Hi, my name's Elise, and I'm a blog-a-holic.

I'm not addicted. Really, I'm not. (My new mantra, btw.)

Hmph. Apparently TV2's going to air a documentary where they'll supposedly show the infamous Muhammed caricatures tonight. Have to hand it to these people, though; if they do show the pictures they've really got some nerve.

Heh, sounds like I've shifted on my opinions on the whole "freedom of speech vs. freedom of religion" debate. In fact, I haven't. It's just that bygones should remain bygones. Nothing more, nothing less. I mean, revealing the pictures now after the violent reactions in the Middle East with respect to those caricatures have eventually died down doesn't seem to be much of a good idea. There's no use of rekindling that kind of blaze again. Why would one, anyways? What's the point? Just some arrogant flaunting of freedom of speech? That's how I see it. Once is enough. More than enough.

Personally I am not opposed to this sort of demonstration. People can - and should - say what they believe in and stand by that, no matter how provocative their opinions may be. Heck, you see it all the time. Remember when someone (can't remember the name of the fella) once said that the Bible was a nice/entertaining storybook? The whole Christian community of Norway was in full uproar because of that one provocative statement. And obviously we all know about the regard that Muslim extremists have of western countries. I shouldn't need to spell that out. And, of course, there's the "daVinci Code". I shouldn't have to spell that out either.

Anyway, my point is that freedom of speech is something that is essential in democratic societies today. Still, I believe in freedom of speech to a certain extent. Stating such things once or twice is fine, but when there is a seemingly endless chain of such remarks it can get a little too much for me to cope with. Regardless of who says (or otherwise expresses) what and how.

If the documentary tonight (which I'm most definitely going to watch, because of the intriguing topic) shows those pictures, my view of Norway's foreign policies will get an ever-so-slight tweak to it. To say the very least. Now that would be western arrogance at its best. There is, after all, a little something called 'respect towards individuals' as well.

When I first came to Oslo I managed to befriend a Muslim lady who has taught me so much about her faith and lifestyle. All I'd heard until then was basically the stereotypical stuff; the halal concept, Ramadan, Muhammed's role in Islam, Shias and Sunnis, Mecca, prayers 5 times a day and... well, the rest was more or less based on the impression I got from the media... Which was somewhat unfortunate, really. Nevertheless, I'm glad I've got her as my friend. Certain things just need some clarification... Yes, Muslims are still conservative and hold a strong tie to the past (which may act as a sort of restriction for them to 'move with the times'), but their faith is so devout and strong it's almost touching. Even for me as a Catholic. I can definitely relate to it. Anyway, I'm probably going off on a tangent now. Please find it in your eminent hearts to be so inclined as to exuse me for my sudden outburst of political and religious reveries.

Dude. That was some sentence.

Cool.

Big words and confusing/intricate sentences are my thing. Words/terms like concoction, scrutinizing, effulgent (FYI, see URL of blog), interrogative, subject predicative, gloat, oblique object, hoity-toity and even bollocks sound almost like music to my ears... Man, am I taking the right course programme, or what? *lol*

Speaking of music, I'm just 5 days left from being able to tickle my precious ivories! ("My precioussssssssss...") I'm-a homeward bound, people! Still got tons of uni-related stuff to do while I'm there, but hey, I'm-a headin' home, y'all! Woohoo! *happy dance* Home to family, house, best friends next door (hopefully...), noisy dogs, cows grazing outside the kitchen window, view of the Atlantic Ocean from the 1st floor and last, but not least... the sweet smell of cow manure... Aaah... (Joking, obv.! I'm not that crazy about it, to be honest! But it does give a homey sort of feeling in me.) Can't wait! Am all psyched up! In fact, I wanna go home now! NOW, I tell you! NOW!

Enough blogging for one evening, already. Have to study for a dictation test for Phonetics (on Friday, but still need to work on some stuff), read up on a couple of ENDLESSLY INFINITE (that was well put, wasn't it? An ever so subtle hyperbole there, innit?) chapters for Grammar and ExFac and... perhaps also work on a Translation mandatory assignment with Marie later this evening. I dunno. We'll see.

Lemme just end this entry with a quote from one of my all-time favorite novels: "It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife." Eilen, had to steal this one from you! Sorry... Good that Ms. Austen isn't exactly copyright, eh? (Or is she? Never got myself quite updated on that...)

One could probably also turn it around so that it applies to women, so that the quote becomes as follows: "It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single woman of good fortune must be in want of a husband". But in my case my fortune would be scarce indeed. Rather limited to the monthly payments from the oh-so-generous State of Norway to us poor poor students ("stakkars fattige studenter", mind you. I did not repeat myself).

Ok, this is getting absurd. And time goes too fast.

Must. Read. Grammar. Must. Study. Phonetics.

"Yaaar..." (Direct quote from Charles Field, esq.. ISS, anyone? *giggle*)
Elise