Sunday Afternoon Challenge

My "blind" kittykat:


Sunday afternoon in the office and it's very quiet. Not much to do, so I went lookin for some fun on the internet and came over this amusing challenge. Now, I'm challenging Marte, Mari & Erle to a draw-off. Whdoes YOUR cat look like?

A Breakthrough

Turned out to be a late night up at uni. Though can't complain 'cause I haven't been as efficient as I should be. Not least to say as efficient as I need to be! Time seems to be running out for this tired, old student - again...! But - I've had a breakthrough!

For the first time in like almost a year I've actually written something. It's not very long, just a page, but it feel very, very important to me. Like a new begining (which it literally was too). In fact, even though it wasn't much lengthwise, it seems as a giant contribution to the end result. To be cliche, a begining to the end my status as a student. Gambatte!

Friday Fling!

Happy Friday! It's just past 10 am. I'm on the couch, computer on lap, enjoying a cup of steaming hot Colombia Supremo coffee (from Kaffebrenneriet) and home-made oatmeal cookies. Yummy! Nothing like fresh coffee & cookies in the morning - the perfect start to the day!

I'm actually liking the fact that it's Friday again, even though I have to admitt that the days are going by way too fast. It's hard to believe that September will be over in just a few days time!

What's up this weekend? For once, I know I constantly say this, I haven't got any fun or wild activities planned - at all. There's work tomorrow morning + Sunday evening, but otherwise there's nada on my calender. So I'm thiking perhaps I should make time to sew the curtains for my room, a thing I've been plaing on doing like forever. Testing out the tempura-mix I bought a few weeks back at an Asian supermarket also seems like a fab idea ... just need to translate the instructions from Japanese to something understandable (lol).

However, there are quite a few cultural options to take advantage of in Oslo this weekend. Here's my top tips for some weekend fun. Keep on clicking to get the down & low on Oslo:

• Høstutstillingen 2009: This annual exhibition, arranged by Statens kunstustilling, is the main arena for contemporary art in Norway. This year exhibition is the 122nd since it's start in 1882. The works showcased here are picked by a national jury and usually centre around a common theme (though so far I haven't been able to find out what that is, so maybe I'm wrong), and genreally speaking høstutstillingen exhibits a vast range of art forms, such as sculpture, paint, photography, performance, video installations, machinery and more. I know this years exhibition hasn't received glowing reviews, but there's only one way to know and that's by checking it out yourself. I know I'm going to. Check out the pictures from the event here.
• Oslo Open: This biennial artfestival, from Wednesday 23 - Sunday 27th of September, is the fourth festival in a row, where artists living in Oslo open their ateliers to the public. The festival aims to be a meeting place for contemporary art in Oslo, the artist living & working here, and the genreal public. Well worth checking out!
• Costume sale: The Minken Fosheim Childrens Theater is having a costume sale on Saturday at 16:00, so if you're looking for halloween costume, a gown for a ball or just a unique dress for yourself, head on down to Josefinesgate 7 for a bargain (P.S. Cash is king)!
• Nate Lowman's "The Natriot Act" & Rotations #2 (showcasing the museums own collection) also opened at the Astrup Fearley Museum of Modern art on Wednesday. This is one of my favorite museums, so I'm definately heading there sooner than later.
• Movies galore: There's soooo many good movies on the silverscreen these days: Inglorious Bastards (I'm a big Tarantino fan), Jenta som lekte med ilden, Up, District 9, Hangover, Coco avant Chanel, Upperdog... all movies with great reviews, all movies I want to see, but nowhere near having the time to check them all yet. On my to-do-list as of now!
  

Perhaps I'll run into you somewhere in Oslo this weekend!

Happy Birthday to You!

It's my father's birtday today, and this year he turns 49 and is still fit as a fiddle! ...I should perhaps say fiddler, 'cause boy is this man active! Publishing books, fixing up motorbikes & doing karate, all of it next to working a whole lot (how does he find the time?)!

Happy birthday, daddy!

Hope you have a fabulous day!

Photo of the Week: #14

Week 39: "Lady in Red"

This week's pick was a tough one. Lately I haven't been feeling neither inspired nor motivated , and when you feel that neither colourful, adventurous nor beautiful shots do anything for you, it's really hard. Especially since most my photos are either full of colour or depicting some element of travel and adventure.

Therefore, this week's photo is of a person that inspires me. Top of my list of my favorite & most loveable people: my dearest granny!
This funny, happy, well travelled, kind & lovely sweetheart rounded the ripe age of 82 on the 24th of August (Happy Birthday, Granny!) - and she's still going strong. I don't think I know anybody who is as strong & independent as her, and I can think of no better role model when aspiring for greatness.

Granny & I on the bus heading off to Seapoint, Cape Town in 2006

Granny @ Pascal's in Drammensveien back in 2004

Friday Fling!

Happy Friday! I've got the whole weekend off and o'boy is this gal planning to have a lot of F-U-N!!!

For one thing, this evening it's kick-off for a major cultural happening in Oslo, Oslo Kulturnatt 2009! Unfortunately I missed out last year 'cause I was working, but this year I'll be there for sure! There's so many fun, spectacular & exciting things going on all over Oslo, and it's all free - yeah, you heard me - it's FREE!!

------------------------------------------ { UPDATE } ----------------------------------------

Writing this bit Monday evening as I was nowhere near a computer during the weekend. Quite a few of my posts lately have been pre-planned & ready to hit cyberspace on a given time & date. At the momtent I'm finding it hard to remember what I did on Friday. Lets see ... I had the day off, and as I was feeling completely knackered and quite out of my element, I opted for the easy "route" and slept in. Late afternoon, after some "quality time" on the couch with Mr. TV, I headed downtown for a luncheon with a certain miss Elisabeth. Post-lunch window-shopping resulted in a mini-"presskanne" (no idea what that's in English, it's a coffe pot with a filter you press down) & a few pens from Muji @ Åhlens. Ah, also found this stunning autumn jacket in a two coloured tartan pattern (dark-blue with red) at H&M. It fitted perfect and it was a very flattering shape for me - gave me a tiny waiste. The style was reminescent of a vintage flight attendant uniform, so I felt very glamorous in it.

My beau came downtown to meet me after work. Nice to have company on the walk back to Løkka. For dinner we made pesto-marinated salmon fillets baked in the oven. Deliciously yummy! As we both were feeling low on energy, we turned into couch-potatoes for a few hours, while we worked on a plan for the evening. Amazing enough we actually did end up going to one of the Oslokulturnatt events: Greetings from Chaincity + 9 at DogA (The Design & Architecture Center), an exhibition exploring the authenticity of a city. The departure point of the discussion is Venezia and the many copies found around the globe; which is more authentic: the real, material city or the idea of Venezia? The discussion is relevant for Oslo, and thus the discussion is carried on in a video installation on public spaces in Oslo. It was a nice evening, so the walk down to the DogA was worthwhile itself. Sort of mandatory to enjoy what's left of beautiful days & evenings this year!

Finally the evening ended with a couple of episodes of Mad Men, thus making the day simply perfect!!

Quick summary of the rest of the weekend:

• Saturday: Late afternoon coffee with T & AC; sashimi @ Namkang (I was too chicken, so T eat the oyster that came with my sashimi appetizer - major kudos is in order!) & some booty-shaking @ Mono + Internasjonalen (the latter was slow early on and thus replaced by a trip to our favorite club, but horrible music rendered the evening short, until T & I heard the funky music coming from Internasjonalen's 2nd floor. Quick stand in queue and we were set for our last hour of boogie that evening)!
• Sunday: Slept in until late, late afternoon; lazy day infront of couch; a very energetic burst of housework by me & T even later; opted for easy solution for dinner: eat out. Delicious curry & nan-bread @ Cafe Stolen with Frode before evening ended yet again on the couch.

A Public Announcement: Oslo Kulturnatt 2009

Just an update on what's going on in Oslo. This Friday yet time again for OSLO KULTURNATT 2009, an evening fully packed with cultural events of all kinds all over Oslo. Museums, the library, cinemas, dance studios and more going on all evening long - and it's FREE!!!

I only got my hands on the program yesterday afternoon so I haven't looked through it yet, but I'm definately planning on heading downtown to check it out! ...and I recommend that you do the same! Check out the program here!

Don't miss out on Oslo Kulturnatt 2009!

Hot Tip for Dry Lips

If you, like my, are plagued with dry and chapped lips during the cold winter months, I've got a hot tip for you.

Reputably a highly treasured product among models & stylists, Smith's Lip Balm is the best lip balm I've ever come across. I'm so addicted to it that I can't go anywhere without it, and I always have at least 2 at any given time - my way of ensuring that I've got a tin handy in case of a lip crisis. Smith's lip balm comes in several varieties/flavours, the ones pictured here (minted rose & rosebud salve) are my favorites, can be found in most VITA shops & farmacies in Norway and cost around 100 NOK.

I also find that it's superb for softening up cuticles, and I frequently rub it on my elbows to soften the skin there too. "Løp & kjøp" - that's my recommendation!

"Sita Sings the Blues"

Surfing the net earlier today, I came across this amazing animation movie based on the Ramayana (meaning 'Rama's journey'), an ancient Sanskrit epic dating back to around 400-200 B.C. and recognised as a fundamental part of Indian cultural consciousness. The epic is also well-known throughout Southeast Asia.

The plot centres on the characters of Rama (an incarnation of the hindu god Vishnu), his wife Sita (an incarnation of the goddess Lakshmi), and the evil demon king, Ravana. Sita is kidnapped by the demon king and Rama has to undertake a journey, helped along the way by his faithful companions Hanuman and Lakshmana, in order to get her back. The story finally culminates in a battle between Rama and Ravana on the island of Lanka, which ends in victory for the good guys.

Sita Sings the Blues (HD 720p)
Uploaded by Drakar2007 - Full seasons and entire episodes online.

Now I'm no movie expert, nor do I own the techniques to critique, so please do not read too much into this. Here's my thoughts on Sita Sings the Blues:

The story of the movie centres on the theme of lost love & heart ache. The main story is set in ancient times in India and plays out the story of the Ramanyana, parallelled by a second story set in modern day San Francisco-come India-come New York, and is based upon the real-life experience of the director herself , Nina Paley.

The artwork in the movie is really stunning. Highly detailed & colourful, and I think it has a true surrealistic quality to it. The director displays a great repetoire of animation techniques - did I mention that she's a self-taught animator! - mixing elements of photography, print illustrations, cartoonish animation and computerised scribble drawings. There's even sections where traditional-style shaddow puppets narrate the story of the Ramayana in a funny and highly informative way, and end up in discussions on what really happened (according to the FAQ on the film's website it's due to the fact that the people voicing the characters are from different parts of India and grew up with different versions of the story)(BTW, these sections are completely un-scripted!).

Finally, the story is accompanied by beautiful, heartfelt music. Especially worth mentioning here are the songs by jazz/blues singer Annette Hanshaw, who gives the voice to Sita.

Sita Sings the Blues is a stunning/beautiful/amazing movie - it's hard to describe in words what I think about it. All I've got to say is that I loved it! L-O-V-E-D it! ...and I wish I could force all of you to see it too! The movie's just over 80 minutes long, and as far as I'm concerned you wouldn't be wasting 80 minutes of your life (as you do with some movies). Though, don't start watching it unless you've got the time to see all of it.

Now, watch it, watch it I say!!!

A Saturday in this girl's life

Late Saturday evening (past 11pm), and I'm still stuck in the office, just waiting & hoping that it's soon my time to head home. I'm actually feeling quite fatigued today. Probably got something to due with me staying up very late last night watching movies... I'm more than ready to head home to laze in front of the telly, or climb underneath the covers and head of to dreamland. Basically, the only reason I'm even blogging right now is because I'm bored out of my mind! It's another quiet evening in the office (at least for me), but unlike yesterday it feel like time is standing still.

We need some pictures to spice things up! I'm not really into posting outfits &x stuff, but here's a shot of my outfit today. Can't be said to be representative of my usual office look - it's sort for strange, but I feel sort of hippie-chic. In any case it's by far the most unpractical outfit I've worn to work - long skirts really don't work in a restaurant, and I nearly had a fatal incident tripping on my skirt in the staircase - but it's such a COOL skirt, and really comfy too! I thrifted it when the fabulouse Jeni D was packing up her belongings to leave Norway back in May this year, but it's the first time I've been brave enough to wear it out. Note to self: wear it more!

On a fun note; Managed to squeeze in (I literally mean that!) a tiny bit of shopping today. Basically I opted for sleeping in rather than jumping up brighter & earlier to hit the street & burn a hole in my creditcard. It was actually quite hard trying to plan a route that would take me through a majority of the stuff I wanted to buy. Looking for tiki-mugs in a museum shop, buying a pair of ultra-cool earrings, stashing up on seaweed-snacks from an Asian groceries, and more, was on the top of my list. In the end my a choice was made when the #11 tram arrived and I sort of only had 40 min (incl. travel) before I started work. Besides, I just couldn't wait to buy these beautiful earrings until Monday. Also, I stopped by Kremmerhuset @ Aker Brygge to buy that glass & ceramic 'banana leaf' plate I've been ogling. Decorative & great for snacks/candy - okey, I'll admitt I had our next Tiki-party in mind when I bought it ... sorry, still hung up on the tiki...

*Ha ha ha* Just remembered something very funny. When I bought the earrings there was a long queue at the tills, and when it was finally my turn and the lady asked me if I wasn't going to buy anything else... after she'd scanned the goods and was waiting for me to pay. The answer was naturally "No" as I'm working on becoming new, better & more ecomic Shekira, which again is partly spurred on by the fact that I was broke all last month and still recovering from the massive load of bills, though mostly due to a magazine article I read: if you purchase a caffe latte (à 30kr) 5 times a week, you end up using 8100 kr on caffe a year! Now that's at least(!) one shopping trip abroad - tickets, hotel & shopping money included (crazy)! Besides, I don't see any reason to buy stuff that's not needed when I already a few select things that make me happy!

Friday Fling!

Happy Friday!

The week has gone by so fast it's almost difficult to believe it's Friday again. Unlike some lucky people I know, today's not a day off for me. At the moment I'm at work, and man I must say the day has gone by fast even though I startet at 3 o'clock - and it's been practically dead quiet all evening! The past few hours have been spent working on a table-map for a large group coming in December. I'm a perfectionist so I've hardly noticed the time while fiddling with the map details in Paint to get them just right.

Well, what's on this weekend? Pretty much nothing since my beau's off having fun with the boys in Prague (lucky, lucky guy), and my trusted buddies are all busy. AC's working nights in the hospital, it's T's wekend with her son, and who know's what E's up to (probably working). I guess it's just as well, because I'm working all weekend long, though luckily I've got the dayshift on Sunday since Frode is coming home in the afternoon. In any case, no worries, I'm likely to get up to some mischief on my own - for one thing, I can finally go shopping!!!

On another note; As mentioned, the week has gone by pretty fast. In fact I've hardly noticed that it's already September. Started off the week with a cold, which pretty much left me glued to the couch. Figured there wasn't any point heading up to uni to study as there's few things more irritating that a student with a cold (contagious & frequent sniffling and coughing). Not good!.

Last week's entry I said I was hoping for better weather, and we've been lucky. Oslo's had quite a few days this week where the sun has been shining from a clear blue sky and the thermometer has crept over 20 degrees! Nice! Also, payday finally came so I'm no longer broke ... yet! Got quite a few bills to pay, but there's also a few thing I have to invest in, like savings (on the path to a better, richer me) and a pair (or two) of jeans.

Finally, Monday 14th is election day in Norway; for Parliament. I haven't got the time to head down south to vote since I'm registred in that muncipality, but luckily one can cast a vote before the main date in Norway. So called "forhåndsstemming". I did my in duty as a citizen on Wednesday, so now I can just sit back and anxiously await the result on Monday. It's really exciting since the race is quite close between the left & the right. It should come as a surprise, but I'm crossing my fingers that the red/green government stays in power!

Have a fabulous weekend!

Photo of the Week: #13

WEEK 37: " Rural Backyard in Aceh"

Well into my 1st month of again working on my thesis, I find I'm in need of some "academic" related inspiration. This time in the form of a Photo of the Week from Aceh.

I shot this photo during my fieldstudies in Banda Aceh back in the summer for 2007, and it pictures the view from the DEMOS-office, then located in the Ulee Kareng area. As you can see a makeshift building has been constructed while major reconstruction after the 2004 tsunami is still ongoing - and the reconstruction is probably still going on.

To me this photo is a memento of exciting times in my life; a great travel experience and accumulation of academic knowledge. It makes me feel very grateful to have had the possibility go and visit and experience the area & the people I've studied.
It's a constant a source of inspiration in more ways than I can explain, a reminder of how interesting I actually find that it is to study & read about Aceh - the latest anthology I'm reading through, Aceh: The Role of Democracy for Peace and Reconstruction (2009), is a well written & very interesting - and finally it sets me in a peaceful state of mind, which always is a good thing as I gradually get more stressed the quicker D-day (as in deadline) approaches.

Friday Fling!

Happy Friday! Got home from the "office" just over 30 minutes ago and since then I've been "sandwiched" between the couch & the computer. Actually, I'm trying to save up the energy & find the courage to transform myself into little, miss housewife. A role long due, so today I've made an oath to spend som time tidying up & getting organised. Yes, it's indeed needed. But first, here's the usual update on what mischief my weekend holds:

Tonight's a good one! Dinner & a movie with my beau, and this evening we're watching Zack & Miri make a porno. Sort of had a sneakpeak of it while we were in Mandal (my brother was watching it with friends and it was difficult walking past the TV without stopping up to watch), and I know it's going to be very entertaining! Saturday is also promising. For one thing I'm planning on heading up to Blindern to do some work - got a date there with Erle at 1 o'clock. Schoolwork during a the weekend garanties a good conscience! Later that evening there's dinner at our place with the girls (Tonje bought a new wok the other day. Perhaps we should try it out?), perhaps a few drinks and maybe a trip downtown to check out the party (T's got the weekend off, and I'm pretty sure she's up for some dancing). We'll just see what happens... Finally, on Sunday it's the last day of the Indian Highway-exhibition at the Astrup Fearnley gallery. I went to see the exhibition early in June, but this Sunday I'm hoping to get a place on the guided tour. It's really good and I highly recommend it, there's some really great & interesting pieces! Also, I'm suspecting there might be some tidying up planned on Sunday too. Something about "someone's" boxes & junk stashed in someone else's storage facility...

Now, it's time to get my hands dirty.

Have a good weekend!