Sorry

Torgnyworld is currently on a hiatus. But its Norwegian equivalent Torgnyland is still alive and kicking. With a little help of Google Translate you might even understand some of it.

Time Passes - Christmas Remains

Christmas will always be my favourite holiday. The Christmases of my childhood must have made an indelible impression on me. Back then everything was permeated by an atmosphere of utter calm and harmony.

The preparations and expectations played an important role. I vividly remember the baking before Christmas. My brother and I helped mum and gran rolling coriander cookies. We weren't really allowed to taste the pastry, but we were still frequently standing by the tap to have a sip of water. Coriander pastry makes you thirsty.

Lots have happened since then. And I realize the Christmases of my childhood will never come back. Lately I've often decided to spend my Christmas abroad. It's nice to get away from the winter cold for a while. But at the same time it almost feels like skipping the festival. You go through Advent, and then suddenly you're on summer holiday!

Consequently, I guess I prefer celebrating Christmas in my homeland after all, with winter, cold and maybe even snow. It may sound a bit sad sitting on one's own on Christmas Eve. And - yes! I'd much rather celebrate Christmas the way I did before, with mum, dad, my brother and gran... But of obvious reasons this is no longer possible. And instead of crying over spilt milk, I guess one should rather try to make the best out of it.

And that's what I do. On Christmas Eve I prepared the traditional pork ribs, with potatoes, sauerkraut, prunes and sauce. And afterwards I relaxed in front of the television, watching various Christmassy programs, my regular cognac replaced by aquavit. It's Christmas, after all.

The days between Christmas and New Year's Eve are often a slight anticlimax. But recently my closest relative invited me home to him and his family on 26 and 27 December. Many other relatives were also coming. Family is important, and one should stay in touch while one still can. Unfortunately, I had already booked a trip to the US in this period. But there will be other Christmases. And hopefully also more opportunities for family reunions. 

I wish you all a Very Merry Christmas, and all the best in the New Year!

Winter Wonderland

Sundays can be sort of boring. But this time I decided to "visit myself". As some of you may know I've just bought my own flat (although I haven't moved in quite yet). Consequently, I thought it might be a god idea to get more familiar with my new local environment to be.  

According to the ad you're "only 150 metres away from the woods. Here you can enjoy leisure activities like kayaking, swimming, mountaineering, mountain biking and skiing in greatly groomed ski tracks during the winter season". This sounds great. Although I'm not generally an outdoors guy, I don't mind having forest and field nearby.

Consequently, this Sunday I took the tram to my new soon to be habitat and went into the woods. At first, I walked along "a greatly groomed ski track". But then the Capricorn within me got the better hand of me, making me set out into the woods along a narrow and hardly trodden path. The snow lay soft on the ground, and everything was quite and peaceful. After having struggled through a pretty rugged terrain, I finally found myself on top of a rock, beholding my new realm, the district of Østensjø.

It was getting dark, and I started to worry I might not find my way back. (I have many good sides, but a sense of direction is not one of these.) After having messed about in scrubs and bushes for a while, I could finally see the city lights in the distance. I got on the tram to my own district, where I made myself a cup of lovely hot chocolate. That has always been a part of wintry hikes in the woods.

In The Night Garden

Dreams are a fascinating phenomenon. Sometimes they seem more real than reality itself. For a while I was determined to form a band playing ethereal dream pop and calling ourselves As Real As Dreams. 

Some claim that you don't dream in colours. Some claim that you can't have tactile experiences in a dream ("pinch my arm!"). Some claim that those who dream never are aware of it themselves. Well, I've just realized that neither of this is true. 

The other night I was lying sleepless in my bed, desperately trying all kinds of sleeping techniques. I've gradually discovered that a good way to enter slumberland is emptying your head of all your thoughts. It requires a bit of concentration, but it's not as hard as you might expect. Instead I try to imagine a scenery, an abstract figure or something like that, and then focus completely on this image. (I guess it's some kind of "zen"...) With a bit of luck (and concentration) I then sink deeper and deeper into this image until I'm sound asleep.

This time, however, my technique failed. I tossed and turned for hours with no result. But suddenly I found myself in a luxuriant garden. I knew that I'd been lying in bed only a few minutes earlier, and realized right away that this had to be a dream. But this only made me even more attentive of my surroundings. The colours were strong and sharp - paradoxically even more "realistic" than what you experience when you're awake. I was surrounded by green trees and shrubberies, walking (barefoot, I think) through soft, dewy grass while tiny insects were whirring around my face.    

As I said, I was fully aware of the fact that I was dreaming. Lately I've had some dreams in which I've sort of floated along some feet above the ground. Quite pleasant, actually. Since this obviously was a dream, I decided to find out whether I was able to accomplish a similar glide here as well. No sooner said than done. With my strength of will I started levitating from the ground and gliding like a ghost through the garden. But then I must have got a bit overconfident. After a few seconds I lost control and crashed into a tree!    

My sleep probably wasn't very deep, because now I started to reascend to the waking state. Right afterwards I opened my eyes and once again found myself in my bed. Damn! But I had at least made a few empirical observations of existence in dreamland, and can hereby deliver a report to you, the residents of the world of the awake.          

R.I.P. Mac

Last weekend my Mac collapsed. First it caughed a little, then it hawked a little, and finally it died completely. It was heartbreaking.

The last few days it's been examined. And now they've made a diagnosis. It needs to be fixed. And it turns out the costs will be higher than buying a new Mac! And then what's the point? Grrr, a phrase rhyming with "clucking bell" comes to mind...  

Well, now that my Mac is dead at least I can spend the evenings in the company of a digital, text-based medium from the good, old days before the internet: Teletext. There's nothing like 7-bit graphics in eight glorious colours.

Trends & Transport

As you know, this blog has a hang-up on contemporary movements. Torgnyworld wants to feel the pulse of the latest trends and tendencies.  

An important yardstick in this connection is popular culture. Not least pop music and its promo videos. Consequently, we think that an important trend in 2011 will be (roll of drums) non-motorized vehicles! 

One important indication of this phenomenon is found in Mark Ronson's song "The Bike Song", temporarily on high rotation on MTV. As the title suggests, the song is dedicated to the joys of the two-wheeler. And the music video includes an almost fetishist fascination of bicycle seats, bicycle bells and bicycle lights.

Another recurrent artist on MTV's playlists is the new pop comet Eliza Doolittle (although her name sounds curiously familiar...?). In her song "Rollerblades" footwear including a vehicle device is primarily in focus. While her video is almost as fixated on bikes as the one of Mark Ronson's. 

Our prediction is consequently that muscle powered conveyances will be the next big thing. We expect a considerable boom regarding the use of bikes, rollerblades, scooters and kicksleds in 2011. Remember where you read this first!

Home, Sweet Home

As some may have noticed, I've been searching for a new flat for some time now. I had a rather active period about this time last year, going to some public viewings in downtown Oslo. (At that time I felt like living in an "urban environment", while still being pretty close to work.) But after a few months my inspiration waned, and during spring I put my hunt on ice. 

After summer holiday, however, my inspiration returned. And this time I changed my strategy slightly. I had come to the conclusion that it could actually be quite cool living outside the city centre too. Every day I take the tram to work, and I've discovered that it can actually be pretty nice in the suburbs too. Light, airy and green. So, the last couple of months I've been to some viewings in this area. And now I've even gone so far as too - lo and behold - make some bids!

Until now, however, there has always been someone else winning the bidding round. And this is always a downer. If I'm going to make a bid for a flat, I sort of have to "fall in love" with it. One does invest quite a lot of emotional capital in these cases, you know. It's a bit like having a crush on a girl, and then someone else comes along and takes her from you. After that, you don't move on to the next love interest right away, do you?   

Well, after a month's heartache after my last setback on the house front, I was once again on a few viewings last week. One flat in particular appealed to me. And since I'm getting a bit fed up with my perpetual existence as a flat searcher, I took a deep breath and made a bid. Soon after the blasted  bidding round started again. But after some counterbids - and a 10 percent price increase - I actually ended up as the winner of the round!   

Since there was an option involved, it was still too early to rejoice, though. There was still a chance someone with a higher priority might snatch the place right out of my hands. But after two days of nerve-wracking waiting I got the message: The flat was mine! :-D    

By the way, I was very surprised by the overwhelming response this news generated. When I told my colleagues that I'd become a flat owner, I was showered with congratulations. And during the day I got lots of offers from my friends about lending me their car, assisting me during my relocation, coaching me at Ikea etc. People are so kind! Thank you so much! :-)