TV

When I was born there was one TV channel in Norway; Nrk, and the next one didn't arrive until I was 18. And by that I mean the next non-cable/satellite channel. And unless you lived, mostly in or around Oslo, Nrk was your only source of TV until 1992. Except my housing estate; my dad and another Radio Amateur were sick of having just the one channel, and being gadget maniacs the two of them, they saw to it that our housing estate got satellite TV in 1986. What a revolution that was. I got to see Nino Firetto and some cute Scottish John-guy on Super Channel's music programmes. I adored them, and they were exotic no end! It was certainly a new world for me. I was a devout music lover from an early age, but had up until then only really heard music. Once a week there was namely this countdown radio show with all the great hits, called “Ti i skuddet”. Which translates basically into “ten top hits”... In the late 80s and early 90s cable and such were more normal. This all brought a ton of TV-series from USA and also Britain. I used to watch “Full house”, “Step by step” for instance. But I know a few friends who also LOVED “Press gang”. I just looked up some of the kids to see what they looked like as grown-ups. Since I had cable my room would be "full" of girls on Tuesday nights to watch "Beverly Hills 90210". We loved that too. They were around the same age as us too, so...

I've often wondered what happened to some of the actors, becaus some of them you just never saw again. I am now going to update myself, and you, on the child cast of Step by step and then Full House. I start with Step... But first I want to say sorry for the bad set up and alignment of the pictures. Blogger sucks at this at the moment...

Staci Keanan (born 1975) played Dana Foster. After the show ended she stopped acting for many years, but then started again.

Brandon Call (born 1976) played J.T (John Thomas) stopped acting altogether. Now works at a gas station that his family owns. He was shot in both arms but recovered fully. According to rumours he is married and has two daughters.

Angela Watson (born 1975) played Karen Foster, stopped acting, but had a small part in Junior Pilot in 2005. She started a non-profit organization CAST (Child Actors Supporting Themselves) to help out other child actors whose parents had squandered their earnings, as Watson's own parents did. So I guess this is what she works with now.

Christopher Castile (born 1980) played Mark Foster. He stopped acting after the show closed. He now teaches political science at Biola University in California. I can’t find any recent pictures, but according to one of his students he looks the same, only older than last time we saw him.

Christine Lakin (born 1979) played Al (Alicia) Lambert has continued to act all through. She had bits on shows like "7th Heaven" and "3rd Rock from the Sun". She is looking good though; not so much Tomboy there now. She is actually (real life) best friends with Nicholle Tom, the eldest girl from “The Nanny”.

Josh Byrn (born 1984) played Brandon Lambert. He stopped acting. I found this picture of him now.

Sasha Mitchell (born 1967) played Cody Lambert. He has done some acting since, for instance on E.R. I remember we heard that he was a wife abuser, but apparantly those rumours weren't entirely true. According to IMDB.com, his arrests for spousal abuse stemmed from trying to protect his kids from their mother's abuse. He says that his wife was addicted to drugs throughout their marriage and that she abused the children physically, which caused him to intervene. He also claims that his wife then sold the spousal abuse stories to various tabloids. Today, Sasha has full custody of his four children, and his ex-wife is only allowed five supervised

visits with the children every year.

Jason Marsden played Rich Halke. He has continued in the business both as actor and director.

Emily Mae Young(born 1990) played Lilly. She appeared in two films after the show, but then nothing... Couldn't find a lot of info about her.

Then unto the kids of “Full House”.

Candace Cameron (Bure) played the eldest girl, D.J. (Donna Jo) Tanner. She married a NHL player back Valeri Bure in 1996, with whom she has three children. She is now a devout Christian of evangelical faith and endorses online Christian home-schooling academies. She has continued to act some.

In the part of Michelle Tanner we find the unknown Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen. I remember I thought for a long time that the girl playing Michelle bared the name Mary Kate Ashley... hehe... They are filthy rich and have built “an empire” working around their names. Well done. Who wouldn't work and milk it for what it's worth!?

Jodie Sweetin (born 1982) played Stephanie Tanner. She has continued acting, but has also sadly had trouble with drugs. She has struggled with addictions, such as with Crystal meth. She is currently sober, yay for her. I am happy she managed to get help and such.

Andrea Barber (born 1976) played DJ's friend Kimberly 'Kimmy' Louise Gibbler. She stopped acting after Full House and is now graduated in English Major and is married and has two children.

So yes, that were some of the ones I/we watched, all grown up. I must say, many of them look really well. And i never actually knew just how near many of them were to my own age.

Off to do history paper! All is well otherwise.

Monsoon :-)

PFL7403H

Take a look at this conversation between Fran, The Nanny, and her mum. And for those who haven’t seen it; Fran, the nanny, is working for Mr Sheffield as a nanny, and here she is visiting her mum. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUnql2bCqkw

So, as it turned out I should have kept my mouth shut about my new fabulous TV… Why!? Only this; a few hours after writing my last entry I went to turn on the TV to watch ”Will and Grace”. It would not start. It is fecking broken. A little bollix red light blink in intervals of three, however, that display of light is not making me any happier, I can assure you. I am being punished for being materialistic. I am sure of it. To make matters worse I couldn’t find the receipt. I searched through my whole flat for hours on end, and still no sight of it. Receipts as old as history itself, kept appearing, but never the right one. Yes, I do keep, and treasure, receipts for cheap toasters and stuff, but for a TV in the price range of “I have never spent this much money on a single item in my whole life”, that I lose. In the end I was soaked in stress-sweat, and my flat looked like a paper dump. Then I wanted to cry, as; poor student + broken TV - receipt = no new or fixed TV. Instead of crying I decided to take action, so I wrote an e-mail of beseech to the online shop where I bought the TV. The next morning I had a receipt waiting in an e-mail from them. I have to send the TV in, all the way to Oslo, and yet I don’t have the gigantic packaging and pallet it came on, and that is also making this whole affair difficult. I am now waiting for a reply from the “Consumer Council” as to how to proceed. Can I just say FUCK! 

I was at my granny's today, as I am every Sunday. We were having a laugh, which is also usual. She is so gas that woman. I was complaining about having little money as a student, being scared it won't last until after surgery and getting a job after that again, and told my gran I was constantly thinking about ways to make some money, when she replies; well, I suppose you just have to put on the glossy high heels and go make your way to the quays... (This is a saying in Norway, and so working the quays means working as a hooker. I don't know if that is a saying in English, so I just wanted to explain it.) Yeah that’s my gran! She will turn 80 on November 6^th. Gotta love her! These photos are of her now, and on her Confirmation day during the war; in 1943. 

Since my second to last entry, and by that I mean back in July, I have actually turned 35. My birthday was on August 2^nd. I had just the closest family down for cake and a social gathering. It was a good day, even though I am that old. I can feel the “fourtyness” creeping upon me, and I do not like it. Suddenly the whole idea of getting older, wrinklier, saggier, liver spottier and more infertile by the minute, does not agree with me. Sod it. I hardly wanted to celebrate my birthday; what's to celebrate really? The fact that I have just gotten so bloody fat and old, huh!?! Hehe... (I am exaggerating this a bit, yes...) My dad gets angry with me when I say things like that. He tells me this; “What is the alternative?” Well, I guess not being here is the only option besides getting older. But he doesn't know what it feels like to be in the situation I am in, how can he? I mean he's been in a relationship with mam since he was 16, and so he hasn’t been single in 43 years. There's just such gross amount of things I have to go through before I will be ready to “get out there again”, and by then the 40s will definitely have gotten closer and even scarier. I try to keep my mind positive, and I constantly keep telling myself that life isn’t over, life can still become great, life can still throw me a bone, life can still turn out nice and even exciting, life can still hold good things, life can still give me a chance to shine, and life might even be able to let me find love, the lasting kind... But even though I tell myself these things, do I actually believe them? No. Not even a smidge. However, I think I found one cell in my body which is positive, and so I will isolate that cell and make it grow. All hope can't be lost. 

Now I have to get back to my history books and try to learn something. I am not very eager at the moment. I am just dreaming and fantasising too much these days. I need a reality check. 

Huggies and stuff, Monsoon :-) 

 

And out of the ashes...

 
- You realize of course now I’m going to have to kill you -

That was one of my favourite quotes from the American sit-com “The Nanny”. I adore it, it is hilarious. I have the first three seasons on DVD. Only annoying thing is that it is on zone 1, and so I have to watch it on the computer. I'd love to see it on my new big flat screen TV. Did I mention I bought a new TV!? *checking earlier posts* No I didn't. This is it. Isn't it cute? Haha. Materialistic much!? I am allowed, sometimes, as long as other things come first. But when you go from an eleven year old 21" TV, with rounded edges and screen, like no TV you ever saw, and to a 42" with HD and all, the difference is worth celebrating if you ask me. It might not be so strange that I find it terrific. There should be pictures here, but for some reason I can't get the browser to open that page.
  
I bet you are thinking; hmmm.... isn't she going to comment on her 3 month sabbatical? I am not. What's to say!? No great excuse. So, let's move forward. However I will say sorry for the absence of comments on your blogs though.

I am now a certified social worker, and yet I am still a student. I am now studying history. These are the two courses I am taking; "World (Global and European) history from 300 AD until ca 1600 and Norwegian history from ca 800 AD until ca 1600", and "World (Global and European) and Norwegian history from ca 1600 until ca 1870". I had my first assignment due today, and I promise you; I felt quite a bit of Forrest Gump emerging from within. I just couldn’t solve it. I sat up until 1.30 am, and then got up again at half 6 this morning. At half 8, (8.30 am) I HAD to deliver, as it was due at nine. I wasn't even half satisfied, but heck; what was I to do? Next time I will not be too proud and stubborn and silly to ask the professors for guidance. I have learned my lesson. I am positive I will not pass, but then it isn’t an exam, so feck it anyway. I'll have another go.

Now some of you might wonder why I am still studying. Well, I have actually decided to tell the “big secret”, which is connected to this. I've known since May last year and now I am ready to tell you. I might have mentioned some sort of surgery but not what kind. The truth is that this fall/winter I am having a gastric bypass; aka “fat surgery”. I've been on a waiting list since last May. MAN am I sick of waiting! I can't wait. I've struggled too many years with weight loss and weight gain, and I can't do it any more. It is be operated or not be here, that is how horrible I feel about the way I am right now. This isn't life, this is merely existence. The whole story behind the weight gain is bleedin’ long, so I won't get into that. I am a person who loves being active and so I can't wait to be able to move around freely without both physical and emotional pain and consequences. Yay! So, this surgery is why I am not working and rather studying still. I want to be done with surgery and ready to start a new phase when I start working, so... But, I love history, even though I found the assignment vexing, so I am enjoying myself. The study is only online, and the lectures are watched on windows media player, so I can watch them when I want to. Plus, another 5 months of going to bed when I want to, with no regards to the next day, is also brilliant. ;-) I adore the night!

Now for a few updates and news:

- I am, needless to say, still fat. Hehe, however I've managed to lose around 23 pounds over the last weeks. So that's good.

- The infamous, yet over-droolworthy-gorgeous Bob is still haunting me, but little by little I am managing it. I have to just live, and so I do. I am quite embarrassed to say that he still is there. What can I say? His smile is etched on my cornea... And I still get chills, the good way, when I “feel” his gaze at me.

- My brother and his girlfriend Cecilie now live downstairs from me. Wee! The house holds two flats; one on the ground floor and then mine upstairs. We have a garden and a semi-ok sized courtyard and a good location. Hehe, I grew up on this housing estate too, so our parents live a mere 300 metres away. Keep the family close eh!?

- My friend, of 32 years, Eva (her Norwegian blog here) is having a baby with her fiancée Erling. They have asked me to be one of the baby's godparents, or sponsor, I am not sure of the word... I felt truly honoured. It will be a boy, and he is due on October 11th. I wish them all well and I love them. They live Tonstad and that is about 1, 5 hours of drive from here. It is a very different landscape there, all mountains and stuff. Here is totally flat you know. I will post pictures from my trip there this summer soon.

- I've gotten into genealogy. It is great fun, emotional and interesting. I've traced a lot of my ancestors who went to America in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Also I found the man one of my dad’s sides descends from. He lived in a neighbouring village, Varhaug, around 8 kilometres from here, in the 1500s. The family moved to Vigrestad in the 1700s, and so in over 400 years that part of the family haven't moved much. Hehe. This is definitely something I'll pursue. By the way; if you read this, live in USA and you know any of the following surnames Gjersdal, Odegaard (from North Dakota) and/or Herigstad, give me a buzz!

Now, this should be enough for today. I want to watch more The Nanny.

Love to all and thanks all for your comments on my B on my Bachelor.

HURRAH!!

Only a short post, as I am expecting a visit, but I got a beautiful B on my Bachelor thesis. It is a very good grade in Norway. I am over-thrilled and happy about it. Also I am very proud of myself!! 

Weeeee... 

Finally!

First of all; HAPPY BIRTHDAY to a wonderful friend Laura (Italy) on her 23rd today!! This is one girl that is truly special to me. She is smart, compassionate, honest, real, funny, vulnerable, and beautiful both inside and out, brilliant, creative and yes, just fabulous in every sense of the word.

Second of all: HAPPY 4th OF JULY to all of USA!!

Yeah, it’s definitely been a while. Over a month. No posts in all of June. Frankly I have to say I don’t remember much of that month. It is all a blur. I think mostly I’ve played The Sims and watched “Charmed” on my computer. The last weeks has been totally warm and roasting, and as we all know; I don’t do well with heat as of now. So to me the last weeks have been a living hell basically. So even another reason to just sit still in front of the computer. I don’t know what I’d do without my beloved PC. *lol*

I’ve had hard times with chest pains lately. And for some time, and still a little tiny bit, I have been sure it is a heart attack waiting to happen. Even though I do know it is muscular. Being so obese it wouldn’t be that weird if I had an attack. This has given be a bit of a scare and fright; let us just leave it at that.

Now I just have to vent about something else... Since I was very very young I’ve felt somewhat different, and also slightly deviant. I have found it immensely hard to find someone or somewhere where I didn’t feel this. To this day I have only found it two places, and with two different people. Though some of my newer acquaintances might be such “safe” places too, but I yet have to meet them in real life to see if it is true. I know I’ve talked about in here before. It is something that comes from deep within, and it lives in the very core that is me. Other than that it is insanely hard to explain why this is very true to me. It just is. I just want to point out that this doesn’t mean that I have a need to be different because it sounds cool or anything of that sort, believe me! Neither does it mean that I can’t love, care and have a great time with my friends. It doesn’t. All of my friends are like family to me, and they are priceless in all their ways!! I just don’t want to hurt anyone by saying these things... Sometimes it gets to me, but most times it is just ok, as it is who I am. One of the differences, quite huge one, is something I’ve been going through, over and over in my mind and life lately. I’ve come to terms with this side of myself and embraced it with all my heart. It has always been there, but I have been subduing it ever since I was little. Now was the time to break out. I am not going to talk about it in here though, even if it leaves me a tad annoying. It is just too incomprehensible for most. I have told one friend of it, and boy was I nervous!! My heart was popping out of my body! She took it well, and I love her for it. She is amazing! I am not saying I won’t tell anyone else, ever, but time will tell. It felt good just to say that...

Still haven’t learned the result for my Bachelor thesis. Yaaawn, I am getting fucking tired of waiting, seriously! I hope we will learn it by this coming week. Please let it be a great grade!

Now, at least this was a wee update from my part of the world. I do read your blogs guys, but I haven’t been in a writer’s mood, not even commenting, so I am sorry! I’ll try to be a better friend!

I love you though...

Monsoon :-)

Bachelor

Boy it is roasting here today. I am practically melting. Heat doesn’t do well with me, not now. Hopefully next year it will have improved at least some!

However, didn’t write to talk about the weather. I wanted to share with you that my Bachelor thesis is done. I sent it off to Uni on Thursday, and it was a fantastic feeling. I went home to my parents with a copy, and you know to just share they joy with someone. I ended crying a little in mum’s kitchen, just because of all the feelings, the frenzied, the stress that had built up, the living in a cocoon’s nest for several weeks, was over now. It was almost anti-climatic feeling too. My final thesis statement ended up like this: (though I must say that it is highly difficult to translate it properly. I can’t find the right word for one Norwegian word you see...)

"The significance of different views on man, and the importance of consciousness and reflection in the implementation of social work“

I honestly have to say that I feel content about it, and I don’t think I could have done it much better. I am proud of it, and also of what I’ve achieved. After three really hard and challenging years at University I am soon a certified social worker. There’s definitely been some trial and tribulations, but I have overcome them. As students we’ve been put on the spot, having to defend our views, both personally and professionally, in front of all the other students. I’ve dramatized pretend social work cases many times during class and had presentations in front of the whole class, and teachers. I’ve survived 6 months of the “pressure cooker” that is work practise, and I’ve managed to get good grades too. I have been scared stiff many a time, of all the challenging things we’ve done, but initially I has taught be loads. I have really been forced to come out of my, (newly made that is!!) shell and “comfort” zone, and it has been good for me.

Meanwhile I am really looking forward to getting “The Sims 3”. It will be released on June 4th, and I can hardly wait, like seriously. I’ve waited for years. I will probably die of anticipation while installing the game. Ha ha! It is all sooo exciting! I am like a child on Christmas Eve. I like that about myself actually; the ability to be a bit childlike and playful. I hope I never lose the lust for life that way, the lust to play and have fun that way. I don’t think I will cause I luuurve it...

Well, a tiny update, but must go now. Things to do.

Love to all!

A trip

I thought I’d write a little update.

Yesterday I went to the hospital in which I will be having surgery later this year. My dear friend Karin was so insanely kind as to accompany me, and even drive me. She swapped days at work, so she could go with me, as moral support. I had to go because they were having an information meeting for around 20-25 people. All having the same surgery... The meeting went fine. We had info from our surgeon (there is only one surgeon who does this procedure there) the OR nurse, a food and nutritionist expert and a general nurse. I have to go 3 more times to that hospital for checkups and amongst them is a gastroscopy. I did one like 6 years ago, so I know how uncomfortable that is. But I’ll do anything at this stage; just give me the operation already! It was a long drive, which also included a ferry trip and two trips under the sea... Hehe, the trips under the sea were in fact taken via Subsea tunnels. We were 233 metres under at the bottom, and from there waited a steep climb!! Not easy getting around all these fjords and stuff in Norway. *lol*We left at 8 am, and came back around 8 pm. Phew! I was wrecked, my body ached from head to toe, but I was very glad that this part now is over. We had a fun trip all together. Had great laughs; I almost peed my knickers. Tjihi. Here are some photos from the trip, taken from inside the car, so they aren’t all great.

The first one shows the dodgy place we bought some food. Luuverly look, but the food was really tasty so...

The weather is gorgeous at the moment, and it is still not dark outside, even though it is eleven. The odd shower, but mostly sunny and blue skies. I like it.

I am still giddy and bubbly and content, and that is a good thing. It is a really good thing actually. Man, it is good to be alive. I am also happy for some dear friends who are having terribly exciting things happening in their lives at the moment. I hope it all goes well.

I am not very inspired today, so excuse the little post. I just wanted to say hi. Hopefully a new post will come soon.

Love in heaps :-)

Last day of April

Last day of yet another month. Could time possibly fly any faster? I think not. I've started writing my Bachelor's assignment at least. So far I've 2500 words. And I sent it to my counsellor. She wrote back that it wasn’t difficult to see that I had complete control over what I was doing. So that was a nice compliment. At least then I know that what I’ve written so far is good. I really do want to get an excellent grade on this assignment, and I will literally be very upset if I don’t! It is the most important thing of all the exams and stuff. As you are in complete control of it yourself. I chose the subject and I chose the problem to be addressed. My thesis statement is this: "The significance of different views on humanity” In short I want to explore and show that it is of importance how we view other people. Especially as a social worker. It can have a profound influence on how we carry out a case, how we meet and greet someone who is “different” from us, how we might pre-judge people, and so on, and thus the outcome of a case. So be alert, be conscious about your views, don’t categorize, truly see the person in front of you, know your “weak spots”, and then you can do the best work...

Just wanted to show you guys how the mirror, I talked about in an earlier post, ended up looking on my wall.
I like it. Actually I love it. It makes me happy just looking at it, and every time I leave my PC-room I stop and look at the whole “display” of things I adore. It sounds materialistic perhaps, but they aren’t expensive designer things. Pretty, cute and creative things make me feel good inside. It really does. Can’t help it. This is another thing that I lately bought. After seeing it for the first time in 1995 I’ve wanted it ever since, but never found it. Then one day on E-bay... I say no more. The total cost of this huge picture and fame came to 200 Nok, which isn’t bad. (£20/$ 30) When it came up on the wall, tears ran down my cheeks. I am a sissy, yes I am. What bliss I felt then. I can sit for like 15 minutes and just look at it. It is so adorable! Does anyone recognise it?
And just to torment you even more with stuff form this place; I like a bit of humour in my everyday life, and so a sign on my laundry room door felt right. Isn’t the sign cute? *lol*
Next time I blog I will introduce you to the two sign on my bathroom door. Enough for today...

Have I told you that I love spring? How can I not? The weather is fantastic and the trees and grass are turning green. To sit in my kitchen and look at the view when I eat breakfast, what joy! Despite the fact that a beautiful birch is blocking the sea view where I sit, I can still see glimpses of the sea. Plus, the birch isn’t bad to look at either. Another thing I like, and which I know I will appreciate even more after surgery and weight loss, is the fact that people go outside more. Norway is a cold country, and so we are used to spending a lot of time inside our homes. But then in spring it changes. People just hang outside, doing little things and work around the house, and then they meet neighbours and talk to them. We actually become more sociable, more open, and happier even. It is all good. And not to mention; we become more wanton it seems. At least I do. (How I can be more wanton is beyond me, but nevertheless it is true!) A woman in her 30’s, combined with spring, it can’t be healthy! *lol*

Off to watch a film I think.

Be good or be naughty... ;-)