Category: Little Voices archive entries

The last Monday Mission ever. We wave a fond goodbye.

1. In the last week, what happened that made you feel loved beyond your wildest dreams? [ from MM 1.0]
Beyond my wildest dreams? Do you have any idea of how wild my dreams are? Ok, sorry, will be serious and answer, hm, that Martin followed up on his promise to play nursemaid to me this weekend despite the fact that he was quite as ill as I was. (I’d decided to declare myself an invalid for the weekend to see if 48 hours with my feet up would help the remaining nagging pains in my legs. As it turned out, we both ended up with sore throats and colds anyway.)

2. What was the last audio CD you paid money for? [ from MM 1.3]
I bought Åge Alexandersen’s “Eldorado” and a “Best of…” second hand on Friday. The last new audio CD I paid for was, hm, a Christmas compilation album some time in December.

3. Has someone you know ever told you they had a terminal illness? What was it like for you when you found out. How did that change your relationship with them? [ from MM 2.45]
Yes. No one very close, though. It made me sad, obviously, but only in a somewhat detached way (more of a “How terrible for his family” than any regrets on my own part). I tend to try and treat people decently and fairly whatever the situation and not change my attitude based on what I know about them (I tend to assume there are probably things I don’t know), but I guess I was probably a little more patient and careful in what I said to him after I found out.

4. Do you have an accent? Are there any phrases or words you say that tip folks that you aren’t from around these parts? [ from MM 2.38]
Yes and no. When I speak English, my accent has been described as “mid-atlantic” and people have a hard time placing me. Everyone can tell that I’m not “from around these parts”, but they can’t figure out where I’m from either. In Norwegian I have a dialect of sorts, but it’s so mixed up that all people can normally tell is that I’m from eastern Norway somewhere, except when I speak to people with a heavy dialect when it can get quite easy to place me in Hedemark due to the odd phrases and pronounciations that crop up (this is more obvious when the person I talk to also has a heavy Hedemark-dialect, but any heavy dialect tends to make me exaggerate mine).

5. What’s the difference between being a Father, and being a Daddy? [ from MM 3.25]
In so far as there is a difference (which really depends on which word you’ve grown up using), I tend to use “pappa” (daddy) when speaking to my father directly or when I talk about him in general – it’s what I’ve been used to calling him growing up. I tend to use “far” (father) only in situations where I’m (in the subtext) stressing the biological/social relationship. So it’ll be “pappa ringte” (“dad phoned”), but “faren min jobber for NINA” (“my father works at NINA”).

6. What is the most recent thing guilt has motivated you to do? [ from MM 2.50]
Tricky. I would have preferred to go to Trondheim for Christmas with Martin rather than spending it at my grandparents, but I’m not sure “guilt” is the correct description of my motivation in not doing what I wanted – “a sense of obligation” is nearer the mark.

7. How do you feel about tips and tipping? Do you feel obligated to tip even if your service is bad because you know the servers don’t get paid much? If you’ve ever relied on tips for your income, how do you feel when you don’t get any? [This is a new one, had to throw in at least one more hot topic before I sign off]
The system in Norway is somewhat different, because the people who serve you actually do get paid a proper wage. It’s still customary to tip, though, to some extent, but only yesterday I was wishing that there was a more definite system. I tend to tip somewhere around 10% in restaurants unless the service was really bad, but because the servers aren’t dependent on tips to get by a lot of people simply don’t tip at all, which means that even if I refrain from giving a tip because the service was bad, there is no guarantee that the server will take it to heart – most likely they’ll just dismiss me as one of those people who don’t leave tips.

Friday Five on a Monday:

What one thing are you most looking forward to . . .

1. …today?
Seeing Andreas this evening – and finding out what the “lots of news here” referred to.

2. …over the next week?
The whisky society meeting Wednesday night.

3. …this year?
Both of the planned trips to Scotland (for the Speyside festivals, end of April and end of September) and my 30th birthday.

4. …over the next five years?
Getting up to stuff with Martin.

5. …for the rest of your life?
Living it. Oh, and spending it with Martin.

So, did you see the World Idol final? Now, of course, I think these things (Idol, Fame Academy, Popstars etc.) are a great laugh, though it’s mostly quite hard to take the music very seriously (on the other hand, it’s mostly quite hard to take the current chart-toppers in general seriously, too), but it’s hard not to be swept along on the tide of enthusiasm when Kurt Nilsen from Norway shatters the competition – which included the American Kelly Clarkson and the British Will Young, both of whom have sold tons of records “at home”. Mind you, lots of fuss has been made over Kelly Clarkson’s sales of 2.5 million records. Well, in comparison Kurt has sold 75000, which doesn’t sound like much. However, while the population of the USA is 295,682,570 and Kelly has been launched in several additional countries, Kurt’s audience so far has been Norway’s approximately 4.5 million. So, if you take Kurt’s sales of 0.016 records per inhabitant and multiply by the US population, you’ll see he’s sold the equivalent of 4.9 million.

Anyway, it’s reassuring to see that even the world audience (well, except the arabic countries, who voted contrarily to everyone else) appreciates a great voice and stage presence over picture perfect good looks. It’s going a bit far to call Kurt ugly, I think (though Simon Callow does not seem to have thought so), but he’s hardly poster pretty. For starters he’s got a gap between his front teeth the size of… Well, lets just say its big. He’s also been called “a hobbit”, which I suspect is not meant as a compliment, but surely the hobbits are kinda cute? Charm he has in bucketfuls, though. Mind you, the attention given to his looks – or lack thereof – might even have worked in his favour, creating sympathy and shifting the focus to the fact that, as the judges said, if it had been a contest on radio he’d have walked it. Voicewise he was just miles ahead of the competition, and yes, that includes Kelly Clarkson.

Congratulations, Kurt. I still don’t think I’m actually going to buy your records, but I’m rooting for you in the world market. It’s time we had someone to rival A-ha on an “international fame” basis. I’ve been sick of Harket’s smarmy smugness for 15 years at least.

Voice in my head: Kurt Nilsen singing Beautiful Day, naturally

First and foremost:

Happy New Year!

2004 so far looks like a good one, except for the fact that I’ve got a sore throat.

New year’s eve was fab. On the whole I tend to agree with Winston Churchill that Champagne should be dry, cold and free. It was – and flowed freely – at the party Martin mentioned we’d been invited to Wednesday night. I don’t think I’ve ever drunk champagne constantly throughout the whole evening before. It’s a habit I’d be pleased to aquire.

An interesting concept and one which it is hard not to respond with “that’s me” to.

We are the puzzle pieces who seldom fit with other puzzle pieces. … Yet make no mistake: We are no less concerned with coupling than your average serial monogamist. Secretly, we are romantics, romantics of the highest order. We want a miracle. Out of millions we have to find the one who will understand. … For the quirkyalone, there is no patience for dating just for the sake of not being alone. On a fine but by no means transcendent date we dream of going home to watch television. We would prefer to be alone with our own thoughts than with a less than perfect fit. We are almost constitutionally incapable of casual relationships.

Despite the current blissful state of togetherness, I am quite clearly a quirkyalone, and so, I suspect, is Martin. Which would explain a few things.

But when the quirkyalone collides with another, ooh la la. The earth quakes.

Quirkytogether, in fact.

(Via Emme)

Two Monday Missions for the price of one:

MM 3.51

1. Last night, I had a nightmare that my car had been stolen. (…) Have you ever had a dream so real, that inside the dream you had to fight to wake yourself up? Do you remember the dream?
Not fight, no. I have had dreams where I’ve realised I was dreaming and decided I might as well wake up, but not ones that have been stressful.

2. I’ve mentioned this before, but I really don’t believe in the concept of a “soul-mate.” Maybe this is because I’ve never really felt like I have met mine. (…) How would you define the concept of a “soul-mate” is? Do you believe in such things? Have you met your soul-mate?
Have I met my soul-mate? To the degree that I think it’s an accurate description, yes, I guess I have. At least I’ve met someone I’m planning to spend the rest of my life with and he seems to think it’s a good idea, too.

3. What does it take to make men happy anyway?
How should I know? I hardly even know what it takes to make me happy.

4. What is your favorite piece of electric hardware, and why?
Right now it’s a fierce fight between my Jukebox Zen (I love being able to carry all my favourite music with me everywhere) and my new breadmaker (mmm, waking up to freshly baked bread…). On the other hand I rather like my computer (yay! e-mail!) and the fridge (yay! cold drinks!) and the cooker (yay! pizza!) too, and wouldn’t be prepared to give any of them up without a fight.

5. Yesterday in our adult Sunday School class, a lady was telling us about a woman with car trouble she had stopped to help. (…) It left me wondering how many people I had just driven by that I could have helped. But at the same time, I felt like she was taking too big of a risk stopping to help a stranger when it was just her and her children. Have you ever stopped to help a stranded motorist? Has anyone ever stopped to help you when you were stranded? Isn’t there some element of risk involved when helping someone with car trouble, or is it better to just “do unto others as you’d have them do unto you?”
There’s a risk, obviously, but then there’s a risk to most things in life and if you are to walk around constantly worrying about them and letting them limit your actions your life is going to be pretty boring.

6. Just for fun, what is the one present you’d like for Christmas, but you know there is no way you will get?
Canon EOS 300D (or any of the other digital Canon SLRs, though in a way I’d prefer the “cheap” one as I might feel slightly too worried about carrying my camera everywhere if it was worth several thousands).

7. What are you thankful for this Christmas?
Martin

MM 3.52

1. So, what did you get for Christmas?
Just what I wanted. Except for the aforementioned Canon EOS 300D.

2. Are you returning any gifts you were given for Christmas?
Nope.

3. For me, the best part of Christmas being over is that there will be no more Fran Drescher “Old Navy” commercials. Ugh, bring back Morgan Fairchild! What is the best part of Christmas being over?
No more stupid newspaper stories about what to get people for Christmas.

4. Used to be, we would always get together with friends and have Margaritas on New Year’s Eve (though time has passed and friends drift apart, so not anymore, sadly). My Grandma always makes sure to eat Black Eyed Peas on N.Y.E. I know of another couple who “do it” on NYE, and time it to reach their “peak” right at 12:00 AM! Do you have any traditions each year for New Year’s Eve?
Champers at midnight and watching the fireworks. That’s about it for traditions.

5. If you could go back into 2003 and change just one thing, or get a “do over,” what would you do?
Hm. Not sure I’d change anything, actually, 2003 has been a pretty good year so far. I might just possibly have done things slightly differently between 11 and 17 July, but as things have worked out pretty well, I think it might be better just to leave them as they are – changing anything would just bring the risk of messing things up, I should think.

6. Is there anything you want to accomplish in 2004 that seems within reach?
Get this f%?#ing project live.

7. Is your online personality very different from what it would be like if I were meeting you in “real life?”
I don’t think so. If it is, it’s not consciously done on my part. There will inevitably be differences between your expectations derived from the way I write and the actual me, I suppose, since what I write obviously only contains the information I consider “important” enough to consign to bits, but they’re unlikely to be major ones.

I’m still in holiday mood despite being back at work and trying to get a rather important installation to work. It’s all going pear-shaped, but I’m having a bit of a hard time finding the wherewithall to care.

Part of the reason for this is that I’m too happy with the world in general. I’ve quite clearly got The Best Boyfriend™. Obviously, he probably wouldn’t be my boyfriend unless I thought so, but still. I’m having a bit of a hard time believing my luck. I mean, everyone knows Christmas presents are a bit of a tricky subject when you’re in love because if your significant other gets it all wrong it’s hard not to feel that he/she really doesn’t know you at all and that it must mean he/she doesn’t care as much as you thought. I imagine. I wouldn’t know, really, seeing as my significant other got it as “all right” as it’s possible to get it. Not only did he manage to avoid following any of the completely inane advice touted by all the papers in the weeks leading up to Christmas, but he really did manage to get it right on all counts. I got

– one thing actually on my wishlist (Non-stop, not just “a bag”, though)
– one thing I know I’ve mentioned I wanted to buy but never got round to buying myself, partly because I wasn’t aware that it was available yet
– one thing I didn’t even know existed but was thrilled to get
– one thing I’d actually considered buying for him (I didn’t, because I ended up getting something completely different instead)

and that wasn’t even all of it. And every single thing was something you’d actually have to know me quite well to know that I wanted (well, ok, except the Non-stop, you’d only have to read my blog to know I wanted that). To top it all off, it was all wrapped in such a way that it was impossible to guess the contents of any one package – which is another big plus.

Oh, and he made me laugh, too. How much better can it get?

Well, of course, he could have been in the room rather than 400 miles or so away, but that wasn’t to be helped. (It will be helped next year though. There is simply no way I am conceding my right to spend Christmas Eve with the love of my life next year.)

Apart from missing Martin like crazy, Christmas wasn’t bad at all. To continue the evaluation of the presents, my parents got me the breadmaker I wanted, so now there will be loads of freshly baked bread to be had – once I’ve unpacked, that is. I got a couple of books I’m looking forward to reading, a cd from my brother which, characteristically, looks interesting (he sees it as his mission to “educate” me in that area), a couple of odds and ends that will look nice around the flat – oh, and my grandparents gave me cash, which is boring but useful.

We (my parents, my brother and I) drove up to Trondheim on Christmas Day and Martin’s mother invited us all to dinner, which was very nice (and very good). Since then I’ve spent a blissful couple of days – in Martin’s company, or they wouldn’t have been very blissful, obviously – doing very little at all, which probably explains why my brain refuses to get back to “work mode” today.

Actually, one thing I have done is scan some slides, so once I get around to it you will be able to find pictures from the last trip to Scotland in the gallery. I’ll let you know.

The last Friday Five of the year:

1. What was your biggest accomplishment this year?
Not really sure I accomplished anything particularly “big” this year.

2. What was your biggest disappointment?
That the main project at work still hasn’t gone live. I’m getting heartily sick of it.

3. What do you hope the new year brings?
The project going live. And some other stuff.

4. Will you be making any New Year’s resolutions? If yes, what will they be?
I don’t tend to make resolutions at New Year particularly, it’s more a case of continuous resolutions throughout the year as I realise the necessity.

5. What are your plans for New Year’s Eve?
Don’t have any yet, apart from wanting to be the same place as Martin and intending to toast 2004 in with champagne.

In a few minutes Christmas Lunch will be declared open and that will be the end (hopefully) of work for me until the 29th. Time off is going to be goooooooood.

The christmas lunch might be fun, of course. In the time-honoured tradition of such things, there will be free booze. Free booze starting at 2 pm is a bit risky. Nevermind, there’s nothing I need to do tonight except meet up with Martin – and possibly my brother – and they have both seen me drunk before (and probably will again). Will try to remember to drink the odd glass of water or similar non-alchoholic substance.

Voice in my head: Roy Wood(?) – I Wish it could be Christmas Every Day (which is rubbish, I wish no such thing, once a year is pretty much perfect)