Lilly's Lounge

In memory of a dear friend

2009-10-07T09:56:00.000+02:00

Raymond Federman became a dear friend of mine as he and I corresponded regularly via e-mail from 2004 to the present. I was fortunate enough to meet Raymond in person twice! I treasure all the memories I have of Raymond in my heart. He was an amazing writer, he made me laugh! Also, and more importantly, he was a generous and kind person. His interest in my work on his work was genuine -- I don't know who was most flattered: Raymond because of my interst in his writing, or I because of his interest in my writing [about his writing]! In any case, may Raymond rest in peace now that he has changed tense... He and his words will never be forgotten.

Raymond Federman: 15 May 1928 -- 06 October 2009

Remember the mission?

SURFACE DISTURBANCES - my words about Raymond's words.

Doggy News

2009-01-18T13:02:00.016+01:00

Hi guys. I am still kicking about in the non-virtual part of the world, spending less and less time in this virtual parallel sphere. Yeah. Time for an update - and a belated happy New Year to you all.

Work's been very busy -- too busy -- for most of 2008. It nearly became too much; like really too much for me to handle despite my efforts and all the work I did at home in the evenings and during the weekends. But it shouldn't be like that, should it? You're meant to be OFF when your work day finishes and you leave the office...I never was. So I cried for help and eventually my cry for help was heard -- and acted upon by my boss. In October, the department I work in employed a part-time translator to relieve me of some of all my tasks. It's been great. It means I can now work at a more normal and bearable pace. It means I hardly ever have the computer on at home during the weekends anymore. I am still busy at work and that's great -- so long as there's something to do, I have a job. That's how I see it anyway. But too much work breaks you down in the long run, man...and that was where I was heading big time.

Bought a puppy in October. He is a wee gorgeous border collie -- black and white and ever so adorable [and cheeky]. It has been and still is hard work raising a wee baby dog....but it pays off; it's worth all the time and energy Alan and I are spending on the wee fellow. He's called Glen and here are some pictures:

Wee Glen - 8 weeks old in October 2008: "Sometimes I just cannae be arsed sleeping in my brand new basket" ;-)

Glen is 9 weeks old in this picture from October 2008. Checking out the outdoor facilities.

Glen is 15 weeks old in this photo from December 2008. Handsome and cheeky!

Him and I will be starting puppy training next week! Cannot wait :-)

What else? Oh yeah, Margaret Larkin of Metrolingua has put together an anthology in which some of my words also appear: Down the Block - available here.

-- it's a pretty cool wee collection of texts about life in the city!

Finally: thanks to the one and only Mike Daily for the wonderful comments on this blog -- as himself and as my imposter :-) Mike, you make Blogging worthwhile! And I am not making this up!

At the moment...

2008-09-08T13:05:00.002+02:00

...this blog is shouting out to me:

SHOULD I STAY
OR
SHOULD I GO?

Time. It all takes time. Time to update one's own blog, and time to read and keep up-to-date with what everyone else is/has been up to in and outwith the Blogosphere. How often ought one to update one's blog? -- in order not to lose one's Blogger audience? Are there some unwritten rules about Blogging and good conduct when running a Blog? Do you run or administer a Blog? [Probably 'administer' since the word 'Admin.' seems to pop up constantly in a Blogger context].
Do I still have the time to maintain [oh oh; a third word to describe activities in connection with Blogging] this blog? And why should I? First MySpace threatened to make the Blog extinct; then Facebook which is where it all seems to be happening at the moment. Or maybe it's because I don't feel that I have the time [and energy] to be everywhere [in all three places -- preferably at once! How many goddamn windows are you able to focus on at the same time on your monitor?!]. Maybe I no longer feel the need to project one two three four five six seven eight nine ten eleven etcetera identities onto this big virtual canvas called

THE

I
N
T
E
R
N
E
T

I prefer my garden nowadays. Yeah, quite a few new priorities have entered into my life since hubby and I purchased a detached house; with a garden -- an untamed and rather large garden [or maybe it feels large because it's untamed?]. I no longer feel an urge to sit in front of the PC and spend time on the I-n-t-e-r-n-e-t. I used to when we lived in the crummy flat with the noisy neighbours. Maybe I should delete my profiles on MySpace and Facebook and stick at Blogging only? Maybe I ought to get back to work? Yeah, that's it -- back to work.

PS. Is it possible to become [a tad] stressed due to the maintenance of too many online identities? I think so.

Transmitting a message from Kurt...

2008-07-30T07:17:00.002+02:00

The one and only Kurt Eisenlohr [painter, photographer, writer, bartender, funny and cool as fuck guy] from Portland, Oregon in the United States of A., posted the following m_e_s_s_a_g_e on my MySpace page:

Hey Lilly,

How's it hanging, girl?

My novel, MEAT WON'T PAY MY LIGHT BILL--an oldie but a goodie, I tell you--is being republished by Time and Skin Media. They will also be publishing my next one, tentatively titled EVERYONE I KNOW IS DEAD.

For details go to timeandskin. com

It's all about pre-ordering!

Dig the new cover I came up with. It's a photo I took about 25 years ago of my father and my brother, Mikey. He goes by the name Nice Mike now. My father, sadly, is no longer living. But he will now be haunting bookshelves both here and abroad.

Or so I hope.

Help spread the word!

Thank you Scooter Girl.

All best, Krt.

***********************************************

Federman Frenzy

2008-07-18T13:16:00.002+02:00

New book -- out now.

Download it for free here.

Or
purchase your hard copy
[ISBN: 978-8-7992-4564-2 ]
here.

Sleeping with O'Grady

2008-07-18T10:35:00.001+02:00

Click h_e_r_e if you want to visit O'Grady.

Moomins

2008-06-22T09:28:00.001+02:00


	Hvem er du i Mummidalen?
	Mitt resultat: Mummitrollet Du er Mummitrollet! Du er veldig nysgjerrig. Du får ofte nye venner og drar gjerne ut på eventyr.
	Ta denne quizen på Start.no

We got married

2008-06-03T11:07:00.002+02:00

Mega busy again again again...too busy to blog.
Sorry.
I don't know if I've lost my entire audience by now?
[Hello? *echo* *echo* *echo*].

At least I did have the time to get married last month.
Alan [my new hubby] has made a blog post about it, which you can view here. We had an absolutely wonderful day.

Men who make me laugh

2008-04-05T15:42:00.002+02:00

I thought of something else. I thought "who makes me laugh on telly?" I came to conclude -- as the list below will confirm -- that the majority of people on telly who make me laugh are British men. Interesting.

List [in random order] of men [on telly] who make me laugh:

- Rik Mayall
- Adrian Edmondson
- Eddie Izzard
- Paul Merton
- Simon Pegg
- Hugh Laurie
- Craig Charles [Red Dwarf]
- Chris Barrie [Red Dwarf]
- Bill Bailey [Black Books]
- Ricky Gervais
- Stephen Fry
- Ford Kiernan [Chewin' The Fat + Still Game]
- Greg Hemphill [Chewin' The Fat + Still Game]
- Rowan Atkinson
- John Cleese
- Dylan Moran [Black Books]
- Jon Stewart

Only the two last names on the list are non-British.

Keeping my promise?

2008-04-05T15:23:00.000+02:00

Oh crap -- I didn't keep my promise, did I? I don't think now is "soon-ish". But I've been busy.

Got offered a free ticket for a trip to Paris, which I accepted. My mum and granny were meant to go on a wee Easter holiday together but my granny pulled a muscle in her back and was therefore unable to embark upon the lo-o-o-o-o-ong coach trip from Aalborg to Paris [and back again]. I went in her place and had a great time with my mum; as always Paris was amazingly beautiful and utterly spectacular. Plus I found a vegetarian restaurant near Notre Dame! YAY! I still do not have any visuals from the trip as they're still in my mum's digital camera.

MEGA busy translating in my so-called "spare time". F_r_e_e_l_a_n_c_e. I accepted a big job for a local school in February only because I knew I'd be able to get most of it done over Easter. Otherwise I would never have said 'yes'. Obviously, I didn't manage to get it done over Easter since I ended up going to Paris instead. So I am a tad stressed about this job -- and ought to be working on it right now instead of writing this update. Oh well.

Been spending a helluva lot of time looking for a house to buy over the past 14 months. Too much time! I won't go into details [I'd be here all day if I did], but Alan and I finally found our wee house on Sunday. We bought it 2 days ago! We're still trying to get used to the idea of being "house owners". We both detest the idea of owing shitloads of money -- I guess it means that we have to dance for The Man to a certain extent; but I'd rather do that to a certain extent and not have to dance for the arsehole downstairs who plays his crappy music way too loud. Why oh why is it that idiots who have to play their music loud always have a crap taste in music?

The position I currently hold at Aalborg University was originally based on a 2-year contract, expiring on March 31, 2009. However, I was offered a permanent position as of February 1, 2008, which I accepted immediately. That is cracking [albeit belated] news!

What else? I cannot think of anything else just now.

Hello!

2008-03-13T15:21:00.001+01:00

I am still alive!

Update will follow soon-ish. I promise :-)

Do you dream in Technicolor?

2008-02-07T11:56:00.000+01:00

Before we went to sleep last night, Alan asked me if - when I remember things - my memories are in colour or in black and white. I said, "I think they are in colour. [pause] Yeah, they are in colour."

But when I think about whether or not they are in black and white, they somewhat become black and white. And vice versa.

I woke up this morning, recalling bits from my dream -- not the actual dream as such, but it was a black and white dream, involving a young Mickey Rourke on a motorcycle.

They were showing Rumble Fish on telly last night, which we decided to watch. I think that might have something to do with my black and white dream.

My dad

2008-01-12T13:57:00.000+01:00

My dad with his first Triumph motorcycle.
He gave me this photo before the New Year
[together with a neat Triumph patch]
when he was about to go away on a job in Dubai.
The photo is dated approximately 1969 or 1970.
I love it and think it's a really cool thing to have.

Happy New Year 2008!

2007-12-31T14:02:00.000+01:00

So...time for an update and, I guess, also a sign of life!
I cannot believe that yet another year has passed already. Time really does fly, man! It scares me sometimes. Well, most of the time actually. And next month I'll be 32! ALREADY! Only seems like yesterday when I turned 18. I feel like such an old fart nowadays.

I've been off work since December 22 [when my paternal granddad turned 80! We went to a family party and got way too drunk for our own good....] and am really enjoying it. I've been needing some time off; and I mean more time off than simply a weekend. Things are going very well at work. I am ever so busy all the time -- sometimes a tad too busy for my own good, I think. But I am working on that one and have already made some major progress. Trying to limit my tendency to check work e-mail from home and also the amount of work-related things I tend to pop into my bag to "have a wee look at in the evening". I simply should not be doing those things at all when off work, but sometimes it's hard not to when you love your job and also are trying to -- well -- impress, I guess, hoping to be kept on once my 2-year contract expires. I'm back at work on January 2.

Alan and I have been looking at houses a lot in 2007! The prices in Denmark are however extraordinary large at present. The experts say that house prices have reached a peak and are bound to drop within the foreseeable future. They've been saying this for almost 6 months now...so I don't know about that. We want to live fairly central, which usually means higher house prices than in one of the wee surrounding villages. Yet, moving "out there" means having to buy a car + all related expenses - or having to rely on a [crappy] bus service every time you want to go anywhere, much more expensive heating because there's no district heating out in the sticks....we've been weighing the pros and cons for months now, yet I believe that we simply still have not found the right house for us. If we had, I don't think we'd be in doubt. We'll continue our search in the new year, no doubt. It is difficult being a first-time buyer.

Everyone -- have a happy and healthy New Year, full of love and laughter! Thanks to all of those who stopped by my blog [despite the lack of regular updates] in 2007. I always appreciate your visits to the Lounge.

I am so f**king...

2007-11-11T18:31:00.000+01:00

...sick and tired of noisy arseholes who make my life hell. Over and over. Yeah. New idiots have moved in downstairs quite recently, and they've now proved on numerous occasions that they are ignorant tossers who clearly do not give a shit about anyone else. Here we are, trying our best to be good, quiet, friendly, civil and considerate neighbours -- but what's the f**king point when the world is full of idiots?

Sorry I am ranting but after 8.5 hours of constant and completely over-the-top loud noise from those two selfish *%#£@§, no sleep for us and a completely ruined weekend because of it, I've just had enough. Tried to reason with them and be friendly, but clearly they are way too thick to even begin to grasp the concept of being a wee bit mature. Instead they display a seriously aggressive and racist behaviour that just does not fit with how normal people would react. True mental cases.

I am pissed off and going to stop ranting now. Hope my new downstairs neighbours rot in hell.

PS. I would have like to have posted a thing about the wee trip to Copenhagen that Alan and I went on earlier this week...but sadly I am not in the mood.

Scooter Girl

2007-09-15T10:13:00.000+02:00

This blog...

2007-08-31T10:00:00.000+02:00

...is temporarily on hold as of now. I currently do not have the time to update at regular intervals.

However:

I'll be back.

Weather update

2007-07-25T12:02:00.000+02:00

The weather is still pish here.....windy and raining. I cannot recall the last time I've ever seen so much rain....over what seems to be an endless period of time! Ok, it's perhaps not the end of the world since I'm back at work and have to stay indoor most of the day. But still it would be nice to be able to go out on two wheels after work and during the weekends, and to be able to sit outside and eat dinner and enjoy the evenings out on the terrace. I feel as if I need a little bit of sunshine to recharge my batteries. Alan and I have talked about how incredibly drained and tired we feel all the time at present. It's like our bodies are telling us to move into winter lair!

Anyway, despite feeling so tired, Alan has miraculously managed to update his blog several times recently. No less than three times in July! I am still in shock ;-P I think it must be a personal record for him.....

What else? Oh, had a ball on Saturday! Oh yeah. Went to a class reunion with the people that I went to school with 15 years ago. I missed the 10-year reunion because I was living in Scotland then, so I didn't want to miss out this time. It was so much fun seeing everyone [well, most of them] again and hear about their current lives and stuff. I cannot post any photos since I didn't have a camera with me. I felt so crap on Sunday which clearly proved that I have become an old fart, totally out of practice as regard boozing!

Back to work.

***********************

CORRECTION/ADDITION made @ 14:43.

The sun has been shining pretty much since I posted the above.
Alan has posted yet another blog entry on his blog! Four in July!

Today's purchase

2007-07-12T19:52:00.000+02:00

Another sexy Italian joins the family!
A Moto Guzzi V35 Imola from 1982.
I still cannot believe it!

My summer holiday

2007-07-06T20:45:00.000+02:00

-- started on Monday. It's been pissing down since then [some parts of Denmark have been flooded]. Alan's currently off work so I thought we could perhaps go on wee day trips to the seaside and stuff. But what's the point when all you can do is sit and stare out onto the rain? We might as well do that from the flat. I do like rain. But I was kind of hoping that the weather would be ok-ish at least for a day or two now that I'm finally out of the office for a wee while. Still, it's nice to be off and not having to get up early.

New job[s] -- old news but slow updater managing this blog!

2007-06-22T23:19:00.000+02:00

Oh man, I feel so bad for my lack of updates [which funnily enough was also the main theme of my last post!]. I hope you guys are all well. I haven't even had the time or energy to keep up with your blogs. Sorry.

I go to work every day and spend a lot of time in front of the computer in my office. Therefore, I hardly ever turn the pc on when at home. And when I am at work, there is simply no time for Blogging or MySpacing or e-mailing. Yeah, I got a new job as of April and I've not even had the time to share the news with my online friends. Until now. Tonight -- a quiet Friday night. Alan's watching a James Bond film just now. I thought it was about time I got my arse in gear and updated this blog!

So.
The job -- I should say jobs actually. I've been employed as a Head of Section within the Department of Language and Culture at Aalborg University [the website is not translated into English yet -- it's on my list of 'to do']. The very department where I used to study! This has been one of the most positive changes in my life for a very long time. I love the job and look forward to going to work every day. Yes, really! I am so incredibly busy -- that's for sure -- but I believe that part of the reason for this is the fact that it's a running-in period. I deal with the daily running of the newly established Language Resource Centre [another site I shall be translating into English ASAP], and I also do translation work, text revision and proof-reading for the centre. Then I deal with fundraising tasks; assisting the scientific staff in obtaining external funding; I deal with the updating and maintenance of the department's websites and InfoSystems; I deal with the department's registration of publications and other research-related activities in VBN, I am a member of the Faculty of Humanities' Research Administrator Group, etc. etc. etc......lots of jobs! But they are so diverse which I love. And my colleagues are so nice -- I am having a good time when at work. I currently do 30 hours a week as a Head of Section -- the standard number of hours for a full-time position in Denmark is 37.

Although it's not a full-time position, I have been working at least 37 hours a week for the university! When I started, I was also offered another [temporary] position which I accepted, naturally. As a teaching assistant in English. So I've been supervising 4th semester students within the field of Media and Literature Studies for the past couple of months. They've written a big project report and earlier this week, they did their oral examinations based on the written project reports -- I was the examiner for the first time in my life. This was a great experience -- though very hard work! It went really well. Anyway, as of July the temporary position as a teaching assistant will finish and instead I will be doing 37 hours as a Head of Section. So only one job but full-time hours which is cool.

What else? Had a very good old friend staying over for an extended weekend last week. An old colleague from London where I lived and worked in 1995-97. Emlyn -- she was my colleague at Boots The Chemist Ltd. in Oxford St. We've kept in contact since then and see each other now and again -- we had SUCH A LAUGH when she was here. And I did manage to get a couple of days off work which I needed.

Here we are:

*

2007-05-28T12:27:00.000+02:00

**** Quick comment from me to apologise for the serious lack of updates in general on this blog since.....oh I don't know? Most of 2007 really; compared to last year!
I am currently so busy; new job as of April 1st and numerous other things have kept [and are keeping] me rushed off my feet. I will try to make it up to you guys.....if you're still around. I may have lost my 'audience' what with my long periods of complete silence!

Hope you're all doing well.

Love,
Lilly

Lukas changed tense today....

2007-05-03T20:25:00.001+02:00

...after 13 years.
He was adorable and had such a strong and unique personality.
I miss him terribly already.
May the sweet little fellow rest in peace.

So it goes...

2007-04-12T20:15:00.001+02:00

November 11, 1922 --- April 11, 2007

This is for Kurt Vonnegut.
May he rest in peace.

His words, I will never forget.

:
:
:
:
:

Poo-tee-weet

What kind of literary critic are you?

2007-03-20T21:44:00.000+01:00

What kind of literary critic are you?

You are a Deconstructionist! Everything is relative, stretched along an unending chain of signifiers. You cannot even read a take-out menu without deconstructing and destabilizing the meaning of the text. You are one of the chosen few who understand the writing of Jacques Derrida! You delight in making meaning, and taking meaning, trashing meaning and bashing meaning, slaying meaning and playing meaning. And you also like green eggs and ham. No one understands you or really likes being around you, but you don't care; they may not exist anyway.
Take this quiz!

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Join

| Make A Quiz | More Quizzes | Grab Code

Snow

2007-02-22T22:45:00.000+01:00

We're kind of snowed in here. Yes, yesterday the craziest weather hit one half of Denmark; the northern and eastern parts of the country. Snow, snow, snow, and more snow --> a blizzard that lasted 24 hours! I was pretty worried when I left for work yesterday morning, but the wee Punto kicked some serious arse, I must say. Hardly anyone turned up for work, and those who did left again pretty early as the weather kept getting worse and worse. People were terrified they'd be stranded at work. I managed to leave at 3pm because I had some time and leave. Today I was unable to go to work: the car is burried deep in snow, the roads are extremely unsafe [and impossible] to travel on, all buses have been cancelled and the police has been warning people, advising them to stay indoor. So I've taken a holiday today. I have to pay for it myself but what the hell. I'm not risking my life for a crappy call centre job!

Here are some photos from the local newspaper [as I've not been outside with the camera myself. Too cold!] :

Metrolingua and Word Verification

2007-02-07T19:03:00.000+01:00

Another new "kid" on the blog
--> check out Metrolingua
....it's about words and language and translation and writing.
Good stuff!

-- also:
I finally gave in and activated the
'word verification'
function on this blog.
I don't like it, but I like the 3 tons of spam I get on a daily basis even less.
So the choice wasn't that difficult after all.

No more work this week...

2007-01-31T23:27:00.000+01:00

...the doctor has diagnosed me with bronchitis and sinusitis. Great.
I hardly shut an eye last night due to my heavy coughing. Neither did Alan for that matter!
I've now started a course of pinicillin and some anti-coughing pills. The latter I am to take before bedtime.
The doctor told me not to go back to work this week.

Recent changes in the Blogosphere

2007-01-31T13:27:00.000+01:00

Check out some of the recent changes in the Blogosphere -->

Joe has set up a brand new blog called Design is Stupid.

Jiggs and his crew have given their blog a complete makeover -- check out the new look [and let the verbal abuse commence] here!

Alan has been out of the scooter garage and actually updated his blog this month! [wow like!].

Still ill [again]

2007-01-30T18:10:00.000+01:00

I am off work again today -- sick. I started getting that shitty cold feeling again last week; it totally manifested itself over the weekend, and after two hours at work yesterday morning, my teammates told me to go home. So I did. I just stood there feeling like utter shite with a voice like Rod Stewart -- besides, they were worried I was going to give it to them. Though I think that's already too late. It's the exact same thing I suffered from a month ago. But it's hard to get rid off something without catching it again in that damned call-centre....there's like 152 people in one big room. No wonder I am ill again. I've slept through most of today; just lying under my duvet alternating between feeling freezing cold and boiling hot....hope I feel well enough to go back to work tomorrow....

His name is Lex

2007-01-30T17:59:00.000+01:00

The Vespa LX50 has now finally got a name:

L*E*X.

It was Alan's idea -- like he said to me: You've already got a superhero named Tony, so you need a villian named Lex. Damn good idea.
Besides, the LX is already black, thus fitting the stereotypical image of a bad-ass!

B'day goodies from work

2007-01-30T17:22:00.000+01:00

Nice birthday present for me from my colleagues at work, i.e., my teammates --> I'm in team 7 . They know I'm a veggie tree-hugger type girl, so they made a wee collection for my present and bought me this wonderful box full of organic veggie foods and niceness. Perfect present for Lilly.

Birthday girl in very messy kitchen [with present] .... I'm going to go public with this messy kitchen photo anyway. It's part of life.
Note: happy cow picture above window. Symbolises that this is a veggie kitchen. Cows really do have a reason to be happy in our kitchen. No kidding.

And yes, I am deliberately hidding behind the present because I felt like it.

Music Non Stop

2007-01-10T21:38:00.000+01:00

I am enjoying work at the moment. Yes, you read that right. On Monday, I was taken off the phone [yes, you read that right too even though I work in a call centre] to help out with a big admin job for 3 weeks. Oh it's good. I was asked if I'd like to help out last week; my supervisor was like "It does mean that you won't be taking any calls for 3 weeks"; as if that's a bad thing -- I was like Reeeeeeaallly?!! in my head. He then went on saying that it also meant that they'd be changing my rota to only do 8-16 shifts for those 3 weeks which means no late shifts and therefore no extra money for the late hours; again it was said as if it's a bad thing. And again I went Reeeeeeaallly?!! in my head. I'd rather finish at 16 and have the evening off! It may be very repetetive work changing like a million user names on various accounts, or adding products to certain subscriptions, etc. but it means that I am allowed to sit and listen to music or whatever I fancy while doing it; it means no complaining customers; it means I can take my breaks whenever I fancy taking my breaks.....I am enjoying this immensely! I'm pretty much going through all of my old albums which I've not listened to for years. It's making me feel old. But wow it sure is fantastic re-listening to albums that meant the world to me when I was 17 and 18 and realising that they still do. Ah. The battery for my 'personal stereo' is charging already; waiting for another full day's play tomorrow. Good night.

Happy New Year

2006-12-29T17:28:00.000+01:00

I am off sick at the moment. Today is my second day off sick from my new job. I've been caughing a lot and my throat is sore and I am snotty and the usual crap that comes with a bad cold. Then it's not ideal to be sitting in a large room talking on the phone all day with lovely recycled air and germs floating around in the room. So despite my guilty conscience, I decided to stay home again today. I don't like phoning in sick. But I need the rest, the peace and the heat -- and all the hot milk with honey I seem to be enjoying these days. I've also spent my time wisely by attempting [I did not say succeeding] to catch up with a whole bunch of people online. And looking for work. Printed off a few vacant positions that I'll be going for. Now is the time. I just got paid from the call center today but they money's not good enough -- I don't generally care much for money and expensive stuff and blah-dee-blah. BUT while receiving my wage today, I also got the monthly pile of bills through the letter box telling me just how much money I need to fork out for January. And the total amount I need to fork out is larger than the total amount of money I am making at the call center. That's a problem. Another month of being overdrawn. And we don't even spend a lot of money [because we can't]. We never go to the cinema, we never go out, we never buy anything apart from food, we never go to concerts anymore....because we cannot f**king afford it. So -- I am ranting again. Sorry. But it's frustrating that it's the same scenario month after month -- especially now that I've actually got a proper job. Alan was made redundant from the part-time job he got in August. He was doing 15 hours a week but all of a sudden, the company decided they didn't need any workers in the town where we live so they sacked Alan and his colleague. That was in November and that too made a huge [negative] impact on our economy. Alan's now getting up just after 4am in the morning to deliever papers in the local area. The pair of us slaving away for f**king nothing. Shitty jobs. F**k.

Anyway: we did have a great time at Christmas; relaxing for a couple of days at my dad and Dorthe's place in the forest near the fjord. And we got some great presents too -- I, amongst other things, were given a [are you ready?!] black VESPA LX50 by my father! How lucky am I? I just couldn't believe it like!! This means I get to practise on two wheels already when the spring comes! I don't think Tony will be ready this year, you see. The restoration that my dad and Alan are doing is extremely comprehensive and as for the spare parts, you cannot just walk into any shop and buy them. We have to order them from Germany, the UK, Italy, India, etc. Alan's the man when it comes to that. But anyway, I now have my very own little cute scooter to ride around on. Although it's a modern scooter, it's still one of the only modern scooters that has kept some of the classic Vespa features. I like that! The old-style badges, the chrome, the shape of the rear end.....

Here's a few photos:

Hehe ... note the 'Lambretta Parking Only' sign in the top right hand corner!

Now I need a name for the Vespa....I have to give my things names. Preferably.

HAPPY NEW YEAR to everyone out there!!

I just made a total elf of myself

2006-12-15T21:37:00.000+01:00

It's true.

2006-12-03T15:06:00.000+01:00

Peter, Bjorn & John - Young Folks

Day upon day

2006-12-03T14:47:00.000+01:00

Yes yes, I know I am so crap at doing this Blogger thing at present. I am just so tired after work and quite frankly, I hardly spend any time in front of the pc here at home anymore. Not after 8 hours at work on the phone while staring at the monitor there.
Things are moving in the right direction workwise; but there's still a long way to go, I feel. So much new stuff to take in. In general, I am quite good at learning and taking in new stuff but I guess that if your heart is not really in it, it can be a rather slow and uninteresting process.
Got my first wage last week. Not a whole lot more than when I was on the dole, but at least it IS a job and it IS a real income that I have earned. I'll maybe start looking around for a different job when 2007 starts. But for now it's quite nice not having to stress about finding work -- after all, that's what I've been doing for the last year or so. Although the job may not be ideal for me and my personal ambitions, it does give me a sense of inner peace simply because I have a job. I cannot believe that I've already been a Corporate Call Centre Slave for a month now!
Healthwise things have been more crap than usually recently. The 'spongee-longee' shite as I call it [because I cannot pronounce the correct term -- in Denmark we simply call it morbus Bechterew] did affect me very badly at the beginning of November for quite a while. It's not been that bad since November last year, so who knows if that's just my 'bad period of the year'? Frustrates the hell out of me when the pain is unbearable. I'm still not good at accepting the situation. And I am terrible at taking my frustration out on Alan. Not good.
Right, I am off again to have a cup of peppermint tea -- got to go easy on the coffee as I've had a sore tummy since Friday. There's a lot of stomach bugs kicking about at the moment -- hope it won't develop any further.

Air in the Paragraph Line #11

2006-11-18T14:51:00.000+01:00

Air in the Paragraph Line #11

Available *now*! Check out http://rumored.com/aitpl
and be sure to order your copy here --> http://www.lulu.com/content/510822

----- spread the word!

*
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Jon Konrath says:

Air in the Paragraph Line #11 is now available here! At 238 pages, it's the biggest issue ever, and it's only $10.99 plus shipping.

This issue is the "work" issue, and all of the stories have to do with employment and lack thereof. If you've ever read Bukowski's Post Office, Orwell's Down and Out in Paris and London, or Anthony Bourdain's Kitchen Confidential, that's the kind of story I was trying to find.

For those unfamiliar, Air in the Paragraph Line is a zine that I edit that's an anthology of excellent but overlooked writing from up-and-coming writers that deserve to be read. (And okay, I slip in a story of my own.) The goal is to have an excellent zine filled with nothing but good writing - no academic bullshit, no horrible record reviews, and none of the mindless punk rock things "required" by zines. I wanted a book I'd personally buy and read from cover to cover, and then type some of the authors' names into google to buy their other books, check out their blogs, or drop a line and tell them their story ruled. For more information, please visit rumored.com/aitpl.

Here's a list of what's in this issue:

2000 Years Later and We're Still All Fucked Up - By Robert W. Howington (http://anti-heroart.com)
What Does A Stripper Look Like? - By Sarah Katherine Lewis ()
Company Man - By John L. Sheppard (http://smalltownpunk.com)
The Indefinite Assignment - By Julie Wiskirchen (http://apeculture.com)
Lack of Work - By Lisbeth Pedersen (http://lillyslounge.blogspot.com)
Roman Candle - By Kurt Eisenlohr (http://kurteisenlohr.blogspot.com)
Junkyard Love - By Dege Legg
Dog Pound Death Row - By Todd Taylor (http://anti-heroart.com)
Milk Carton Girl Turns 40 - By John L. Sheppard (http://smalltownpunk.com)
I, Dishwasher - By Jon Konrath
Customer Service Socrates - By Dirty Howie (http://anti-heroart.com)
The Poet and the Pizza - By Nile577
Work - By Stephen Huffman (http://anti-heroart.com)
Three Days Ago, Wednesday - By Joshua Citrak (http://slouchmag.com)
Blemished - By Sergeant Zeno ()
Thank You for Calling ZapComm - By Julie Wiskirchen (http://apeculture.com)
M T W Th F - By Mike Daily (http://mickogrady.blogspot.com)
Massive Reorganization - By Tony Byrer ()
The Last Straw - By mj klein (http://blog.metrolingua.com)
Nothing But A Coward - By Josh Hamilton
The Office Party - By M. David Hornbuckle ()
You Need Job? - By Vijay Prozak (http://anus.com)

TFIF

2006-11-17T22:08:00.000+01:00

It's Friday -- I seriously needed the weekend to start. I collapsed in bed for 2 hours when I got back from work today. I am so exhausted. There's a million things to take in at my new work place. And I do mean a million. I work for a tele communications company [I believe that's the posh name for this sort of enterprise. It's a huge company. The majority of it is owned by the state of Norway]. I shall not mention any names but I will reveal that it's a service provider for mobile phones, landlines, Internet, etc. etc. etc. I work in the call centre that deals with the business customers [as oppossed to the private customers]. We went on the phones after one week's training -- we do have friendly and experienced helpers nearby yet it's hard work because everything is so new. There are SO many databases that I am trying to work out, invoices, different types of subscriptions, phones, setups, deals, legal owners, billing, credit notes, SIM cards, blocking phones, validating this and that, prices, discounts arrangements, Key Account Customers, things I am allowed to say to certain types of customers and things I am not allowed to say to certain types of customers, stolen phones, roaming, number portability, legal procedures...ooooohhhhh....I am trying to remember everything and say the right thing to the customers and click the right buttons in the systems...my head is spinning when I am finally off work!! The invoices are the worst. Oh deary me. But at least it's a JOB and I've been looking for one for over a year now*.

Good colleagues and a great team that I've become part of and despite the shitty wage, we're being looked after and appreciated by the company -- so it seems anyway. But I've only been there for 2 weeks so hey what do I know. But at least people look each other in the eyes and greet one another when passing in the halls. Great canteen too by the way with a French chef who makes sure he doesn't put chicken or beef stock cubes in the soup now that they've got a vegetarian in the building. For some reason, this is very strange and amusing to everyone. Like they think I come from another planet just because I don't eat meat. Who hoo big f**king deal. Anyway, we also get free soft drinks, coffee, water, tea, hot chocolate, cappuccino, and fruit all day long. Not bad. I've also been given a 'loan' phone while working for the company -- a somewhat very fancy and very expensive newest model -- something something SonyEricsson -- I really do not find these gadgets sexy and therefore not particularly interesting. But it can do all kinds of things -- camera, video messages, MMS, Internet, GPRS, etc. -- and I get all my calls and activities on the phone paid for by the company. Not that I make many calls. I'd rather get more money in my paycheck every week and not have free use of a mobile phone....

There's a million more things I'd like to write and update my blog with but I am way too tired at present. Besides, I'm staring at the monitor at work for 8 hours every day so I've spent enough time in front of a pc for now.

Hope everyone is doing well. Sorry for being such a crap blogger friend at present.

_____________________________________________________

* I've written a wee rant about it -- submitted it to Jon Konrath who decided to publish it in his zine, Air in the Paragraph Line. Cool. All I did was let off steam......

CCCS

2006-10-31T21:10:00.000+01:00

This is a quick mail. No time for spell checks or adding hyper links. Sorry. I feel I've been neglecting my Blogger friends recently -- not had the time, nor the energy. I've not been in the best of moods, I guess. I finished my temporary job at Aalborg University last week. It was sad. I will miss the place and the people out there very much. I have been in a terribly shite mood recently because I knew this position would come to an end. For 3 months Alan hasn't heard me complain a single morning before going to work at uni. That must mean I was happy doing what I did there. Sadly, there's no prospect of an extension in the shape of a proper job there [as opposed to the position with wage subsidy that I was in]. The Department of Languages, Culture and Aesthetics where I was working [and studied for 6 years prior to that] has sacked 11 members of staff recently due to financial problems, so there's no chance they're going to take me on! It sucks but that's how it goes, I guess.
The very yummi box of chocolate above and the wee card are from the secretaries that I spent a great deal of time working with and around. They are all wonderful people. I'm going to miss them. And our coffee breaks.

Tomorrow morning at 8:00am I start a new and proper job as a Corporate Call Centre Slave [CCCS]. I cannot wait. 6 years of studying and I end up with the same crap kind of job that I did before I got my degree. The wage is not fantastic either -- especially not considering the fact that I have to work some evenings and Saturdays too. Anyway, this is going to turn into a big rant, so I'll stop now. Just thought I owed those who do stop by an update. 

The big restoration project

2006-10-10T21:49:00.000+02:00

Some of you will recall Tony -- my beautiful Lambretta dl150.
I spent my overdraft buying him.
But what could I do?
It was love at first sight.
I had to have him.

Turned out he needed quite a bit of TLC.
My dad and Alan are currently taking good care of Tony.
He is being stripped and sorted out properly.
Re-stored in other words.
I am very very grateful for the time, effort and energy
the two of them
are putting into this project.

Here is Alan in action in my dad's garage.
Making sure everything is done according to the book.
Literally.
Alan knows his stuff when it comes to Lambretta scooters.

Here is my dad in action, welding a wee crack on Tony's left side panel.
My dad is a damn good welder!
Hopefully he'll teach me how to do it one fine day...

Here is Tony in the buff!
He's been completely stripped and sandblasted.
Desperately needing to get painted.

Here is Tony's biggest admirer -- and owner.
Helping out where ever she can.
She cannot do a whole lot.
But she doesn't mind getting her hands dirty.

That's what's going on in my life at the moment.
During the weekends anyway.
During the week, I still work at Aalborg University.
It's a TEMPORARY job.
I finish in 3 weeks' time.

Which MythBuster are you? -- link correction

2006-10-05T10:15:00.000+02:00

My good friend Peanut :) has pointed out that the link for the MythBusters quiz in the post below hasn't been working. I don't know why it's been a dodgy link because I simply copied and pasted it from the 'results page' once I'd taken the test myself. Anyway, it should now be working if you guys want to find out

Which MythBuster Are You?

Lilly Blue

2006-09-25T18:13:00.000+02:00

The weekend was spent like this:

Saturday morning we headed for my dad's house for breakfast [we brought fresh rolls from the local bakery], then the whole day was spent in the garage where Tony [that's the name of my Lambretta scooter] was in for some TLC. Alan and I headed home around 4pm, showered and got dressed and headed off to my cousin Morten's 30th birthday bash. Alan left the party at 3:00 am-ish. I left around 4:30 am. It was such a good party and Morten's girlfriend, Pernille, kept serving me these wonderful blue cocktails in pretty large glasses. And some pink shots too. I just drank whatever was put in front of me, and all day Sunday [when I eventually rolled out of bed] was spent in agony -- also known as a hangover. But boy it was a great party!

MythBusting: there is still hope!

2006-09-25T13:24:00.000+02:00

You Passed 8th Grade Science

Congratulations, you got 7/8 correct!

Could You Pass 8th Grade Science?

There's still hope for me in terms of becoming a MythBuster. He!

This is the type of MythBuster I may become if I try really hard:

You scored as Jamie. You are Jamie, quite possibly the wisest Mythbuster. You prefer caution more often than not because you realize the potential of the experiements you do. But, you have a lot of fun doing it, sometimes setting you off in an evil little giggling fit.

Jamie

85%

Adam

80%

Kari

70%

Tory

60%

Grant

20%

Which Mythbuster Are You?

* At least my fringe would match my personality then!

--- I really ought to get back to work....

This is a sign of life

2006-09-21T12:53:00.000+02:00

Fight the power

2006-09-02T10:18:00.000+02:00

ONE MILLION EUROPEANS

AGAINST NUCLEAR POWER!

Please sign this petition -- even if you are not European.

Thank you very much!

Feel free to spread the word too!

Blogging Personality

2006-09-02T10:11:00.000+02:00

Your Blogging Type is Kind and Harmonious

You're an approachable blogger who tends to have many online friends.
People new to your blogging circle know they can count on you for support.
You tend to mediate fighting and drama. You set a cooperative tone.
You have a great eye for design - and your blog tends to be the best looking on the block!

What's Your Blogging Personality?

TIRED!

2006-08-21T20:32:00.000+02:00

I am so f**king knackered. Like really tired. I need a week off somewhere far away from everything. At the moment, I come home from a busy day at work, have 10-20 minutes in the flat and then I am off again to some meeting or whatever. Or I have got translation jobs to do [I still freelance]. I miss time at home doing relaxing stuff. . In the sofa, on the Internet, with Alan, drinking coffee, watching telly - things like that. So: I am really busy at the moment and my lack of updates here and on everyone else's blogs is not my ignoring you.

Anyway: good news -- I passed my motorcycle driving test on Friday! :-) That is something I still cannot quite believe. I am SO happy about this. It was awesome when I took the bike back to the driving school after the test -- without the 'School bike' sign attached to it! Whahey!

Also: after the driving test, I had to rush home due to an interview on the telephone. I did really well so now the company wants to see me in person. My face-to-face interview is next Friday.

That's it -- I'm off again. Hope everyone is doing well.

A tired sign of life

2006-08-10T22:03:00.000+02:00

Tired -- exhausted.
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
Apart from that, all is well. I work Monday through to Thursday. Nice with Fridays off.....I can tell that I am not used to a full-time job because it's been years since I last had one!

The Lambretta requires a lot of TLC over the winter. So I won't be putting the plate on until next spring [I hope]. I've "hired" my dad and Alan to do the scooter job....it's much appreciated that they can be arsed spending their time and energy helping me out.

Re-launching Aalborg Lambretta Club

2006-08-07T13:18:00.000+02:00

Alan and I recently decided to try to re-launch the old Aalborg Lambretta Club from the 1950's.
For this purpose, Alan has designed a website for the club -- click here to view it.
And we've also set up a MySpace page for the project.

Wish us luck
[and do spread the word
-- especially if you happen to know
any Lambretta owners in the Aalborg area
** apart from Alan and moi].

Daddy Cool

2006-08-04T10:43:00.000+02:00

CONGRATULATIONS

to my real fictitious friend Mike Daily

-- he became a dad yesterday!

Today I received a goodie bag from the US...

2006-08-02T22:03:00.000+02:00

...and I do mean a goodie bag -- in every sense of the word! My dear and sweet friend PainterGirl had sent me a wee surprise and I am SO extremely happy and grateful. Check out the contents of this very cool VESPA SOHO goodie bag:

A lovely wee letter from the artist herself, a beautiful postcard of one of her paintings and 2 little pin badges from her art show in the local coffee house last month, a whole set of super hero stamps and finally a beautiful Vespa t-shirt in pink. Isn't it just gorgeous:

-- I am well chuffed to say the least -- THANK YOU, PainterGirl :-D

The scooter situation

2006-08-01T13:59:00.000+02:00

I borrowed Dorthe's Punto and drove about 800km in total on Monday last week. All this in order to view a gorgeous Lambretta 150 dl scooter in Næstved [on Sealand] that Alan had spotted online for sale. Alan does not have a car licence, so I had to do all the driving [although my mum was in the back of the car, but she was way too tired to drive since she'd just come back from her holiday a few hours before we left at 6am]. The plan was then for Alan to ride the scooter back to Aalborg since I do not yet have a motorcycle licence! Sadly, there was a wee problem that meant it wasn't safe to ride all the way back home -- Alan spent a couple of hours trying to work our what was wrong and see if he could fix it there and then. It wasn't possible, and there was NO way he was riding the thing back when it wasn't running properly -- too dangerous! So we had to make other arrangements. My dad's Toyota which is big enough to fit the Lambretta in the back had broken down. Otherwise, I would have borrowed that one instead of Dorthe's Punto and simply popped the scooter in the back and drive home in the car.

Called my dad who was working in Bahrain at that point in time -- he said that he'd help me get the scooter to Aalborg as soon as he was back in Denmark and had managed to fix his Toyota. This he did over the weekend, and as I am typing these words, Alan and my dad are in Næstved together, picking up MY VERY OWN SCOOTER! I AM SO F**KING EXCITED LIKE!

This is what it looks like:

Isn't it gorgeous and just totally me? Yay! I am going to give it an Italian name...

The job situation

2006-08-01T13:09:00.000+02:00

Some of you may recall that in April and May I did work experience at Aalborg University, where I updated and evaluated the contents of one of the university's newest databases [to cut a long story short]. Since then I've been applying and applying and applying for work -- no luck! I went through a phase where being unemployed really started getting to me -- receiving one rejection letter after another does something to your confidence. Then eventually I thought 'sod it!' and decided to concentrate on getting my motorcycle licence instead! Ha! Meanwhile, there was also the prospect of what we here call 'ansættelse med løntilskud' which roughly translates into 'a position with wage subsidy' -- in plain English: it's a job position that is funded by the Danish government. Instead of paying me dole money, the state of Denmark pays the university the money and the university then pays me the money as my so-called wage. I won't get any more money than I do when on the dole. Sadly. I started at the university this morning -- and I will be working there until the end of October. Although I will not exactly be making a fortune [I wish!], I am quite pleased to at least 'have a job'. And who knows, it may lead to a permanent position......
[By the way: on my first day at work, my computer kept crashing. Eventually, the IT-expert had to do something 'drastic' and told me I wouldn't be able to use the computer anymore today. So I was told I could go home if I wanted to......so I am writing this from home].

Botanical Life Part III

2006-07-27T11:38:00.000+02:00

This is the final part of my Botanical Life themed posts.

Yesterday I harvested most of my carrots. I thought it was about time. I've realised that the pots were perhaps a little bit too wee -- I know I could have pretended that it said 'baby carrots' on the wee bag with seeds. But I am not going to. And while I am at it, I may also add that I have got quite long fingers.

In any case, I have come to terms with the fact that I was perhaps a bit too ambitious with my horticultural project -- the fact is that I need an actual GARDEN in order to grow large carrots. It was fun though -- and the carrots were very very tasty!

Theory test: mc licence

2006-07-26T15:01:00.000+02:00

I've been crap at updating this blog lately. I do apologise. This will be a short post:

I passed the theory test for my motorcycle licence on Friday afternoon! Whahey! Alan picked me up afterwards and we went for a drink, some crisps, and a game of pool to celebrate. It was nice.

Going to the racing track for five lessons on Monday. I am shitting myself. The actual driving test will most probably be towards the end of August [there's quite a long wait, unfortunately].

Drove about 800km [in total] on Monday in order to view a gorgeous Lambretta scooter. More about this later.

Driving in the dark: mc licence

2006-07-19T01:31:00.000+02:00

It's after 1am here -- and I've just returned from a driving lesson. The driving school has been closed for a week or so due to their summer holiday. But tonight I had a lesson -- my 'driving in the dark' lesson. It was DARK alright and the bike I ride doesn't have the most powerful headlight in the world. We drove on the wee dark and twisting country roads, through tiny villages, and eventually headed home via the motorway where we also practised overtaking in the dark. Wow. I couldn't see a f**king thing -- that's how it felt anyway! I pretty much used the longbeam light most of the time -- my instructor said it was ok because my headlight was so weak.

Anyway -- I've got my theory test on Friday at the police station. Then I don't have any more driving lessons until we go on the racing track which isn't until July 31.

I am off to bed now -- I am shattered. But we had to do the lesson after midnight in order for it to be dark here. We have long bright summer evenings where I am...

Zzzzzzzzzzzz.............

"Lilly is so rad!!!"

2006-07-13T10:59:00.000+02:00

-- I am quoting Jiggs here. Check out why I am 'so rad!!!' by clicking here.

MySpace is The Devil

2006-07-07T13:17:00.000+02:00

On November 28, 2005, Mike Daily sent me an e-mail. He wrote [amongst other things]:

MySpace is The Devil.
Beware.
It eats time like termites in a grandfather clock.

Mike Daily was right. Yet, I eventually gave in to MySpace last month, and set up a site there too.

It's here.

It's a nice day...

2006-07-07T00:10:00.000+02:00

...when you meet up with an old friend from high-school who's moved to Copenhagen and you have lunch in town. Catching up, strolling along the habour in the sun, drinking ice coffee with vanilla ice cream.

...when you come home in the evening after 3 fun lessons at the driving school and dinner is served -- Alan's home-made and very delicious vegetarian risotto, warm baguette, and chilled white wine -- and candles.

...when you spend and hour on the phone catching up with an old colleague whom you haven't spoken to properly for ages.

First week and a half: mc licence

2006-07-05T11:51:00.000+02:00

Been really busy lately. Particularly last week when I began lessons for a motorcycle licence. Tuesday to Friday we started at 8.00am and did 5 theoretical lessons, followed by driving lessons in the afternoon or early evening. I was absolutely shattered when I got home every day -- so much new stuff to take in. And I was trying to remember where the clutch, the gears, the brakes, etc. were located on the bike. Remember: I am used to driving my dad's wife's wee Punto -- never been on a motorcycle before until a week ago.

Tuesday last week, my first motorcycle ride was on the wee asphalt track at the driving school where I did slalom, practised turning, gear shift, braking, hill stops and starts, etc. All these little excercises to get familiar with the bike and its weight when maneuvering it around. That night I was hardly able to sleep due to pains in my arms and shoulders. Boy, I was sore! My arms are like spaghetti arms and obviously I'd really been tensing my muscles because it was my first time riding the bike. It was fun though!

The following day, we went on the road for the first time. I was pretty nervous and scared to say the least -- mainly because I felt I didn't have enough control of the bike yet to actually go on the real road! Nothing felt 'natural' yet -- I had to think for a moment every time I changed gear, activated the brakes, etc. Asger, my instructor, went first on his bike, then a girl called Mathilde and myself followed. He took us on some country roads and at first I found it really hard to go any faster then 60km/h -- I thought I was going really fast at like 30km/h! Once I finally did pull my arse together and reached 80km/h, the bike started 'coughing' like mad and dropping speed no matter what I did. I had to quickly pull over to the side and Asger came round to check what was going on. Turned out that there was no petrol left on the bike! So, he put it onto its reserve tank and on we went. About 45 minutes later, the same thing happened -- but at least this time, I knew what was going on and that it wasn't me who'd somehow wrecked the bike! He now had to phone his mum, who also works at the driving school [it's a family business], and she came round with some petrol for the bike I was on. In Denmark, you are never allowed to use your own vehicle when taking a driving licence. You always use a car, bike, bus, etc. provided by the driving school -- so it wasn't my fault the tank was empty like!

Click here to see the bike I am riding at the moment.

Since then, I have started enjoying riding the bike more and more. For each session I become more and more familiar and comfortable with it and it feels great now! I am going out again this afternoon where I have another two driving lessons. We go through town, onto the motorway [US readers: the freeway], country roads, round-abouts, do U-turns, traffic lights, and all the other stuff you have to do when part of the traffic. I've still got to do driving in the dark and also go to the racing track, but that's a few weeks away because the driving school is shut for a week next week.

The TagBoard is going....

2006-07-05T11:08:00.000+02:00

A few readers of this blog have informed me that they experience problems with pop-ups popping up when they visit this part of the Blogosphere. Not good. I don't see these myself because I mainly use Opera as my browser. Opera allows nothing -- and I do mean nothing -- to open or pop up! Anyway, my good friend Adam advised me that it's probably the TagBoard that's causing these damn pop-ups to pop up. So I've decided to [temporarily?] remove it......

Please let me know if this stops the pop-ups. Cheers.

First day: mc licence

2006-06-26T21:02:00.000+02:00

Today I had to be at the driving school at 8:00 am. I had my first two theoretical lessons today -- and we went over the engine, brakes, wheels, tyres, lights, and all the legal requirements in terms of safety, etc. on a motorcycle. Yep, I started my lessons for an MC licence -- many more lessons to come. It's going to be pretty intense this week.

The Danish law requires a certain number of theoretical lessons and a certain number of practical lessons too before you can sit your two tests. I'll be doing 26 theoretical lessons; 4 driving lessons on the driver training facility [they have their own wee enclosed area for driving]; 6 double-lessons on the actual road; 1 driving lesson on the road when it's dark outside; 5 driving lessons on this racing track. First time I'll be riding an MC on my own tomorrow afternoon [my dad has 5 MCs, so naturally I've sat on the back of his a few times].

The funny thing is: everyone on my team is so excited about the driving school's MCs -- except from me. I just want this over and done with ASAP so that I can ride what I call a proper two-wheeled vehicle -- a classic scooter! Yay. I am not interested in horsepower and speed at all, you know....

WISH ME LUCK!

Get around betta, travel Lambretta!

2006-06-26T20:42:00.000+02:00

This is Alan's doing
-- he must have been in a creative mood tonight!
I love it
-- it's so cheesy that it's absolutely brilliant!

In search of a scooter....

2006-06-25T14:14:00.000+02:00

The last couple of days have been spent on the roads of North Jutland in search of a classic scooter. I need one and I've been wanting one since I was 20 years old. That's 10 years. Now is the time. Preferably a Lambretta but, of course, getting a Vespa would hardly be the end of the world! Wednesday, my dad very kindly drove Alan and myself to the top of Denmark [literally] as there was a dismantled Lambretta Li150 Series 2 for sale in Skagen. Being my second favourite Lambretta model, I was of course pretty damn excited about the whole thing and had received tons of electronic photos before we embarked upon our long journey. Sadly, it was nowhere near the condition we had expected [did someone once say that pictures never lie?]. I made the owner an offer but she's still not gotten back to me. I think she thinks it's worth a lot more than it really is. Seriously. It needs a hell of a lot of work done to it + numerous new parts if it is to pass an MOT.

Anyway, today [Friday] I called an elderly man 20 kilometers north of Aalborg who had a 1968 Vespa 180 SS [Super Sport] for sale. Now the ad that I had seen for this Vespa stated a lot of good things about this gorgeous old model -- amongst other things: no rust. Sadly, it turned out that it was a complete -- and I do mean complete - rust bucket! This is what it looked like from below:

This is what it looked like from the front [a wee bit wonky if you ask me like]:

So anyway, the guy was wanting no less than Dkr 8,500[!!!] for this vehicle. Helloooo?! And he assured us that it would not need new floorboards -- a bit of welding would suffice in order to fix what he referred to as 'wee cracks'. Eh, I don't think so.....we left again pretty quickly.

For about a month or so I've been in regular contact with a cool old geezer called Ejnar. He's recently gotten hold of an old Lambretta LD 150 [mark 3]. Now, the Lambretta LD model is my absolute favourite. It may not be particularly 'mod' but I just cannot get over its remarkable and unique look -- and its gorgeous rear end is so fantastically art deco!! I LOVE IT! We went on to visit Ejnar after we'd seen the Vespa. Alan and I had been trying to organise to go see him [and the LD] since before we went away to Scotland. We happened to be in the neighbourghood when viewing the Vespa 180SS. It was cool seeing Ejnar in person -- and check out his LD. It does need a significant dose of TLC but wow.....

*
*
*

The above text, I wrote on Friday June 23 -- and the above photos were uploaded at the same time. Sadly, Blogger stopped co-operating after that! Hence, I've had nothing since then but problems and bother attempting to upload the photos below [maybe Blogger does not like Lambrettas? I am starting to wonder...]. So now I've basically uploaded the Lambretta photos to my Yahoo! account instead of this frigging Blogger shite. Honestly, I cannot be arsed fannying about any longer. All I wanted to do was share some photos with the world!

This is the engine of the LD from 1957. It needs a good clean, etc. And I think that Ejnar leaves it sitting outside!! Aaarrgh!

This is me admiring it -- look how my jaw has dropped!! [I didn't know Alan was taking the photo!].

Here we are. Moi and the gorgeous LD. Don't we just suit one another? I have to have this scooter!

Europe is our playground, London is our town...

2006-06-23T22:13:00.000+02:00

Blogger is pissing me off tonight -- I have been trying to upload today's photos but hell no, the thing just will not co-operate. Nevermind. Instead, I've done this wee test. It's now clear to me why I felt like I was in Heaven when I did live in London for 25 months! Yay ;-)

You Belong in London

A little old fashioned, and a little modern.
A little traditional, and a little bit punk rock.
A unique woman like you needs a city that offers everything.
No wonder you and London will get along so well.

What City Do You Belong In?

These are my flip-flops

2006-06-17T21:14:00.000+02:00

The Monolith

2006-06-16T16:21:00.000+02:00

Botanical Life Part II

2006-06-13T18:12:00.000+02:00

The observant reader will recall my little project with horticulture*.

The curious reader will be dying to know if I have made any progress and how the harvest is coming along. These two images are from Friday June 9, 2006.

First: the careful cleaning undertaken by myself.

Note how untidy our kitchen is already; at that moment in time we'd been back home from our vacation in Scotland for less than 48 hours! Tut tut.

Then: note the size of those radishes! In order for you to get a rough idea of the enormous dimensions of these home-grown vegetables, I chose to line them up next to a Fiat 500. That should give you guys an idea of the ambitious project upon which I embarked last month!

* Credit goes to Gavin who taught me this word while commenting on this very blog.

I am always on the look-out for new words.

Alan wearing a kilt

2006-06-13T18:05:00.000+02:00

If you're dying to see Alan in a kilt [ooh la la!], check out some of the photos taken at the wedding. Alan's posted numerous on his blog -- which saves me the hassle of uploading them here ;-P

Photo Album: Leon & Gillian's Wedding -- click here, here, and here.

Still ill

2006-06-09T23:42:00.000+02:00

I feel like shite. It started on May 29 [that's a long time ago] -- my throat was very sore when I went to bed that night. Alan and I had only been on vacation for like 6 days at the time and I get a flaming cold like. Alan said to me that it was probably all the booze I'd had at the wedding [we went to Scotland because Alan's wee brother was getting married] and also the night before at the pub. I hoped he was right but unfortunately I gradually started feeling worse and worse and began caughing like hell too.

We're now back in Denmark and I went to see my doctor yesterday. He gave me a course of antibiotics which I am now on as well as some liquid to relax my throat muscles and make breathing a wee bit easier for me. It's worst at night -- I get like 1 or 2 hours sleep. Alan's had to move into the study where he sleeps while I have nightly caughing competitions with myself. Great. At present, I am sick of being sick!

Aside from the above crap, we had a fantastic holiday 'back home' in Scotland, where we stayed at Alan's parents' house. It was an amazing wedding -- full of merry Scots wearing kilts and having a great time! Cool. I got very drunk and didn't get to sleep until 4am or thereabouts [as far as I recall]. It was just so nice to catch up with all of Alan's family as well as old friends. I did miss out on a couple of nights down the pub due to my nasty cold -- but that was alright I guess because Alan's mum was spoiling me at home instead.....making me lovely coffee, serving me hot apple pie with ginger ice cream, Cherry Coke [it was only available in Denmark for a short time when it was initially launched back in the mid-80's! It's my fave drink so naturally I have loads when in the UK], etc. She's well cool!

Also really enjoyed seeing an old friend of mine from Japan: Akane. She's settled down in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, which is fairly close to where we went in Scotland, so I went to visit for a couple of days. That was brilliant. We had a great laugh as always when we're together. The last time I saw her was in London in 1999! Saw a lot of cool things and places while in Newcastle -- including The Get Carter Car Park [a.k.a. Gateshead Car Park]. I had to see that while there!

That's it for now, folks -- sorry to keep it [fairly] short and sweet, but I am feeling too knackered to start uploading photos and fannying about with a lot of stuff just now....sorry....

OH! IMPORTANT! I made an amazing discovery late last Saturday night as I walked the streets of Bathgate with Alan, MC, and Pete [on our way from the pub to a BBQ-party at Kev's house] -- for the first time in my life, I tried:

CHIPS

WITH

CURRY

SAUCE!

Whoa like; that's gotta be one of the most amazing things I've ever tasted in my life! Such strange combination I thought before I tasted it -- but boy it's good!

Botanical Life

2006-05-22T17:40:00.000+02:00

Today the sky has been dark -- we've had hail, rain, thunder and lightning. Not particularly summery weather. The only thing that does 'shine' brightly is this beautiful sunflower that my mum gave me the other day. I have put it outside in a large pot. I love it!

Also, I have taken a photo of my little plant/herb project [on a little unit that Alan designed and built specifically for the purpose and which has the right height for me, etc. Custom-made in other words] -- here we have radishes, carrots, chives, and parsley. I am also trying to grow all of these. We're off for 2 weeks now and my mum has been left in charge of the watering-Lilly's-plants job. It's a big job since I have many plants -- I think my mum is slightly worried about the big responsibility! ;-)

[ ]

2006-05-17T22:53:00.000+02:00

** Still awaiting confirmation with regards to the possible position with wage subsidy at the local university. I am on the case and so is the university, but there are numerous formalities that need to be dealt with. Apparently. Long live bureaucracy [aye, right!].

** Off to Scotland for two weeks on Tuesday. We have to get up at like 4:00am, catch a train from Aalborg to Copenhagen [a 5-hour journey], and then catch a flight from the airport in Copenhagen, which will take us directly to Edinburgh. Nice and easy

[I hope]. If we catch the plane....

** While in the U.K., I'll be going to Newcastle in England for a couple of days too to catch up with one of my best friends from Japan [Akane], who lives there. I cannot wait to see her again, meet her wee baby -- Mio -- and her hubby.

** Been wanting an old scooter for 10 years now [yes, really]. Therefore, I am pulling myself together and will finally be taking lessons so that I can get a license to ride one of these things. There is one reason why I've still not done that: I need a motorcycle license in order to be able to legally ride a motorscooter in this country.
Am I terrified just thinking about riding a motorbike? Yes, that I am.
Will I have to overcome this fear? Yes, that I will have to.
Will I be absolutely skint once I've paid for lessons, etc.? Yes, that I will be since it's going to cost me approximately 8,000 Dkr. Great.

**********************************************************
Update @ 23:07: I've just read what I wrote above. I wonder why I sound slightly pissed off. I do, don't I? Hmm...now is perhaps not the time for self-analysis. Nevermind.

The Mighty MythBusters [again again]

2006-05-11T23:48:00.000+02:00

The mighty MythBusters kick arse -- I've said this many times before, and I am always happy to say it again. [Let me just quote Alan: "What's this? MythBusters agaaaiiinnn!"]

Below you will find a wee selection of some sites on the Internet that will be of interest to most MythBusters enthusiasts:

Don't try this at home -- unless you happen to be two out-there guys with a TV show devoted to putting urban myths to the test
-- San Francisco Chronicle @ SFGate.com; October 31, 2003.

'MythBusters' Friendship Only Gadget-Deep
-- @ SFGate.com; Tuesday, April 26, 2005.

MythBusters: Scents And Sensibility
-- intellectual crap @ PoopReport; June 23, 2005.

Slashdot The Mythbusters Answer Your Questions
-- @ Slashdot; December 21, 2005.

Putting Star Wars to the MythBusters Test
-- Feature @ Star Wars Community; January 27, 2006.

MythBusters
-- @ Wikipedia: the free encyclopedia

Hep hey! There's even a [pretty ruibbish] test you can do to determine just what kind of fan you are! Apparently, I am to be proud of myself -- though I am wondering what the hell a 'goog fan' is -- should that be GOOD or GOOF? In any case, as is evident, I am a fan who has "no tingly-in-your-pants feeling for anyone on the show"

-- let me just add, this test has no mentioning of Tory Belleci! That must be why my result turned out the way it did!

What kind of MythBusters fan are you?

You are an all around good fan of the show and have no tingly-in-your-pants feeling for anyone on the show. You're a goog fan and should be very proud of yourself!
Take this quiz!

Quizilla
Join

Make A Quiz More Quizzes Grab Code

A possible foot in the door

2006-05-11T22:59:00.000+02:00

My work experience at university finished on Tuesday. I thought I'd stay in bed and have a good lie-in once I didn't have to get up early any more to go to work. But no; I now seem to automatically wake up early in the morning. Lying there not quite sure what the hell is going on: "Why oh why am I awake when I could be asleep?". Strange feeling. Anyway, I think I may just stand a chance in terms of a job at university which is good. Sadly it is not teaching or research, but it will be along the lines of what I've been doing during the past 3 weeks. If this goes through, I will be part of the TAP team -- Teknisk Administrativt Personale [Tech. Admin. Personnel in English].

The thing that needs to go through is basically a special type of 'job position' that is funded by the government. It's part of the Danish government's wage subsidy scheme, which is an attempt to decrease the unemployment rate here in Denmark. The head of department where I have been working at university has agreed to take me on if the university can get a position with wage subsidy from the government established. This means that the university only has to pay my pension and holidays whereas the actual wage will be paid by the government [via the university -- oh this is complicated like!]. This type of position is limited to 6 months. Unfortunately, there won't be any big money in it for me at all -- I still get no more money than what I get when I am on the dole. But I guess that's ok -- it's still a job; albeit a particularly type of job. Still a few formalities that need to get sorted out -- but I think it's probably going to go through.

Not as va-va-voom as I had hoped

2006-05-11T22:31:00.000+02:00

My friend Jesper [went to a conference in Karlstad, Sweden with him 2 years ago] said to me ages ago, that his girlfriend was wanting to get rid off her old Citroën 2CV since it needed restoration and she simply didn't have the time for such project. He said that if I wanted it, it was mine free of charge. So I finally hooked up with Alan and my dad today and went round Jesper's garage to see the car. I was so excited like! Imagine me in a gorgeous little blue French car...ooh la la -- I was in love: a 2CV is a total 'Lilly car'. For sure.

Unfortunately, the little charming car was ...... rather rusty to put it mildly.....

Too big and too expensive a project for me to take on. I cannot fix a car myself. I guess I should maybe have become a welder or a mechanic rather than an MA in English Literature -- perhaps I wouldn't have been unemployed now then!!! Anyway, it was a sweet thought that I could get the car for free -- but it's going to cost me too much to get it restored......

Citroën ooh la la....

2006-05-07T19:42:00.000+02:00

I have a 'thing' for most things that are French. It's a simple fact. In particular, I have a thing for gorgeous old Citroën cars. Oh yeah. So today, Alan came back from the DIY store down the road, yelling "Lilly! Lilly! Quick -- put on some shoes and come see this beautiful Citroën DS I saw just a few streets away. It's golden. I've never seen a golden one of them before! Have you?" So Bruno, whom we had borrowed over the weekend, got an extra wee walk today -- although he was less enthusiastic about the DS than Alan and I were [as is clear below]. We did have to take the photos rather quickly as we looked a wee bit dogdy hanging around in a quiet residential street, constantly circling the same gorgeous vehicle!

Bruno is thinking: "For crying out loud, it's just a car!"

Check out that rear end!

Just look at those details! That's how they made cars in the good old days. Not the shite you see nowadays...

Lilly is thinking: "Whoa -- what a cracking car. I've got to get my photo taken right next to it."

Bruno is thinking: "Whoa -- that lamp post over there looks cracking. When the hell are we moving on? I thought we were meant to go for a walk!"

Here is Alan posing [note the French rugby top -- he too has a passion for French stuff]

This photo clearly shows the very sad development that the design of Citroën cars has undergone over the years. I long for the good old days -- perhaps I am just a nostalgic fool....

The great Roland Barthes on the Citroën DS -- click here if you want to read his words.

Work experience

2006-05-01T22:00:00.000+02:00

Since April 18 I've been pretty busy every day from 8:00 am [yes, you heard me: 8:00 am]. That was day one of my work experience which will continue until May 9. Basically, it is something I have got to do because I am still unemployed and therefore still receiving dole money every month. So after a certain period of time -- during which one has actively applied for and looked for work -- one has to do some sort of 'activation' as the Danish government calls it. Yep. There are certain types of activation that one can do so long as it is some kind of activity that will increase one's chances of getting a job [very important -- so let us repeat that bit: increase one's chances of getting a job]. I chose to do work experience at the local university, which my former academic supervisor, Bent Sørensen, helped me organise. I am not getting any more money doing this work experience but I simply get my dole money during the 3 weeks as per usual -- except that now I have to work. But that is cool with me as I am quite enjoying it -- yes, I really am! So that's good. Besides, I would like to make a good impression in case a vacancy does come up in the not too distant future at the university....

So, at the moment I am updating the university's newest database VBN [Viden Base Nordjylland] that registers and renders visible all research activities -- I am helping some of the professors logging their publications, etc. and making sure their personal VBN-pages are up to date. Either through individual meetings with them where I show them how to register and get a log-in and how to go about it, or they e-mail me lists of their publications and other research projects and activities which I will then add to the database [one example: Professor Klaus Bohnen's VBN-page which I am currently working on].

Alan has fixed my bicycle so that I can cycle to work every day -- it's been great getting back on the bike again. I have really missed it -- and besides, I am hoping that it will make up for the fact that I have very little time when I get back from work to actually hit the local swimming pool. So I have, sadly, been neglecting my swimming sessions. Not good. Speaking of me being back in the saddle: here is a photo Alan took of me from the kitchen window as I was coming back on Friday afternoon -- I spotted him and waved. He said I looked like I'd been to a Status Quo [??!!!!!!!!!] concert because I was wearing denim!

Been watching a shitload of Taggart [as per usual] -- it sucked last week because my favourite character got killed in the series. I think I am going to boycut the series from now on [if I can!].

Time for bed now -- I have to get up early again tomorrow.....

New Kids on the Blog

2006-04-28T20:29:00.000+02:00

Just a quick update -- I am pretty busy these days. I'll do a proper update over the weekend [I hope].

There are two new kids on the blog [they've been added to the list of quality links on your left hand side, dear reader].

* Jiggs Casey's Blog [one of the fastest moving blogs I've ever frequented!]. Most entertaining -- and also a blog that helps me expand my vocabulary. The newest word I picked up over at Jiggs' is douchebag.

* Kurt Eisenlohr's blog Easy to use which features his amazing artwork and writings.

--- gotta jet again. I've got a wash on at the launderette.....

The Basement Boogie

2006-04-17T15:47:00.001+02:00

Being hungover, I could think of nothing better to do today than head for the basement to do The Basement Boogie. That's right. These are my new baseball boots -- a bargain found in a local charity shop a wee while ago. Cheap* and cheerful, I say. Cheap and nasty, Alan says. Some people have no taste.

* Cheap = 20 Danish kroner. Amazing. --> $3.25 or £1.85.

tHE mISSION pART II

2006-04-17T11:09:00.000+02:00

My favourite writer is Raymond Federman -- this is my collection of Federman books.

And a couple of CDs too. You know, Federman is not only a writer of marvellous books, he also plays the sax -- he's a jazz fanatic -- he gave me a recording of his German jazz band's stuff. They're called ART DE FAKT -- they play

S-u-r-f-i-c-t-i-o-n J-a-z-z!

I treasure my Federman collection.

_______________________________________________________

Remember the MissioN?

Listen to this, right:

READ FEDERMAN

READ FEDERMAN

....Text Matters

2006-04-17T10:48:00.000+02:00

Check this out -- how I wish I could go to Copenhagen [København] and attend this conference.

It's just my thing!!

Ink on Paper, Light on Screen:
Text Matters

* *

* * *

* * * *

* * * * *

Easter with the family

2006-04-17T10:34:00.000+02:00

The annual Easter family get-together was held at my maternal granny's yesterday. We started at 12.30 pm with lunch [some of us being rather hungover]. I don't know what it is with my family -- they [ok: we] are not boozers, but every time we meet up for one of these family things, we drink. A lot.
I don't think I have ever seen my mum, granny, or Alan as drunk as they were yesterday. It was rather entertaining! I was sitting next to my granny. I thought it would be safe -- little did I know that this was going to be the danger zone of the party.
Here's photographic evidence: she knocked over her Irish coffee in my direction. Luckily, I managed to move before the hot brown liquid spilled out onto the table. Tut tut.

Boozing

2006-04-16T10:22:00.000+02:00

I was going to update this blog yesterday evening. Instead, Alan and I ended up getting drunk on red wine. We had a good laugh. Today, I am feeling too hungover to update this blog -- properly anyway -- besides, we're leaving for a family get-together at my maternal granny's pretty soon.....

I have one hour and 38 minutes to get my act together. Splendid.

Lilly, you are The Champion

2006-04-05T22:34:00.000+02:00

I won the Bot Award on Mike Daily's site the other day.

3 seconds. That's very fast.

Tomorrow morning, I will eat my Breakfast of Champions.

I have earned it, you see.

Finlay Rufus Thomson

2006-04-05T22:19:00.000+02:00

Congratulation to my good friend Adam and his lovely wife Tabi who became parents on 31st March 2006!

The boy wonder

-- Finlay Rufus Thomson --

already has his own website.

Transition

2006-04-05T22:09:00.000+02:00

I am still in the process of changing from

glass being half-empty

glass being half-full.

It's tough but it is the only way forward.

I went swimming Friday last week, Monday this week, and I will be heading for the local pool again tomorrow morning. It's amazing how I can be so sore when limping over to the edge of the pool, but then as soon as I am actually in the water and start to swim, it is like a miracle! I get in and get on with my 500m of breaststroke [starting slowly, you know...don't want to overdo it] and it feels great. Absolutely great. Then as soon as I am out of the water again, it is hurting like hell again. The difference is amazing. On Monday, I kept thinking of the The Big Blue as I was swimming -- of how life would be for me if I were almost a dolphin; a bit like Jacques Mayol....

Apart from my regular visits to the swimming pool, I have started doing a set of 12 different exercises which Alan found online. They are especially suited for people suffering from Ankylosing Spondylitis* -- exercise no. 2 is a real f**king killer for me! At the moment anyway, but I have only just started doing them today; this morning and before I sat down to type these words. My aim is to do them twice every day. Alan had to keep reminding me to actually breathe while I was at it today -- he could tell that I was totally out of breath! I was so focussed on doing the exercises properly that I forgot to breathe.

Tomorrow evening, I am going to a meeting about rheumatic diseases in Nørre Sundby. The entry is free -- and my mother is going with me. Should be interesting. It will be about the development of rheumatic diseases and different types of treatments, etc.

Alan has also been trying to get me to eat Marmite -- and believe me, I am really really t-r-y-i-n-g! But it takes me a long time to eat a single slice of toast with that stuff on it. Especially in the morning...it tastes of stock cubes!

Still applying for work. I have been receiving a lot of rejection letters; the unemployment rate is high here. Especially for someone with a degree like mine. That sucks. I did, however, get some positive feedback on an application last week. This was from Aalborg University Library where I had applied for a position as a Line Manager in charge of and responsible for all their physical collections of books, journals, etc. I was invited to a job interview but sadly I didn't get the job. I would have loved to work there; amongst all those wonderful books -- but one of the other applicants who also went for an interview [in total 4 were interviewed for this position] got the job. Apparently, this person had experience with project coordination and logistics. Oh well. An interview is a big step in the right direction -- and it makes a big difference amongst the many rejection letters popping through my letter-box. So all in all, it was a very positive experience for me, although I did not get the job.

_______________________________________________
* I still haven't worked out how the heck to pronounce this darn thing! In Danish, we normally refer to this disease as Morbus Bechterew -- Morbus being Latin for disease and Wladimir Bechterew being the name of the Russian doctor who described the disease about 100 years ago [Source].

Blogthings

2006-04-01T22:55:00.000+02:00

I think I've said this before: there are some weird things 'out there' in CyberSpace. Today I came across a site called Blogthings. Amazing the kind of crap you can find there -- so naturally, I hung around and clicked on all kinds of things. Here's a few things I tried:

You Are 70% Weird

You're so weird, you think you're *totally* normal. Right?But you wig out even the biggest of circus freaks!

How Weird Are You?

You Are Mud Pie

You're the perfect combo of flavor and depthThose who like you give into their impulses

What Kind of Pie Are You?

You Are The Star

You represent the ultimate in truth and purity.Insightful and illuminating, you provide guidance for others.You also demonstrate unselfish, unconditional love.You posses many spiritual gifts, including the ability to heal.
Your fortune:
Your future is looking brighter by the day.The near future will be a time of both hope and healing.Luck is about to come your way, perhaps the best luck you have ever seen.Life is about to get a lot easier and much better!

What Tarot Card Are You?

You Were a Wolf

You have an instinctual intelligence that guides your life.Your family and "pack" is of primary importance, and you protect them.

What Animal Were You In a Past Life?

You Are an Espresso

At your best, you are: straight shooting, ambitious, and energetic

At your worst, you are: anxious and high strung

You drink coffee when: anytime you're not sleeping

Your caffeine addiction level: high

What Kind of Coffee Are You?

Everything Pizza

Diverse and adaptable
You enjoy the full buffet of life
It's hard to you play favorites with friends... or flavors
There's very little that you dislike!

What's Your Pizza Personality?

PIZZA PERSONALITY? -- I mean, who the hell comes up with these things??!

Your Outrageous Name is:

Anita Bath

Outrageous Name Generator

You Should Get a PhD in Liberal Arts (like political science, literature, or philosophy)

You're a great thinker and a true philosopher.
You'd make a talented professor or writer.

What Advanced Degree Should You Get?

Your Quirk Factor: 63%

You're so quirky, it's hard for you to tell the difference between quirky and normal.
No doubt about it, there's little about you that's "normal" or "average."

How Quirky Are You?

Your French Name is:

Colette Renaud

What's Your French Name?

Colette Renaud?!! Fantastique!

The Cure Shares Your Taste in Music

See their whole playlist here (iTunes required)

Which Musician (or Group) Shares Your Taste in Music?

This is not just a bad dream

2006-03-30T22:54:00.000+02:00

Yesterday afternoon, I went back to see my rheumatologist. I guess I am still trying to actually take in what he told me. I've been pretty upset but I am past the point of hoping that it's merely a bad dream and that I'll wake up any time soon and realise that it was nothing but a nightmare.

I've been tested positive for 'something' called HLA-B27* [that means: human leukocyte antigen B27]. Approximately 90% of those who are HLA-B27 postive suffer from Ankylosing Spondylitis. Yep. Not the best news in the world. The fact that I have been tested positive for this + the results of the MRI scan which showed an inflamation in both my sacroiliac joints + the pains so far, the symptoms, etc......well, the rheumatologist believes that it is Ankylosing Spondylitis that I suffer from and that it is currently at an early stage. Yet, HE CANNOT SAY FOR SURE -- HE CANNOT SAY THAT IT IS DEFINITELY [100%] certain that it's Ankylosing Spondylitis although there are numerous indications......but he thinks it is.

I am going back to see him again on April 11 [until then I am taking some pain killers that he prescribed] and meanwhile he'll make sure I get referred to some specialist department or something like that at the local hospital. I cannot actually remember a whole lot of what he said to me yesterday. When he broke the news to me something clicked inside of me. There's quite a long waiting time for the hopsital, as per usual but the rheumatologist promised me he'd do what he could to speed up things. I believe that they'll see if they can diagnose me FOR SURE at the hospital's specialist department [I wish I could remember what he called it], treat me, give me some advice, etc.

Next step for me is to get back on top of things mentally. I cannot let this thing get to me -- it will take time for me to digest the supposed diagnosis and come to terms with it. But it is vital that I try to remain positive, and try to get back into shape even if it hurts like hell.

I've decided to go swimming first thing tomorrow morning. I have always loved swimming but I have refrained from doing any exercises for nearly a year now because of the pains. It simply hurts too much. I'll start out slowly, but I will have to stay fit and make a serious effort.

* Pretty weird that this information was "provided by the late Dr. Raymond Federman" -- RAYMOND FEDERMAN! What a strange coincidence that is....

An update [not another quiz -- wow!]

2006-03-22T11:56:00.000+01:00

In a couple of hours, I am off to see my rheumatologist for the second time. I am nervous. He's got the results now from the MRI scan I had last month at a local hospital. I've had pains since January 2005 -- that's a long time without anyone being able to come up with a diagnosis. I sincerely hope that the rheumatologist will be able to tell me today what exactly is causing the pains I have. I want an answer so badly so that I can get a proper and focused treatment instead of my doctor trying to deaden the pains by giving me pain killers [because he does not know what is wrong]. The pain killers I've been given thus far have done absolutely nothing. While I am desperate to get a diagnosis today, I am also dreading it -- dreading that it's something serious....but I need to know. It's driving me insane.

Been watching two good films recently. I don't generally watch that many films but Alan recommended The Collector [1965] which was on the other week. Brilliant! So creepy. Then I watched Bowling for Columbine [2002] -- that was creepy too. Really creepy -- there's something seriously wrong in the USA. I hope I am not offending any of the overseas readers of this blog -- it's nothing personal. Yes, yes, I know Moore is obviously trying to tell a certain story that is clearly marked by his own perception of things, but there's got to be some truth to his documentary [or whatever you want to call it] -- I don't believe in objectivity anyway. I think it's impossible. I think truths are found in subjectivity.

******************************************************

UPDATE @ 22:01

I am going back to the hospital tomorrow morning for another blood test. At least the rheumatologist was able to inform me that the pains stem from both my sacroiliac joints. He said, that the images from the scan show some 'changes' there but that he was unable to give me any more specific information until he'd see the result of a blood test. So he ticked all the different things on the blood-test-sheet that he wants the hospital to check my blood for.....and then I've got to go back to see him on Wednesday next week.

I felt so -- I don't know -- disappointed, I guess, when I left. I had really hoped that I'd know what's wrong by the time I walked out his door today. But I guess it's been so many months now already that one extra week is not going to be the end of the world. Meanwhile, I just have to try not to worry so damn much -- and not to look up all kind of things on the Internet....self-diagnosis is not always a good thing! Anyway, I guess it's good that the rheumatologist does not want to say anything for sure until he's seen the result from the blood test. It shows that he's thorough which is good.

If I were a post punk band...

2006-03-19T15:12:00.000+01:00

Test and quizzes seem to be the thing at present. So I thought I'd steal another one [from Rose this time]. It's called Which Post Punk band are you?

You scored as The Fall. Manchester's The Fall are one of the most prolific and enduring of the original post-punk bands. Mark E. Smith's surrealist rants and idiosyncratic brand of 'Country & Northern' continue to command a large cult following, their debut, 1979's 'Live at the Witch trials' is as good a place to start as any.

The Fall

83%

Joy Division

77%

Throbbing Gristle

63%

Public Image Ltd.

63%

The Teardrop Explodes

57%

Wire

54%

The Slits

50%

Gang Of Four

37%

The Pop Group

37%

Cabaret Voltaire

27%

Which Post Punk band are you?
created with QuizFarm.com

How well do you know me?

2006-03-17T15:50:00.000+01:00

I stole this one from sweet PainterGirl who stole it from someone else etc etc etc......

See how well you know me -- and let me know your score in the comments field!

Take My Quiz
- on -
QuizYourFriends.com!

I am a Giant Battle Monster

2006-03-15T16:00:00.000+01:00

I pilfered this from Adam [one can only wonder where, oh where, he finds these things]:

Quote of the week

2006-03-13T22:39:00.000+01:00

you are about as mentally stable as a fill in the blank, lilly

-- Young Mr. O'Grady expressing himself in [one of] the parrallel dimensions of the TAGBOARD

Instantaneous TAGBOARDS: this is the beginning of something big...

2006-03-13T14:50:00.000+01:00

Mike Daily [Novelist and Freestyle Fictionist -- and stalker] has made an amazing discovery. He told me about it in an e-mail which I received today.

Here are some excerpts from that very e-mail:

lisbeth,
look at the 3 blogs:

O'Gradyhttp://mickogrady.blogspot.com

KRThttp://kurteisenlohr.blogspot.com

RFhttp://raymondfederman.blogspot.com

[I looked straight away -- opened another window and looked at the 3 blogs above]

notice the fully operational TAGBOARDS on all 3 blogs now.

[I noticed this right away. Fully operational TAGBOARDS on all 3 blogs]

what's WEIRD is, whenever someone types something on 1 blog, the message appears on all 3 blogs instantaneously!

it was a shocking discovery tonite!

please add a tagboard to your blog! i made it easy for you...

[I just added the tagboard to my blog. Mike had made it easy for me which was good. All I had to do was copy and paste. Piece of cake, you know. Mike had already done the hard bit]

here's the code...cut and paste it into your template whereever you want the tagboard...I've already personalized it for your blog...don't change anything and it will be the very same tagboard we 3 are using...

this is bloody brilliant!

[I will have to agree. It is bloody brilliant. This is the start of something big. A big network of instantaneous TAGBOARDS -- check it out on the left hand side of this blog]

and I'm not even Scottish!

[It's true, Mike is not even Scottish. He's American, that is: half Irish and half Italian. I am not making this up. He told me this once]

The Journey Studies

2006-03-09T13:56:00.000+01:00

THE JOURNEY STUDIES is the name of the new album by The Seven Mile Journey which has just been released.

For more information about the band, go to their official website.

The band will also be featured on the Danish radio channel P4 where they will be talking about their new album. The interview will be broadcasted on March 12, 2006, as part of the P4Rock show.

Yipee kayaay, Yuppiefucker

2006-03-03T21:31:00.000+01:00

The most strange things can be found on the Internet. This virtual space never ceases to amaze me -- perhaps not so much the space itself but the stuff that constitutes it: so many websites devoted to so many weird things.
Earlier today, I was using a pc at the local library and I couldn't remember the link for Lilly's Lounge. So I did a Google search and came across this. BLOGSHARES? BLOGSHARES!! Eh?

Amazing. Bloody amazing. I had no idea my virtual lounge was Available to Trade.

Aalborg

2006-03-03T12:08:00.000+01:00

This is where I live:

Sleepless Nights

2006-03-03T11:57:00.000+01:00

I don't sleep so well at the moment. I cannot get comfortable no matter how I position myself in my bed at night. I have quite a lot of pains in my os sacrum at present; that's got a lot to do with it. Yeah, the pains are pretty bad at the moment especially whenever I lie down or sit down. If only I could stand up sleeping. Oh well. Sadly, this has great effect on my mood. A very negative effect.
I called my rhematologist 2 days ago to check if the results from the MRI scan had arrived. The woman on the other end of the line told me that they hadn't -- that it would take at least four weeks. Four weeks. Same message I got at the hospital. That's a long time. Especially if you cannot sleep.

I am not a Trekkie

2006-02-26T23:21:00.000+01:00

I've never really watched Star Trek*; only when Alan has put an episode on -- nevertheless, I thought I'd do the test below. The result is highly illogical! Me a talented singer? I think not.

Your results:
You are Uhura

You are a good communicator with a
pleasant soft-spoken voice.
Also a talented singer.

Uhura		75%
Chekov		75%
Mr. Scott		70%
Jean-Luc Picard		65%
Deanna Troi		65%
Spock		57%
James T. Kirk (Captain)		55%
Will Riker		50%
Worf		45%
Geordi LaForge		45%
Mr. Sulu		35%
Leonard McCoy (Bones)		30%
An Expendable Character (Redshirt)		30%
Data		25%
Beverly Crusher		20%

Click here to take the Star Trek Personality Quiz

* I don't even know half the characters on the list!

Lilly's Lounge

In memory of a dear friend

Doggy News

At the moment...

Transmitting a message from Kurt...

Federman Frenzy

Sleeping with O'Grady

Moomins

We got married

Men who make me laugh

Keeping my promise?

Hello!

Do you dream in Technicolor?

My dad

Happy New Year 2008!

I am so f**king...

Scooter Girl

This blog...

Weather update

Today's purchase

My summer holiday

New job[s] -- old news but slow updater managing this blog!

*

Lukas changed tense today....

So it goes...

What kind of literary critic are you?

Snow

Metrolingua and Word Verification

No more work this week...

Recent changes in the Blogosphere

Still ill [again]

His name is Lex

B'day goodies from work

Music Non Stop

Happy New Year

I just made a total elf of myself

Day upon day

Air in the Paragraph Line #11

Air in the Paragraph Line #11

TFIF

CCCS

The big restoration project

Which MythBuster are you? -- link correction

Lilly Blue

MythBusting: there is still hope!

This is a sign of life

Fight the power

Blogging Personality

TIRED!

A tired sign of life

Re-launching Aalborg Lambretta Club

*Daddy Cool*

Today I received a goodie bag from the US...

The scooter situation

The job situation

Botanical Life Part III

Theory test: mc licence

Driving in the dark: mc licence

"Lilly is so rad!!!"

MySpace is The Devil

It's a nice day...

First week and a half: mc licence

The TagBoard is going....

First day: mc licence

Get around betta, travel Lambretta!

In search of a scooter....

Europe is our playground, London is our town...

These are my flip-flops

The Monolith

Botanical Life Part II

Alan wearing a kilt

Still ill

Botanical Life

[ ]

The Mighty MythBusters [again again]

A possible foot in the door

Not as va-va-voom as I had hoped

Citroën ooh la la....

Work experience

New Kids on the Blog

Daddy Cool