Home made cards Rock

Just found this card I made for my oldest cousin's confirmation. Thought it was quite cute, so I decided to share it before I delete the images.

I quite enjoy making cards. It's a nice personal touch for a special occasion.

Generation Instagram

I think I read an article somewhere about 'why instagram is killing photography'. The main point of it was that boring, pointless and dull photographs are made interesting by applying a filter, therefore this generation of aspiring photographers never learn how to take an interesting photo. After downloading instagram and running most of my existing iphone photos through it, I kinda see the point. But honestly, I don't think instagramming will ever actually replace learning photography, with a proper camera, without fancy effects and filters to make it look 'cool'. It has more of a social networking feel to it; upload photos of everything and anything. Se what your friends upload. Get 'likes'. Is it such a bad thing that there are tools available to let everyone feel they can create something beautiful, even without the talent? Surely, this has no effect whatsoever on professional photographers?

Outside the teenage no criticism <3 bubble, I think there are clear lines between popular instagramming and 'serious' photography. One is a bit of fun and available to everyone, the other is extremely difficult to achieve. Believe me, I'm still nowhere near becoming a 'serious' photographer. And even if instagram can make any old rubbish look presentable, practice makes perfect, and practicing framing and taking pictures will probably improve the eye for composition, which again is a step towards getting better at 'real' photography, art or layout.

All in all, yes, you do see a lot of rubbish about. But the feeling I get from the criticism of the phenomenon does resemble the common art snobbery that seems to make anything that is accessible to everyone bad art, or at least less valuable than that which is only accessible to the select few. If anyone can understand and appreciate it, it's bad. If just anyone can present a good looking picture, photography skills become less valuable.

Fun, fun, fun

Playing with instagram effects. Christmas display at Norway Designs.

The bar/bistro where we had dinner yesterday

Gathering at Wayne's Coffee

Norwegian Winters and Me

View from the living room.
And SHUT UP about sunset photographs.

It's another cold Norwegian December afternoon. The temperature where I am is about -13. My first thought when I woke up today was to get a fire going.

For a Norwegian, I'm not very well adjusted to the cold.

I prefer to stay in front of the fireplace, with a hot drink and a nice, big blanket to a day of winter fun, fun, fun!

Or better still, hibernation.

Of course I can't deny white rooftops and fire creates a cozy atmosphere, now we're just missing a christmas tree and some fairy lights...

 

THIS makes winter manageable.

Meatballs: The Perfect Sunday Dinner

Well then, advent. And candles.

Also the day I decided to make dinner. See, living in England, I occasionally miss Norwegian food. It's just one of those things. Meatballs for example. My dad's home made meatballs to be precise, with Norwegian gravy, potatoes, pickled beets... yeah. But I'm not sure about the recipe, so it's kind of a silly thing to make when you're cooking for 6. So I cooked it for 3 today. MOSTLY with ingredients you get in the UK.

Meatballs are really quite easy to make. Mince, an onion, an egg, and I used a little bit of maizena corn flour. Dad usually uses potato flour, but I thought corn flour would basically do the same thing. 

Pop it in a frying pan with a ton of margarine. This is a real difference between the way my family cooks and the way things are done in my boyfriend's family; at his house, you fry things with a little bit of low calorie fat spray. As little as possible. Here, you use a big chunk of margarine, then add some more. 

So unless someone interferes with my cooking, I use a mix between the two. I tend to use my judgement. I'll use low calorie spray if the buttery flavour isn't super important for the finished dish. Of course that means I sometimes subject a dieting woman to more fat than absolutely necessary, which is baaad. Guess I'm doomed to fail any diet, and should therefore probably make sure to stay fit enough to never need one.

Anyway. Norwegian gravy. It would have been an absolute disaster without food colouring, should have let butter and flour burn a bit before adding stock and milk. I also have a very difficult relationship with sauces - it gets too thin, then too thick, and then too thin again - but we saved it in the end, and the food turned out OK.

Now this is normally a cheap everyday meal, is it really fit for a cozy sunday dinner?

Considering it's pretty much identical to what I usually have as my Christmas dinner, I'd say yeah. If only because I don't care much for pork belly and can't stand medister sausages and balls (THIS is why I've got an English boyfriend - Turkey is so much nicer), daddy's home made meatballs is the only thing i'll eat. 

So here it is, my home made, festive Sunday dinner. I'm so proud.

Also, for some strange reason I keep thinking it's Friday. WTF?

Atheist Pope

Just woke up. Had this really funny dream where I became the Pope.
The first ever Atheist pope!
Also, woman. I hear that's kind of a big deal in those circles.

Quicksand Manor

Right now, I'm visiting my family in Norway for a bit. And it's nice. Mostly. There's just one thing I've noticed that really really really annoys me.

Things have an uncanny way of just disappearing.

Not because people 'borrow' things and don't put them back, that doesn't really happen anymore. I mean things get swallowed up by the mess. Eaten by the house. Disappear into a different dimension. I think 'I need this thing'. I look for the thing where I think it might be. It's not there. I look for the thing where it might have ended up if it's not where I thought it was, where it would be if I'd just put it down and forgot about it, and under the couch. Then, if it turns up at all, it will be exactly where I thought it was supposed to be. Or under my bed.

I know this is an internationally recognized phenomenon. It doesn't only happen to me. It just seems to happen a lot here. Plus it's super annoying.

Hey. You're My Project.

My sister is studying media at the moment. Right now, she has a photography assignment about 'someone with a talent'. Because she's lazy  I'm a brilliant artist, she has decided to do her project on me. This has involved some artistry and a bit of posing on my part, and lots of hard work and frustration (terrible model, bad lighting, and troublesome equipment) on hers.

Because I'm also a narcissist, I've requested a copy of the photos. You know, to kick start my modelling career. Or something. Some of the pictures turned out alright. Among them my new profile pic!

'By the way, you have to draw or paint a self-portrait'.

I think the idea here is about an artist's way of representing him/herself. You use your work to communicate who you are and what you stand for. There is no separation between the artist and the artist's work. I have actually done a project that gave me similar associations, though visually, it looks very different.

At work.

This one speaks for itself I think. Drawing stuff is always necessary, and pencils create pretty lines!

Still at work.

'I need you to draw or paint a union jack because you have to pose in a picture with a union jack and a tea cup' 

Because I'm, well, living in England and tend to try to limit my tea intake to about 16 cups a day. My boyfriend also happens to be an absolute addict and should really just be kept on a drip. He keeps saying he'd probably bleed tea. It's not quite true, luckily, because that would very possibly turn me into a vampire every time he had an accident. And that might increase the number of 'accidents'.

This one is kind of a disaster, but I like it.

Everything is kind of blurry and kind of horrible, because it's winter and we've got about an hour of daylight on a good day, though since i got home, an hour of daylight is close to what we've had the whole week. The camera isn't really up to the night photography challenge, and because it's f***ing freezing outside standing still is kinda impossible because I'm shaking. This picture might not end up being part of the actual project, but I quite like it. It's artsy. 

___

My sister had a different pick of the series, and told me the presentation went very well (she got a 5-/B-) . Apparently the teachers LOVED the concept, the variety and the finished pictures, but would have liked to have such things as lines and movement of the CD shelf mentioned in the presentation.  Oh well, positive feedback is positive feedback, and I'm happy to be a part of such an interesting project!

The Tea Tastes Different In Norway

Maybe it's the water. Maybe it's the milk. Maybe it's psychological. But the tea tastes wrong. And I'm constantly thirsty.

Actually... it's probably the water. It's the most difficult thing about living abroad. When I come back to Norway after being in England, the water tastes dirty. Back to England, and it tastes like chlorine. Adjustment is necessary, and being away for about a week, I just get enough time to adjust. I usually choose not to.

Life is a Lemon and I want my money back

I've cracked it. This song is all about tea. You order English Breakfast tea and accidentally got Lemon.
You'd like a full refund, and since tea is serious business, your day is ruined. As is the rest of your life when you think about it. Lemon tea!

Christmassy Cinnamon Coffee

The weather is cold and grey. Winter is coming. It's still a month left until Christmas, but hey - December soon. What you need is a comforting drink in front of the fire.

I'm normally a tea drinker, but days like these, I enjoy a bit of cinnamon coffee. It's the easiest thing ever to do, too:

1. Make coffee as you normally would. Instant works just fine.
2. Dig out your powdered cinnamon from the cupboard (if you haven't used it since last x-mas it'll be at the back, if you recently attempted the cinnamon challenge you may have to go out and buy some more)
3. Add desired amounts of sugar and cinnamon. Stir.
4. Add milk (you could probably skip this if you don't like your coffee white, and just go ahead and enjoy already)
5. Optional - if you've got a bit of whipped cream, put some on top for a luxurious finish. Sprinkle with cinnamon.

cinnamon sticks are added strictly for presentation purposes

Sit down, enjoy, and think about christmas baking for a minute. You know you want to.