Author: Mirthful

News in briefs

Mirthful 3 Comments

…or shorts, if you like.

– If the parties that make up our coalition government were in agreement all the time they wouldn’t need to be three parties. Could the media please stop trying to make a mountain of a molehill? (No, I guess not.)

– If Ingrid Betancourt doesn’t want to talk about her experiences as a hostage, perhaps she ought to stop saying yes to appearing on talk shows? (Or: What the f was Grosvold supposed to ask her? “So, uhm, which celebrity would you most like to have sex with?”? No, I didn’t watch the show so I don’t actually have any idea of what I’m talking about.)

–  Best line ever on Nytt på nytt this evening and now I’ve forgotten what it was. I might have to watch it again online just to find out.

– Does anyone (outside his and her immediate circle of family/friends) actually, seriously care that Peter Nortug has a new girlfriend?

– NaBloPoMo didn’t quite work out for me, did it?

Budgeting

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Is not something I do well. I’m terrible with money. Ok, not so terrible that I need a tv-team to sort things out for me (well, not yet, anyway), but bad enough. However, I have ambitions, and this is probably a good thing, and to inspire me and perhaps give me a few tips (or a lot of tips), I’ve been subscribing to Simple Mom on Bloglines.

Oh, yeah, I started reading blogs through Bloglines lately. Didn’t I tell you? I love it!

Anyway, Simple Mom is having a giveaway, and we all love giveaways, don’t we? This one is for an Epson do-dah that basically does everything except make the tea. Head over and have a look.

In addition to Bloglines, I also started using Delicious lately, and I can no longer remember whether that was prompted by Simple Mom or whether I suddenly remembered that I’d been meaning to check it out all by myself. In any case, it’s great. I keep bookmarking all sorts of stuff. One day I’lll actually use it to find things I’ve bookmarked, too. Kidding, I already do that. If you’re curious about what I’ve been bookmarking (lots of recipies and digilayouts, basically, as well as a general mish-mash of other stuff), you can find me here. If you use Delicious, too, please add me to your network and share your own finds with me.

Congratulations

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Mr. soon-to-be President. May you acomplish all you imagined you might be able to do, and have fun doing so.

And congratulations to you, the people of the United States of America. You did the right thing. I am profoundly grateful.

Edit: You need to read this and this (via – yes, they made me tear up, too. Sentimental sap that I am.).

Another edit: Not all the news are good, though.

Dear John

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We need a break, my love and I. (No, not the husband. We, in fact, have had an involuntary break of a couple of days and it was horrible, so no more breaks there, please.) My other love, my first love, really: Fiction. We’re in a rut, s funk, the dumps. Peevishly glaring at each other. Finding faults. Niggling. It’s not pretty.

I don’t know what it is, precicely, but I can’t seem to find a novel I’m happy with these days. Ok, so it’s only a few weeks since I finished The Unbearable Lightness of Scones, and that was indubitably a wonderful experience and a book worth climbing mountains and fording rivers for (should such things be necessary), however, that is the only piece of fiction (unless you count what’s in the newspapers, which, possibly, you should) I’ve finished since August, and it’s getting me down. I tried reading Are Kalvø’s Nød and almost threw it across the bus. I tried Jan Kjærstad’s Kongen av Europa and considered writing to Jasper Fforde to ask if he could send a hired killer for the main character (or possibly the author, but that wouldn’t stop the book, so why bother?). I started Cornelia Funke’s The Thief Lord and put it away almost immediately because I really do want to read it so I didn’t want to get far enough to get mad at it. I’ve looked at the books in my tbr pile (the physical one) and I can’t find a single one that says “read me now!”. I’m in that mood where I crave a good nove, but every novel I try seems contrived and petty and full of silly mistakes that the editors should really have exterminated. I’m reading Anne McCaffrey’s Freedom’s Landing and I ought to love it but she used “specimen” twice when I’m pretty sure she means “species” and I get impatient with her for creating minor characters that are petty, ignorant, prejudiced and blatant fools, when all she is trying to do is portray human foibles.

What is a girl to do?

Well, I’ll finish Freedom’s Landing, and then I’ll take a nice long break from Fiction. I’ll see other genres, and I’m pretty sure he’ll see other people, and then in a few months we’ll fall in love all over again. I hope. Facing a future without Fiction is too bleak a scenario to contemplate.

Castles in the air

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Tigtog at Hoyden about Town choses 8 dream homes, apparently the meme is in reference to the McCains’ eight (or so, no one seems to be entirely sure) homes. Anyway, it got me thinking, so I thought I might as well note down my thoughts…

1. Large, oldish villa in one of Trondheim’s quieter areas, preferably with a view of the fjord – Singsaker would be good, except it’s overrun by students on a regular basis, so I guess I’d go for someplace else.

2. A roomy cottage somewhere in Scotland, on an island or near the coast. On Skye, for example, conveniently close to L&P in Balmacara, or on Islay, conveniently close to Ardbeg and Lagavulin.

3. Edinburgh – a flat. Scotland street would be fun.

4. London – a bedsit would do, really. Who wants to spend time inside when in London? We’d need a big bed and a kitchen large enough for tea, coffee and bacon-and-eggs. Though come to think of it, a separate sleeping space for the lass would probably be nice. So now we’re talking two-bedroom apartment, aren’t we? Anyway, in Islington, Camden, Kensington, somewhere with good pubs nearby, but to be honest that sort of includes most of London. Still, it’s worth mentioning, I guess.

5. I’ve always wanted to try living in New York – in “the village” in particular – despite never having been and despite not really wanting to live in the US. So studio flat in the village it is.

6. Somewhere I could keep horses. Iceland would be fun. Possibly also quite cheap just now. This home would have to come with (a lot of) staff, as someone would need to take care of the horses when we’re not there.

7. Somewhere warm, but not too warm. A place that has a beach and which will mostly have temperatures of around 20-22 degrees celcius when we have minus ten here, somewhere to spend January and February.

8. A posh flat in one of the more interesting European cities, Paris, Prague, Barcelona, Vienna. We might change this one every other year or so…

Also, I think I’m probably overly ambitious, but I signed up for NaBloPoMo. Perhaps I can breathe som life into the 365 days thing at the same time. We’ll see.