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Track #3: The Quiz - Hello Saferide
Listen to it on MySpace!

I am very happy these days. I just love summertime, my wonderful friends, my smart and eager colleagues, my caring family, and …my precious appartment. I really enjoy being alone in it, just reading, drinking tea, dancing in the living room. And I can take care of myself - most of the time.

As of today, I can even cut the grass in my garden all on my own! My dad finally gave in. He drove by my flat and swapped the scary, gas-powered lawn mower he once insisted was perfect for me, with a small, manual one.

Before dad was willing to do the switch, he had to prove to me that the gas-powered lawn mower actually works. It took him 10 minutes, and a huge amount of wrestling to “prove” his point… In the meantime I was halfway finished mowing the lawn with the cutie in the background.

So. Point being: I don’t really need a guy for anything. I can manage on my own (now that I have a manual lawn mower, anyway ;). I miss the feelings that the song ‘The Quiz’ portrays, though:

The Quiz
by Hello Saferide

You look nice alright
and I like the way you nod after everything I say
like it actually means something
to you

And I like your record collection
Townes and Jens with a hint of Rickie Lee
And you’ve cleaned up the bathroom, made a really nice soup
but a bit too much sci-fi in your shelf with DVDs

But there’s some things you need to know about me:
I’m weak right now, real weak right now
I need proof before I dare to open this heart
so I prepared a quiz for you:

Would you freak out if I said I liked you?
Do you walk the line?
Is your IQ higher than your neighbour’s?
And is it very much higher than mine?

Can you sleep when I grind my teeth?
Do you look away if I slob when I eat?
Will you let me be myself?
Can you at all times wear socks?
because I’m still scared of feet

Do you talk in the middle of Seinfeld?
Do you read more than two books a month?
Do you get racist or sexist when you’ve had a few?
Is it fine if I make more money than you?

Have you slept with any people I work with?
Is there anyone you’d rather wish I’d be?
Do you still keep pictures of old girlfriends?
Are they prettier than me?

And if I’d fall, would you pick me up?
If I fall, will you pick me up?

The very beginning of something new. Curiousity, vulnerability and hope.

Check out the song on YouTube.

A new version of the website for Norsk Folkemuseum (The Norwegian Museum of Cultural History) was launched yesterday. My company, Logica, was hired to design and develop the site in co-operation with the museum. As a part of Logica’s design department, UX, I have been involved in developing the concept and the information architecture for the site.

I might deliver a “final” information architecture (IA) to the client at the end of my department’s process. Still the IA will often evolve after a site is launched to meet new needs. Even though we always try to continue the dialogue with the client after a project is over, it is important that the client understands the principles of the information architecture. They have to deal with suggestions and complaints on a regular basis from within the organization…

When some colleagues and I went to the launch party for norskfolkemuseum.no yesterday, I was intrigued to hear that the people from the project group of Norsk Folkemuseum still could list the principles for the IA - over 6 months after my department was involved in the project. Yay!

What do you think of the site? Check it out in Norwegian or in English.

I have been invited to my very first wedding, and I thought I should find myself a special dress for the occasion. And then I found eBay. Wow! I know I am a quite late in discovering this shopping mecca… Fashionably late, I guess ;) But still. I am amazed!

What to wear?

For now, I am only lurking around even though I found some beautiful dresses. I am too busy converting inches to centimeters in my head, and measuring my waist over and over - whishing that some inches will be lost in mentioned area just in time for the final bidding round… Or should I just keep eating my daily dose of delicious gorgonzola cheese, and rather make the dress myself out of a pattern like this one?

Lots of beautiful patterns are available for sale on eBay. I guess sewing machine skills aren’t, though…

The weather has been incredible the last month here in Bergen. I have been wearing my 20 DKK over-sized sunglasses a lot lately, even though I actually hate wearing sunglasses. I have even been using them at night to keep the bugs away when biking. But a moth with cruel intentions made me realise that sunglasses for bug protection is a very bad idea…

While I was biking home recently, a moth flew in behind the glass. Trapped inside the glass, it attacked my eye over and over. I was so shocked and distracted that I just fell over!

Yes, I completely see the irony in this event and my oh so clever bug protection theory. I try to laugh of the whole episode. But I also try to sit straight, and it kind of hurts. I am so badly bruised that I probably should avoid wearing a bikini for a month or so. Good thing that I am leaving this casual student/BBQ/park/swim life style any minute now to go back to work at the Logica office - all covered up in appropriate office outfits. No bikes or sunglasses are needed there :)

Are there any characteristics that newsgames often have in common? Do such games demand to be played and experienced by the public in another way than the games that exist just for entertainment purpose? How are these games received by the public - considering that the public generally have been raised learning that games equal fun? I want to look into the background and the debate around newsgaming in general, and take a closer look at the game September 12th and its context, to try to find answers to the questions I have raised here.

This was a small excerpt from the paper I have written about newsgames called Games Combatting the Dictatorship of Entertainment. A Study of the Newsgaming Phenomenon. Read the whole thing if you like!

In the meantime I’m off to my family’s summer house just outside of Bergen. No vacation, though. I will bring with me a huge pile of exciting books about information systems. But in a week my days as a student are over. For now, anyway :)

I have never really been a fan of the show Sex and the City. I find the four female characters to be somewhat annoying - too exaggerated in a way. Lately, however, it seems all my friends are consuming the fancy shoe box of DVDs containing the whole series 24/7. This is required to be prepared for the big premiere of Sex and the city: The Movie the 6th of June.

Since my girlfriends and the TV-channels invite the sex addicted quartet to the screen quite frequently nowadays, I have watched a large amount of episodes myself the last weeks. Actually, I am starting to like the characters in the show now! Still, I don’t think I ever will become as shoe-obsessed.

There’s probably something wrong with me, but I think most shoes in the shops are ugly. Often disproportioned. And since it is so difficult to find nice shoes, I have decided to be obsessed with clothes instead. And then I just need my shoes to go with anything. And preferably be somewhat practical. The last pair of shoes I bought are definitely in that latter category. And they are actually a replacement for the pair I bought 4 years ago. The exact same model. Black. Leather. Suit both my baggy pants and my chic black skirts. Sun or snow. A perfect fit. Just brilliant.

Ecco Soft II. My brand new (and my very old) kicks.

Every time I see another lady with these fabulous shoes on, however, she’s at least three times my age. Last year I came to realize that I needed an alternative. I ended up buying a pair of shoes that would add some centimeters to my height. Though still; Black. Leather. Suit both my baggy pants and my chic black skirts. Maybe not my first choice in the snow, but still definitely a perfect fit. Just brilliant.

Sixtyseven. 60’s style. Lovely. And 8 centimeters added.

If I don’t have an endless supply of these exact shoes for the rest of my life, I don’t know what I’ll do. I actually think I should buy a new pair right now. Just in case.

Yikes. I sound really old.

Eurovision Song Contest 2008. Horrible. Just horrible. Probably as horrible as any other year - but I can’t say I have watched the show for years, so I wouldn’t really know… There was this one song that caught my attention, though. It definitely did not win - but my personal vote goes to Le France. Douze points! [Twelve points!]

Sebastien Tellier sings the song Divine with this quirky, laid-back performance while embracing a big plastic ball of the world filled with helium. Helium which he inhales during the song of course. Watch the performance:

…or the official video for the song Divine:

Other Tellier songs:
La Ritournelle
L’Amour et la Violence
La Dolce Vita

I guess I have to learn French now.

In some weeks I will have my exam in Information Systems. Even though the sun is shining, I am indoors reading “fascinating” articles about Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA). For me it is still kind of a blur what this phenomenon/technology/mindset/whatever is about, even though I have read five articles on the subject. The article I am reading now, however, puts some things into perspective. In “Is Web 2.0 the Global SOA?” SOA is compared to Web 2.0 - a phenomenon I am a bit more familiar with. In the article, I read that:

“Web 2.0 emphasizes a social aspect that SOA is completely missing.”

“SOA has much more central configuration control, management, and governance, while Web 2.0 is freewheeling, decentralized, grassroots, and has virtually no command and control structure.”

“SOA tends to be generic and faceless, whereas Web 2.0 shines brightly on human/service interaction.”

“Web 2.0 is almost too informal and practically calls out for discipline, while SOA is mute and autistic in comparison, a technical virtuosity that wants to be social but that doesn’t know how.”

In other words - Web 2.0 is the cool, easy-going kid, while SOA is the geek in desperate need of a makeover. I would like to make a funny illustration on the matter now that I finally had this epiphany. Unfortunately I have to use the next hours to understand how this geek called SOA actually works. I am sure I’ll have a blast figuring it out…

I am a pasta girl. I love making it, and I am always trying out new sauces from my brilliant Italian recipe books. But I have decided that I have to try to make some delicious couscous and quinoa dishes in the close future. I need to expand my horizon when it comes to food. Especially since it seems my traveling will be limited to the regions of Italy forever. For the 6th year in a row I will spend my summer in Italy. Definitely looking forward to it! But while waiting for the holiday to arrive, I will welcome other cultures into my kitchen. Does anyone know any good recipes?

About quinoa at Wikipedia
About couscous at Wikipedia

I should have been in bed hours ago. But around 11.30 pm, just when I thought to myself that I should definitely go to bed right now, this film was about to start. Actually, I am terrible at watching movies in my own comfy couch if they start anytime after 9 in the evening. I fall asleep everytime. Still, I decided to give The Girl in the Café a chance. If any actor can keep me awake after midnight from inside a black box in the corner of the livingroom, it might very well be Bill Nighy, I thought.

And I was right! Bill Nighy was not running around singing about how you should really love Christmas (with way too many syllables) like he did in Love Actually. But he and actress Kelly Macdonald act very well together in this cute comedy, and the dialogues are quite funny. I got curious about both the characters from the moment they met each other in a café - when Lawrence (Nighy) sits down at Gina’s (Macdonald) table and pours large amounts of sugar in his little cup of tea:

- That’s a lot of sugar.
- It’s been quite a tough day.
- The worse your day, the more sugar you have?
- Yes. Well, within certain limits. Never higher than four. Even on the worst of days.

I can relate to this sugar theory. And I think most of us, unfortunately, can relate to the way Lawrence, when he has to sit down at Gina’s table because there is no other free tables, tries to sit as far away from her as possible. So they sit diagonally across each other to not invade each other’s personal space - even though they both apparently would like that space “invaded”… Gina comments:

I had a boyfriend who used to make us sit like this. He felt being directly opposite me put too much pressure on him to talk.

Gina and Lawrence, however, obviously had enough to talk about, because Gina’s comment made them move so they sat directly opposite each other instead. But you can’t drink tea forever, and Lawrence leaves the table after a while:

Well, it was lovely, sitting directly opposite you. And I enjoyed the early diagonal bit as well, obviously. I’m Lawrence by the way.

Good thing he introduced himself in the end, so he could get her name in return. I usually forget - either to exchange names at all, or to actually remember the name I just heard. If the name I get in return just doesn’t fit the person at all, it slips my mind instantly. And I might not even notice that I have forgotten it for quite a while, and the conversation will go on smoothly. The second I remember that the name is gone from my mind, however, I freeze or start behaving all awkward.

Not that I meet people randomly in coffee shops very often. Unfortunately.

Anyway. People are strange. You gotta love them!

Movies with the same feel and brilliant dialogue: Before sunrise and Before sunset. And probably many more.