcohol (at least not in this country), so I stayed the night, and with her kids away there were plenty of extra beds. I didn't plan on staying that long this morning, but after breakfast we somehow started to look at some of the stuff from the attic she was sorting out. Short version: after 3 hours I think most of the kid's old school books and drawings were done. And if they some day want to complain about how little their mother saved they better come to me!

Did I mention payment? Well, for driving around to electrical outlets and so on I'll get a bottle of wine, and for that next "job" I brought home a fair measure of liquids as well. It's spiced with almond, lemon peel, licorice, grains of paradise, orris root, angelica, coriander, cassia, cubeb, and most distinctively juniper berries. Ring a bell? Good with tonic? I'm enjoying one right now? No? Ok, it's Bombay Sapphire, one of the best gins there is.

It shouldn't be necessary to point out that I don't expect to get paid in any way for helping someone, I simply consider this quality time with people I care about. And the discussions we have while working are priceless - talks about men, sex, relationships... Sharing intimate thoughts like that, and realize that you're not alone, that's pretty amazing. And it also helps me on my way. It's all starting to come together now and I can see an outline of a life that I can truly appreciate.

Busy Bee

Sometimes it doesn't matter what you do, as much as you're actually doing something, and today I've been swirling around like a giddy cat while working on one thing after another. Or more precisely, most tasks were running simultaneously. That's flow.

The therapy table arrived today, and it looked just as I hoped it would. Hopefully it'll work to my (and your?) satisfaction too. With the Angelos Method we use a variety of aids and tools, and every therapist developes his or her own preferences and a personal style to the healing. But one very powerful tool we've been introduced to so far is the eagle feather, but as trading with these are illegal we can only hope for finding one on the ground or recieving it as a gift. When we first were told about this shamanistic tool I immediately connected it to my father somehow, having a vague memory of a feather of some sort in his boat. I looked forward to the summer, and vacation in Sweden, so I could check it out. But I didn't have to go far; imagine how surprised I was when I found two feathers stuck to the cornice at my father's house!

So one of the things I did today was to sew this carrying case for my feathers:





Then I had a totally different thing going on as well.

Yesterday afternoon my son came home with ten Scallops which I cleaned in probably less than ten minutes. (I'm quite proud of my technique, if I must say myself...) Anywhos, the scallop muscles went into the freezer, and the innards and empty shells I placed in triple plastic bags and put that by the door to bring to the garbage room next morning. Today that is, and I found out the bags had been leaking. Do you have any idea how bad that can smell? If it only had been on the floor, but no such luck. Straight on to my diving-belt it seeped. Which by the way is just lying there in the hallway, reminding me everyday of a past life. One day I might get back into the water though; with the right encouragement everything is possible. And a few weeks of lifting weights...

Well, cleaning that belt was a good start! It is quite heavy, and had it been a traditional belt with lead blocks it would have been easy to rinse. But mine is a shot belt, soft fabric pouches filled with lead shots, and washing it with detergent and rinsing it afterwards meant a lot of lifting! But it was due, I'd say; a little exercise will only do me good.

A nice day at home - sewing, cleaning, cooking, writing. And a bit of thinking. Don't be alarmed, not that worrying kind I've beed paractising too much. This was the good kind, about future plans and ideas, and about the course I'm taking now. Now, that was a smart choice! Organizational Psychology is something I'll probably write more than once about in the near future.

Table Update

I'm so impressed! Not only are package deliveries handled amazingly speedy these days, but I can also follow my package on it's way to me. Believe I've mentioned this on another occasion, the camera I think it was, but I appreciate this kind of technology so much I just had to comment on it again. Just follow a link in the mail to UPS, and - voilà! - there we go:

Wanna Lie Down?

This I ordered today, and in a few days it'll be delivered to my door. But it's portable so I can come to you as well for treatment. I need Guinea Pigs for my practise...

Still Shining!

I'm not sure who had the brightest smile today, the Sun or me, but I think even without the Sangria (which I probably couldn't have handled anyway on top of the beer and cognac...) it was as good as it could be. Thank you for that, my prince. You certainly know how to keep a girl happy.

And here's another one of my new wild friends from Sweden - the frog's lucky "cousin":

Working Girl

Last year a close friend of mine asked me if I'd be interested in a job. A job which she was offered but couldn't take, and she thought I'd be perfect for it. Back than I didn't have the time, so the excuses I really wanted to use weren't necessary to say out loud. This year she had to refuse the same job again, but now she knew I'd be looking for part-time work, and so she tried me one more time. She said straight away:

-And don't even think about making up silly excuses, unless the one from last year still applies!

How well she knows me... I said I'd be thinking about it, but somehow I knew I'd be saying yes. And besides, any problems I encounter she can help me with! Any guess what I'll be doing? I'm both terrified and excited at the same time, 'cause the next month or so I'll be holding a cooking class for kids! Wish me luck...

Scandinavian Wildlife

You wouldn't believe all the strange creatures I've seen this summer, and just to put you in the right mood, I'll start with my new hate object. The kind of beast that makes ticks almost nice. Well, not really, but anyhow – have you heard of the deer ked? If not, consider yourself lucky. This little bugger isn't regarded as particularly harmful to humans, but as Wikipedia says "it can be a nuisance". In my opinion that's an understatement. You wonder why?

Lipoptena cervi is a fly, but I'd like to think of it more as a flying spider. It won't fly very far though, only 50 mtrs or so, and as soon as it lands on its "victim" (deer or elk mostly) it sheds its wings and starts burrowing through the fur in search for its first meal. And that's blood. The parasite then lives its life there while reproducing several times. Nasty. But why do I loath this insect more than other?

It doesn't buzz so you won't notice if it's heading your way. Then suddenly you feel something tickle and crawl around, and this is where you can freak out. It won't go away! It's flat and hard (some have suitably nicknamed it "Armor Fly"), and its feet have claws (!) at the end. You can wave and brush all you want; it'll still be clinging to your skin. I had one on me, it got under my skirt and I got so worked up that I undressed right there in the yard. My mother was there as well, and with combined efforts we caught the bastard in a tissue. I'm usually neither vindictive nor cruel, but after crushing the "fly" in the paper we also decided to set fire to it, just to make a statement. We put it down on the ground, lit a match and brought it to the paper – waiting for that sweet feeling of revenge as the bloodsucker would go up in smoke. It must have laughed long and hard, that six legged monster from hell, while we watched in disbelief as it crawled out of the paper and disappeared…

Apart from that fly thing, which I had only two encounters with, the rest of the observed fauna was exclusively good natured. I had a moose crossing the road, but I was driving quite slowly, and he was behaving at his best. No turning mid air as they sometimes do. We also had numerous visits of roe deer in the field; they just loved the vetch the neighbour farmer had sown. The roes ran alongside hares and rabbits. This picture I think most people agree sounds idyllic, but I'm not so sure everybody shares my excitement over that other guest I had. One night I had a bat flying around in my bedroom! Very cute, I think, but he was gently manoeuvred back out through the open window.

And all the frogs! Don't think I've ever seen as many as this summer. Literally.

The End Of Summer?

I'm back again after a long vacation and I'm a little uncertain about what to write, and where to start. Usually I find it challenging to try to transform personal experiences into more easily digested narratives, but this time I’m a little hesitant. So if there’s anything you want to know, you better ask me.

Now another term is here, and I have only one more course to take. This means I'll be studying at 50 % pace, and I'll have to try to get a part-time job as well. Kind of scary, but as this summer has left me so much stronger and more confident I'll manage that too. As everything else I have to deal with. Don’t want to sound too smug here, but after listening to some good advice from people who know me well, I think I finally have learned to not give a damn. Just a little anyway…