Ragnchild

I was reading this book about healthy food today, and was pleased to discover that chocolate was on the list of very healthy foods. Although I’ve known for a while that dark chocolate can be healthy, it was interesting to read about all the different substances it contains, many of which do great things for your body. Among other things, it contains the molecule that is often referred to as the “love molecule” (Phenylethylamine). It also contains magnesium, a substance which many women have a lack of during those special days when we get more irritated and have other mysterious complaints. It’s nice to know that there is a scientific explanation for a cure that I know many women rely on (bananas also contain magnesium, how about a banana split with melted chocolate?).

Of course, there are some downsides as well, as with everything that is good in life. Firstly, the mentioned health benefits come from the cocoa, not the sugar, so you need to make sure that you eat dark chocolate, at least 70% is recommended. Also, there is a risk of putting on weight if you eat too much chocolate, 40-50 grams a day is the recommended dose. However, the only situation where chocolate is really bad for you is when you have a migraine. Other than that, try taking a trip to your nearest chocolate store, get some real chocolate (not those bars which are mostly sugar anyway), and eat with good conscience!

And by that I don’t mean the fans yelling and throwing things, or the judges trying to make a fair decision facing someone bigger, stronger and more popular than themselves. No, it’s now a proven fact that football is quite dependent on chaos. Recently, a German mathematician did a statistical analysis of matches which showed that 40% of goals in football are based on luck (read more if your German is up to it).

Actually, this is something I’ve been wanting to prove for a long time, it’s also one of the reasons why I don’t like football. I dislike like the way one team can be on top of a league one season and then suddenly have to fight to keep the 10th place. Continue reading Football is chaotic

Ok, it was just my computer, but I still feel kind of proud. First the background story. A while ago, one fine, sunny day, I turned on my computer and it refused to boot. Now, I do have this belief that I’m not too bad with computers, but when I was suddenly presented with a BIOS screen that told me it couldn’t find my harddisk, I had to admit I felt quite helpless. To make matters worse, I was at that time on what I consider to be the wrong side of the Atlantic, and supposed to be enjoying myself, but I could only think about how it would be hopeless to get help with my computer before I got home, and I really wanted to know whether my hard disk was completely fried.

Well, I survived a week of agony before getting home, and found out that I should take a look at the hard drive before doing anything. That turned out to be a good idea, because it had actually physically fallen out of place, meaning that it was not connected to the computer. Well, I thought, this explains it all, I put the drive back in place and hoped that all would be well. I turned on the computer again, same result. It could now find the drive, but the Windows installation had obviously been damaged. At this point I felt quite frustrated and was almost ready to give up hope of getting my files back. Continue reading I can fix stuff!

I cannot tell you how many times I’ve been discussing a movie with someone and they have said something like “relax; after all, it’s just a movie”. Now, the reason that I get to hear this often is that I have a quite specific opinion about what a movie should or should not be. For me, a movie is not just a way to spend your time, an opportunity to forget the rest of the world for a while. Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong with entertainment, but I think that a movie should have a message as well. Ideally, it should tell you something that will hopefully make you a slightly more reflected person when you are done watching it. I know that this may not be a commonly accepted view, but take a moment and think about what movies really are. Continue reading It’s not just a movie

As I’ve mentioned before, I’m currently attending a “Folkehøyskole“, which among other things involves living at the school. This is a rather special situation which can be both very rewarding and sometimes a bit frustrating. First of all, it’s really nice to not have to travel by bus each morning to get to the school, and worry about being stuck in traffic. It also comes in handy when you have free periods during the day, and you feel the need to go “home”, you can be there in an instant. However, you do often get the feeling that you’re living in a kind of bubble, because everything you do, school, musical activities, socializing, meals, sleeping etc. happens at the school.

No matter how you see it though, there is really nothing that can be compared to living so close to so many persons your own age and with similar interests. It creates a feeling of fellowship that you won’t find anywhere else. It’s also fun to see what can happen when so many young people live together in terms of creative efforts. For example, our dorm woke up one day to discover that our kitchenette had been covered in newspaper, and I mean really covered, each single object in the room had been wrapped in paper, the sofas and the walls, even the TV-antenna had been carefully wrapped, part by part, so that you could still see its shape. We found out later that a group of students had spent two hours on this project in the middle of the night. Continue reading Life at a boarding school

I must admit that for me, the time between Christmas and new year is often the best part of the holiday. Usually, I spend the beginning of December trying to deny that Christmas is imminent and preaching about how people ruin it by starting too soon. Then I start making a long list of the things I have to do, which includes buying presents for my German relatives early enough so the post can them there in time. I was so proud when I managed to finish early enough with the presents this year, or so I thought, it turned out that they didn’t get my presents before leaving home after all, hopefully they’ll get there soon.

Then, when Christmas finally arrives, it’s time for family reunions and church and presents and lots of food, and before you know it the magical moment that you’ve been waiting for has passed. Continue reading And soon another year has passed

Do you ever get the feeling that there’s just not enough of you to go around? Sometimes, I just feel that there’s so much to experience and learn, so many interesting people to talk to, and so many things I should have read or seen, that it just overwhelms me. In a way, it’s a good feeling, because all these things are what I consider meaningful, and I’m grateful that I have the opportunity to explore them all. However, I sometimes feel like my life is a big juggling exercise, barely managing to catch one ball safely before another comes tumbling down. In my opinion, there’s not much point in doing many of the things that you like if you don’t have time to take a breath once in a while and actually enjoy the feeling of doing what you enjoy. Continue reading I’m just one person, you know

After having moved out of the place where I’ve lived my entire life until now, and having spent some time at what is now my new home, I’ve finally come to realize that this is actually quite a big step for me. In the beginning it was (and it still is) just fun to be able to live by myself and take more responsibility for my own life. However, I’m now beginning to realize that it’s more than just that, it’s a new way of life.

At this point, I’m starting to buy household things for myself, thinking about which of the items from my childhood I want to keep, and that also brings about some emotional changes. I’m starting to feel all grown up, and all these little decisions, like which laundry detergent to use or what to do in the holidays, seem to add up to something larger. It’s like the values and opinions I’ve been thinking about for a long time suddenly start to materialize in a whole new way, which is both scary and great at the same time. Continue reading Moving out and growing up