KiwiRia

About time I posted this list. I first discovered it was up about a month ago, but it was a dreadful mess - more than 130 entries and several repeats. They've finally got it cleaned up though, so here it is :) For comparison, the lists from 1998, 2002 and 2006 can be found here.

As per usual I'm bolding the ones I've read and italicizing those I own but haven't read yet. I'm not going to mark those I want to read, or I'd be marking the entire list! ;)

( Whitcoulls Top 100 for 2008 )

Take the test at http://politicalquiz.net/ Can't say that my results came as a surprise at all.

The following are your scores. They are based on a gradual range of 0 to 12. For instance, a Conservative/Progressive score of 3 and 0 will both yield a result of social conservative, yet 0 would be an extreme conservative and 3 a moderate conservative

Conservative/Progressive score: 6
You are a social moderate. You think the progressive movement is overall well meaning, but sometimes it goes too far. On issues like abortion and affirmative action, you see the negatives of both extremes on the issue. You probably value religion, but at the same time you think it should still stay separate from the government

Capitalist Purist/Social Capitalist score: 8
You are a Moderate Capitalist. You support an economy that is by and large a free market, but has public programs to help people who can't help themselves or need a little help.

Libertarian/Authoritarian score: 7
You're a Moderate. You think that we all have certain inalienable rights that must be protected, but that sometimes laws need to be made to protect the majority's lives or quality of lives. You might think that the 2nd amendment isn't necessary anymore because letting everyone a gun is extremely dangerous to the community. You might also be against illegal drug use or public pornography because of its possible harmful effects to society.

Pacifist/Militarist score: 0
You're a Pacifist. You are angered that the United States thinks it should dominate the world through its military force. You think that the only time war is necessary is when we are in direct danger of being attacked. You also believe the US spends way too much of its money on defense, as we can practically cut it in half and still easily defend ourselves, and use that money to fix all our economic problems.

Overall, you would most likely fit into the category of Democrat.

The multi-birthday yesterday was excellent as always. Sure, 18 people is just a tad too many for my uncle and aunt's not terribly large house, but we made do and all ended up having a great time. At least, it seemed that way :) Lars played dart with Jakob and made me very proud by achieving this shot:


My nieces and nephews were adorable as always. Isabella was so excited about giving me her present, she couldn't even wait until she took off her jacket, but immediately handed me a card with "MARIA" written on it - written all by herself, her mother had just told her the letters ;) The card was a drawing similar to any made by a 4-year-old, but it's the first that's been made especially for me, so naturally it now hangs in a place of honour on my fridge ;)

And both Jordan and Miriam managed to charm me completely - Jordan by coming at me, running full speed, and throwing himself into my arms. Miriam by getting scared when I played 'tickle monster' with her, and instead of crying and running away, lifting up her arms to have me pick her up instead. Cute!

But enough about them. You all know I love them to bits and pieces and could go on for pages if you let me, so I'll spare you the gushing for now :)

Mum had borrowed the first three "Yada Yada Prayer Group" books off me, and after finishing the third one told Dad, "We're giving Maria #4 and #5 for her birthday." Nice! :-D Of course, I'm not entirely sure she had anticipated that I'd have finished both already, but knowing me she should have guessed ;-) They're quick reads, but more importantly, they're books you can just keep reading. Some books I can only read so much in before needing a break, but these I can just disappear into completely, and don't feel the need to come out for air before I'm done. Neta Jackson writes in a way that makes me feel like I know the people, and that I'm right there with them. And each book reminds me I really need to get my own prayer life up to speed. I need to actually do something about that, and not just think it.

Morfar gave me some money for my birthday, so I'll use that to buy the last two books in the series. Don't wanna wait until Christmas for those! ;)

I also received another book by a Danish theologian called "But... Did I Pray Too Little?" about the seeming discrepancy between Jesus' promises and our experiences concerning prayers answered (and how... mostly how). It sounds fascinating and is a very interesting subject that I've been struggling with quite a bit in the past, so I'm really looking forward to reading that one.

I talked to Nina about my bad luck in finding the Swarovski Bubbles, and as she and Christian are going to Prague in the last weekend of November, she offered to look for it there. So now I have Henni looking in Cairo in early November, Nina and Christian looking in Prague in late November, and Henni's parents looking in Berlin in early December. I would be uncommonly unfortunate if not ONE of them has any success finding it. So I'm feeling much more at peace about that now. And if all those three should fail, jokergirl, I'd probably chance my luck on the Scandinavian postal service and have you mail it to me, if your offer still stands? But hopefully it won't be necessary.

But I have to say I've been utterly blown away by the responses to my quest for Bubbles. You guys have really gone above and beyond, looking for the figurine in your local boutiques (US, Australia, Taiwan, Sweden, England) and offering to buy it and send it to me. You guys are amazing and I feel so incredibly blessed by your generous and helpful offers. Even though I haven't taken any of you up on your offers, please know that I really appreciate them and am deeply grateful. This is what the internet is all about :)

Yes that's right, a week has passed by already! Please vote for my entry???
Thanks!

Despite having a cold I've had a brilliant evening. Nina and Mixi came to pick me up after work, we drove to Rebekka's place and spent the evening talking, eating, playing Cranium and just generally having a wonderful time. I really, really, really love my sisters :)

At one point we were talking about celebrities we found hot. I immediately mentioned Thomas Hartmann (stand-up comedian), because IMHO he is smoking. Nina didn't know what he looked like, so I found a picture online. She took one look at him, gasped and exclaimed, "Oh WOW!" Guess she agrees ;)

The video's in Danish, but he still looks the same, no matter if you understand him or not. And if you do understand Danish, he's hilariously funny and well worth the 5-6 minutes the video takes :)


Now I'm tired and ready to go to bed, but I'm already looking forward to seeing them all again tomorrow :)

I know I'm not the only one who's been friended by a number of people I have no clue who are and who only ever post in Russian, so thanks to amerigina I present you with this Public Service Announcement.

http://nympholept.livejournal.com/tag/russian+bots

What I know:
* The bots friend people automatically from community member lists, and user friend lists. You may notice familiar names on the friends list of a bot.
* They have been around since at least April, I first noticed them in August - so did a lot of other people.
* A lot of them post the same content - if you take some of their post, and google it, you will find many others journals with identical content.
* Not all of them post the same stuff, there are many variations. I don't know if that means they're newer, or they're just assigned to a different group. Some are more random and very hard to identify - google still helps.
* They almost always use Cyrillic (Russian), I'm told it often doesn't make much sense (I don't speak Russian, so i don't know)
* Sometimes, they reply: don't let that fool you. It is either automatic, or it is the person controlling the bots. Lately, they have been accusing me of being a bot, because I post the same message telling people to report them to Livejournal Abuse.
* No-one knows what they are for.
* One theory is that they are saving all your entries, and when people re-friend them, they save all their friends-only entries. Pictures, email addresses, names, street addresses, phone numbers - some people post these things, and the bots want them. 5000 bots friending 100,000 journals = identity theft.

There have been reported of recent Russian hackings. I do not know if these are related.

The Livejournal Abuse Team is currently researching ways to automatically identify them, and block them from registering.

Update: LJ Abuse can now automatically identity bots that are reported to them, but are not able to locate them unless they are reported.

Am going to Rebekka's place after work today for some sister-bonding time. This'll be the first time in literally years where the four of us will get to hang out together with neither husbands nor kids around (well... other than Emil, but he's still small enough to not demand too much attention).

I would be looking SO much forward to it, if it wasn't for the fact that I'm sick with a cold and my head feels 3 times larger than normal. I ought to be home in bed, but instead I'm sitting here at work because "if I'm not well enough to go to work, then I'm not well enough to go to Rebekka's place either", and I'm NOT missing out on that!

I did txt her and ask if she was okay with me coming though, so I'm not just springing my cold on her (and Emil) unannounced.

There ought to be a law against being sick on days where you actually have something pleasant to look forward to.

SVH #34 - Forbidden Love, or, The One With Romeo And Juliet Only Not

It's been ages since I did one of these last, so it's about time, right? :)



( For once there's actually only one plot-line - it's all the A plot! )

After having read my flist and some of the problems you are facing (*hugs* - you know who you are), I feel bad whining about this, but I am upset, and it's my journal, so you can just skim by if you don't feel like reading it.

My Swarovski-quest today was a huge failure. Well... maybe not huge, as it was a pretty white/black deal, but definitely a complete failure. I found the shop alright, but while they had other figurines in the 'Underworld' series, they didn't have the Longnose Butterfly, nor were they able to order any home for me. I didn't completely get the reason why they weren't able to, but didn't feel like asking her to elaborate. A no is a no after all, so it'd make no difference to me. Had they had no figurines or even just none in that series, I think I'd have been less disappointed, because now I got to think "Oooh, fish :) ... no, not the one I want :( ", and while I hadn't really expected them to have Bubbles (quicker to type ;) ), I HAD expected them to be able to order it home for me. I mean... who ever heard of a store that didn't do orders like that? Well... I did now, I guess.

So now I have to figure out what to do next. Turns out Henni's parents aren't going to Berlin next week after all - that's not until December, so I'm not sure if I want to wait that long. On the other hand, I'd feel "safer" having them buy it, than trust Swarovski's online shop. On the other hand (yes, I have three hands - so sue me ;) ) I don't know that I want to inconvenience them by asking them to buy it for me - especially not if they can't find it, and feel like they have to go to more shops in order to look for it.

Sorry about this string of consciousness... I'm just writing myself out here...

Ordering online and having sent to a colleagues house
+ I've asked, and he's happy to help.
- They only deliver Mon-Fri, which could be quite inconvenient for him, depending on how late in the evenings they deliver.
+ I'd receive it sooner.
- I'm back at that it really could be a HUGE inconvenience for him... I don't want to 'take advantage' of him.

Having Henni's parents look for it in Berlin
+ Henni has asked, and they'd be happy to help.
- It's not until December.
- They may not be able to find it, or it may have gone out of stock by then.
+ If they are able to find it the first place they look, it'd be no inconvenience at all.
+ I wouldn't have to trust an online shop nor rely on delivery.

Putting it down like that, I guess it really all comes down to how big an inconvenience the weekday delivery is to my colleague, because no matter which option I chose I'd be putting somebody out, and if I go with the second, I'd also be running the risk of them not being able to find it, and having to go with the first anyway, so might as well take that... I guess?

Crap, just checked the website - office hours only. Depends on what his wife does then I guess :-/

Bah, why did the Danish shop have to go and close? And phooey on internet stores that don't ship to Denmark!

I've spent the last few days following Chris Martenson's Crash Course on economics - not in general, but seen in relation to the world we're currently living in. The course consists of 20 chapters (the last hasn't been uploaded yet) each of somewhere between 5-15 minutes in length and was... surprisingly non-boring. I have absolutely no interest in economics whatsoever, but he managed to present it in a way that made sense and made it relevant to me.

So I recommend the course - especially in the light of the recent bailout plan deemed necessary (but which to my ears sounds a bit too much like peeing in your pants to stay warm - if you'll excuse the crude simile), but at the same time I must warn you that it's not pleasant viewing, as it paints a rather bleak picture of the future... although not a surprising one.

What I'd like to know though is first and foremost, how reliable is the information Chris presents? I know as well as anybody else that statistics can be used to say practically anything you want them to say, so while his numbers seem sound, I simply don't know enough about it, to know whether he's right or whether he's yet another doomsayer.

Secondly, and somehow less important, how would the similar numbers look for the Danish society? Are we as heavily into debt and as bad at saving as people in the US? Probably yes, but on the other hand, our taxes are MUCH higher (I pay somewhere around 50% - don't remember the exact current number), so how does that influence the nation captial?

What I'd love is a Danish representation of the same topics... how much is the European economy in general and the Danish in particular dependent on the US? A lot, I'm sure - but probably not 100% like many American economists would have us believe.

At least that's my theory. Yes, housing and oil prices have increased, but food prices haven't. I spend the same amount of money keeping Lars and I fed now as I did when we first got married 5 years ago.

But then... what do I know?

I know this is borderline silly, but I need your prayers for something very superficial.

Remember the Swarovski figure Lars gave me for my birthday? Well, the shop in Denmark has closed, and it turns out the online store only sells to countries that has a physical store (don't ask me why, makes absolutely no sense to me). Malmo, Sweden has two stores - they aren't dedicated Swarovski stores, but do sell their figurines, but only a small selection. I e-mailed them both to ask if they had Bubbles (only I found the proper name and item number ;) ), one replied back that they didn't, the other hasn't replied at all, so I'll be going there tomorrow to check it out. It's only about 45 mins/an hour each way, so it's not like it's a problem to go, I just know it would mean a HUGE deal to Lars that I'd actually be able to find it.

Like I said, I know it's superficial, but will you please pray / keep your fingers crossed that they'll have it?

If not, I still have a number of options:
* I can (hopefully) get the shop to order it home for me - that'll require an extra trip to Malmo, but never mind.
* Henni's parents are going to Berlin Friday where there are 28 dedicated Swarovski boutiques. I spoke to Henni about it today, and they would be absolutely fine with buying it for me there.
* I have several colleagues in Malmo, who probably wouldn't mind me ordering it to their address.
... so it's not like I'm out of luck if I can't find it tomorrow, I just really, really, really want to. It means a lot to me, and actually even more to Lars. He always hates buying presents, and then he finally thinks of this brilliant gift for me... and can't buy it because the shop closed 3 days before he went shopping for my present. He has no reason to, but he feels terrible that he had to give me a gift certificate instead of being able to give me the physical gift...

...I'd just love to be able to come home tomorrow and show it to him.

Yeah, I'm silly... I know. But God cares even about our silliness, right?

(Feel free to laugh at me now)

Slept from 9pm last night till 6:45am this morning - NICE! :)

I'm in a rut reading wise - something that usually happens when there's some book or the other I "have" to read, but don't really feel like. I know that theoretically I can just pick up another book, but my conscience won't let me, so I'm sitting with nothing I feel like reading.

At the moment the culprit is My Legendary Girlfriend by Mike Gayle which I'm reading for a bookclub, and it's so boring and so superficial that I'm *this* close to giving up on it even if it is for a bookclub. It's a male version of Bridget Jones (so we'll be comparing the two) but he's even more sad and pathetic, and the book's just not my type. Granted, I'm only about 100 pages into it, so perhaps I'm giving up too quickly, but life's too short for books that don't grab you, right?

Then there's The Dark on the Other Side by Barbara Michaels which I've borrowed from a friend. I usually enjoy BM's books, but this one's leaving me cold so far. Can't say exactly why... guess the characters just aren't grabbing me. Think it's one of her first books, so that may be why I find it sub-par.

Finally there's A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth which I borrowed from my MIL. It's actually a lot better than first anticipated, but very thick (1500 pages) and very slow moving, so I can't disappear into it, like I prefer to do with books.

On the other hand I'm currently listening to Avalon High by Meg Cabot on my bike rides to and from work, and that book I love :) Guess I just need to tell myself it's okay to drop MLG and TDotOS and that I shouldn't rush ASB and go find something else to read already. I feel bad about dropping a book for a bookclub (especially as we're only 3 people in it, so it'll be really obvious), but it's just not worth it. At least I've read Bridget Jones (ages ago, when it first came out) so I will be able to contribute a bit to the conversation.

We all know them - moments when everything just feels right and everybody around is happy. Moments that epitomise the Danish hygge. Fortunately, like Anne and her Kindred Spirits, they're not as rare as I once thought.

And it really doesn't take much...

An afternoon with a good book, and no responsibilities. Preferably a new book, but that's not a requirement. To be able to spend an afternoon immersed in a good book, knowing that I don't have any obligations, but can just dive into the book and not come out 'til the last page is turned. A glass of wine or some chocolate close by hand isn't necessary, but would in no way diminish the bliss.

Seeing my niece/nephew running towards me, throwing herself into my arms. Throw in a joyous shout of "Auntie 'Ia, Auntie 'Ia!" and I'm completely sold. Hearing them say "I love you.", having them pull out the chair next to them, because they want me to sit there.

Receiving a long, rambly, old-fashioned letter. Emails are wonderful, and I couldn't keep in as close contact with my friends in NZ without them, but nothing beats coming home from work to a nice, thick envelope and just knowing there's a letter from a dear friend inside.

Being in church - praising God through my song. I seldom feel as close to God as when I'm worshipping Him together with others through song. Such a small thing, yet it means so much.

Hanging out with friends and family. Doesn't matter if we're playing a game, watching a movie, or just sitting around talking and laughing. Just taking the time to enjoy each others' company.

Being surprised by the beauty of nature. A beautiful sunrise, a beautiful sunset, a gorgeous rainbow or, even better, two, a thrilling thunder and lightning storm, the colourful autumn woods, a gorgeous cloud formation. Anything that makes me stop and take notice brings a little peace and a little bliss into my life.

A lazy morning in bed, snuggled up to my husband. That's all it takes. Feeling his arms around me, knowing that even in his sleep, he wants to get as close as at all possible.

It's the small things that count.

A post by ruthette reminded me of these two incidents from when my sisters and I were small.

Nina had (and has) a very vivid imagination and was usually the one to think up games for us to play. One such game was "Settlers" or "Colonists" where we'd walk around outside pretending to be travelling in a wagon like the Ingalls in Little House on the Prairie.

Probably not that uncommon a game, but Nina was very keen to have the details in her games as accurate as at all possible, which prompted several odd questions to my dad (who obviously knew everything, right?). Unfortunately I only remember two...

"Dad... you know it's possible to close a fist like this (thumb inside fist) and this (thumb outside fist)... How do the Chinese do it?"

"Dad... how many chickens does it take to stuff a pumpkin?"

Kids are random... and praise the Lord for that! :-)

Yay! I'm in for another week. I'm glad, 'cause it would have sucked to get kicked out on my birthday! ;) Thank you so much for voting for me. I really appreciate it, and am blown away by the number of you who have no idea what it's all about, but who vote anyway, simply because I asked you to. You're the best! Thanks :)

The next topic is "A Moment Of Bliss"... that's actually going to be really, really difficult to write, because there are just so many to choose from. I'm very blessed in that respect, I know. But how to make it an entry worth reading, rather than just an entry of me gushing... Hmmm... it'll take some thinking before I get down to writing it I think.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaahhh!!!!!!!

I just got my birthday present from Lars, and he got me this!!!!!!!!!!!!!

*points to icon*

Or rather, a gift certificate to go buy it, as the Swarovski store in Copenhagen closed per September 30th :-/ So we're going to Malmo, Sweden on Sunday in the hopes that they have it there.

Yaaay! I have the BEST husband :-D

One little compliment can make you feel amazing. So give me a compliment, anything in the entire world, even that my shoelaces are pretty. Put this in your journal. And once you get some comments, put that entry in a memory or tag and when you are feeling down, just go to that entry and this will remind how great you are.

*bats my eyes* Pretty please? :-)

Eoin Colfer is to write the 6th instalment of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

Not yet sure if that's a good or a bad thing, but there's no doubt that I'll be reading it.

I had Henni over today for a girly afternoon which was great at always. Lars was at work, so we decided to watch some movies he wouldn't care to watch... started out with Rent but after half an hour we were still going "WHAT is this movie about?!" and turned it off - weird, and not in a good way. Instead we put on Hairspray which neither of us had seen, but I'd bought in London because many people had spoken so highly of, and loved it! We played a game of "Killer Bunnies" and then ended up watching Labyrinth - just for nostalgia's sake.

I made this crock-pot tortilla soup for dinner, and this is the first crock-pot meal I can consider a true success. It tasted great and will definitely be added to my "to be made again" list :) There's a little bit left for my lunch tomorrow, otherwise we ate it all (half portion from what's listed in the recipe).

Gah! I am not impressed by the organist at our church and his last minute cancelling of plans. He, I and one other person had arranged to have a meeting to plan concerts for the first half of 2009 after church tomorrow. I wasn't too keen on that as I actually hadn't planned on going (seeing as Lars has evening shift, and I wouldn't be seeing him at all if I did), but a deal's a deal, so I'm going and thought I might as well kill two birds with one stone, so planned another meeting as well. Two hours ago he sends me an e-mail saying that next Sunday will suit him better. Well, that may be so, but I'd set aside tomorrow to meet with him despite really wanting to prioritise otherwise, and since we had arranged to meet tomorrow, I've made other plans for next Sunday, and won't be able to come then. Seriously, he gives me just over 12 hours' notice that he's cancelling the meeting. I am NOT impressed, and told him I won't be able to come next week, so he and the other person will just have to have the meeting without me - I'll send them an e-mail with my suggestions before the meeting, but I'm NOT going to change my plans AGAIN just to accommodate him.

I'll be a very happy woman when he retires next year.

The poll is up for the second week of LJ Idol. Please vote for my entry so I get to stay another week?

(Yes, I'm sorry, I'm going to keep posting these shameless plugs. I'm having so much more fun with this than I thought I would. Keep me in, please? :) )

I am TIRED! Yesterday I thought I was just going to have a quiet day at work, but at 10am my team lead called, asking me to go out to help a customer import their data from Excel-sheets into the system. Fair enough. I know how to do it, they're only just learning, and they were willing to pay for it. No worries.

It went really well too - I was mostly just an observer, letting them do things themselves and just making myself available to answer any and all questions they might have, so it wasn't difficult, and it wasn't frustrating... it just TOOK TIME. We weren't done until 7pm, at which time I'd been at work for 11 hours!

I was supposed to have gone to a worship service last night, but I was just too tired. I came home, had dinner (left-overs fortunately - Lars was out) and crashed. Still tired today, but it's Friday! and if nothing unforeseen comes up, I'm planning to leave early :)

Rachel wrote a post asking for our Favourite Literary Couples... how could I resist!

In no specific order, because no WAY I could rate these.
Father Tim and Cynthia in the Mitford series by Jan Karon.
Great proof that love doesn't have an expiry date. I love reading how they find love late in life, and how they start out as friends long before they even discover they're in love.

Barney and Valancy in The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery
The only couple from an LMM book on this list. LMM didn't write marriages all that well (and like Rachel said, if I were to write a list of LEAST favourite couples, Teddy and Emily would be at the very top), but here she succeeded brilliantly. I love reading about their comradeship :)

Jamie and Claire in the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon.
Probably my very favourite couple in literature. A couple who married without being in love but who (naturally, it's a book) fell deeply in love before long. Further on in the books we get to follow a marriage after the initial rush of first love which is strangely rare in books. Claire's return to Jamie after 20 years is one of the most romantic scenes in the entire series.

Henry and Clare in The Time-Traveller's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
One of the quirkiest couples I can think of, but I love the irregularity of their relationship - with Henry constantly jumping back and forth in time. I'll actually have to reread that one soon :)

Laura and Almanzo in These Happy Golden Years by Laura Ingalls Wilder
It may be mostly nostalgia, but I've always thought these two so sweet together. Although I was quite surprised when I read Laura's biography and discovered just HOW much older than her Almanzo was (more common back then I know, but still a surprise to a 16-year-old).

Jane and Garth in The Rosary by Florence L. Barclay
Another couple who start out as friends and grow to love each other. The Rosary is one of my favourite books EVER, so it stands to reason that they had to join this list :)

... There are probably several I've forgotten, but these are my favourites "off the top of my head".

Who are your favourite literary couples?