Strange to be at home again... Seeing my "old" room, my piano (which I haven't even thought about playing on yet - though I most certainly will do so during my brief visit) and people I used to encounter at the grocery shop feels kinda weird. I dunno. It's strange. Feels as if I'm going to wake up again in my flat in Oslo any minute now.
Great to see my family again, though. The rain and gales only made it better. Weather in Oslo is what I would almost coin as "whimpy" (there's no better word for this in English!) - with the intent of illustrating how teeny tiny the raindrops over there are and how weak the wind is. What one would classify as a strong wind over there is basically what I'd call a weak breeze... Crazy.
After having lived away for considerably more than a month it is as if there's some distance between me and my home. I mean, my real home here in Rogaland. Weird. There's no better way to put it.
Meanwhile, I finally came to the conclusion that taking the train back and forth to Oslo is much cheaper and actually more practical than taking a plane. You won't get the issue of luggage weight limit - because there is no friggin' limit! I mean, taking the train is more time-consuming (obv.), ergo more tedious, but you can in theory still bring as many as you like. You also save a couple of hundred kroners as well. Which is always good when you're a student. Even though it's not that much of a difference.
Looking forward to hang with my friends now, even though there's heaps of work that needs to be done, e.g. getting on schedule note-wise on a few courses, and of course the mandatory assignments for this coming Friday and the week after. Blargh! We shall overcome... someday.
Another thing I'm looking forward to is my intended shopping spree in Kvadrat one of these days! Need to get myself some thick sweaters and jeans. Maybe even shoes... But most definitely the second season of 'The Muppet Show', if available! Gotta love that Swedish Chef! One of my favourite characters of the show! Along with Miss Piggy ('Hiiyyah!') and Fozzie Bear (*boooo...*). Hopefully some people will find it in their hearts as to bestow my person with their generous presence and join me for this... Just need to find out who's available first... Any volunteers?! Yoo-hoo...?
Oh yeah, and of course watching my 'Pride & Predjudice' DVD! Man, I've missed watching that series! Plus lots of other movies as well... Dad has just installed a home cinema system in the attic (otherwise known as 'the Itoi Lounge', named after my uncle (priest), who helped us with the creation of the room itself), so I'm getting a bit worried I'll end up as a couch potato during this whole stay - excluding of course the infamous shopping spree.
Anyway, to say all this in one sentence, I'm happy to be home again.
Mahna mahna to you all!
Elise
Saturday, October 07, 2006
Tuesday, October 03, 2006
The Poem/Text/Discourse/whatever you like.
Some thoughts on the impact of Shakespeare on our language
If you cannot understand my argument, and declare "It's Greek to me",
you are quoting Shakespeare;
if you claim to be more sinned against than
sinning, you are quoting Shakespeare;
if you recall your salad days, you are
quoting Shakespeare;
if you act more in sorrow than in anger, if your wish
is father to the thought, if your lost property has vanished into thin air,
you are quoting Shakespeare;
if you have ever refused to budge an inch or
suffered from green-eyed jealousy, of you have played fast and loose, if you
have been tongue-tied, a tower of strength, hoodwinked or in a pickle, if
you have knitted your brows, made a virtue of necessity, insisted on fair
play, slept not one wink, stood on ceremony, danced attendance (on your lord
and master), laughed yourself into stitches, had short shrift, cold comfort
or too much of a good thing, if you have seen better days or lived in a
fool's paradise - why, be that as it may, the more fool you for it is a
foregone conclusion that you are (as good luck would have it) quoting
Shakespeare;
if you think it is early days and clear out bag and baggage,
if you think it is high time and that that is the long and short of it,
if you believe that the game is up and that truth will out even if it
involves your own flesh and blood, if you lie low till the crack of doom
because you suspect foul play, if you have your teeth set on edge (at one
fell swoop) without rhyme or reason, then - to give the devil his due - if
the truth were known (for surely you have a tongue in your head) you are
quoting Shakespeare;
even if you bid me good riddance and send me packing,
if you wish I were dead as a door-nail, if you think I am an eyesore, a
laughing stock, the devil incarnate, a stony-hearted villain, bloody-minded
or a blinking idiot, then - by Jove! O Lord!
Tut, tut!
for goodness' sake!
what the dickens!
but me no buts - it is all one to me, for you are
quoting Shakespeare.
- Bernard Levin
If you cannot understand my argument, and declare "It's Greek to me",
you are quoting Shakespeare;
if you claim to be more sinned against than
sinning, you are quoting Shakespeare;
if you recall your salad days, you are
quoting Shakespeare;
if you act more in sorrow than in anger, if your wish
is father to the thought, if your lost property has vanished into thin air,
you are quoting Shakespeare;
if you have ever refused to budge an inch or
suffered from green-eyed jealousy, of you have played fast and loose, if you
have been tongue-tied, a tower of strength, hoodwinked or in a pickle, if
you have knitted your brows, made a virtue of necessity, insisted on fair
play, slept not one wink, stood on ceremony, danced attendance (on your lord
and master), laughed yourself into stitches, had short shrift, cold comfort
or too much of a good thing, if you have seen better days or lived in a
fool's paradise - why, be that as it may, the more fool you for it is a
foregone conclusion that you are (as good luck would have it) quoting
Shakespeare;
if you think it is early days and clear out bag and baggage,
if you think it is high time and that that is the long and short of it,
if you believe that the game is up and that truth will out even if it
involves your own flesh and blood, if you lie low till the crack of doom
because you suspect foul play, if you have your teeth set on edge (at one
fell swoop) without rhyme or reason, then - to give the devil his due - if
the truth were known (for surely you have a tongue in your head) you are
quoting Shakespeare;
even if you bid me good riddance and send me packing,
if you wish I were dead as a door-nail, if you think I am an eyesore, a
laughing stock, the devil incarnate, a stony-hearted villain, bloody-minded
or a blinking idiot, then - by Jove! O Lord!
Tut, tut!
for goodness' sake!
what the dickens!
but me no buts - it is all one to me, for you are
quoting Shakespeare.
- Bernard Levin
Tuesday, and I feel like writing nonsense again.
So much for trying to cut down on blog entries, eh?! Darn! This is really a serious case of blogitis. I need to see a shrink. Hm. The only thing in the Student Health Service that I need to pay for. Maybe just a "regular" doctor would do the trick. Financially, at least...
Phonetics test tomorrow. Well, actually I'm just going to blabber on a certain topic/read a certain text for 15 mins and get some feedback from the teacher about what to improve. Shouldn't be too bad, I guess. I mean, I've got a bad case of verbal diarrhea (as most girls do...), so that shouldn't be too much of a problem. I think...
The thing is that I'm going to have a dictation test in Phonetics this coming Friday... Still not feeling quite at ease with the use of diphthongs and certain long monophthongs. Not to mention the infamous strong and weak forms of words. And what if the speaker says a sentence one way, then suddenly goes about and changes her way of saying that into another way! The last two things are my weakest points. Gaaaah! I sooo need to study this stuff. Even though we can have 50% of the transcriptions wrong and still pass, I still need to study. I'm aiming to do my best, after all. I'd take the chance of aiming high if I could, but then the chance of me feeling a tad more disappointed when getting the grade would increase. Ergo, I won't go there. I won't go there at all.
Otherwise, I'm still working on a group translation assignment with Marie. Hope to get it done before I head home; would be nice to get that out of the way. Besides, she's really great to work with, and is quite keen on getting the job done. I would even go so far as to claim that she's got more self-discipline than myself! Just wish that some of that would rub off on me...
Lately I've had a hard time concentrating on my studies. Dunno why... I just sit down and try to read whatever I'm supposed to read (be it grammar/translation/phonetics/exfac), and suddenly I realize there's something else that needs to be done, like wash clothes; do the dishes, or words to that effect (OWTTE). Somehow that sounds so much more fun, believe it or not. Procrastination? Fed up with heavy subjects? Too little veggies/fruit in diet? Probably a little of each. I'm not healthy. I need to get healthy.
Hm. Grapes by study table. *munch* There we go. Problem solved. Good. V. good.
For some reason I'm suddenly reminded of a text me and my fellow ISS Graduates (notice the capital 'G'...) got from our beloved and eminent English teacher Ms. Andvik on contemporary use of Shakespearian language (oooh, big words... love it!); and yes, there is such a thing. We (at least those of us who speak English) actually use it more than what we think.
In fact, I hereby grasp the opportunity as to publish this on another entry due to is sheer size. Ok, this text/poem/discourse/(enter fancy big term here) is rather long, so bear with me, yeah?
So there.
Phonetics test tomorrow. Well, actually I'm just going to blabber on a certain topic/read a certain text for 15 mins and get some feedback from the teacher about what to improve. Shouldn't be too bad, I guess. I mean, I've got a bad case of verbal diarrhea (as most girls do...), so that shouldn't be too much of a problem. I think...
The thing is that I'm going to have a dictation test in Phonetics this coming Friday... Still not feeling quite at ease with the use of diphthongs and certain long monophthongs. Not to mention the infamous strong and weak forms of words. And what if the speaker says a sentence one way, then suddenly goes about and changes her way of saying that into another way! The last two things are my weakest points. Gaaaah! I sooo need to study this stuff. Even though we can have 50% of the transcriptions wrong and still pass, I still need to study. I'm aiming to do my best, after all. I'd take the chance of aiming high if I could, but then the chance of me feeling a tad more disappointed when getting the grade would increase. Ergo, I won't go there. I won't go there at all.
Otherwise, I'm still working on a group translation assignment with Marie. Hope to get it done before I head home; would be nice to get that out of the way. Besides, she's really great to work with, and is quite keen on getting the job done. I would even go so far as to claim that she's got more self-discipline than myself! Just wish that some of that would rub off on me...
Lately I've had a hard time concentrating on my studies. Dunno why... I just sit down and try to read whatever I'm supposed to read (be it grammar/translation/phonetics/exfac), and suddenly I realize there's something else that needs to be done, like wash clothes; do the dishes, or words to that effect (OWTTE). Somehow that sounds so much more fun, believe it or not. Procrastination? Fed up with heavy subjects? Too little veggies/fruit in diet? Probably a little of each. I'm not healthy. I need to get healthy.
Hm. Grapes by study table. *munch* There we go. Problem solved. Good. V. good.
For some reason I'm suddenly reminded of a text me and my fellow ISS Graduates (notice the capital 'G'...) got from our beloved and eminent English teacher Ms. Andvik on contemporary use of Shakespearian language (oooh, big words... love it!); and yes, there is such a thing. We (at least those of us who speak English) actually use it more than what we think.
In fact, I hereby grasp the opportunity as to publish this on another entry due to is sheer size. Ok, this text/poem/discourse/(enter fancy big term here) is rather long, so bear with me, yeah?
So there.
Monday, October 02, 2006
Blogstipation, anyone?
The title kinda speaks for itself, dunnit? Lately it's been more like blog diarrhea... Not good. Not good at all. Blargh!
Ya está! Nada más en esta noche! No tengo tanto tiempo. No tengo mucho tiempo. Enmarañamientos. (Una palabra increíble!)
Abrazos y besos por los todos de mi familia querida del ciberespacio! Mwah! Jejejeje...
Saludos,
La conejilla bondadosa.
(Prøveklut, Eilen, en feminin prøveklut.)
Ya está! Nada más en esta noche! No tengo tanto tiempo. No tengo mucho tiempo. Enmarañamientos. (Una palabra increíble!)
Abrazos y besos por los todos de mi familia querida del ciberespacio! Mwah! Jejejeje...
Saludos,
La conejilla bondadosa.
(Prøveklut, Eilen, en feminin prøveklut.)
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
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
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