Monday 9 April 2001

Pic of the day: Belt tightening - it's not just for the military anymore.

Once again 9th of April

When I grew up there was this saying here in Norway: "Never again 9th of April!" This was because on that day, the evil Nazi Germans invaded our small and peace-loving country in 1940. Actually Germany at that time invaded anything they could possibly land their troops on, regardless of whether this was a smart move or even reasonably sane; but we Norwegians generally see it as a personal affront because, well, we are the nicest of all countries in the world and there is simply no reason to attack us ever. Well, that's the impression I got in school at least.

I think we can now agree that project "never again 9th of April" has failed spectacularly. We're definitely in the new millenium now, and still April 9th comes around every year at the same date. On the bright side, this time it came as a sunny, springlike day. The air is still chilly, but the sun is doing a great job where it reaches. It's an ideal day for the elderly to go visit the bautasteinar - the memorial standing stones. While they are still standing. (This last applies mostly to the elderly - the heroes are definitely getting tired by now, not to mention Alzheimers.)

On a related note, Norway is eagerly dismantling its military these days, much as we did in the 1930es. I guess this will happen every time there are not enough voters that remember the previous war. Not that I am complaining. It's unlikely that our military will ever again be used for self-defense, because that's simply not how wars work these days.

***

I woke up to a room filled with bright morning light, because I had gone to bed with the room filled with bright moonlight. Usually I have two layers of heavy curtains, but the moonlight was so spectacular that I wanted to enjoy it. Of course that enjoyment did not last long - I fall asleep easily when I'm finally tired enough to go to bed. Stagger to bed, more like it. Of course, the recent spooky story in Nova Notes has nothing at all to do with my newfound love of the light. :)

The moonlight was none too early. On Saturday morning, I felt particularly horny, and I thought the moon might be full again. But the weather was overcast, which it usually is not by full moon. So I concluded it must be something else. The moon is so vain, it would seem, that it demands to be seen, and the clouds have to move aside. I'm sure there is an explanation for that, and for the horniness too.

And yes, even a christian can have those urges for no good reason. We keep human bodies for quite a while. My religion only limits what I can do about this condition, and of course it also makes me less dependent on sensual pleasure as content provider in my life.

***

Well, there is always chocolate. Is chocolate a sensual pleasure? I guess so, since it pleases the senses. At least it pleases taste and smell. I personally am unimpressed by the tactile feedback, and honestly cannot imagine why people would smear it on their skin. (Graphic details omitted to avoid off color rating of today's entry.)

Intriguingly, my new diet higher in plant oils seems to have made me less interested in chocolate. I had this big fruit-nut bar lying on the computer table in front of me, its wrapping carelessly thrown open, and it took me almost a week to nibble it all.

On the down side, the plant oils do nothing to combat hunger. I had expected better. But these last days I have felt more hungry than most days of my life. Of course, for the weekend there's the small point that I slept instead of shopping groceries on Saturday. The knowledge that I had no bread and no milk and very little yoghurt probably made me feel hungrier. The body and the soul are so interwoven that you cannot say where one ends and the other begins.

I cooked a spaghetti meal each day. I rationed my yoghurts. I even ate flatbread (unleavened bread), which is quite dry and not exactly a pleasure drug. And yet I was uncomfortably hungry some of the time. Luckily, I seem to still have some way to go before I regain my girth of old. I don't have any tool for measuring my weight, but I have belts. And my belt is still on the next to innermost of the new holes that my clothes pusher kindly made for me this winter. I think it has not been tighter since well before I started buying quality clothes at all. I suppose that's a good thing, but who knows how long it will last now.

Heh. Belt tightening. How inappropriate in an election year.