Caffeinated Ambrosia: Or How This Blog Runs on Coffee
26 May 2012 Leave a Comment
in Photos, Re-blogged entries, Uncategorized
My proclivity for drinking coffee stems from an innate hatred of mornings. I like the nightlife; I like to boogie – so while most people are bounding out of bed yipping about sunshine and lollipops in super-chipper voices, I’m calling the alarm clock a filthy name, hoping I don’t break yet another snooze button.
Randomness Recharged
13 Apr 2012 Leave a Comment
Hey all,
I was talking to a fellow student over the Facebook chat the other night. She needed more pictures for her own blog, and I wanted to update this one. But I think we both felt a bit out of blogging mojo – in spite of myself having a bunch of drafts lying around (some of them from when I started here on WordPress a couple of years ago).
One of the reasons why I started blogging more regularly often was that I wanted to get into a proper rythm and get a bit of practice – and most important: “speak” (write) my mind and communicate various things to the rest of the world. I wanted communication through writing to be part of my professional life as well as wanting a place to share aforementioned various things.
But then something went… wrong. Or maybe not wrong, but not how it should have gone. I came up with other blogs.
One blog was Eksilkøbenhavneren, where I wanted to share the process of moving from Copenhagen to Aarhus in order to study dramaturgy at Aarhus University. It still holds its validity as it is written for my Danish friends and family, and thus it’s written in Danish. But many of my personal reflections moved away from this present blog when creating Eksilkøbenhavneren.
Another blog is Stage Takeoff. Initially having a drive for travel that is about as dominating as the drive to do theater, it didn’t take much inspiration to start a blog that would be based on the combination of the two. But what happened was that I took everything theater up on that blog – although that wasn’t the initial plan with neither ye olde present blog nor Stage Takeoff.
Suddenly the themes that were important to me were outsourced to the aforementioned blogs (I even made a blog specific for travel updates, but it was barely updated, and in retrospect really vague and barely worth the time) – and it is as if focus was removed from here instead of using the blog as a centering unit.
The only thing happening to Eksilkøbenhavneren will probably be no more than just start blogging on it again. But both this, my personal blog, and Stage Takeoff will have a minor overhaul each. I will be taking a look at all of my blogs and collect evrything possible right here on my personal blog. Stage Takeoff will go back to be the combination of theater and travel (occasional stints will be rare and/or limited to the matching Twitteraccount).
As for the future – I don’t know where I will be going with writing, but as it is it doesn’t seem as if I have the basis to create something new to write about theater (or anything else for that matter) from a personal perspective on. If I have anything to say on theater, it will either have to be from here, from Stage Takeoff, or from the platform of those I write for (and in the case of the latter, I will to my best to either retreive permission to re-post it, digitally scrapbook it, or link it from here). The day I have the basis to start a professional blog on theater, I will. Until then I see no need not to “exploid” my own personal corner of the Interwebs for the cause.
Yours truly.
Where’d My Teeth Go?!
25 Aug 2011 Leave a Comment
I was just watching TV earlier today – something which is becoming a new favorite of mine: “Markante Meninger” on TV2 OJ (the regional part of TV2 Denmark in Eastern Jutland, including Aarhus and its greater area where I live and study). “Markante meninger” means something like “significant opinions”. Two individuals are invited to discuss a small handful of current subjects – and I find that this is usually done in a pleasent manner. A favorite repeat individual of mine is Lotte Heise, an author and lecturer who is famous for saying a lot in a short amount of time (and being hilariously good at that).
One of the subjects that came up were children’s and teenagers’ teeth being severely damaged from acid which soda and fruit juice contains. There were some explicit photos from Tandplejen (dentists attached to primary schools in Denmark – and let me remind you again that the primary school in Denmark is up to the 9th and optional 10th form), showing teeth damaged by acid, from drinking soda and juice.
Honestly, this is the first time it occurred to me what happened to a specific trade of my teeth. I used to take lessons in horseback riding which included being thrown off by a horse every now and then. At some point, I chipped my tooth in the fall. That can’t be seen today. Granted, it was not much more than a tiny splinter – definitely not as obvious as Jim Carrey in “Dumb and Dumber” – and it has been a few years since then to say the least, but it does squeal about how “good” I have been at choosing water all by myself as a youngster (it didn’t get better until recent years).
The question for debate was what was to be done to avoid these sort of damages to children’s teeth.
I remember the first time I was in secondary school (gymnasiet), I remember there being a vending machine from Coca-Cola in the hallway, and the cafeteria selling sodas from Pepsi. Luckily, as it was pointed out in the program, most schools have removed this sort of vending machines. And Lotte Heise had a good point of giving her children some lemonade for lunch, but then have them drink water the rest of the day (and for that reason, the school cafeteria shouldn’t sell sodas, juice, etc.). She also had a point (as I understood it) with a bottle with a screw cap becoming sort of a nursing bottle (or as I would put it: a sippy cup – but her imagery is better!); you just automatically and mindlessly drink from it – and that not being a problem as long as the contents of the bottle is water; the problem occurs when the contents is soda, juice, etc.
Her opponent had an excellent point in each individual having a responsability for oneself, and I do agree on that part; but I have to agree with Heise that at primary school age, the parents have a responsability as well. Adults know right from wrong, good from bad, and healthy from unhealthy. They have to pass that on to the kids – and no, I don’t think that is done by putting wrong, bad, and unhealthy right there in front of the children’s noses. Then it’s too easy to react to the impulses from one’s reptile brain (lust = “I want”).
I’m not saying that removing these beverages from school compound will stop the students completely – no beverages were sold at my primary school, and as we grew older and had signed consent forms from our parents saying that we could leave school compounds on our own, we could just went to the convenient stores and supermarkets nearby in the longer breaks if we really wanted it – but it’s a start.
Speaking from experience, it’s easy to choose water instead of soda when being used to drinking water. But that’s the thing, you have to be used to it. It has to be a habit. Being an addict of caffeine and lover of sweets myself I know how difficult it can be to make that choice sometimes – and luckily I’m a fan of coffee with access to a coffee machine, places to buy and grind my coffee, and the money to buy coffee. Thus I’m able to kill my desire for caffeine with a cup or two and drink water when thirsty on a daily basis. And again, an addiction is related to habits in my humble opinion – something I don’t really need, but has been incorporated thoughout life.
When Heise spoke of the explicit warnings on packs of cigarettes and suggested that dentists came to the schools to show off the explicit images of what happens when teeth collide with too much acidy matter, I came to think that it might not be a bad idea. Not only do we have school nurses who I remember speaking of overweight with a boy in my class, but we also have sexual education – so why not learn about what bad stuff do to our bodies? I remember the boy being pretty open about his weight (we went to regular chats with the nurse in pairs), people actually being interested, and even the boys engaged in sex ed and saying things properly (like asking serious questions using the word penis instead of bad or everyday words for it), so why not?
Just my two cents.
Edit: Watch the show right here. Just know that it’s in Danish.
Norway
29 Jul 2011 Leave a Comment
It’s been a week since the tragedy in Norway – and finally, I think I’m able to think somewhere in the area of clear about it, let alone have an overview of it. During the weekend I was quickly filled with the constant breaking news of bombing, shooting, shock, death numbers, the list goes on, and soon I was unable to contain much more. I’m not sure whether or not I would have been able to attend any of the events supporting Norway and those affected by the tragedy, but rest assured that I was there in spirit (and even watched the live transmission of the memorial service from the Cathedral of Copenhagen, Our Lady’s Church, on Wednesday) and that I do include all of this in my prayers.
I have to admit that one of my first thoughts when I heard that someone was doing a massacre was whether he was Muslim or not. If that would have been the case, I wouldn’t have been surprised, only ever so disappointed that there would be yet another reason for people to point fingers at Muslims – so granted, I was initially relieved when I heard that he was described as an ethnic Norwegian Christian (as I would if he was more generally described as Scandinavian or Caucasian Christian, for that matter).
But my relief didn’t last long. Bombings and massacres are nothing to be relieved about, nor is the identity of a bomber/murderer, no matter his/her background. Bombing and murdering is wrong, no matter the magnitude of it. What has been shocking me the most is that this has been planned for so long, so many people died, and that so many of the people who died were so young. And it only enhances it that their political orientation is so close to mine (I’m not a Social Democrat; I’m further on the left on the political scale – but the party I’m currently a member of is the “neighbor” to Arbeiterpartiet’s Danish sister party).
As I have previously pondered with other terrorist attacks, I can’t help but wonder what the people behind it was/were thinking; if they truly are of an Abramic faith (Judaism, Christianity, Islam) and, as many do, speak of having to follow the rules of their faith, then why is it that they insist on breaking one of the Ten Commandments so thoroughly: “Thou shalt not kill” (the sixth commandment, Ex. 20:13)? That, to me, is one of the commandments that hurts people the most when broken. As a Christian one should also remember the Greatest Commandment (Matt. 22:34-40), which I have heard interpreted as having respect for your fellow human beings. Killing other people, their friends, their family members isn’t very respectful now, is it? I’m no angel and I do understand how it feels to thoroughly disagree with your government (doi, understanding since 2001!), but I know democracy and to wait my turn until the next election. I’m not saying that I would sit on my butt while waiting my turn or stay quiet if I see injustice from a governmental entity, but I do do democracy.
What I do enjoy in this entire mess is that I finally agree with people like PM Løkke and PM Cameron on something: the necessesity of staying together, uniting, through this and never to seize exercising our rights and freedoms as citizens of a democratic society (and I’m sure I could go on – I do remember hearing them both speak after the tragedy, and I generally agreed).
I’m not sure of how to end this. We’re lucky here in Denmark; although we had attempts of terrorism around here, but those have predominantly been averted (the worst case coming to mind is a bomb going off in a toilet at a hotel in Copenhagen). Hopefully we will stay as safe as that in the future.
“Nyfødt” dramaturgistuderende søger bolig i Århus
22 Aug 2010 Leave a Comment
Kære alle,
Da jeg er blevet optaget på et universitet i en by langt hjemmefra, står jeg nu og mangler en bolig – nærmere betegnet i Århus og omegn.
Jeg er 27 år, hunkøn, ikke-ryger (med mindre jeg bliver sat ved siden af en moden vandpibe – så gi’r jeg et glas tyrkisk the), sprogligt velbegavet, og frem for alt dramaturgistuderende med forkærlighed for Shakespeare, Andrew Lloyd Webber, stand-up, skrako, og et anstrøg af nycirkus. Generelt stille og rolig, er blevet beskrevet som empatisk, og hvis jeg larmer for meget, skruer jeg gerne ned, når jeg bliver gjort opmærksom på problemet (/udfordringen/anledningen til løsningen).
Normalt har jeg ikke noget imod at pendle, hvis det er indenfor rimelighedens grænser, men jeg synes nu at seks timer hver dag (omkrings de tre timer hver vej mellem København og Århus) i fem-syv år er lige i overkanten – specielt da jeg også gerne vil have mulighed for at kunne følge med i det lokalt sociale aspekt af studiet.
Er der nogen, der står med noget i Århus og omegn, men tænker, at det offentlige transportsystem kun er på tværs, har jeg en cykel, der kan tages i brug – så det burde ikke være et problem.
Hvis du kender til et ledigt sted at bo, eller hvis du kender nogen, der kender nogen (ex. hvis din onkels fætters nieces bedstemors bedste strikkeklubsveninde har et ledigt værelse), giv gerne lyd, send videre, eller tag passende individer i noten på Facebook.
Kærlig hilsen,
Unna L. Wildt.
P.S. Opslaget findes også på Facebook, så kan facebookerne selv tage stilling til, hvilket opslag, der skal bruges. Link til opslag på Facebook
“Let’s Eat Grandma!”
25 Jul 2010 1 Comment
in Uncategorized Tags: Eddie Izzard, Facebook, language, SciFi Channel, spelling, Star Trek, SyFy Channel, Thomas Hartmann
Well, that’s what I though of when reading a couple of blogposts today. It’s taken from a page that I “like” on Facebook: ‘Let’s eat Grandma!’ or, ‘Let’s eat, Grandma!’ Punctuation saves lives. Yes, I also “like” The correct usage of “You’re”, “Your”, “There”, “Their” and “They’re”, just like I probably would click the “Like” button of I find a fanpage on the correct usage of “new”/“knew”, “right”/“rite”/“write”, “where”/“were”/“we’re”, “its”/“it’s”, “sue”/“sew”, and “to”/“too”/“two”/“2”. And yes, I also think that people legal age and up still using an eloquent text speak should grow the fuck up – YOU LEARNED HOW TO SPELL IN PRIMARY SCHOOL! (*cough* pardon me my French and high volume).
Just for the sake of it, I think I should mention that primary school up here includes the 9th and the optional 10th form, and that part of the tests when concluding this is dictation; it’s one of the five compulsory tests (at least when I finished the 9th form back in 1999). You would think that somewhere in between nine and 11 years of school, depending on whether or not you’re taking preschool and/or the 10th form, would equip you to spell correctly, right?
Oh, and did I mention that English isn’t my first language? All things considered, I believe it’s my third (unless we’re talking formal classes – then it’s my second. In that case I should know Latin, too, but that’s not the entire truth).
This is why I agree with many commenters of the SciFi/SyFy Channel post that it’s frustrating and demeaning that SciFi should be spelled SyFy because some big-shot thinks it will attract more people. Frustrating because it alienates the actual core viewers, demeaning because it seems that others wouldn’t know how to spell “science fiction” or its abbrevation to save their lives (at least in the eyes of those responsible of the name change). Either you’re a nerd/geek (supposedly) or you don’t know how to spell.
Honestly, I don’t consider myself a nerd/geek in the world of science fiction (for my non-Christian/atheist friends/acquintances/readers: stop giggling – I call upon my constitutional right to have as many “invisible friends” as I want to), but I do believe that I know how to spell. In six different languages (some with dialects/accents), even. If I don’t know or am insecure of the spelling of a word, I’m usually able to deliver a qualified guess (in up to nine different languages, I dare say). I do enjoy my occasional fix of Star Trek: The Next Generation (or should I just say ST:TNG), but I feel that the joke is on me if I have to go to a channel calling itself SyFy to get that fix. Actually, as it’s spelled out, the litteral meaning of it in my language is a no-go within sewing!
Anyway. While reading the comments, I came across a link to another post about taking nicknames or common abbrevations as the official name. Well, I don’t think that’s necessary, either! The story about YMCA officially becoming The Y seems off to me as it’s an abbrevation of an abbrevation! Just like the abbrevation KFC would be meaningless without the full name – Kentucky Fried Chicken (nope, the Chicken isn’t Kitchen Fresh!).
Just to illustrate it (albeit with an extreme example), I’d like to quote the Danish comedian Thomas Hartmann in the role of the (eco)stoned hippie, Buller: “Your real name isn’t what you’re nicknamed. If that was the case, my mom’s real name would be Fat Bitch.”
Coming to the article about the people protesting against how the English language is spelled, I see their point and partially agree on Eddie Izzard’s “that’s trying to cheat at scrabble”. Still, I’m not sure that that is necessarily the reason why there’s such a huge part of the American population who have trouble learning to read, write, and spell.
To be frank, I know I wasn’t in the back of the line when it came to linguistic talent/intelligence. Yet I can’t help but thinking that if I am able to juggle two handfuls of living, non-fictional languages (with dialects, silent letters, and odd spellings and pronounciations) the way I can, then why is it so difficult for natives to handle what may be the most popular dialect of such a common language as their one and only language? And speaking of sewing – should sewing or sueing have the right to be spelled sooing?
Knowing a language and appreciating the crowd you already have seems like such simple and easy things to do in my optics. Not that you have to be able to speak Shakespearean English, quote the King James Version when quoting the Bible, actually UNDERSTANDING the KJV (there are other more understandable versions), or settle for a crowd that isn’t there – but if you’re able to communicate, be it with white trash trailer park lingo or in Old English, and if you have a crowd big enough for everything to go splendidly, then why not concentrate on developing on that basis?
Well, that’s just me thinking out loud. Thank you for reading.
Sources
Deepwell Bridge: A Nerd-Rage Rant! Subject: Spelling lessons
I hope you know what you’re doing…: I’m Legally Changing My Name to B-Phone.
Slate Magazine: What does KFC stand for now? by Seth Stevenson.
The Spec: Enuf is enuf. Enough is too much (originally from Associated Press).
Eddie Izzard: Being Bilingual (“Dress to Kill”).
RE-BLOG: The World Would Be a Better Place If… (via Quiet Rebellion. . .)
16 Jul 2010 Leave a Comment
in Politics, Re-blogged entries, Religion, Uncategorized
Wow. Yes. Wonderful – now I don’t have to spend x number of hours writing out the twin of this blogpost!
Congratulations, Spain!
11 Jul 2010 Leave a Comment
Although I’m siding with Denmark first, the Netherlands second, I still think it’ll be in the favor of Spain to win the World Cup.
Spain — you deserve it — enjoy you championship!
Follow Friday #5: David Letterman and Roskilde Festival
09 Jul 2010 Leave a Comment
in Denmark, Follow Friday, Roskilde Festival, Uncategorized, Video, Weekly (-ish) Tags: Asser Skude, David Letterman, festival, homelessness, Morgencafeen, Music, RF 2010, Roskilde Festival, Twitter
On Follow Friday this week:
1. Introduction
2. Twitter: The Late Show with David Letterman
3. Roskilde Festival
4. Drop Me a Line.
I was just watching Letterman, and although it’s usually only on a week’s delay, they had a rerun of an episode from March starring Jennifer Aniston. This episode contained a bit and a top 10 on Twitter – so I thought I would check up on it.
Secondly, the Roskilde Festival ended on Sunday – so Monday (or at least sometime this week) would actually have been the proper day/week to start stalking following their planning yet again.
I think there is no doubt that David Letterman wasn’t too into in Twitter to start with – but finally gave in – so now rumor has it that he’s occasionally gives it up on the Late Show’s Twitteraccount, @Late_show.
Here he is, giving it up for the first time:
The Roskilde Festival is well over this year – and for you who were in contact with me around this time know that I didn’t go, contrary to what I said earlier this year. Finances were in question – being a student saving for a trip to New Zealand really tightens up the personal economy.
But now that it’s over, it’s just about time to obsess about what’s going to happen next year.
First of all, you can sign up for the newsletter (which I did a few years back).
You can do this by registrating on their website – link to registration form – where you can opt in on both e-mail newsletter and text messages on your phone. And not to worry if you haven’t worked as a volunteer – this is also an option in the drop-down menu as I write.
Second of all, you can subscribe to the RSS newsfeed.
I found the link on the front page, but here’s the link directing you straight to the feed. You can also dive right into the news archives at the website (where I found the link for the newsletter).
Third of all, check out the blogs on the website! Übercool!
Last, but not least, check them out on Twitter. You can find the festival itself on @orangefeeling – and you can check out relevant posts by going for the keywords #RF10 and #RF11.
I think that this is just what I needed; an RF break. Before this year’s festival, my brain didn’t really find finances and heat compatible with how I felt – but after checking blogs and the comment from Reverend Asser Skude (yes, him again – he was there in his cassock and ruff, helping out Morgencafeen, speaking the case of the homeless and being otherwise Reverend-esque in that subtle, National Church kind of way – good one on ya, mate! (disclaimer: photos snatched from an article at Kristeligt-Dagblad.dk)), I can’t wait to get back in the filth there. I’ll keep you posted.
Reactions? Suggestions? Questions? Requests? Comment/reply away.
Dusting off the blog
27 Jun 2010 Leave a Comment
in Follow Friday, Media, Music Monday, Photos, Uncategorized, Weekly (-ish) Tags: blogging, Brocktour, Brocktour 2010, Brorson's, De Sorte Spejdere, Music, podcast, Twitter
As you can see, a little bit has happened here and there.
I’ve changed the theme (=Wordpress-lingo for look or skin) of the blog a couple of times, and now I have found something I think will last for a long time to come: a theme both pretty and random enough for what I intend with the blog (…the wonder that is an organized mess).
Besides that, I’ve been organizing the links of my Follow Fridays, so in addition to the usual Blogroll (which also includes a couple of blogs I need to introduce to you in a following Follow Friday or two), I added a Twitterroll (with all the people I believe you should be keeping an eye on on Twitter) and a Podroll (with all the podcasts I believe you should know so far – of which one link, De Sorte Spejdere, leads to a 404/Not Found, but I would find it odd NOT to have it there. It can be found through iTunes, though – plus one that I will have to introduce later).
Something else I need to do is to make a menu (OH YES! The new theme is custom-menu compatible! Yay!) – something with the links/categories I find to be important and odd enough NOT to be left in one of the boxes in the sidebar. So far there’s only “Home” (directing you to the blog) and “About…” (leading you to the page about me). It’s gonna be good!
Besides that, I need to
- fix a better way of making a gallery (flickr sucks, I couldn’t get all of the pics from the Brocktour up), and speaking of which…
- finish off the last part of the Brocktour (there are a couple of bits and pieces in my mind I want up here).
- dust off some of the drafts I’ve got lying around here… Somewhere… Where’s the damn hatbox?!
Did I miss anything??…
Ah, well. I’ll think of it if I did. Though I do know that I got a bit of inspiration for a following Follow Friday (besides whatever is on the blogroll)!
Oh – and I might have to mention to you that due to skipping a Monday, the theme I was teasing for recently isn’t up for Music Monday tomorrow, but next week instead.
