Oh, no! Just discovered that Chaim Potok died on Tuesday. A lovely obituary in The Times is no sort of consolation whatsoever.

I am looking at a picture of two little boys in dungarees, each with a ladies handbag in his hand. It’s a “poster ad” in the leaflet program for the “Gay Circus” festival which was held in Oslo a few weeks ago. I was looking through the leaflet in a cafe and brought it home because of this poster. It says: “Handbags, not cobblestones! Smack the WTO! Angry poufs with their handbags full.” *Grin*

Music in the room: You Win Again (The Bee Gees)

As “promised” I have written a bit about Norwegian politics:
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…down to your left seems to be accurate. The sun’s on it’s way down, but there’s certainly not a cloud in the sky.

Music in the room: I Know Him by Heart (Vonda Shepard)

There was a cloud outside my window for a while yesterday evening. Funny the things that can cheer you up. This cloud cheered me up, because it was such a perfect cloud.Perfect in that it looked completely unreal, like a 19th C. artist had got his brushes out and painted this big whiteandgrey fluffy thing on the blueerthanblue canvas that is the sky.

Lovely.

Music in my head: the Gorillaz v. Space Monkeys son, whatever it’s called

AND I can publish via e-mail. I rock!

That’s all I wanted to say, really.

Just upgraded to Blogger Pro. Hm. New functionality to figure out…

There won’t be a trip to Solør this weekend, by the way. Andreas e-mailed to ask if he could crash Saturday night on his way from Oxford to Trondheim, and since it seems ages since I saw him the choice wasn’t difficult. I will probably go see my grandparents next weekend instead, and the Americans will still be around, apparently, so maybe I won’t miss them anyway.

You’d think there was a limit to how many things you could lose in a 36m2 flat, wouldn’t you? Well, one thing I’ve lost is my sketch-pad, and I can’t remember whether I’ve seen it since I moved or not. In a fit of “looking-for-the-pad” last night, I instead found two cookery-books that have been missing in action, one of which I actually thought might have been in teh bag that was stolen between London and Newcastle when I was moving back here in August (you can tell from this I have a couple of those odds-and-ends boxes that have never been unpacked, can’t you?). Great joy ensued, as this is the notebook where I have hand-written recipes, some of which are unrecoverable. So tonight I celebrated by making Mrs. E’s Chocolate Brownies – a recipe I acquired from James, the ex (and consequently the one I had the least hope of recovering). If he minds it being shared that’s tough luck, because here it is (and if you like dark chocolate I suggest you try it), the more people I share it with, the more chance that someone can provide me with the recipe if I really lose the book. Besides, I seem to remember I was allowed to pass it on as long as I explained that it was Mrs. E’s own recipe, she was an old friend of the family, a bit like an extra grandmother, I think.

Mrs. E’s Chocolate Brownies

12 oz caster sugar
5 oz butter/margarine
5 oz self-raising flour
2 oz cocoa
4 beaten eggs
100g plain chocolate (drops or coarsely chopped)
1 teaspoon vanilla essence

(Use plain flour and 1-2 teaspoons baking powder if that’s easier, you can also use vanilla sugar instead of the essence)

Melt the butter, mix with the sugar, then add flour (and baking powder) and cocoa, through a sieve, preferably (personally I can’t be bothered with sieves). Mix, then add the beaten eggs. If you’re mixing by hand make sure there are no lumps larger than a few mm in diameter (if you’re using a blender, this shouldn’t be a problem in the first place). Add chocolate and vanilla essence.

Pour into a well-greased pan, aprr. 8×5 inches. Bake at 180 degrees C for about 30-40 minutes, until the sides just come away from the pan.

It freezes well, but tends to disappear long before you get around to doing something as sensible as that.

Music in the room: Underneath Your Clothes (again and again and again, I still haven’t figured out why I like that song so much, must listen to it one more time to check…)

I have been alerted to the news that Jeffrey Archer will spend four years (no doubt minus some for good behaviour) in jail. When he was first arrested I had a moment of “be careful what you wish for, it may come true” paranoia, as I had recently been advocating locking him up to prevent him from spending his time on politics and force him to write some more novels instead. On reflection, I am not sorry it did “come true”, as I would still like him to write more novels and I still don’t like his politics (and certainly don’t like his way of winning libel trials). His novels make “ripping good yarns”, and I think that is reason enough to be suspicious of his sincerity as a politician. Someone who lies so convincingly in print as Lord Archer should definitely not be allowed to stand for election. I remember feeling the need to check the facts of history when reading Shall We Tell the President – Teddy Kennedy was never President, or was he? And snapping out of fiction and back to the (so-called) real world was equally difficult with First Among Equals. I am certainly glad I did not read that book the semester I had my “British Civilization” exam at University, it would have messed up my paper no end.

From Vaughan Simons I also followed the link to this rather weird personality test site – basically you pick the colours that make you feel good and they give you an analysis based on that. I’m sure it’s all very scientific and based on millenia ofresearch, but it seems a bit haphazard to me. Anyway, here are my results, in case anyone gets curious (my comments in italics):

Your Existing Situation
Sensitive; needs esthetic surroundings (what are considered esthetic surroundings? I need to know so I can find some), or an equally sensitive and understanding partner with whom to share a warm intimacy. That’d be nice.

Your Stress Sources
The tenacity and strength of will necessary to contend with existing difficulties has become weakened. I certainly seem to cry at the oddest things these days. People being unfriendly is the least of my problems. I read the headline for an ad for Tuppen og Lillemor Klubben yesterday and started humming Tuppen og Lillemor (old and twee Norwegian children’s song about two best friends who quarrel and then make up) and actually got tears in my eyes when I got to the making up again part. Sheesh.
Feels overtaxed, worn out, and getting nowhere, but continues to stand her ground. She feels this adverse situation as an actual tangible pressure which is intolerable to her and from which she wants to escape, but she feels unable to make the necessary decision. Not quite sure about this, it’s either eerily accurate or wide off the bat depending on which way I apply it.

Your Restrained Characteristics
Feels listless, hemmed in, and anxious; considers that circumstances are forcing her to restrain her desires very accurate if we consider my “desires” to be wanting to spend all my time reading and drinking cider, which is true, but unrealistic as an expectation.
Wants to avoid open conflict with others and to have peace and quiet. Well, I don’t like conflict. Open or not.
Able to achieve satisfaction through sexual activity. That’d be nice, too, though I would like to know how that titilating tidbit was deduced from my colour choices. Haven’t had a lot of chance to prove this point either way lately. Ooops, did I say that out loud?
Feels that things stand in her way, that circumstances are forcing her to compromise and forgo some pleasures for the time being. Like staying at home all day reading, yes.

Your Desired Objective
Hopes that ties of affection and good-fellowship will bring release and contentment. Her own need for approval makes her ready to be of help to others and in exchange she wants warmth and understanding. Open to new ideas and possibilities which she hopes will prove fruitful and interesting. Reasonably recognisable, I guess.

Your Actual Problem Oh, good, I have an identifiable “actual problem”
The tensions induced by trying to cope with conditions which are really beyond her capabilities, or reserves of strength, have led to considerable anxiety and a sense of personal (but unadmitted) inadequacy. Well, I wouldn’t know, would I?
She reacts by seeking outside confirmation of her ability and value in order to bolster her self-esteem. This diary may be considered a proof of that, I suppose – otherwise I’d say that wasn’t particularly accurate, as I’ve got a lot of practice ignoring other people’s opinion.
Inclined to blame others so that she may shift the blame from herself. Handy. I hope I don’t actually do that.
Anxiously searching for solutions and prone to compulsive inhibitions and compulsive desires. What? Examples, please. Especially of the “compulsive inhibitions”. Does “I want chocolate NOW” count as a “compulsive desire”? Identifiable may be good, but what do I do about it if I don’t even understand it?
(End of results…)

Now, I very rarely resist the temptation to take tests like these at least twice, preferably varying my answers to the point of contradiction, just to see whether it makes a difference to accuracy. The second time I took this one I had: “Needs to achieve a stable and peaceful condition, enabling her to free herself of the worry that she may be prevented from achieving all the things she wants.” as my #2 Actual Problem. And the third time I was told that: “Anxiety and a restless dissatisfaction, either with circumstances or with unfulfilled emotional requirements, have produced considerable stress. She reacts by putting this down to a total lack of understanding on the part of others, and by adopting a scornful and defiant attitude.” In fact, this is NOT a test I would suggest you take if you’re feeling down in the dumps. If you weren’t depressed when you started, you certainly will be once you’ve read the results. Despite trying basically the opposite colour sequence of my first choice and also one more of a mish-mash, every result I got was equally gloomy, something Vaughan also commented on. The only sensible conclusion is that one or more of the following must apply to the people who designed the test:
– have an extremely negative picture of mankind
– be very depressed and want everyone else to be equally depressed
– run an obscenely expensive therapy programme

They are also, clearly, gramatically or narratorily (is that a word or did I just coin it?) challenged, as they ask for your sex at the start only in order (seemingly) to use he/his or she/her correctly in the results, and then use you/your in the headlines, the combination just looks stupid, really. Or maybe it’s just another ploy to make force you into therapy, reading about myself in the third person certainly makes me feel a bit as if I’m already lying on the couch listening to two psychologists discussing my case.

Music in my head: Don’t Worry, Be Happy (Bobby McFerrin – desperate attempt at cheering myself up)