Jorberis og oliven

Eg gjekk å dafte halvdaue i sju blåe og sju raue, 

Du konne se på meg at det va skitt.

Men det hjalp

Med syltetøy og akevitt.

Eg gjekk å hangla og va skrale i sju høge og sju smale, 

Du konne se det på at eg tog skade. 

Men det hjalp

Med kaffi og remulade.

Eg gjekk og lengta og va leie i sju lange og sju breie, 

Du konne se det på mitt skrukkefjes.

Men det hjalp

Med øl og majones.

Og så kom sommaren og solå og skein i sju timar pluss ein.

Eg blei så glade at eg gjekk på badet

Og vaskte magen

Og kaviar og sjokolade.

Så om du kjenne deg litt kleine og syns at alt står i sju steiner

Finn fram gaffelen og kniven

For det hjelpe

Med jorberis og oliven.

  - Svein Tang Wa

One of my favorite songs, - by a multiartist from my city. 

The three first verses starts with him singing about his feeling bad and sick for a long time, but ends with the words: "But it helped with jam and aquavit/coffee and remoulade/beer and mayonnaise". The fourth verse says: 

"And then summer came and the sun shone for seven hours plus one. 

I was so happy that I went to the bathroom and washed my tummy. 

And caviar and chocolate."

And the fifth tells you that if you ever feel down and that you can't make a change, 

"go get your fork and knife,

because it helps

with strawberry ice cream and olives."

This week has been about great weather, new friends, sign language, salsa, dreads, fun concerts, stories, coffee, jokes, birthdayparty, home made tiramisu, picnic in the park,

 

sunglasses, siesta at the beach,

 

couchsurfers, tattoos, travels

and happiness.

Inspirasjon

Tom travelling by his thumb from England to India 20 years old.

Joke finishing her studies and leaving Belgium the very next day to go travelling alone through Europe, - looking towards South-East Asia.

Couchsurfers bringing too little clothes being forever optimistic about warm weather in Spain.

Young travellers from all over the world getting in a car with a stranger to cross and broaden horizons.

Forever young Tony living and working in strange countries with foreign cultures, travelling all over the world with nothing to lose.

Sam going where his ever new friends are going, living or recommending him to go. Sam asking me, with a frown: "Are you really going to waste a trip to Latin America just so you take your driver's lisence?"

I guess not...

This is your city?

   

Hm.

 

Yes please!

Canned heat

If students in Trondheim had this weather in May/June, they would be complaining about having to study for exams, and not being able to enjoy it. In mid-March we would probably be complaining more about the bad weather than having to study.
Mid-March in Granada the students enjoy early spring and look forward to the next two months of excellent weather. In June they will be complaining more about the weather than having to study for exams in air-conditioned libraries.

I'm still so cocky as to claim I'll have no problem with the heat, - I love warm weather. Let's see how I feel when summer comes, and I have no less than 6 exams in the two last weeks of June, when temperatures easily reach 35 - 40 C.

Cloudless sky and 22 C would be a very nice mid-summer's day in Norway, - I'm soon going to join 6000-8000 people at the Botellódromo (a free zone where it's allowed to drink in public) for the Spring Party! It started 4-5 hours ago, but I still have to eat dinner, take a shower and figure out what to bring, - Calimocho o Tinto de Verano - the traditional drinks (redwine with Coke or Lemon soda, respectively). Or maybe the bottle of Extra Dry Martini in my cupboard...

Just dance!

Musicophilia

Couldn't agree more with Nietzsche, - "Life without music is simply an error, a pain, an exile."

I will never feel old as long as I can discover, enjoy and fall in love with immer mehr songs, bands, artists, melodies, rythms and voices. Here are some of my recent discoveries and growing infatuations and a couple of well established lovers:

Thao Nguyen



The Tallest Man on Earth

Still I am not from Barcelona,
I am not even from Madrid.
I am a native of the North Pole
And that can mess up any kid.

Well if you could reinvent my name,
well if you could redirect my day,
I wanna be the King of Spain.

King of Spain


Jeff Buckley



Geoff Berner

Promise me we won't go into that nightclub
I really think that it's obscene
What kind of people go to meet people
Somewhere they can't be heard or seen

  Keep it light enough to travel


Cold War Kids


And so many more! And tickets to FiB! I've gots them! Sun, beach, beer, friends, strangers, The Stranglers, Beirut, The Strokes, Portishead, Mumford & Sons, Friendly Fires, The Streets, Arctic Monkeys, and <3 Arcade Fire <3 ! Check out their awesome DIY music video, - while we wait...

Do You?

Do You know what kind of person You are? Or what kind of person You want to be? I have got some idea of what properties I posess, - both good and bad. But I'm starting to wonder if labels as "good" and "bad" are mixed up, or indeed, valid at all. Are you a good person if you tip-toe through life careful not to step on anyone's toes, or does that make you weak? If You don't care what people think, will that make them respect You, or resent You? If You do someone a big favor, does it make You feel good that You helped someone, or bad that they didn't appreciate it more? Do You suffer alone because You don't want to be a bother to others by asking for help, or do You feel proud to be so independent? Can You speak out your disgust for racism and discrimination to one side before turning to the other side and say "That's Italians for ya"? Do You think You are not taking yourself too seriously as long as You can make jokes about Yourself? Are You easygoing, or in fact desperate to make people like You? By making others like You, do you make You like You? Can You expect others to love You if You do not love You? Do You also dwell on good things said or done, or only on bad things? Do You congratulate Yourself on having kept your temper, or kick Yourself for not having spoken up? Do You feel that a fight cleans the air or pollutes it? Does it tire You more to say NO or YES? When someone greets You with "Hi, how are you?" on a bad day, Do You instinctively answer "I'm fine", or do You instinctively tell the truth? After leaning on a friend, do You feel glad that (s)he was there for You, or sad that You ruined the good mood? By chearing others up with words You do not believe in Yourself, are You being a ray of sunshine, or a hypocrite? Are You more scared to take a stand, or to remain open to all sides? When a stranger gives You a compliment, do You thank them or snap at them in disbelief? When You look in the mirror in the morning, do You smile or frown?

I imagine that there are two kinds of people: those who feel they understand themselves and therefore have no need for everyone else to understand them; and those who do not understand themselves and therefore crave that others do.

Maybe it's not a stupid joke afterall, - that those studying psychology do so to figure out themselves more than others.

Maybe that's not such a bad idea anyway.

First week of school - first week of summer vacation

My first week of the second semester was about sun, family, café, good bye parties, food, sightseeing, skiing, sun screen and more sun!
In fact, very little school... In fact, we got both Friday and yesterday off... It's colder now, but I still don't feel at all ready to start second semester. I want more vacation! More days like we had last week, - sunny, hot and spent sightseeing from café to café!

Together with my mom, grandma and aunt (actually my mom's second cousin), we went touristing Granada, - I finally got to see Alhambra!

Impressing!