an apple a year

I love apples!
Unfortunately I am allergic to them.
All of the store bought apples that is. Don`t ask me why... I don`t get it either. I have tried all kinds including ecological apples, but the results are the same... my throat starts to itch.
But! I found out a few years ago that apples picked straight from the trees are okay. No reaction whatsoever.
Which means that the fall season is "apple season" for me.

It just so happens that I pass a house on my way to work that has posted a sign "Please pick our apples. We have too many". So every morning I pick 2-3 apples.
Maybe it`s because apples have been such a rare food item for me, but these apples taste incredibly good!
I am tempted to pick a whole bunch this week and make an apple pie, seeing how the frost is coming and the trees are still full of unharvested apples. It`s a shame really that so many apple trees go unharvested. I see that most of the apples just fall to the ground and rot away.
Well, I am gonna eat as many apples as I can before they fall from the trees. Then I have to wait patiently for the next apple season.

mr. frost is coming

It was quite nippy this morning when I rode my bike to work. There has been a gradual increase in the number of layers of clothing and their thickness/windproofness (its now a word) that I need to wear. A bandana under my helmet was also added to my repertoire this morning.
The thermostat outside my kitchen window measured 2 degrees C. Thats 35,6 Fahrenheit for you Americans ;-)
Frost was covering most of the cars and several people were scraping their windshield while their car was warming up. And of course the subway was filled with people coughing and sneezing.
So even though it`s a cold start, it`s still a pretty good way to start the day. And my first cup of coffee tastes even that much better.

inspirational words

Listening to the car radio on the way home last night, the wonderful song, "Don`t Give Up" by Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush, came on that I had not heard in ages. The lyrics just sunk in and I wanted to share.

in this proud land we grew up strong
we were wanted all along
I was taught to fight, taught to win
I never thought I could fail

no fight left or so it seems
I am a man whose dreams have all deserted
I've changed my face, I've changed my name
but no one wants you when you lose

don't give up
'cos you have friends
don't give up
you're not beaten yet
don't give up
I know you can make it good

though I saw it all around
never thought I could be affected
thought that we'd be the last to go
it is so strange the way things turn

drove the night toward my home
the place that I was born, on the lakeside
as daylight broke, I saw the earth
the trees had burned down to the ground

don't give up
you still have us
don't give up
we don't need much of anything
don't give up
'cause somewhere there's a place
where we belong

rest your head
you worry too much
it's going to be alright
when times get rough
you can fall back on us
don't give up
please don't give up

'got to walk out of here
I can't take anymore
going to stand on that bridge
keep my eyes down below
whatever may come
and whatever may go
that river's flowing
that river's flowing

moved on to another town
tried hard to settle down
for every job, so many men
so many men no-one needs

don't give up
'cause you have friends
don't give up
you're not the only one
don't give up
no reason to be ashamed
don't give up
you still have us
don't give up now
we're proud of who you are
don't give up
you know it's never been easy
don't give up
'cause I believe there's the a place
there's a place where we belong

wedding photos

Taken this summer in Maridalen.

a thousand words

"Elvelangs i fakkellys" along the Akerselva in Oslo.

the predictably unreliable transit system

Yesterday I had to take the subway to work, instead of riding my bike, since I was also taking the train up to Gjøvik. It was to be a long day.
After day`s end in Gjøvik, and the 2 hour train back home, I only had the 30 minute subway to take me the last stretch.
But only halfway home, at Bryn station, all the lights went off in the subway car and we were told that there was no electricity on the tracks. Thats it. No other options. Just a nice message that there was an electricity breach.
There were no taxis, so I walked up to Manglerud in hopes of finding one. There were about 6-7 other people in line for the taxis there too, so I walked further to Ryen where I finally found an available taxi.
I did not get home until 21:30, an hour late.

The exact same thing happened 2 weeks ago when I also needed to travel up to Gjøvik. The subway on the way home lost its electricity feed and we had to find other means of transportation.

This morning, as I happily rode my bike to work, I could see the subway platform filled with people waiting in the rain for the subway. It looks like they have not been able to fix the problems.

And people ask me why I ride my bike to work.

syklistene i media

Artikkel i Aften 16.09.09.

still learning norwegian

After having lived 20 years overseas, I moved back to Norway at the end of 1999. Has it really been 10 years ago??
I still pick up new words, but this latest threw me for a loop.
"Valgvake"
What the hell does this mean? I looked it up on the internet but there were no english words for this.
So I looked up "vake" but no english word for this either.
To me it looks like "valgkake" which makes more sense. Just a big cake filled with all of the different political parties. And there are alot of them in Norway. In the US there are 2, and sometimes 3... but we all know that the 3rd "independent" party never has a chance.
Anyways... I digress.
Valgvake valgvake valgvake

mest brukt ord/beskrivelse under og etter gårdagens valg

"Formidabelt"

mental note

Wear a coffee-colored shirt.

today`s quote

"If I listened to what people said they wanted, I would have designed a faster horse."
Henry Ford

Proof that as a designer, my job would have been so much easier without clients.