If you haven’t already, go find your local hospital and start donating blood. They need it. Yesterday I gave half a liter.
They gave me one of these as thanks.
Donate blood!
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Fire ting du burde lest
Fordi jeg tydeligvis er ute i sola i stedet for å blogge, så legger jeg bare ved fire linker er og oppfordrer dere der ute til å lese det som står.
En lang artikkel om å følge seg fri og å ha tid når man er kvinne og har barn og hvorfor folk fremdeles føler de har får lite tid med barna når all forskning viser at de har mye mer, fra Prosa av Marta Breen.
En bok jeg gjerne skulle lest om hvor ekstremt opptatte alle er av at man skal være glad når man er syk, slik at man knapt får lov av legene sine til å være sint over at man har fått kreft, anbefalt av Lene Wikander. Lene er min store feministhelt sammen med Magnhild fra Antibloggen og hun fikk kreft for en måned siden. Hun blogget om opplevelsen dagen etter og det er rått å lese hvordan det er å gå gjennom. Det er også deilig med den usminkede versjonen, den triste og fæle versjonen. Spesielt nå som flere og flere av mine bekjente får diagnose eller dør av kreft. Les blogginnleggene hennes også.
Så en trist og oppløftende artikkel fra Studentavisa som handler om kompisen min Thorbjørn som var sikker på at han ikke strøk i et fag og som aldri ga opp kampen, på tross av at han druknet i byråkratiet gang på gang. Den minner meg om de to sakene jeg har prøvd å finne ut av ved UMB denne våren som stadig blir fullstendig glemt av folk som har som jobb å svare på spørsmål som mine. Jeg blir ganske sur.
Til slutt en bloggpost om voldtekt i Norge fra den eminente Magnhild. I enhver samtale om voldtekter trekker jeg selv fram de samme tallene som hun, at kun 13% av de rapporterte voldtektene i Norge er overfallsvoldtekter. Og at man tror at de aller fleste voldtekter ikke blir rapportert, og at de fleste av disse er voldtekter i nære relasjoner. Det viktigste hun skriver er uansett at det handler ikke om hva kvinner må gjøre for å ikke bli voldtatt, men hva menn må gjøre for å ikke voldta. Og da spesielt om hvilke holdninger menn må ha til hverandre for at de skal få bukt på et at sine største problemer; at de voldtar andre.
I like this tequila
Saturday night when we got to know Jonas and Hilde in our building, we were being generous in turns. First they wondered if we would share their dessert (strawberries). We accepted, but said that we would bring some white port to add. Then after the port was empty they brought this one out. This is the best tequila I have ever tasted, and when I googled it seems the whoe internet likes it too. I even saw this post on Cake Wrecks:
The end of an era
After what I guess is about 6 months, I have decided to stop my weekly posts on what I’m going to do.Mostly because I don’t want a blog of only that and right now I am already getting into summer mode. In summer mode I blog sporadically because I’m actually out doing things.
The last two weeks have been wonderful outside the internet. I was really good being outside for two nights, kayaking and just taking it slow. It was lovely going to Tusenfryd with Erik, talking about what we are going to do with the apartment and enjoying his company. Thursday it was the monthly meeting of Komité Speiding where we had to new members. And for the first time in many years we are one person extra, not one person short. This makes everything better and things run more smoothly, and next month we’ll have our meeting on the ship Havbraat and we are all very exited.
And as summer is getting closer there is less to do in scouting so I’m finally seeing the bottom of my inbox and my evenings are clearing up. So this weekend was just a breeze. I had my R exam on Friday and felt the “finished with it all” sensation the whole weekend. Friday we sat on a park bench and watched the skiers getting their pictures taken. Then we went to my parent’s house and barbequed and had the most amazing Barolo.
Saturday we had a slow morning for the first time in a long while, cleaned the apartment, had pankaces for breakfast and just got things done. We sat outside in the sun and looked at colour samples for the apartment (we are definitely going for colourful) and ended up getting to know some of our neighbours around the barbeque outside our house. We had beer, port, tequila and lots of laughs (and the perfect BBQed salmon).
Sunday was another spectacular day so we had our first breakfast outside. Then we decided to go cycling in the woods (Nordmarka). It was a very good trip, but I wasn’t prepared for all those hills, I have to admit. But I was only in my shorts and bikini top and we swam in one of the lakes before we went home. It was the perfect summer weekend and I love that we will have many more this summer.
One day in Malta
I finally found time to post my pictures from Malta. I only brought my camera one day, the other days I was too busy holding sessions and running around.
An orange tree
An ice cream van
The lobby of our hotel
Waiting to go out
The view from the hotel
This is where I took my lunch hour swim
Two fourths of RoverSambandet
Malta is a big rock, so everything was made from rock also all the fences
I found a place in the road where snails had completely taken over all the vegetation, it looked quite spectacular
Unripe fig on figtree
I would like a door like this
The Maltese love their balconies
This is Valletta, as much as I saw of it
Oh, and we walked past a house full of garden gnomes
A mini-door for the gnomes
The only picture of me on my own camera
The Maltese are very catholic and we saw saints and small chapels all over the place
I remember taking a picture of this fish in Shetland, and it was all over Malta as well
A church with coloured light bulbs
A Spanish scout found us and wanted a picture
Another saint
The walls of Mdina, the old town in Malta
We had our dinner and a walk inside Mdina. All the people we met were all dressed up.
And all the roads in Mdina were bent
We even found a Maltese wedding
Jón and I really wanted some of that champagne, but we were a bit underdressed
I think I want succulents on my balcony too
Week 21
I realise I didn’t really blog last week. But let me tell you, it was a crazy week. Tuesday it was our 2 year anniversary and we shared a bottle of wine over a homecooked meal and talked about life. Then the crazy started. Wednesday we packed all the gear we needed for the canoe trip and I cut my hair (finally!).
Thursday I went straight to Bekkestua, I picked up things I needed for the trip, my bunad and some of mom’s clothes from 20 years ago (3 new trousers, yay!). Then we went and got Dolly (my car) out of winter storage and I stopped by Alexander’s place to say hello. He was here over the weekend to see friends and family, very nice to see him 🙂 When I got home we organised all the food for the trip (two dinners ++ for 25 people) that Erik had bought, tidied the apartment and made it ready for our 17th of May breakfast.
Friday the guests started arriving at 8 and we had a magnificent breakfast, some lovely sparkling wine and lots of laughs. We went to the city centre to see the parade, almost drowned in a shower of rain, lunched with Erik’s family, listened to Den Norske Studentersangforening (including my dad) sing outside the Aula, then had icecream with my parents. We went to Sofienbergparken to hang with our friends for a while, but had to leave early because we had to go home and pack. It was super hot and wonderful weather and we looked lovely in our bunads. The rest of the evening we packed everything we needed for the trip, my parents delivered my kayak and we tried to get to bed early.
Saturday we were up 6.30 to transport everything to the scout house, get the big car Erik was to drive, meet the scouts and be on our way. All 25 left at 8.20 and were at Fjorda (Oppland) about two hours later. We taught the kids how to master the canoe, found a good camping spot and set up camp. Everyone loved the salmon for dinner and it was too warm to wear a woolen jumper around the camp fire.
Sunday they did a round of orienteering on the lake, doing tasks along the way. Erik and I were responsible for the food stop. We spent much of the day sitting in the sun watching the scouts make food. In the evening they all just swam and played because the weather was so nice.
Monday we did small things, cleaned up the camp area and canoed back to the cars. We were back by 18.00 and Erik and I were home, kayak and car delivered by 19.30. We managed to unpack and get everything up in the attic before we went to bed, super tired. What a weekend.
So now there’s this week. It looks to be a busy one as well, but at least I will be home this weekend.
- Today we are wondering if we should go to Tusenfryd. We get discounted tickets today, but the weather forecast is a bit grey and I am a bit tired after this weekend. I think we will go.
- Wednesday we have to go back to the scout house to pack all the tents that have been drying since Monday.
- Thursday we have our monthly meeting in the programme committee and this time we have a new member with us 🙂
- Friday I have my final exam in my R course here at UMB and I really hope I pass (there’s only pass/fail).
- We have no plans for the whole weekend, but my grandfather is coming to town, so I hope to see him. And we need some quiet time to start thinking about the apartment. It’s time to find a date to come see it to measure the kitchen and look at the walls. We have to start plan the layout of the kitchen too and pack all our things (again). Maybe we’ll see some friends even…
Exam in R
I would have blogged about Malta and our anniversary today, but I have this terrible examn in R that I have to hand in today, so I didn’t have time.
Week 20
So the year is coming along nicely and we are already in the middle of May. This weekend was (as you know) spent doing sessions on various topics of rovering and travelling. I was home at 19 and Erik had made dinner (there was even wine!). This week is another week with a bank holiday and is filled with preparations for the canoe trip and cramming for my R exam.
Monday I have to answer all the emails I got over the weekend and I have a meeting with Roger about the progress with ExplorerBelt 2014. I am also planning to go to the gym (about time!).
Tuesday is Erik and mine’s official two year anniversary and we are going to do something amazing that we haven’t decided yet.
Wednesday I will stop by the scout house as usual and hopefully go to the gym.
Thursday I have no plans, but Alexander is in town so I hope he has time for me then.
Friday is the 17th, so there will be a big breakfast, bunad, kids, icecream and good people.
Early Saturday morning we leave for the canoe trip with the scouts. We will be back on Monday night and hopefully they will have learned how to canoe and we will have had a wonderful weekend.
I’m coming home
Right now I’m on the train back to Oslo. I have started using NSB in stead og the airport express train because my ordinary bus card covers the whole distance to the airport. But this train is just as fast, so I’m happy.
It was a very good weekend, the sessions went very well, we had good discussions and I think we have moved forward. And I am very exited to see what the European region will do with the rover age section the next three years.
But I have to admit that the sun and warmth also made it a very good weekend. I am more sunburned than Erik likes and I have lovely panda eyes (from my oversized sunglasses), but I like it.
Here you can see the West coast of Italy by Rome and the Alps today.
RoverNet4.0
Day two of RoverNet! Yesterday I had. My two big sessions, one about the role and work of the rover commissioner and one about key moments and key skills aquired during a “rover’s life”. We are talking about programme, measuring quality, support from you NSO (national scout association) and the European region.
I even managed to take a swim in the ocean during lunch yesterday and today I went for a run before breakfast. Later today, as part of the program, we will go for a walk into Mdina and to some discussing in the fresh air. After that we will have dinner out there and tomorrow morning I go back home.
It is lovely here in Malta, the constant sunshine, the temperature (shorts and t-shirt all day through), the view of the ocean, the wonderful food at the hotel and all the magnificent participants and discussions.
Off to see the wizard
I am going to Malta today for RoverNet and VentureNet. It is an event for rover and venture commissioners in the scout associations in WOSM Europe. I will stay at some hotel the rest of the week, holding sessions, moderating discussions and getting to know many new people. And in addition to this, the forecast says 23 degrees and sun, so I will be in full summer mode!
Utepils og regieksamen
I går var vi og så regieksamenen til Beate. Hun studerer teater og sånt og vi fikk komme og se på en av forestillingene hennes. Den het Annerledesmannen og var basert på et stykke som heter Elefantmannen. Det var en veldig god oppsetning og det var veldig deilig å være på teater igjen.
På grunn av det magiske været gikk vi og tok årets første utepils også. Solskinn, altså, det er deilig det.
Jeg må forresten anbefale restauranten Newroz som ligger rett ved St. Halvardsplass der, det er utrolig god mat (anbefaler mixed grill) og veldig bra pris. Dessuten får man alltid suppe mens man venter (gratis) og de er superraske. God sørvis er det også.
Outfit w wellingtons
I am not afraid to use my rubber boots, even though they are not the prettiest ones, and I never loose hope that the weather will change. So a week or so ago I wore my rubber boots that morning, but remembered to bring sunglasses, so on the way back from the office I could use them in the sunshine. And then it doesn’t matter that you are wearing boots.
I should maybe find a new and more city like pair, because these will probably get holes soon.
Week 19
This weekend I was out on a hike with my scouts again. It was a challenge to keep spirits up and to help them master the skill that is hiking, but they are definately getting better at it.
On Friday we prepared equipment and I worked on some sessions for RoverNet. Saturday we started early, picking up the equipment, driving deep into Sørkedalen to meet the others. It was raining from early morning until 14 and we were all some place between damp and soaked. All the patroles in Oslo were competing to be the best in theoretical knowledge, knots, pioneering and first aid. During the day I walked around in the woods, helped scouts keep warm and dry and did some singing around the campfire. We walked home late that night, leaving the others to the fire and their tents.
Sunday was a magnificent sunny and warm day. There was a long breakfast, yet another skype meeting preparing sessions for RoverNet and a heap of to do’s. At 14 we went out and sat on the grass, reading Vogue/a book, just enjoying life. We had pizza at a sunny cafe at Torshov and I had a relaxing evening. It was a very good weekend and I finally feel relaxed about the next couple of weeks.
This week we’re signing the papers on the apartment and I’m going to sunny Malta!
Today I leave work an hour early to sign the papers on the apartment. After that I have to study more for my exam in R.
Tuesday we are going to see Beate’s exam in directing, exiting!
Wednesday hopefully has time for the gym.
Thursday is a bank holiday and in the evening I’m going to Malta!
The rest of the week I will be holding sessions and talking about the work and challenges of rover commissioners in WOSM. First time I’m in the planning team of this kind of event, so it is very exiting. The forecast says 23 degrees, so I’m bringing bathing suit, shorts and sunnies.
Ut på tur, aldri sur
Nå ligger jeg i senga og venter på at Erik skal våkne. Etter at vi begynte å stå opp seks får jeg ikke til å sove lenge om morgenen, selv når jeg kan. Og vanskeligst er det når det er solskinn. Og akkurat denne helgen er jeg veldig glad for at det er solskinn, for nå våkner begge patruljene i Longship opp inlavvoene sine til en strålende dag. Kretsen vår, Oslospeiderne, har hatt kretskonkurranse (der patruljene konkurrerer i flere grener) siden lørdag morgen inne i Nordmarka og de to patruljene våre har fått mange nye utfordringer på et kort døgn.
Ikke bare våre speidere da, for i hele går formiddag (fram til ca 13.00) så regnet det utstanselig. Og når man har vært ute i regnet i tre timer, da erfarer man at det faktisk bare er turutstyr av god kvalitet som virkelig funker på tur i dårlig vær. Og dessverre har ikke de fleste på 12-16 år ordentlig turutstyr. De har fleece i stedet for ull, bomullsluer i stedet for ulluer og dårlige jakker som ikke tåler en time regn. De ha alle klær som trenger en hytte å bli tørket i når de kommer fram.
Så i går i regnet så var jeg solstråle og mamma på en gang. Jeg tvang speiderne til å grave i sekkene sine for å finne ekstragenseren som lå nederst, jeg pratet med fortvilte og iskalde speidere og jeg tok mange, mange intervaller med speidere opp bakken og utallige knebøy med dem. Jeg er faktisk litt støl allerede.
Det er trist å se at speidere og foreldrene til dagens 12-16åringer ikke aner hva man må ha på seg og pakke når man skal være ute hele dagen og sove i telt på natta. I min gruppe har vi derfor bestemt oss for å lage en utrolig nøyaktig pakkeliste og å ha pakkemøte (igjen). Så får vi håpe de pakker mer til været om to uker når vi skal på kanotur.
18 timer
Etter som vi var på flere og flere visninger og med i flere og flere budrunder så rakk vi høre flere meglere som fleipet om at folk bruker mer tid på å kjøpe en bukse enn et hus, nå til dags. Jeg synes ikke det var så morsomt, mest trist egentlig. Og mest fordi det jo ikke er kjøperen som bestemmer, det er selgeren. Eller megleren kanskje, egentlig.
Uansett, leilighetene vi har sett på har visning en eller to ganger. Som oftest er det torsdag+søndag, søndag+mandag eller mandag+onsdag. Er det bare én dag er det ofte torsdag eller søndag. Uansett, ikke mye tid til å se på leiligheten på. Og så er det alltid budrunde dagen etter siste visning. Budrunden skjer som oftest mellom 11.00 og 13.00. Og var du på siste visning, så var du i leiligheten i maks 30 min (for det er alltid mange andre visninger å gå på) og må bestemme deg for om du vil kjøpe den mindre enn 24 timer senere.
I tillegg vet du om mange leiligheter som skal på visning om noen dager og lurer litt på om du vil kjøpe noen av leilighetene som har budrunde i morgen. Helt herlig er det, om du lurte, å prøve å kjøpe hus.
Tilbake til dette å bruke lenger tid på å kjøpe bukser enn hus, det har seg jo slik når du kjøper klær, at du kan prøve mange liknende plagg samtidig og det er mulig å kjøpe dem samtidig, og så kan du (som oftest) legge dem av og kjøpe dem senere. Som betyr at du til og med kan gå til andre butikker og se hva de har. Det er i det hele tatt lagt mye bedre til rette for å finne noe som faktisk passer til den prisen du vil ha, når det kommer til bukser. Dessuten har de gjerne modellene en stund, så du kan til og med bruke ukesvis. Ikke for det, det kommer stadig (ustanselig, egentlig) nye leiligheter for salg, men det er jo ikke identiske leiligheter, det er alltid noe nytt og alltid noe som er annerledes. Det eneste du er sikkert på er jo at nettopp de leilighetene du har sett på ikke kommer tilbake for salg.
Min strategi når det kommer til å kjøpe klær og annet har jeg blogget om før, men her kommer den igjen. Den har to punkter:
- Vit hva du leter etter. Hvilken anledning, hvilket bruksområde, hvilken pris.
- Ikke kjøp den om du ikke elsker den.
Disse to punktene forhindrer mye, at du ikke kjøper ting du ikke trenger fordi du synes de er fine, at du ikke kjøper fine ting selv om de ikke passer, at du sparer penger. Den gjør også at du bare eier ting du elsker. Det dumme er at jeg ikke kunne bruke denne metoden når jeg skulle kjøpe hus. Det første punktet passer, men man får jo ikke prøvd hus før man har kjøpt dem. Og da er det vanskelig å vite om man elsker det.
Men nå har vi heldigvis kjøpt leilighet og har ingenting å selge, så nå er det ferdig. Jeg gleder meg masse til å flytte inn 🙂
Italian cooking
The last day of our trip, we went to a cooking class to learn some Italian food art.
The house where we stayed
Our teacher
Italian bacon crisps
Tiny, round squash.
Rice and egg fill.
Huge aubergine in the oven.
Erik doing the work.
The basis of ITalian cooking, olive oil, garlic…
…and tomatoes.
We filled them 🙂
Five year old parmesan, it was superb. And this is the proper size for a piece of cheese.
The best balsamic vinegar that I dipped my cheese in. I know, we had the best time.
Vegetarian “lasagna” with aubergine and tomato sause.
And parmesan on top.
Ta i et tak
Jeg synes det er viktig å faktisk gjøre den verden du lever i bedre. Det handler om å ta ansvar, om å ta et skritt fram og å si ifra. Jeg har funnet tre gode kommentarer fra tre helt vanlige mennesker som har tatt seg bryet med å skrive ned det de mener om noe de synes er viktig så andre kan lese det. Det er ikke bare viktig at folk leser i avisene og gjør seg opp en mening, det er også viktig at noen faktisk skriver i avisene. Det er viktig at noen lar sin stemme bli hørt.
Jeg vil gjerne at dere der ute skal lese disse tre innleggene i samfunnsdebatten. De er om tre helt forskjellige ting, men har også noe til felles. Nemlig at forfatterne ønsker at verden skal bli et bedre sted og at de har skjønt at det starter med dem selv.
Morten Strøksnes har skrevet om hvordan livet under vann utenfor Lofoten er som et Serengeti under vann og at det viser en utrolig lav innsikt at vi vil bevare Serengeti og regnskogen, men ikke den siste levedyktige torskestammen i verden. Spesielt når oljen er farlig for naturen også når den blir brent, ikke bare når den blir hentet opp av bakken.
Pia Skevik har skrevet en mer personlig kommentar om å leve i et voldelig forhold og skammen ved at man ikke forlater sin voldelige kjæreste. For meg handler denne kommentaren mest om at å “være en god venn” som det heter i speiderloven, ikke bare handler om å være snill og grei, det handler om å stille de vanskelige og ubehagelige spørsmålene. Det handler om å være modig nok til å stille vennene sine til veggs. Du trenger ikke være den som hjelper vennen din gjennom alle problemene, men alle trenger en som stiller det riktige spørsmålet. Uansett om de blir slått, om de har problemer med alkohol eller noe annet. Det er viktig å si ifra.
Den siste kommentaren har Maren Nilsen skrevet om sitt år i Groruddalen. Hun er selv fra Sørlandet og flyttet til Groruddalen fordi det var et fint sted å bo. Hun tar et oppgjør med all uviljen som finnes mot “dalen”, dalen med fire bydeler og over 100 000 mennesker. Det er jo et av de største lokalsamfunnene i Norge og allikevel får alle den samme kammen å skjære seg på. Jeg tenkte på all den motstanden jeg har fått for å ville bo på Grønland. Spesielt de jeg kjenner fra vestkanten er kjemperedde for området og mente jeg ville bli voldtatt på gata. Og jeg synes bare det er et spennende og levende område i byen. Jeg liker folkelivet på gata, alle de ulike opprinnelseslandene og de morsomme luktene. Nå skal jeg bo på Carl Berner i stedet for, men det er i hvert fall bedre enn superhvite, supernorske vestkanten.
Pisa
We just had to go to Pisa. Erik put his foot down and said that we had to try to get into the tower (because I didn’t want to queue for ages for all the museums in Florence) because we had to see the inside of just one thing. And lucky for us both, there was no queue. No queue! Because we arrived just 1,5 hours before they closed, so everyone had left. And it had been raining that day. But we were very happy. Before we went to see the tower we had lunch, met my cool friend Silvia who owns a comic book shop in the old town of Pisa.
Handy hooks for bags on the wall.
Super high roof.
Getting into Italian comics.
Silvia, the coolest Italian.
Rain with sand from Sahara.
The Nokia GPS led us safely through Pisa to the tower.
See! It was actually leaning! I was surprised, I have to admit. I didn’t think it was that leaning.
It is the bell tower of the cathedral.
Erik giving it a helping hand.
Me being jolly.
No queue, no people.
Macro lenses are wonderful for detail shots high up on buildings.
This is the inside the tower. There is nothing in it, just air and a lot of things to keep it from toppling over.
A guide told us about the history of the tower. The true contractor is not known, because he stopped all work after finishing the three first floors and was never heard of again. But 50 years later someone else thought it would be cool to finish the tower, so they did. It used to lean more, but they have straightened it a bit. They could make it completely straight, but that wouldn’t be economical…
The only thing in the tower is the staircase. And it was totallyl weird to walk it, both up and down. You can see Erik standing straight and the tower leaning. We were constantly compensating for the leaning and walking on the left or right of the steps. Superstrange.
At the top of the tower, with the bells still in use (Italians are good at using things that are old when they still work, instead of building something new).
Pisa.
Cathedral from above.
We were not the first to walk these steps.
There were two fences around the top, one in ordinary height (waist height) and one two meter high. We guessed it was because on the “down side” it felt like it would not catch you if you actually tripped and fell.
There were 30 min left before everything closed, so we went in and looked at the cathedral too.
As they say in Italy (I guess): “more is more”.
This is a detail of the roof, maybe 40 meters above. Did I tell you that a macro lens is also wanderful for taking pictures of roofs in high churches? Well they are.
Educated and unemployed
We have a problem in Europe, a big problem. This:
It literally says that it is impossible to get a job for young people. And if they get one, its mostly temporary or part-time. I am so happy that I live in Norway, where this is not such a big problem, but we are part of the world and the EU is definitely a part of our close neighbours. I have no idea what to do, though. Do you?