10 reasons why I’m better off… February 25, 2010
Posted by Hege in Life.add a comment
1. I don’t hurt anyone anymore.
2. I feel better and better every day.
3. I can say “No thank you” and actually have a reason when asked to try some.
4. Suddenly there is so much to the world that I haven’t noticed before!
5. That awful taste in my mouth is gone.
6. No more guilty conscience.
7. No easy escape, I have to make descisions now!
8. There are more colours in the world.
9. There is less death in the world.
10. Made me realise how much I love beans.
That were the 10 reasons why I’m better off…
… without eating meat. What’d you think I meant?
In response to a prompt at Mama Kat’s...
A gamer’s confession February 25, 2010
Posted by Hege in Games, Life.4 comments
I read an interesting article today in The Times Online about more women entering the world of gaming. This is interesting to read as I’m a gamer myself and normally I’m seen as a bit of an odd exception. But let me start off with this: I don’t play World of Warcraft. After trying it for an hour or so I had to give up my attempts to like it and return to my own safe haven in Everquest II. Mostly because the community is something very different in Everquest II. After one hour of gaming in WoW I was challenged to a duel by another player. Ok, that happens (although it has happened only once ever in Everquest II in my nearly four years of playing), I just press ‘decline’. The same guy challenges me again. Now, seriously, I’m not up for duelling as I’m brand new to this game, so I press ‘decline’. After about ten challenges from the same guy I had to log out. And I’ve never returned. I read later somewhere that the average age in WoW is around 19 and in EQ2 around 30. That could have something to do with it.
In EQ2 there are all sorts of people. I’ve met moms on maternity leave, housewives, fathers who play with their teenage sons, students and everything in between. I am a member of two different guilds with 
very different people in each. One is big and raiding, the other small, swedish and family-like. I also play a lot with my family, and as we haven’t been living in the same country for years this allows us to catch up in a way that a telephone simply can’t.
I too have friends that, like in the article, found love through the game. I went to an in-game wedding once. This was a roleplaying event so they probably had never met in real life, but it was still a beautiful wedding. I have spent evenings in a place with a good view just chatting with friends about everything. I have spent days running around with friends or family to hunt dragons, slay orcs, fly on griffons. At times, when I have been moving around, EQ2 was the only place I knew for sure I could meet and talk with friends. I’m glad the perception of gamers is moving away from something nerdy to something more ‘normal’. There are just so many aspects of the game to love. Anyway, here’s a picture from the newest expansion that was released last week. The girl is my main character, the horse took me nearly a week’s worth of work to get, but he’s worth it.
At the office February 24, 2010
Posted by Hege in Life.2 comments
One of the first things I missed when I stopped working was the office. Just going there, getting into the routines. In the morning, you would say goodmorning to everyone, sit and work for a bit while eating breakast (which everyone did) and then after half an hour or so going up to get a coffee. The best coffee breaks were the ones where you were followed by a colleague, giving you the opportunity to catch up on gossip. Then there was the computer, my lovely two screens and all the papers that lay scattered around my desk. No matter how much I disliked my work, the office was always safe, always there for you. A little like a second home, seeing how much time I spent in it.
But sometimes old routines must change. I’m here in Spain now and studying, not working. My mornings still include the coffee, but that’s just about the only similarity between my old office and my new one. I now start out with catching up on what has happened in the world and try to read as much interesting I can in a few hours. After that, it’s all really up to me. Today I set up my office at the beach. It was windy but the sun was warm and the sea as blue as always.
Changing routines and old habits can be a painful, stressful and even sad process. But with a little courage, a little creativity and a lot of will, it is possible to make new routines and actually find them much more rewarding than the old ones.
Good morning sunshine! February 23, 2010
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Today is not one of those rainy days I wrote about yesterday. Last week the only thing I heard was that this week was going to get even worse. So guess my surprise when I woke up to a clear blue sky and warm sunshine. I knew I had to go out, and around here there is one really obvious place to go: the beach. In February you nearly have it to yourself, even if it’s warm. One family here, one lazy stroller there, but you get a quiet piece of beach all to yourself.
I know I’m looking forward to the warmth of atleast late spring, but the fact that you get the beach to yourself makes me wonder if this might just be the best month of all. Either way, tonight might be a night of grabbing a bottle of Rioja and listening to the waves.
Another nice thing about going to the beach is you can collect shells. They have proven excellent for fiddeling with when stressed, or just to hold to help you think.
Caught in the rain February 22, 2010
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Last week I wrote a post on the unusually cold weather many places are seeing today. We do have it here as well, with much more rain than normal. Most people comment on the weather by shaking their heads saying “This is not how the weather usually is”, and there are often stories about houses being flooded.
I must admit, I like snow better than rain. Especially here, where rain makes the tiles all over the city slippery so I have to get used to the humiliation of nearly falling over every time I go out. So I’m a little sad, this particular winter I had a chance of being in the snow but exchanged it for rain. I thought it was a good deal, that I would for sure be getting sun instead of the usual Copenhagen rain.
The other day there was sun again. All of a sudden, the town was transformed; the sea front crowded with people and everyone looked happy. It was the feeling of Sweden in the summer; as it is usually pretty brief and ureliable everyone runs out to get the sunshine whenever there is some. Of course, the bonus of being here is that the time until the summer really kicks off is just a short wait away. I’m sure I can wait just a little longer.
Flatulent cows and silly arguments February 19, 2010
Posted by Hege in Climate, Environment, Life.4 comments
I know that a lot of people who have chosen to be vegetarians have had to defend themselves against people not being vegetarians. I’m not entirely sure why, where is the need to criticize other people’s eating habits. I suppose the reason must be a feeling of being judged by the vegetarians. I have never encountered one vegetarian who openly criticized the non-vegetarians for their choice of food; however they would be the ones with the right to do so.
Vegetarianism has an old tradition. Hinduism and Buddhism, for example, promotes vegetarianism. Even in ancient Greece there were vegetarians; Pythagoras was one of them as was his students. Another one was Socrates, who only selected vegetarian food to be eaten in his ideal republic.
Many non-vegetarians claim that eating meat is natural because we are carnivores, and therefore it is nothing to be ashamed of. I won’t argue with that, we as humans are one of not so many omnivores. That is all fine; if you think the only counter-argument by vegetarians is the one about animals suffering at the slaughterhouse. As we all know, however, this is not the only argument.
There is the one argument about saving the planet as well. The animal agriculture massively contributes to air and water pollution. Yes, here some will have a little giggle at the fact that cows farts methane gas. This isn’t just a little fart, however. The animal agriculture is responsible for 18 per cent of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions as measured in CO2 equivalents. Compare it to world transportation that emits 13.5 per cent of the CO2.
Not only that, but the farting cows need to be fed as well. The crops that feed the animals require nearly half of the United States’ water supply and 80 per cent of its agricultural land. In the US, the animals consume 90 per cent of the soy crop, 80 per cent of the corn crop and 70 per cent of the grain. We are of course not getting this back on a 1.1 ratio as the animal uses much of what it eats for heating and such. Of the food eaten by beef cattle, only about 10 per cent is converted to body substance. According to a professor in ecology at Cornell University 800 million people could be fed with the grain currently being used in the animal agriculture. Surely, wasting less of the land that is currently used for farms could reduce the amount of new farmland thus saving our precious nature.
Of course, many people will not become vegetarians simply for the fact that they love their steak too much. Many people will not become vegans because (like me) they like their cheese too much. I’m sure there will be a cheese out there tasting just like normal cheese or better but made out of soy, just as the soy milk tastes better than normal milk (according to me, who also has to drink it as I’m lactose intolerant). A person who likes their steak, however, should perhaps think twice before using the so-worn-out argument about us being carnivores. Yes, we were, but if we want to feed the ever growing population in this world and prevent our fellow human beings from starving we could do better as herbivores. Just admit it as it is; if you like your steak, say so and stop criticizing those who don’t find it to be an all that important part of their diet.
In search of collectibles February 7, 2010
Posted by Hege in Life.2 comments
Since I was young, I have always wanted to be a collector. In the beginning it was stamps, an interest that faded as soon as I realised it was “only for geeks”. Then it moved on to other things; soaps, which reached a total of two nice soaps; miniature houses, which was endorsed by mom who bought me a pair but that was as many as I ever collected; flags, which also reached a total of two; dragons, which reached a total of three; stickers, which reached a staggering total of one. I don’t think that I, other than the stamp collection, have ever managed to collect more than two or three items before either forgetting about it or given it up.
My newest collection consists of one (1) fridge magnet. My boyfriend has a collection of fridge magnets and as I saw a nice little magnet from Spain I thought I should join in. There are a set of rules linked to my boyfriend’s collection. On the first time you visit a country, you may buy one fridge magnet from that country. On the second time you go there, you are allowed to buy one fridge magnet for the city or the place you’re visiting. On the third time you go there, you are allowed another magnet for a place you go to on a day trip. I stated that as I was far behind on my collection I was allowed to buy a magnet for each place I visited here in Spain, as the rules must apply differently when you are actually living in the country. We fell out over this; my collection was labeled a disgrace to fridge-magnet-collections, rule-breaking as it was. It has been banished from the fridge and instead has to sit on the freezer. I have one fridge magnet and already this humble collection is an abomination.
So fridge magnets may not be for me after all. The search continues while I look for an item I will actually remember when I go travelling without upsetting my boyfriend. For now, it will have to do with simple calculations. Last year I visited nine different countries (including countries where I lived) of which three were new and I went to paradise once. I moved to the sixth country I’ve ever lived in (defining “living” as a stay longer than holiday and with no return ticket booked). It was a good year. I wonder which numbers I will be collecting at the end of this one.
To the sun February 5, 2010
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Yes, I know, this blog has been dormant for almost a year now.
A year ago I returned from a charter trip to a grey Denmark in tears. Work was terrible, my social life stale and dull.
A year later I found myself returning almost the same way, however this time without tears. This time I returned to visit the wonderful friends I have gained over the last year. My home is now in sunny Spain. I am no longer at work and no longer under the threat of going into the wall.
So here I am, living under the sun with the love of my life and starting a brand new career. I thought I should write about that.
