Connection the old fashion way...

I just made a t-shirt design for the Google t-shirt competition at Threadless T-shirts. I have to admit the t-shirt look very nice. Please take a look at it on the link at the top-right corner. If you like it why not vote for it or write to me?

A 'little' friend visited us...

I never actually been particularly interested in bees, wasps or bumblebees. Actually I hate all tiny insects with wings buzzing around me. I probably have some forgotten traumatic experience as a child about insects. The other day I was sitting in my office, I suddenly heard my wife scream out loud like it was a meteor coming down outside our own window. Like I always do I rushed out and there it was, this giant bumblebee.

Between me and my wife, I am not the one who are most scared... which suits me well! Somehow it calms me down when I see other more freaked out than myself. To me an insect is an insect and a bumblebee is a bumblebee, but I now I wanted to found out more about this little creature who visited us. On Wikipedia I counted over 30 different bumblebees. I also heard that a bumblebee actually weight too much compared to the size of its wings, so its kinda odd that it actually are able to fly at all.
Anyway, as my wife gently caught it and let it out again, I though: I still may not like insects, but at least I learned something about bumblebees today! They are far more interesting that I thought, and not so scary at all ;)

Have a nice day!

Who are you all...?

When I created this blog, I also implemented Google Analytics which show statistics of people visiting my blog, but off course I don't see who you actually are. Google Analytics tell me that there are visitors from different part of Europe, and some of you I am little curious on who you are. Thats why I put this tagboard in the right column where anyone can type a comment. So if you feel like, you may type a greetings to me and everyone else. It would make me very happy, because my curiousness are to explode soon.
By the way, this Google Analytics have some very cool features. You can get lots of interesting information about those who visit your site. If your afraid that you as a visitor will give away sensitive information to Google, it doesn't. It's simply registering useful information for web-developers and marketing departments, like what browser, OS, screen resolution, etc. you are using. The coolest feature would be that you may see where a visitor are located on a world map (by internet provider), and you may see which time on the day your page is visited and how many new visitor compared to those who are returns to your site. Cool huh?

Anyway, another work day is passed, and I need to get something to eat ;)
Have a nice day!

Is life a game?

My mother in law came to visit my wife and me for a couple of weeks. A few days before she was leaving, we talked about if she needed a ride to the airport or just going by train. My dad kept telling us that it was OK to take a few hours off work and drive her. We decided to use train instead because my wife was going to spend some time in Oslo, which is by the way. The day after my wife came to me and asked: "Are you sure it's OK for us to go by train. I mean, won't your dad get offended when we decided not to let him help us?".

I said: "No, it's simply a question of whether you would like to get a ride or not!" She still didn't quite believe me. I am sure things are a little different back in Russia (where my wife comes from by the way).

That's when it hit me. Why all this back and forth about offending each other. "What if I do this? What would he say?" or "What if I don't say that? What will she think?" and it keeps rolling on and on.

I never actually understood this. Why do people make up these "games" with each other? If life is a game, why didn't God give us the rules? I like games, but not these kind of games!



Please email me if you have an answer!



Have a nice day ;)

Friends will be friends...

You probably heard it many times that friends doesn't grow on trees. Sometimes I wish it did, because I am not the kind of guy who easily find new friends. I am not a small-talker, more like a "big"-talker. When a conversation turns into about weather, I know it's a dead end. The conversations simply stops. So I always try to avoid that topic.

Anyway, in spite of my small-talk problems, I somehow manage to find a beautyfull girl who became my wife. Time flies and I wish I could pay more attention to her that I have done lately. A good friend of mine I was chatting to while I was working late, simply reminded me that I should go out, wake up my wife and give her a big nice hug. I do that from time to time, but I could certainly do it more... She doesn't get the attention she deserves!

Sometimes we forget how important our friends are. They are the glue of life. They stick together no matter what happens. They still likes you when you did something foolish. They understand you when you need it most and they sometimes tell you what to do. So if you have a dear friend or someone close to you, give them a hug and tell them how much they mean to you.

Friends! You are the best in my life (next to my wife of course). You know who you are.

Have a nice day!

Goodbye winter!

When I was out today on my extra job delivering DM's in my neighborhood I suddenly heard a sound I haven't heard for a long time. Actually I haven't heard it for a whole year. It was a the sound of water trickling down the rock, the sound of footstep on bare ground, the sound of trees whispering in the air. It's the sound of spring!

Goodbye winter and welcome spring!

"X" marks the spot...

Today I had the opportunity to get the paperwork of a good friend of mine, Therese Marie which are studying archeology at the university in Oslo. And I cant tell how much I do envy her studying that topic! I always liked Indiana Jones and when I was a kid I dreamed about being a archaeologist like him (I still do). Of course she says it's not like in the movies, and I know! But I am a dreamer, will always be...

By looking at the first pages I found it interesting. It was about why Oslo (in Norway) as a city was settled were it is. Sometimes she tells me it's terrible boring and hard to study. Now it came to me: Why is it so that it's much more interesting to read stuff now, but when I studied it was so much harder. Well it's not completely true... I liked most classes like history, art etc... except math and those related to language. But still, today I can read about lots of topics like ethics, philosophy... and even math and language I now found interesting, but at school I used to hate it.

In the Indiana Jones movies, he says in front of his class that "X" never marks the spot in real world. Of course he are proved wrong, because right after he DOES find a treasure marked with X. But that was movie, and this is the real world. Is it really true that life is boring and there are no treasures out there left? I guess our friend Indiana might have spoken the truth, and his adventures are left in his movies. At least that's what it seems like...

But sometimes my dreams start floating back, like when I read the paperwork to my friend, and I realize there are truly adventures out there to be uncovered. There might not be real treasures of gold or diamonds buried in dust, but the small adventures in your life are still to be uncovered. Open your eyes! Don't sit and wait for life to grab you, grab your own wings and make your own adventures. Have pleasure in the small things. Then adventure will come to you...

I still have the pleasure of reading the rest of my friends paperwork. I am sure it will be a little adventure ;)

A joke while waiting...

I am sitting home waiting for a call from the editor of "Tidens Tale", a magazine I am doing layout for. Yesterday I just finished the layout and now waiting to get the final changes before sending it to the printing press. Suddenly I remembered this joke I heard some weeks ago:

Everyday at noon a man comes into a bar, ordering three beers. The next day, the same happens. He comes into the bar, exact at noon, order three beers. This is going on and on, and after a couple of weeks the barkeeper ask him:
"Why do you come here at noon every day and order three beers?"
"I have two friends" he said. "One in Los Angeles and the other in Seattle. We go to the nearest bar in our town and drink beer for each other. So the other beers here are for my friends".
So this continued for a while, but one day the man comes in at noon, as usual, but now he order just two beers. He went out, returns the next day doing the same. Of course barkeeper noticed that he only order two beers, instead of three before, so after a few days he said: "Friend! I know it's none of my business to ask, but I noticed that you only order two beers now. Did something happen to one of your friends, or what?
The man said and smiled: "No, no. Nothing happen to my friends, I just quit drinking"

Have a nice day!

'The Sisters'

The Sisters
This is a little test running by me blogging from Flickr. It's a wonderful chance for you to check out the great site and all the possibilities. You can of course organize your pictures, edit images, share them with your friends, geotagging and now I also found out you can blog a picture directly from the site. Just great! There are a lots of cool features at Flickr, so check it out.

The picture is called 'The sisters'. Like I always do, I just shoot pictures like a waterfall where ever I am, and this turns out to be the best pictures of all. I guess the best pictures are made when you least expect it and doesn't try so hard. What I like in this picture is that you can see there is a special connection between the sisters.
Feel free to check out my other pictures at Flickr.

Have a nice day ;)

What on earth is 'Ascaaear'?

In my very first blog I would like to introduce to you what 'Ascaaear' are and where it comes from. Hopefully you would get a picture of who I am by reading my blog, so I would not pay much attention to that now. By introducing my nickname, also means that my old nickname Mr.XL would not be used anymore. Like they say in html-language... Mr.XL is now deprecated.

It's is no secret that I am very fond of Tolkien's work and his universe. I started reading 'Silmarillion', and continued with 'Unfinished Tales', 'The Hobbit' and last but not least 'Lord of the Rings'. This is where the name 'Ascaaear' comes from. Well, not directly, but on internet I found Chris Wetherell's Elvish Name generator, and that's where 'Ascaaear' poped up. I liked the name so much that I kept it as a nick name ever since. So Ascaaear is my elven name.

Welcome to my blog, and have a nice day ;)