April 6, 2011
Meme
I like question-and-answer memes because I like answering questions about myself (embarrassing, but true. I also like filling in questionaires.) But I also like memes because when I go back and read the archives, the answers are like a little piece of frozen time, with tiny details of my life that I would never specifically blog about. So even though a meme is not really "serious" enough for my blog (eh, whatever), here's one:
1. Make a list of 5 things that are in your bag: (these are the first five things I find)
- red leather gloves
- the latest issue of argument
- dance shoes
- black shoe shine
- red nail polish
2. What is the significance of your journal name?
This website is run by my own rules, according to Julie, which is my name. It was the working title when my dad first set up this site ages ago, and the fact that it shows up top of peoples' alphabetized blog rolls is nice.
3. What is one item of clothing you wish you could always wear?
Nothing. I mean, I crave variety.
4. What do you plan to do after this meme?
Go test a coffee shop while editing a book.
5. What are you listening to right now?
Ella Fitzgerald
6. Who was the last person you hugged?
One of my dance partners, as we said good-bye on the subway after dance class.
7. What was the last thing you downloaded?
A draft of the book I'm editing.
8. What did you do today?
Not much so far. Blogged.
9. What was the last game you played?
The game of Life, with my family last Sunday.
10. What websites do you always visit when you go online?
Gmail. E24. Facebook. Also Twitter, via Tweetdeck.
11. What irritates you nearly on a daily basis?
Moziers/slow walkers. Actually, make that slowness in communication/transportation in general, including buses, walking, internet access and people who don't answer their phones.
12. If you could afford to go anywhere in the world, where would you go?
South Africa, as the only reason I'm not there now is that I can't afford it.
13. What did you want to be when you were a kid?
Age 4: A witch, or a librarian. Then I found out that so many librarians are witches, and changed my career plans.
Age 6: An actess.
Age 8: An actress first, then an author of children's books.
Age 10: A writer
Age 12: A writer.
14. Ever had a weird dream? What was it about?
I have a lot of weird dreams. I find them entertaining, but then I tend to forget them.
15. What are you doing this weekend?
Learning the Lindy Hop.
16. If you could play any musical instrument, which one would you play?
Piano.
17. What's the one thing you need the most now?
A solution to a problem that I'm not going to blog about.
18. If you could have one superpower, what kind of power would you choose?
Time travel.
19. What was the last thing you ate?
Wasa crackers with cream cheese and pesto.
20. A feature that you like about yourself.
My hands.
Posted by Julie at 12:08 PM | TrackBack
December 5, 2010
Book list
Have you read more than 6 of these books? The BBC believes most people will have read only 6 of the 100 books listed here. Instructions: Copy this into your notes. Bold those books you’ve read in their entirety, italicise the ones you started but didn’t finish or read an excerpt. Tag other book nerds.
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
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 Traveller’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
26 Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
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 Meany - 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
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 Zifon
57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - 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 (reading it right now)
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 Factoy - Roald Dahl
100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo
Book nerds! What have you read?
Posted by Julie at 5:04 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
March 30, 2009
Meme
Just another meme. Get to know me.
what is your current obsession?
I'm obsessed with journalism right now. Really, that is the only thing on my mind. I can barely read a newspaper without mentally adding extra paragraphs and changing titles. At least a meme forces me to write something else.
What are you wearing today?:
Black skirt from InWear, and my mom's gray cardigan set. Accessorized with gray stockings over longer black stockings, two pearl necklaces, and purple nail polish. A pretty random outfit based on having limited options and time this morning, but I ended up feeling very professional.
do you nap a lot?
It almost never happens.
why is today special?
Today I was kicked out of a courtroom.
what would you like to learn to do?
I've been thinking lately that I should improve my computer skills, including learn more code for writing websites. And I would like to take better pictures. And be fluent in French of course. And learn a new kind of dance.
what's for dinner today?
I just ate cod, quinoa and fresh vegetables.
what's the last thing you bought?
Mixed salad in the cafeteria. If you don't count food, the last thing I bought was American Vogue, on Saturday morning.
what are you listening to right now?
Feist
what is your favourite weather?
Sunny spring.
what is on your bedside table?
A lot of books and jewellery. And if I'm sleeping, my cell phone.
what's your style?
Classic with a few twists. Usually skirts and heels if there isn't a practical reason not to. This is the kind of question I would have to either write a whole blog post about, or just answer in this boring way.
if you could have a house totally paid for, fully furnished anywhere in the world, where would you like it to be?
Right now I'm thinking large (like enormous) apartment in the fourth arrondissement in Paris. I dreamt that I moved back to Paris last night.
favourite vacation spot?
Paris, Sydney, Boston or Prague.
name the things you cannot live without.
Friends and family. And let's be honest, the internet.
what person would you like to have in your hands right now?
Interesting way of phrasing that question... I'm missing a couple of very close friends though. I wish they were here right now.
if you could go anywhere in the world for the next hour, where would you go?
Only an hour? Right now? Well, Soluna and all Paris stores are closed, and Julie's at work. I'd go to Washington D.C. and hope Brittany had time for coffee.
which language do you want to learn?
Working on French. Khmer would be so cool though!
which countries have you visited:
Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Iceland, England, Ireland, the US, Canada, the Netherlands, France, Germany, Switzerland, the Czech Republic, Italy, Spain, Portugual, Australia, China, Thailand, Cambodia. Have I forgotten any?
what do you want to be when you grow up?
A journalist and/or an editor.
what is your absolute favorite dish?
Swordfish
Posted by Julie at 8:18 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
March 5, 2009
Would you want this album?
Original photo: linda yvonne
1 - Go to “wikipedia.” Hit “random” or click http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random The first random wikipedia article you get is the name of your band. (This guy is clearly a singer-songwriter named after a 19th-century Republican)
2 - Go to “Random quotations” or click http://www.quotationspage.com/random.php3 The last four or five words of the very last quote of the page is the title of your first album.
3 - Go to flickr and click on “explore the last seven days” or click http://www.flickr.com/explore/interesting/7days
Third picture, no matter what it is, will be your album cover. (Check that you have the right to remix.)
4 - Use photoshop or similar to put it all together. Preferably in a square format layout, like a nice old-timey vinyl album cover.
5 - Use the first font you find on your computer of the first letter in your name. (I used Picnik, so I was stuck with “Jandles”.)
I just might be the last person on the internet to do this, or so Jorun thinks.
Posted by Julie at 9:14 PM | TrackBack
December 20, 2008
Experiences of 2008
I finished the first semester of journalism school two days ago. I handed in my exam, and then I went to my old job and handed in my keys. Those thirty minutes gave me a wonderful feeling of finishing something and starting something potentially better. It was the feeling you're supposed to have on New Year's Eve. Sadly, there was no champagne.
I suppose this New Year's post should be posted on New Year's Eve, but really - who reads blogs at midnight on December 31st? And this way, if anyone wants to interpret the list below as a meme, they can.
2008 was not only the year I started journalism school, lived in Paris, visited Cambodia and Thailand and met a few people I hope I'll know forever. I did many things this year that I had never done before. 2008 was the year I first...
... swung by jungle vines
... actively celebrated International Senior Citizens' Day
... actively celebrated Moose Cap Friday
... got a full-body oil massage
... drank Fernet Branca
... drank sangria
... drank Coca-Cola
... happily referred to 10 square meters in a basement without a kitchen as "home"
... dated in French
... held a crocodile
... removed my bikini top at a public beach
... spoke words in Khmer
... interviewed two of the men I want to be when I grow up
... ran up and down the Champs Elysées singing along to an IPod
... ate frog
... moved to a city where I did not know a single person
... hid alcohol from grown-ups
... appreciated soup, tofu and veggie burgers
... slept in a mosquito net
... haggled over the price of paperbacks
... climbed 20 meters up a tree and jumped
... planted rice
... dipped my toes in the Seine
and more.
Posted by Julie at 7:53 PM | TrackBack
December 12, 2008
Blogging 2008
I was going to take that day off I warned you about. But then I realized: a meme is better than nothing. So here's the first sentence I blogged every month of 2008:
I'm not dead.
Unattended children will be given an espresso and a free puppy.
For spring break, my friends in Paris all wanted to travel the world, but I could only think of one place I wanted to go: home.
Since you asked, (and then in some cases, pleaded via Facebook), I will start the answers.
Since we have so little time left in this city, each day should be "miraculous", according to Julie*. (* According to this Julie, and also according to Julie Balise)
A friend informed me that my blog "wasn't working".
Three favorite tourist attractions in Oslo: (...)
Til bursdagen i fjor ønsket jeg meg bidrag til mitt kaffefond.
Jeg er journaliststudent!
This Weeks are normally a Sunday thing, but let's just say I was busy/tired on Sunday.
Jan Arild Snoen, skribent for Minerva, kommentator og USA-ekspert, skriver: "Noen må stå for den harde makten, og denne noen er USA. (...)"
December 1st marks a turning point every year.
I didn't do this one last year, but here are the first sentences of 2006.
Posted by Julie at 11:32 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
December 6, 2008
Oslofavoritter
SPISE UTE. Mehfel er favoritten, restauranten jeg tar med utenlandsbesøk til, og det første stedet i verden der jeg har likt suppe. Dinner kan gjøre utrolige ting med noe så enkelt som spinat. Ylajali startet mitt kjærlighetsforhold til espresso crème brûlée. Jeg tror det bør bli mer restaurantblogging her...
KLIPPE SEG. Alltid hos Mette på Bygdøy.
SE PÅ BØKER. Engelsk roman-avdelingen i andre etasje på Ark på Majorstuen og Norlis Antikvariat.
BADE. Fra badehuset til foreldrene mine på Malmøya.
BEUNDRE UTSIKTEN. Ekeberg-restauranten.
HANDLE BRUKT. Paris. Ikke Oslo.
MENGE MED KIDSA. Jeg er en av kidsa.
ROCKE BYEN. Jeg rocker folks leiligheter.
Og jeg opera-er Underwater.
DRIKKE KAFFE. Tim Wendelboe. Men det er mye annet som også er bra.
Les også:
- Summer in Oslo
- Summer in Oslo, part two: Tourist attractions
- Julie drikker kaffe: En guide til Oslos kaffebarer
Posted by Julie at 5:54 PM | TrackBack
April 6, 2008
Since you asked: A collection of answers
So, you thought I was going to answer every question in its own post? Sorry, that is not possible - do you want me to get stressed?* Here are some answers to some of your questions:
-What was your favorite book at age thirteen?
I know I'm not being terribly original, but it was The Lord of the Rings.
-How old were you the first time you had a crush on someone?
It's a question of definition, really. Because you think: “Oh, so this is what it's like to have a crush on someone.” And then a little while later: “No, wait, this is more intense. This is what it feels like. Last time was nothing.” And then: “No, no. This is the real thing.” And then eventually “crush” is not a strong enough word. So I could say 11. Or 12. Or 13.
-Which of the following does not fit in, and why? A: A Bear B: Rune Gerhardsen C: NSB
Interesting. I should think up a really good response to this, but not right now.
-Which sexual fetish do you find to be the least attractive?
I am sure that no matter what I suggest, the least attractive one will be something I have not yet heard of. And I don't really want to start that conversation in my comments.
-Which Tori Amos album do you consider to be the best?
Technically, I only have two whole albums: The Beekeeper and American Doll Posse, and they are so different that they can barely be compared. It really depends on my mood. The Beekeeper got some pretty bad reviews for being “safe”, “the kind of music you listen to while doing the dishes” and “Tori Amos for people who don't really like Tori Amos”. I think it's beautiful, although I get those points. But I do listen to safe, pretty music while I do the dishes. American Doll Posse is more of a rock album, I guess, less just Tori and her piano(s). I also have the best-of album that came out before these two. It's called Tales of a Librarian. I would say that these are three favorite songs, in no particular order: “Sleeps with butterflies” from The Beekeeper, “A sorta fairy-tale” from Scarlett's Walk and “Bouncing off clouds” from American Doll Posse. I cannot believe that I, of all people, am officially writing about music now.
-White wine or red wine?
Usually, red. Having red wine with white wine food annoys me less than the opposite situation. This is probably because I have grown up with a father who will drink red wine with shrimp, which is officially considered disgusting. In my opinion, a good red wine is better than a good white wine. However, a not-so-good white wine is better than a not-so-good red wine. And given my tendency to spill, white is safer.
*By the way, I'm not entirely sure how I feel about this article. It's hard to tell how serious it actually is, and if the news peg is two recent deaths, it should be serious.
Posted by Julie at 10:24 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack
March 14, 2008
Ask me almost anything
Meme from Martine:
Everyone has things they blog about. Everyone has things they don't blog about. Challenge me out of my comfort zone by telling me something I don't blog about, but you'd like to hear about, and I'll write a post about it. Ask for anything: latest movie watched, last book read, political leanings, thoughts on yaoi, favorite type of underwear, graphic techniques, etc.
A word of warning: there are limits to what I'm willing to put out on the net. But you can try.
And by the way: I am blogging from L'Esplanade des Invalides!
Updated March 17th 2008: Seriously, guys, nothing? What if I were to tell you that we're approaching another round number when it comes to comments? And that means prizes...?
Posted by Julie at 8:14 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
February 23, 2008
10 things I love
... and they all start with the letter F. This is a meme I got from aj_stalin. Comment here, if you want to continue the meme, and I will give you a letter.
- Friends
- Family (the first two were easy)
- French
- Fumer Interdit, as in the smoking ban I very much agree with
- Fabert, as in the rue where I live. It's not that interesting actually, but it's home for now.
- Fidelity, as in the Regina Spektor song
- Fitzgerald, as in Ella
- Fishnets, as in stockings
- "fantastisk", a word I use a lot (English-speaking friends, guess what it means)
- Food, including Fish, Fallafel and Foie gras
I thought it would be easier to write 10 things I really didn't like, so I started doing that: fascism, flying, flames, football, fundamentalists, flowers bought from the people who stick roses in your face just because you are not currently speaking the local language. And then I couldn't think of anymore. So that means I'm happy and generally a positive person, right?
Posted by Julie at 11:27 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack
December 5, 2007
This was originally a Livejournal meme, but I wanted to publish it on my real blog.
Write a comment, and I'll
1. Tell you why I friended you my first impression of you and/or why I read your blog.
2. Associate you with something - fandom, a song, a colour, a photo, a word etc.
3. Tell you something I like about you.
4. Tell you a memory I have of you.
5. Ask something I've always wanted to know about you.6. Tell you my favorite user pic of yours.
7. In return, you must should post this in your LJ website/Facebook profile (but I'd rather you commented and didn't pass this on, than not comment at all.)
I'll be adding answers to the original blog post, so continue reading...
Heidi
- I think I know exactly when I met you, but I'm not 100% sure. In any case, the first impression was gradual. You were Per Ivar's friend, and you were quiet. My first clear image of you (you know the mental image thing?) is in Deichmanske Library. The image is from a few days after Thanksgiving, so I had already known of you for a while then. You were wearing your winter coat and carrying a big umbrella, and you looked very put together. I think I was a little bit unsure about you. Apprehensive is probably the right word. I think it's to do with the fact that you were a close friend of one of my close friends, but I didn't know anything about you besides the fact that you had known him longer than I had. I think when I meet people through other people, and I don't get to know them on my own, I actually get a little insecure about how to treat them. When we had a class together, and you said: "I've heard that you write," and we started reading each others' blogs, I could finally get to know you as someone separate from Per Ivar. And so in many ways, you were an internet friend while you were only a real life "person I know about" for a little while.
- All the songs we dance to obviously. The color of the scarf I gave you, because your Mac "wears" it, so I see it with you all the time.
- You really care about your friends. I think that's a very good trait - and an undervalued one today.
- Swimming in the pool, when you said: "Oh, I should have known you years ago!"
- Do you feel that I treat "The Organization" as some sort of anthropology research, and does that make you feel uncomfortable?
Sortkatt
- I met you at a party at Aina's apartment. You seemed nice, you knew where Lier was, and you appreciated Aass. I actually started reading your blog so that I could see what you're thinking about when we're not at a party with Aina and Martine.
- The robot mask. Bacon pancakes.
- You encourage readers to correct your use of commas on your blog. I have to love that! In real life, you're a friendly person and very comfortable to be around.
- The Halloween party at Amplifier.
- What provoked you on November 18th? I don't care who - but what value or view was so provocative that it got to you?
Børge
- You noticed my e-mail address and said: "espen.com? You know espen.com?" You're not the first person I've met that way, but it's always fun.
- Linux. Your black coat, because it's sort of cape-like.
- I like your blog. You talk and write about things that many of my friends don't know or care about (although espen.com does)
- All my memories of you are from media class.
- Since your blog is much more political than personal, how do you feel about more diary-type blogs and the whole Facebook, publish-your-own-life side of the Internet in general?
Arve
- First impression: you made supporter songs and other Drammen crazyness bearable. In fact, you were an incredible person to party in Drammen with. I didn't think I was ever going to see you again though.
- The color orange. Jack and coke. The white wine we've shared a couple of times.
- For someone who claims they "don't write good e-mails", you write great e-mails. And we can have long conversations about nothing that seem meaningful and important (trust me, that is actually a compliment).
- Waking up way too early and staying perfectly still so as not to use up our energy before Kristine got around to feeding us - and then being sent out to buy breakfast.
- Are you angry at me because of the last time we saw each other?
Sjokoladepiken
- You've heard this story before, but I want to tell it anyway. I noticed you from across a crowded room (no, seriously, I did) at Aina's Halloween party. You were wearing a polka-dotted dress, and although I don't remember your accessories, it worked. Which, when you're a tenth grader living in Lier, is not something you see every day. No, I didn't grab hold of the nearest person and demand to know the name of this extremely well-dressed girl, but I did somehow find out what your name was before I got around to talking to you. Probably because Ingvild said: "Look! It's Elisabeth!" And then I thought: "Oh, no! She's Elisabeth, my enemy!" (Kind of like in Romeo and Juliet, only not) Because as a tenth grader in Lier, I was used to the concept of "She was a bitch to my friend; I can't talk to her EVER". Turns out I was confusing you with someone else, and this delayed our friendship for years. The moral of this story should be obvious.
- Peep-toe shoes. Lemon pasta with spinach sauce. The following songs: "If she wants me" by Belle&Sebastian, "Past the mission" by Tori Amos, "My best friend" by Hello Saferide.
- You are a good writer. Even when you're not trying, your sentences always feel right. And you can convey a lot of emotion with very few words - something I noticed before I actually knew you, so it's not just because I now know more about the emotions behind the words.
- When you met me after the horrible Macro-economics exam and did all the right things to make me feel better - for the rest of the day.
- Have you ever complimented me and not meant it?
Eva
- I don't remember exactly when I met you, but I do know that I didn't dislike you - even though you say that you got that impression. Sometimes I just forget to smile. I was probably preoccupied, or experiencing that uncertainty around friends of friends that I wrote to Heidi about. I do remember the first time we had lunch together, just the two of us. You convinced me to buy really bad coffee, and we're still friends - so I must really like you.
- Tea, Poland, Frie Kunster
- You are an excellent co-worker - which makes me wonder why you think I'm so organized. You're pretty good at that yourself. And you can sing, which makes me a little jealous. But this is something I really like: even though you give off this impression of being a soft and sweet tea-drinking girlygirl whom I always picture wearing a seafoam green woolen sweater over a lacy top (I don't know if you even own these items, it's just a mental image), you can still say really harsh things like: "Ugh, babies, ick, I'm trying to drink my coffee in peace." Surprises are good.
- I have two memories I'd like to mention: your birthday dinner party, when every girl except me broke into song and I was suddenly surrounded by a choir. And when you were really excited about your new lace-up boots: "Julie, Julie, I got shoes like yours!This may seem like a really not-personal question compared to some of the others, but since you're a literature major, I really want to know: What are you reading these days? Also: what do you want for your birthday?
- The first time I saw you, you were dressed like Kurt Cobain. Your friends said you always dressed like that. (This was right before I noticed Sjokoladepiken for the first time) When I met you a few years later at university, I was glad to see a vaguely familiar face. After sitting next to you at dinner on the first night of the first class trip, I knew we would be friends
- Doodling around lecture notes. Pommes noisettes. The color of the wrist warmers and the coffee cups I gave you - I gave them to you because I've always associated you with that color.
- If we see a documentary or hear a debate about the Middle East or another tragic situation, you'll have a strong emotional reaction and need to sit down and discuss it afterward. I can always trust you to be more messed up than I am whenever we're confronted with that kind of tragedy. And sometimes I may seem cynical to you, but I appreciate and relate to that heartfelt initial reaction.
- Nearly all of my memories of Prague are with you.
- What are you going to do when you grow up? We haven't talked about anything like this since we first started college, and you could do so many different things.
- You wore glasses and actually introduced yourself as someone who spent too much time in front of his computer screen. And when we had our first conversation, it started with a grammar question. So definitely a geeky first impression. I started reading your blog (or well, journal) because I was honored that you gave me the address, since you had specificly said that you didn't want people at school to read it.
- Internet comics in general, any geeky stuff I don't understand - although this reminds me of several people, you are one of them
- When I read your old blog, sometimes it was like reading my own mind. Not always, but sometimes.
- That first conversation.
- Why doesn't your new site have RSS? And on a more serious note: How are you really doing these days?
- You were dressed almost like Marthe, and we were all dressed like princesses. I honestly couldn't tell you two apart, and I was focusing on remembering who was who.
- Corsets, Iver Neumann, the magic Shoes I borrowed this summer
- Do you know why I nearly always have time to have coffee with you? Because our conversations inspire me.
- The first time I visited you just to visit you. But that's the memory you wrote about me, so I'll tell you why I was there in the first place: At your party a couple of days earlier, just as I was leaving, you grabbed me and said: "We should play together more often." I seriously had no idea up until that moment that we would ever cross over from "friend of friend" to "friend" or that you even wanted that to happen.
- I'll return your question: Are you happy?
Posted by Julie at 12:47 PM | Comments (12) | TrackBack
November 18, 2007
Random facts and thoughts
This post is a response to this post. As an alternative to writing “Seven odd facts about me”, I am commenting on seven odd facts about my friend. And being the self-centered person I am, I'm saying a lot about myself at the same time. This is also an exercise on how much I can write about nothing, so if you don't feel like reading a lot about nothing, don't.
You have an exceptional sense of smell; my sense of smell (pardon the pun) really stinks. This is perfect. As long as I stay close to you at all times forever, you can be my sense of smell. I was a little thrown by the comment about someone you like having a funky smell. You would have told me, right? Someone would have told me? Fortunately, my self esteem is great. Someone said to me a few hours ago: “Oh, so that's why you have no sense of competition. You know you're better than everyone else.” Well, it actually sounded much nicer when he said it. Anyway, my self-esteem is good, and I have already decided that there is no way I will ever take any hints from your blog at all (unless they're the good kind). And also, the good thing about having enemies is that they tell you exactly what's wrong with you. I've heard that I'm self-centered (yeah, I know), boring, weird, nerdy, bad at picking shoes (that one hurt), but never funky-smelling. In fact, strangers tell me the opposite, and that (for future reference) is a compliment I really love to receive, since I actually do wonder about this. I wonder if deaf people obsess about how their voices sound.
You don't chew gum or eat licorice. Thank you for being sane. Especially the gum thing. Licorice tastes bad, but gum is bad. It's evil. One of my sad “I guess grown-ups make mistakes too” experiences from my early teens was when I scraped gum off the bottom of desks from the Norwegian School of Management. These were not the desks of the freshmen undergrads, they were the desks of the MBA students. Adults who have been through years of business school, then started their careers, then returned for even more school, and they still stick their gum under their desks. See what this foul stuff does to people and their respect for school property? Sad. By the way, I have no idea why I was scraping this gum off. I know my dad teaches these disgusting people, but I don't know what their desks were doing on our porch. I'm guessing we were using them as extra tables for a garden party. I must have been pretty enthusiastic about that party. (If you become an MIT lab rat, I can go to the Kennedy School of Government or Boston University Journalism, and I won't have to miss you.)
You like skirts better than pants. Well, duh. So do I in general, although I do love my Jeans. There are plenty of random anecdotes I could tell you involving skirts or jeans, but I'll tell you the latest one: Last week, in the elevator at work, a guy from some other office in the building looked at my legs for a long time and then said: “Aren't you cold in that skirt...?” I told him I wasn't – in Norwegian, so I suppose my reply could be translated as anything from: “You see, what with my hand-knitted wool socks and gigantic shapeless woolen sweater, I'm OK, thanks.” to “Actually, I think it's getting hot in here.” I don't know how he interpreted it, but it wasn't the first option. I fled. Don't worry, I wasn't scared, just kind of shocked. Maybe I should write a list of weird elevator experiences (like the list of weird customer experiences at my last job) and mass e-mail it on my last day. I would include the adorable Japanese gentleman (old man adorable, not cute guy adorable) who insisted on opening all the doors for me as I left work, even though that meant I had to wait for him next to the doors, as he was walking really slowly – almost limping.
Your hands are sensitive to heat. Now, listen and learn: First you buy coffee. If at all possible, get it in a real cup. This can be done. Even if you're doing take-away, as long as you promise to come back with the cup. I think it's kind of like getting your coffee upgraded to large without paying extra. If there's a girl behind the counter, send a guy to get you coffee. If there's a guy behind the counter, you can charm him yourself. If that doesn't work, ask for a larger paper cup than the size of your drink requires. If that doesn't work, get two napkins and wrap them around the paper cup. Also, it's a law of nature that if you're carrying two napkins, you won't spill anything. This is a variation of the law that means it won't rain if I'm wearing rain boots (notice how it worked in Bergen?)
You have a scar on your left hip. I must have seen this, but I can't remember. My only scar is a finger-nail-shaped one on my left hand. It's from a fight with my sister. I don't remember exactly when I got it, but I do remember looking at the wound and thinking: “That won't scar.” But it did. I think it's very fitting that she's the only one to have left that kind of mark on me.
Your first musical love was Belle & Sebastian. The first CD I bought for myself (or chose and had a parent pay for, possibly) was the soundtrack to The Phantom of the Opera – the original musical. I was ten, and I LOVED that CD. I think my introduction to popular music (for my own generation, not my dad's music) was TLC at about the same age. A girl in my class who had older sisters listened to that. In elementary school, it was the usual stuff (Spice Girls, No Doubt and Jewel are artists I remember buying albums from at that time). I didn't really listen to music for a few years after that. I went to a middle school where Destiny's Child was considered weird and alternative, so my options were limited. I wish Pandora had existed back then. Or that I had met you sooner.
You grew up in a house where the radio was always on, and now you can't stand background noise. I grew up in a house without music. Not that it was silent – I get my ability to go on and on and on about the most random subjects from my parents. My dad has some stuff he likes, but my mom dislikes the concept of background music, and she's not really a fan of anything in particular. I like background noise (and studying on campus). What gets to me is repeated sounds. Ringing phones that no one answers are bad. Worse is people repeating short messages over and over, like yelling someone's name in the exact same tone again and again and again. Oh and whining voices. Some pop songs (think Fergie) manage to combine all of these annoyances.
Posted by Julie at 10:12 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
April 9, 2007
Not much of a surprise
| What Be Your Nerd Type? Your Result: Literature Nerd Does sitting by a nice cozy fire, with a cup of hot tea/chocolate, and a book you can read for hours even when your eyes grow red and dry and you look sort of scary sitting there with your insomniac appearance? Then you fit this category perfectly! You love the power of the written word and it's eloquence; and you may like to read/write poetry or novels. You contribute to the smart people of today's society, however you can probably be overly-critical of works. It's okay. I understand. | |
| Drama Nerd | |
| Social Nerd | |
| Artistic Nerd | |
| Science/Math Nerd | |
| Gamer/Computer Nerd | |
| Anime Nerd | |
| Musician | |
| What Be Your Nerd Type? Quizzes for MySpace | |
Posted by Julie at 12:09 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
April 7, 2007
Meningsløs meme
Denne var egentlig bare lagt ut på memesiden min, men siden ingen egentlig leser den og jeg ville at Heidi skulle få med seg denne (siden hun er nevnt såpass mange ganger i den) og siden det er helt greit at denne siden har litt meningsløshet i blant, legger jeg den også her.
1. Hva var den første tanken som slo deg da du så deg selv i speilet i morges?
Det første jeg tenkte da jeg våknet: "Er jeg våken, eller drømte jeg den sangen jeg tror jeg nettopp hørte på radio? Nei, jeg er faktisk våken og klokken er åtte og det er lørdag og jeg har fri og nå reiser jeg meg faktisk opp også fordi jeg ikke liker sangen de spiller nå, så jeg har faktisk stått opp og det betyr at jeg er skikkelig flink." Men jeg husker ikke hva jeg tenkte da jeg så meg i speilet.
2. Når er neste gang du kommer til å ha sex?
Ja, si det.
3. Skriv et ord som rimer på FUCK?
Duck.
4. Favorittplanet?
Favorittplanet?
5. Hvem er den fjerde personen på tapt anrop-listen din?
“Fadder-Bård”
6. Hva har du som ringelyd?
Stadig vekk soppedansesangen.
7. Hva har du på deg?
Grå genserkjole og de fantastiske strømpebuksene.
8. Setter du deg selv i bås?
Ja. Men ikke i hvilken som helst.
9. Hvilket merke er det på skoene dine?
Bianco, Ecco, Le Coq Sportif, NoaNoa, Tamaris... kommer ikke flere.
10. Hva er best – lyse eller mørke rom?
Lyse rom med mørke møbler er pent. Men best med lys.
11. Hva synes du om den personen du rappet denne meme-tingen fra?
Jeg kan bare gjenta det hun sa til meg for et par dager siden og si at jeg mener akkurat det samme om henne: “Hvorfor ble jeg ikke kjent med deg mye før?”
12. Hvis du er alene i et rom med to senger, hvilken velger du å sove i?
Det spiller virklig ingen rolle.
13. Hva gjorde du rundt midnatt i går?
La meg etter å ha lest (roman, ikke pensum), hørt på musikk og drukket grønn te i mange timer.
14. Hva står det i den siste sms-en i innboksen din?
God påske god påske :) har du hatt en bra ferie hittils?:-D stor klem fra sandefjord<3
15. Hvem er den siste personen du så i dag?
Jeg har ikke sett noen i dag ennå. Men jeg så Heidi i går.
16. Hvilke(t) ord bruker du igjen og igjen?
Skummelt.
17. Hvem er den siste som fortalte at han/hun elsker deg og når skjedde det?
“Elsker” i den norske betydningen av ordet hører man jo veldig sjelden.
18. Hva er den siste hårete tingen du tok på?
Eh... mitt eget hår? Vil ikke det være svaret til de aller fleste i de aller fleste tilfeller?
19. Hvor mange ufremkallede filmruller har du liggende?
Det har jeg ikke. Men jeg har ca. 50 bilder på kameraet mitt som ennå ikke er overført til pcen.
20. Din favorittalder i livet så langt?
Jeg liker meg der jeg er nå.
21. Hvem er din verste fiende?
Vekkerklokken, og noeersomdetikkeskal-følelsen. (Dette og det forrige svaret var det Heidi som skrev, men det passer til meg også.)
22. Hva har du som skjermbilde på din personlige computer?
Mange utgaver av et bilde av en kaffekopp med to fisker og et hjerte tegnet med melkeskum. Fotografert ovenfra, rød bakgrunn.
23. Hva er det siste du sa til noen i dag?
Har ikke snakket med noen i dag. Men det siste jeg sa til noen i går var vel “Ja, og jeg vil lese mer, så hadet bra.”
24. Velg mellom en million kroner og evnen til å fly …
Fly. Det kan man tjener penger på, men en million kroner kan ikke kjøpe evnen til å fly.
25. Liker du noen?
Opptil flere.
26. Siste sangen du hørte på?
“I brush my teeth. I put the cap back on. I know you hate it when I leave the light on. I pick a book up and then I pull the sheets down and then I take a deep breath, a good look around. Put on my pjs and hop into bed. I'm half alive, but I've been mostly dead. I try and tell myself it'll all be all right. I just shouldn't think anymore tonight.” Jewel: “You were meant for me”
27. Hvis den siste ukjente personen du snakket til plutselig ble fly forbannet på deg, hva ville du gjøre?
Definer ukjent. Møtte mange nye mennesker de siste dagene som altså var ukjente og ble kjente i det de snakket til meg. Hvis en av dem plutselig ble fly forbannet ville jeg blitt kjemperedd og lett etter Heidi.
28. Hvem kunne du tenke deg å dra til så det sang, midt i ansiktet?
Don't get me started.
29. Hva befinner seg nærmest din venstre fot akkurat nå?
Delt andreplass mellom stolbenet, bordbenet, ledningen til pcen og printeren. Men førsteplassen går til strømpebuksen.
Posted by Julie at 10:36 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
January 7, 2007
5 ting du kanskje ikke visste om meg
Jeg fikk dette som oppgave av Jorunn. Dette er problematisk, for stort sett er det en grunn til at man ikke forteller ting. Her er imidlertid 5 ting du kanskje ikke visste om meg:
- Jeg likte vannmelon da jeg var liten, helt til jeg vant en vannmelonspisekonkurranse. Etter det liker jeg ikke vannmelon i det hele tatt.
- Jeg fører regnskap over alle penger jeg bruker og tjener. (Nei, jeg er ikke gal, tror jeg.)
- Jeg har spist glassmanet, krabbeskall, magesekk, blekksprutsushi og krokodillekjøtt, men takler ikke relativt normal mat som tomater, ost, tyggegummi, lakris og oliven.
- Jeg klipper og limer sitater, mange av dem fra min Quotes feed på Bloglines, inn i et etterhvert kjempestort Word-dokument. Jeg vet ikke hva jeg skal gjøre med dem, men jeg vil ikke glemme dem.
- Jeg er veldig redd for flammer. I første naturfaglab i åttende klasse, turte jeg ikke å tenne en fyrstikk. Læreren tok det opp på foreldresamtale, og sa at han aldri hadde opplevd noe lignende. Da jeg var liten, var jeg overbevist om at den gamle delen av barneskolen min, den delen med mørkere mur enn resten, var mørk fordi den var brent. Jeg var også overbevist om at den kunne ta fyr igjen når som helst, og det beste med friminuttene var at jeg var ute og dermed allerede i sikkerhet hvis/når dette skjedde. Jeg har imidlertid skjerpet meg og eier nå både crème brulée brenner og stearinlys.
Det er etterhvert ikke så mange bloggere som leser bloggen min og som ikke allerede har skrevet denne, men Elisabeth, Eva, Aina, Anna og pappa skal i hvert fall fortelle fem hemmeligheter.Vet ikke om mammas blogg helt passer for memer, men et meme er en fin måte å tvinge Kaja til å blogge mer. Spent på hva Per Ivar og Ingvild ville skrevet om de blogget.
Posted by Julie at 4:02 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
December 11, 2006
Mens jeg venter på at Ingvild skal synge på God Morgen Norge
1: Ta den boken som ligger nærmest deg, slå opp på side 18 og finn den fjerde linjen. Hva står det?"Hessel Park was scented heavily with cheese from the massive Kraft factory, at Champaign’s western limit, and it had wonderful expensive soft Har-Tru courts of such a deep piney color that the flights of the fluorescent balls stayed on ones visual screen for a few extra seconds, leaving trails, which is also why the angles and hieroglyphs involved in butterfly drill seem important."
2: Strekk ut venstrearmen så langt du kan. Hva berører du først?
(tenker øyeblikkelig på en nederlandsk barnesang med lignende tekst som spørsmålet... takk for den!) En hvit pute med et tre på. (Ble nå minnet på at de menneskene som plantet den sangen i mitt hode også har sånne puter og at jeg faktisk er glad i dem tross sangen.)
3: Hva var det siste du så på tv?
Huff. God Morgen Norge går uten lyd nå. Venter på at Ingvild skal synge på tv.
4: Bortsett fra pc-en din, hva kan du høre akkurat nå?
Biler som kjører utenfor.
5: Hva har du på deg?
En brun bukse. Og brun genser. Dette er ikke så ille som det høres ut. Håper jeg.
6: Drømte du i natt?
Ja, men jeg husker ikke hva.
7: Når lo du sist?
I går, tror det var av noe Helene sa da vi lagde romkuler.
8: Hva henger på veggen(e) i det rommet du befinner deg i?
Lite. Men det er bokhyller oppover veggene da.
9: Sett noe snålt i det siste?
Nei, ikke mer enn vanlig.
10: Hvilken film så du sist?
Istid 2 (siste film på kino: The Departed)
11: Hva ville du kjøpt først dersom du ble mangemillionær over natten?
Hvor mange millioner? Leilighet. Eller kanskje: først kaffemaskin, så leilighet.
12: Fortell noe om deg selv som andre ikke vet…
Å nei, ikke sånt. Enten er det ikke interessant, eller så er det en grunn til at dere ikke vet det, ikke sant? Men her er i hvert fall en barndomshistorie som mange ikke har hørt.
13: Hvis du kunne endre én ting i verden, uavhengig av politikk eller skyld, hva ville det vært?
Uavhengig av politikk eller skyld? Skjønner ikke spørsmålet. Endre noe i verden uavhengig av politikk? Gi enkelte representanter for menneskelighet høyere intelligens kanskje.
14: Liker du å danse?
Ja!
15: Driver George Bush virkelig på med Dick Cheney?
Jeg vil ikke vite det.
16: Hvis ditt første barn blir ei jente, hva skal hun hete?
Godt spørsmål.
17: Kunne du tenke deg å bo i utlandet?
Absolutt.