Next up: SUMMER

I can feel how summer's getting closer by the minute and hopefully before I know it, I'll be done with all my exams, open the door and greet summer at the doorstep. Only a couple of more weeks to go and it's official: I have an education and a great summer awaiting. I have so much to look forward to: camping trips, hiking in the mountains, concerts, festivals, friends, wine, sunshine, swimming in the ocean and strawberries. Life is fantastic!

One of the festivals I'm attending is the Hove festival in Arendal, where I'm lucky enough to have two of my favorite bands playing on the same day: Muse and Paramore. Excited doesn't even start to explain how psyched I am!

Paramore with "The only exception" came up on my playlist and served me a plate of motivation for tomorrow's exam. Time to spread some good music around :)

The regulars

Everyone have some websites they check every time they're online or at least once a day. Besides online newspapers, my e-mail, the school network and so on, I allow myself to check out a couple of pages that are laughing-guarantees. One of these are Very Demotivational and today it was filled with too much good stuff to not pass around. Have a laugh!

By the way, what the heck is WRONG with ppl???

Angels in disguise

I think everyone has somebody whom they have a special bond to and many also face having this person separated from one by both time and space. I am lucky enough to have a few of these ppl whose friendships I find myself in lack of words of describing the value of. Some of these friends are close enough to brighten up my day by their physical presence, but there are some who are on the other side of the ocean, the continent or the globe. It pains me not being able to see, speak and hug them whenever I want or need to, but knowing and confirming over and over again that our friendship is still just as strong, soothes me and gives me tranquility.

No matter where I am in the world, there will always be someone missing; someone I wish could be closer. The inevitable fact that ppl of the globe are endlessly fluctuating makes this impossible no matter how much I wave my magic wand. Therefore one needs to enjoy and take care of the moments one gets to spend with these magnificent ppl who bring that magic sparkle to your life.

I had a long conversation online with one of these unimaginable uniquely fantastic ppl whom I am forever grateful to have in my life. To be able to sit in separate corners of the world sharing global concerns, hilarious stories and mutual excitement and interest in events occurring in each other's lives is pretty great. Who would ever know that it took the point of view from someone across the deep blue sea to give me the right perspective and untangle the knots that were tightening by the minute?

Little did I know when I left Norway in 2005 for a year abroad in the US, that I would meet a handful of ppl who would influence me in numerous ways and change my life forever and become some of my closest and dearest friends? Life absolutely works in mysterious ways and I'm glad it's a mystery. If we already knew all the answers, then the clues and the guidelines along the way would become insignificant objects and happenings which we did not have to ascribe meaning. We would not been given the adventurous opportunity to seek knowledge, experience and gratitude in the smaller things we are unable to neglect due to our constant curiosity and need for answers. Let life be a mystery and unravel it alongside your friends.

Thank you for being a part of my journey thru life.

Heavenly bread

I've always enjoyed cooking and baking, and I might spend more time than the average Joe/Jane in the kitchen. Today I made a wonderful scampi-mango wok which was so good that I didn't even get a chance to take a picture of it. Next time :)

With this in mind it might not come as a surprise that I prefer to bake my own bread. It took some time finding a recipe that I really liked and since I'm involuntary vegan (I'm a vegetarian and also allergic to milk) I had to make sure I found a good recipe which did not contain milk. After some strolling around in the world of full grain bread recipes, I ended up deciding on one only adding a few of my own adjustments. It's very tasty and I can't wait to get up in the morning to have breakfast and then waiting a couple of more hours to have lunch.

Here's the magical recipe (2 loaves):

• 1 liter water
• 50 g yeast
• 2,5 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• approximately 1 dl olive oil
• 2 dl wheat bran
• 2 dl wheat germ
• 4 dl wholemeal flour
• 4 dl wholemeal rye
• approximately 7,5 dl flour
• sesame seeds
• sunflower seeds
• linseeds

Add all the dry ingredients (including the seeds) except wheat flour and stir thoroughly. Heat the water to 37 C. Stir the yeast in some of the water and mix all the yeast and the rest of the water in the batter bowl. Knead the dough well. Add the flour bit by bit to make the dough firm. Don't let the dough become too hard and firm. It's better to leave it a tad soft and light before it is set aside to rise.

Cover the dough with plastic and let it rise to double size for 30-40 minutes in a sheltered place.

Turn the dough on the table. Knead it smooth and add some more flour if too soft and light. Make sure it doesn't turn firm. Cut it in half and shape it into two loaves laid in well-greased tins that take 1 1/2 liters. Cover them with cloth and let it rise for about 30 minutes. Bake on lowest rack in oven at 200 C for 50-60 minutes. I do not recommend hot air baking. Cool on a rack.

Enjoy!

MGP/ESC

You can't ignore it, whether you want to or not. It's everywhere! On the news, online, on the radio.. It's getting closer; the countdown is coming to an end. All of Europe's eyes are turning towards Norway. The biggest event of the year is within an arm's reach. This is what we've all been waiting for! THE EUROVISION SONG CONTEST!

Don't you just love how it's possible to put all the one-line-movie-trailer-chliches into the wonders of the Eurovision Song Contest (or Melodi Grand Prix as we call it in Norway). Unfortunately, it's all true. This is what Europe goes completely nuts over once a year, and since Norway was the winner last year, we get to host the competition this year. The day when Europe stands still and all eyes are - literally - on Norway, is the 29th of May.

I'm not a big ESC enthusiast so I'm not really up to date when it comes to the songs, the show and participants, but my eye caught a headline on one of the tabloids online which I could not ignore. I bet the combination of curiosity and, for once, a good headline is to blame, but I'm glad it did. The Ukrainian contribution "Sweet People" turns out to be an ideological promotion of global responsibility in the typical Michael-Jackson-Earth-Song-spirit. The singer, Alyosha, recently made a music video to the song recorded in a town close to the nuclear disaster of Chernobyl in 1986.

I think it's great that a major event like the ESC is being used for ideological purposes and to send a message. Once again it makes you reflect upon and consider the coincidental fact that we live in a peaceful part of the world, and how lucky we truly are.