This week’s Friday Five:

1. List five things you’d like to accomplish by the end of the year.
– get the current project at work live
– finish Robin Hobb’s Tawny Many trilogy (I’ve so little time to read at the moment that what should have taken me a weekend has now taken three weeks – and I’m only half-way through the second book)
– get all the Christmas presents sorted (duh)
– send Chirstmas cards before Christmas for once (rather than in January or not at all)
– fix the tear in my coat (it’ll take five minutes once I get round to it, it’s the getting round to it that is the problem)

2. List five people you’ve lost contact with that you’d like to hear from again.
– Marianne Jepsen, fellow student in Aarhus in 1994/95 – please get in touch!
– Adeline and Suen Suen, from my hall at Uni in Manchester 1997/98
– Vipul Kundu, penpal from India – it’s been years. Mind you, I probably still have his parents’ address.
– Gertrude (nee Bere), originally from Zimbabwe, last heard of living in South Africa

3. List five things you’d like to learn how to do.
– play the sax (no patience, no ear for music, no chance)
– scuba dive
– snowboard
– speak Spanish (beyond ordering two beers, I mean – I don’t even like beer, so what’s the point?)
– weave on a proper loom

4. List five things you’d do if you won the lottery (no limit).
– buy a house
– go to Scotland and buy ridiculous amounts of Whisky to put in the “cellar” of my new house
– pay off my student loan and my brother’s (plus pay for the rest of his studies)
– go visit Glenda and Roger and Sarah and Donna and Betsy and Jo Ann and Peter and… (and bring Jane with me on the round trip)
– start that second-hand bookshop cum pub in Scotland that I’ve been talking about

5. List five things you do that help you relax.
– read
– sit on the couch with Martin’s arm around me (actually, just being with him at all tends to work)
– stand on a beach and watch the waves (tends to be difficult to accomplish around here, unfortunately)
– listen to music
– read some more

I wish people would stop posting these. I can’t help myself, if it’s a list I have to complete it.
Read More

It’s not me that’s late, honest. I skipped a couple of questions, this week, feeling I had little to say on the subject.

1. (…) Do you ever sling slang from your area of expertise around accidentally and leave folks scratching their heads? Do you feel left out when others start speaking in terms specific to their industry? Gimme some examples!
I do use acronyms/abbreviations a lot, though mostly where there really isn’t an alternative (I suppose you could say “hypertext transfer protocol” instead of “aitch-tee-tee-pee”, but I think a lot of people would be more confused by the former than the latter). One thing I know confuses people, even at work, is the fact that I’ve gotten used to pronounce SQL as “sequel” rather than as “ess-que-ell”, which isn’t unusual in English but does not come naturally to Norwegians (“sequel” not being a Norwegian word). It’s a hard habit to break, though. I rather enjoy “tech-slang”, whether it’s my own industry or somone else’s, and though I can quite often be confused by people using acronyms I’ve never come across before, I’m not too shy to ask what they mean, so I feel intrigued rather than “left out”.

3. Some of the meetings at the conference were just plain dull, I almost fell asleep a few times. How do you make it through a boring conversation or meeting when you are feeling drowsy?
A boring conversation? By cutting it off, somehow, anyhow. A meeting, well, if I can let my attention drift I’ll start thinking about something else, preferably some sort of problem that’s complex enough to drag my attention away from the fact that I’m tired. If I do have to pay attention, well, I don’t quite know. I manage somehow. I have the advantage (in this context) of not falling asleep easily, so while I may sit dreaming of my bed the chances that I’ll actually nod off are slim to none.

4. Do you enjoy flying on commercial airlines? Ever flown First Class?
We were upgraded to first class flying BCal back from The Gambia in 1987, but that’s the only time I’ve experienced that. I like flying, though I wish there was more room in ordinary aircrafts – I’d probably enjoy first class a lot for that reason, but I don’t think I’ll ever see it as worth the price (except, possibly, for very long flights).

5. When I book my airfare, I always try to book an aisle seat on the left by the exit doors. That way you have more legroom, and being a “righty” I am able to move my arm and elbow without jabbing someone’s belly. When you fly, where do you like to sit?
I prefer a window seat, as I have never outgrown the thrill of watching everything down on the ground becoming really tiny and all that. I like sitting by the emergency exits, though, precisely because of the legroom issue.

7. At the conference, I saw several “Tablet PCs” and now I really want one. And Digital MP3 player. I don’t ask for much. Do you have any techno-lust going on?
Well, I have an MP3 player. I want a pda of sorts, but only for “playful purposes”, so I haven’t quite managed to convince myself to spend the money yet. And I want a digital SLR – a Canon EOS300D, to be precise. (*Drool*) Not happening, though, unless I win the lottery or something.

Could you please take a moment and go to this page and vote for Amalie (Theresa‘s step-daughter) by dragging the slide over to the smiley face and hitting “Stem”?

Go on. Please?

Tricky Friday Five this week:

1. Using one adjective, describe your current living space.
Stuffed.

2. Using two adjectives, describe your current employer.
Fair. Challenging.

3. Using three adjectives, describe your favorite hobby/pasttime.
Relaxing. Exciting. Educational.

4. Using four adjectives, describe your typical day.
Stressful. Fun. Companionable. Meaningful.

5. Using five adjectives, describe your ideal life.
Less stressful. Fun. Companionable. Meaningful. Exciting.

Or something of the sort.

Well, I’m game:

APRIL: Active and dynamic. Decisive and hasty but tends to regret. Attractive and affectionate to oneself. Strong mentality. Loves attention. Diplomatic. Consoling, friendly and solves people’s problems. Brave and fearless. Adventurous. Loving and caring. Suave and generous. Emotional. Aggressive. Hasty. Good memory. Moving. Motivates oneself and others. Sickness usually of the head and chest. Sexy in a way that only their lover can see.

Well. Hm. Those three are really the only ones I would definitely cross out. Some of the others are a bit, well, dubious.

(Via Donna)

Well, I think this is pretty accurate. The part about being only half-there most of the time certainly is.

You are mRNA. You’re brilliant, full of important,
interesting information and you’re a great
friend to the people you care about. You may
have sides to you that no one understands. But
while you understand more than most people,
you’re only half-there most of the time.

Which Biological Molecule Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

(Via Melissa)

My throat hurts this morning in that ominous way that heralds the onset of a nasty cold.

Voice in my head: Bono (U2) – All I want is You

A very late Monday Mission, this being last week’s.

1. This week the Episcopal Church USA installed the Rev. V. Gene Robinson as a bishop of New Hampshire. (…) What do you think of the church consecrating an openly gay person as Bishop? (…)
I think it’s great that he’s been installed. I think that you’re misinterpreting the Bible if you believe it says homosexuality is wrong.

2. Have you ever supported an opposing viewpoint with someone just to “push their buttons?” Ever been in a situation where you really didn’t care for one side or the other, but just found it fun to watch someone get all worked up in an argument?
Oh yes. Especially if I can tell that the person in question has not really though the issue through before making up their mind or if I think their reasoning or their knowledge of the facts relating to the issue is flawed. I enjoy discussions.

3. If you had to pick one, on which of the “Reality” shows do you think you’d do well?
Any where a knowledge of normally useless facts would be useful might not be so bad – such as some varieties of Robinson and the Norwegian “Farmen” – as far as I can tell, anyway. Having watched as little of any of them as possible, it’s a bit difficult to pick. The only ones where I know the actual concept of the show properly are the Idol/Fame Academy/Popstars variety, and I’d obviuosly do terribly due to the fact that I can’t really sing.

4. Have you, or anyone you know, ever tried any “alternative” healing practices or “all natural” medication? How did it work out?
I’ve got a friend who’s tried various “alternative” medicines, but I don’t think she was really convinced by the results.

5. If you could write your own prescriptions, what is the first thing you would get?
I try to avoid taking any drugs beyond the necessary minimum (if I’m not too tired to “fight” I will endure headaches as long as possible before taking painkillers, even), so why would I want to write my own prescriptions? Unless I could write prescriptions that would give me free physiotherapy or chiropractic treatments. I would like that.

6. Are you getting a Flu shot this year? Do you ever get them? Have you ever had to endure a round of the full-blown Flu virus?
I wasn’t planning to, never have before. I’ve had the flu proper twice in recent years, once in the middle of summer (June, I believe) and once because I was stupid enough to lie on a floor painting for hours with the windows wide open in -20 in February. I somehow doubt that an autumn flu shot would have helped prevent any of those.

7. On television commercials, when men get sick they are portrayed like big whiny babies. Based on your personal experience, do you think this is an accurate depiction?
Not really. The men in my acquaintance are no more whiny than the women. Or, to be more accurate, I know some whiny babies of the male persuasion, but I also know some whiny babies of the female persuasion, I therefore think the state has little to do with gender and much to do with individual character traits. It also seems to depend on the people around the sick person, as no one can be bothered to spend their time whining unless there is someone there to listen and sympathise.