Author Archive
Last night I was at a friend’s house after work, for way too many hours, and to clear my head I decided on walking home. Seeing as I live quite far north, this time of the year is really dark. Especially at night-time. And I love it. To make it even better: It was snowing, the air was clean and it was too late and/or early to be a great rush of drunk people and their drivers. (Meaning: It was after midnight, so people were allready downtown, but it was quite some time before 3 a.m., so people weren’t planning on going home anytime soon. This = hardly any traffic outside of downtown.)
So I was walking home, in a very straight line, with an incredibly sober head. (Yes, seriously.) And I saw everything with brand new eyes. Walking home in the middle of the night sober is not something I do very often, especially seeing as it was cold as fuck, and it always is in Bodø. But I was dressed for walking outside (still in the clothes I had worn to work…) and it all looked so nice. Except for one thing:
The few people I actually met.
I met a couple of cars, and they all stopped for me, and that was nice. Drunk guys in the car-windows making faces and/or gesticulating in a very french manner were still busy trying to score downtown, and the people that passed me on the street were too drunk and cold to bother me. But they still bothered me!
First of all: They were not dressed properly.
People being drunk and falling asleep in ditches has caused deaths in the past, and will continue causing deaths, and do you know what doesn’t help? Going to parties without bringing jackets, scarfes, appropriate headwear, mittens and shoes for walking in the snow when it’s snowing outside! Come on, people, do you want to freeze to death?
Second: They were really drunk.
I think I met 4 or 5 people on the short walk who were all so drunk that they couldn’t even keep on the pavement. They kept crossing the street, maybe 3 times back and forth. And they tried using phones to call people because they clearly had no idea where they were, and so they dropped their phones, or walked back and forth on the same street or stopped for longer periods of time, often in the middle of the road.
And the thing that made all of this even worse: They were all dressed in black, with no shiny objects to make them visible to the human-eye approaching them in a car driving 30-60 kilometers an hour.
Combine this with walking in the streets, sleeping in ditches (this is only speculation, I know…) and not paying attention due to alcohol: Accidents waiting to happen.
The thing that annoys me is that there is this great invention for walking around in the dark and still letting people see you. It’s called reflectors (I think… Refleks in Norwegian, and according to Trygg Trafikk/Safe Traffic it’s reflectors…) and it’s quite genious. They sell them everywhere, they hand them out for free some places, they come in nice and funny designs, they are easy to wear and to hide when indoors, and they make it safer to go raving around drunk in the darkness. How about that?
I actually wore 3 re
flectors, and I like them. I think that they’re awesome. You wish you had reflectors as awesome as mine! (And you can! This place sells some almost just like mine, and tons of other cool ones!)
So: Questions for the readers (I haven’t figured out the polling thing yet…):
-Do you own at least one reflector?
-Do you wear it/them?
-Is it cool to wear reflectors and survive, or is it so lame that you would rather get run over and die, or maybe not be found in the ditch you thought was your bed, ’cause it was too dark, and freeze to death?
Moralizing greetings,
Frida, with her awesome reflectors!
Today is the 5th of November, and eventhough I don’t care much about the Gunpowder Plot or old history in Great Britain, or care much about the difference between a monarch ruling in a way that is bad for the people or a catholic leader doing the exact same thing, I do like this day very much.
Why? you ask! It’s simple: I do love bonfires, firework and V for Vendetta.
So, with that in mind I encourage everyone to spend this evening lighting stuff on fire, blowing things up, watching V for Vendetta (as I will do tonight when I get home from work…) or reading the amazing comic-book by Alan Moore and David Lloyd!
And if you go to a party this weekend: Don’t be without the incredibly fashionable Guy Fawkes-mask. As made famous by V and anonymous(es?) all over the world.
And remember kids, scientology is evil!
“Remember, remember, the 5th of November,
The gunpowder, treason and plot.
I know of no reason
The gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot!”
-V
-Even though I do not know you, and even though I may never meet you, laugh with you, cry with you, or kiss you, I love you. With all my heart, I love you. Frida.
The weekend passed I spent in Oslo at the Rød Ungdom “Red Youth” film-festival, ProgFilm. I learned some, met some cool and nice people, some old friends, and two of our fellow-authors: Bjørn and Vegard. Huzzah.
The lecture I will focus this entry on was about feminism and sexual harassment. The movie was the sweedish “Hip hip Hora!” (Loosely translated: Hip hip Whore-ay!, but it’s more funny in sweedish…) and the speaker was Hanna Helseth, author of the book “Generation Sex”.
The lecture, and the book, is about sexual harassment, how young girls and women are expected to act a certain way, and how girls who have one-night-stands, or at least are said to have one-night-stands, easily gets labelled as a whore, of cheap. And it’s about sexual assaults, and how they are easily labeled as “reciprocal sex” if the girl/woman has a rumour for sleeping around.
These kinds of lectures always leave me thinking a lot, mostly about how terrible the world is. Middle- and High-school teachers tell their female students that guys pinching their asses is just a childish way of flirting, and that it’s meant tp be a compliment. And girls who dare speak up against it gets labelled as lesbian, “tight” (not in the good “ay, we tight, bro”-way…) and boring. Sometimes even a-sexual, meaning not having any interest in sex – Anti-sexual.
On the other hand: The girls who flirt with these guys, maybe even has a couple of boyfriends, or makes-out with guys sometimes at parties gets the blame for it if they get raped or assaulted in any other way.
How is this fair?
I believe in Simone deBeauvoir when she says that you’re not born a woman, you become one. I believe that society tries to shape girls and women to fit in the mould of “The Perfect Woman”. Not too flirty, not too out-spoken, pretty and insecure.
I have never fit into this mould, because my mother told me to speak my opinions, say no if I didn’t want it, say yes if I did want something, and just generally to be happy with the girl/young woman I am. To this I am thankfull, and I believe that it has made a lot of stuff easier for me. Guys learn quickly not to mess with me, I feel free (most of the time), and I wish that all girls could have this knowledge. A mould isn’t a good thing, because we’re all different, and we should let ourselves be different. And society should learn to accept these differences.
And most importantly: We have to respect ourselves and each other, in order for guys to respect us. Don’t call your girlfriends whores, or your “less-masculine” friends gay. Don’t speak down to a girl because she chooses to have sex, the same way you shouldn’t speak down to girls who chooses NOT to have sex. These are individual choices to be made my the individual person.
I think that was it from the soapbox for this time…
-Frida
So, I like reading. And I love sharing what I’ve read. And one of my most recent reads left me very undecided as to whether I actually liked it or not, but I think that it has somehow influenced me. At least the way I read, think, write and talk after reading it.
The book is said to be the most bought and least read american novel in the past half-century, and I can say I understand why. It’s a typical “Oh, I’m so smart, and I totally got it, and if you don’t get it you’re so stupid”-book for all the besserwisser-douchebags of the world, so everyone buys it, starts reading it, and puts it away. (Maybe I’m only saying this because I don’t think I got it? Or because I wanted to put it down and not open it throughout the whole thing?)
The only reason why I bought the book was because I was at a bookstore, and I was buying two books, and there was a 3 for 2 sale on books written in english. And my Language Arts teacher from when I went to American High School always told me that this was a book I would like. And she was always right with me: Lord of the Flies, Of Mice and Men, Romeo and Juliet and Antigone. All books she told me to read, all books I loved. And she always mentioned this one. So i bought it, and figured I’d read it.
I kind of liked the book, but kind of hated it. It’s hard to follow (stream-of-conciousness stuff) and I never managed to feel sympathy for the main-character (stream of conciousness in the mind of a snobby, stuck up, rich teen-age boy in New York. What’s not to like?) but if the goal of the book is to make me feel something then it did succeed. I felt hatred, pity and general dislike throughout the whole thing. And the book kind of made me think, some, and the way it’s written is a bit captivating. Especially the part where you keep wondering “Who the hell is this asshole talking to, anyways?”
Because the book is like a monologue, about the passing of the recent days in this jackasses life, about stuff that happened before, and about how he feels sorry for everyone for being poorer, stupider or in any way inferior to him. And it’s a good analysis of some peoples personalities, I guess.
I don’t regret reading the book (I rarely do…) and I would advice people to read it, I guess. Mostly because it’s such an “important” piece of litterature, but I hate it when people tell you to read books because they are important. Who decides that anyways? But maybe you should read it just to feel the same confusion that I’m feeling towards the book. ‘Cause a part of me really didn’t like it, but I want to read it again to understand it better. And I think it did shed some light on some things.
Maybe you should read it just to explain to me what it’s really about?
So just to end this with a couple of questions (I’m still not sure if I’m writing on this blog to get answers and comments, or just to vent. I think mainly just to vent, but that becomes easier when you get comments, to process things more… Maybe, shit what do I know, right?):
Did you ever read The Catcher in the Rye?
Do you think you will read it?
Did you “get it”? And if so: Can you please explain it to me?
For the readers – With Love and Squalor
-Frida
I read one of the most amazing, heartbreaking and enlightening novels I have ever read this summer. The book is titled Mornings in Jenin, and is said to be “[…] a heart-wrenching, powerfully written novel that could do for Palestine what The Kite Runner did for Afghanistan”. And I believe this to be absolutely true!
The story of the novel revolves around a palestinian family, through different generations, and through the history of the occupation, the wars, and about life in the refugee-camps. The family history starts in Ein Hod, Palestine in 1941, and it continues untill present time.
The author, Susan Abulhawa, is a palestinian refugee, currently living in the States. And I think that that is a part of what makes the book so great and moving: It feels so personal, so real, and allready during the first chapter I was moved to tears by her writing.
Another great thing about this novel is how it is historically and culturally correct. Abulhawa has used UN-documents, articles and stories from the media and even research on Israeli soldiers to get this novel as true-to-life as possible. And yet, even though some of the stories are real, the characters are fictional.
The book was originally published by a smaller publisher as The Scar of David, but after they went out of business Bloomsbury Press bought it, and published it, under the new name, Mornings in Jenin. And I am happy that they did! (And also; If anyone could get me the first edition of The Scar of David I would promise my undying gratitude to this person. And maybe even some kinky stuff if it was in a really good shape!)
Abulhawa has been criticized by many for the book, including a rabbi from a synagogue in New York (surprise, surprise!) claiming it was full of “made-up stuff”, and this criticism led to a scheduled speaking from the author at a bookstore to be demoted to a book-signing.
I do, however, believe this to be one of the most accurate and moving stories about the palestinian people’s history, culture, situation and, most importantly to me, long fight for freedom. And I think that everyone should read this book, no matter background, religion, ethnicity or nationality. If not for learning about the conflicts and wars of the Middle-East, then at least for a great and moving story, written in a wonderfully poetic, yet still realistic and personal way.
I would like to include a very moving, to me, entry from the guestbook at www.morningsinjenin.com, written by an american jew by the name of Susan:
“I must first comment that Mornings in Jenin is a beautifully-written story. You are a talented writer. More than talented-incredibly gifted.
I am an American Jew who is deeply disturbed by your book. I grew up believing unflinchingly in the existence of Israel, and am now besieged by feelings of horror and sadness at the treatment of the Palestinians by the Israelis as portrayed in your story. Is it all true? I am moved to find out all I can about the formation of Israel and what has happened before and since. I am saddened by the incredible complexity of this issue – the history of Jews vs. Arabs – and am left wondering what I can do to help. […]”
This entry shows how incredibly moving and heartfelt the book is, and also why it is so important for people to read it.
The palestinian-israeli conflict was one of the main reasons I became politically active, and is still one of the most important political causes, to me. Reading this book hasn’t changed my political opinions, only made them stronger, and I also feel a better understanding of the situation. Also, the use of actual arab-terms and the way the book teaches you of the culture and history of the palestinian people just made it even better, to me.
So do you get my point? Read the book!
I believe palestinians to have the most optimistic and beautiful ways of greating each other good-bye:
I will see you in Palestine,
Frida