It has been a while since I blogged but I think I am gonna make a brief appearance in the blog world. This entry should explain why I say brief.

This month my life will change drastically as I will become a mom to a little mystery kicking creature that has been inhabiting my stomach for almost 9 months now.

It is such a strange thing to be pregnant and while you can feel it on your body all the time, you can't quite comprehend it. I still wake up every single morning and am surprised by the fact that I am pregnant. Sleep always seems to wipe away any clarity I have over the fact.

I never really thought I had the mommy gene in me which has worried me at times. While I started to want a kid few years ago there has always been this sneaking doubt that I would suck as a parent. I am still worried but not quite much as before. Pregnancy seems to do strange things to you. Who would have thought that the mediumgeek me could look at the same tiny little baby socks five hundred times and ”awww” every single time. Or that I would think the baby nail clippers are adorable.

Then there is that nesting instinct that has gotten me to go through literally every single box and drawer in the house to tidy things up. That gets me to climb up on cupboards to wash dust that I have been happily ignoring for years. That made me polish the outside of the refrigiator yesterday… Obviously very important for the baby’s arrival…

And lets not forget my new favorite past time activity: spending hours on end watching my stomach move and touching that leg that keeps sticking out of my side.

Lets hope I can channel this strange energy into taking good care of the baby when it arrives!

While I am quite fond of my stomach it isn't always very practical. Like when it comes to showering and you find that you can no longer hide in the corner of the shower while the water is getting warm * brrrr*. Navigating around with the stomach is also challenging at times. It actually amazes me that women are generally worse at geometry then men since we have to safe-keep those bumps.

To be fair to it, the stomach is great as a book rest and helps you avoid strain on your arms when sitting outside reading. A bit bouncy at times when the little one is doing his/her daily gymnastics but that just adds to the charm.

I have to admit though that even if I am extremely grateful that I am pregnant and can't wait to meet my little one I haven't particularly enjoyed being pregnant. I was quite fortunate in the beginning health wise but the last four months have been the longest of my life with some serious hips and back issues and constant (fake) contractions. So life has consisted of surviving work (and a little bit of nesting) and trying not to die of boredom stuck on the couch in too much pain and too drained to do anything fun.

But while I wrote that last complainy part the little one kicked my elbow and I couldn't help but smile and stroke the little foot bump on the left side of my stomach. I am almost wishing it would leave a permanent footprint there so I can remember the best part about being pregnant. I can't wait to meet you!

Happy New Year everyone!

It is a tradition to look at the year that is about to pass, isn't it? So I figured I would bombard you with some statistics...

• I exercised over 200 times this year. Not that it made me particularly fit but at least I am in better shape then ever before.
• I worked approx. 2 extra work months this year. Will I never become wiser?
• I finished 28 book. This is a record low and I blame the two items above.
• I read books from 13 countries. 16 written by men, 12 by women. And there I just exposed one of my obsessions...
• I visited 11 countries this year, 5 new ones, and Asia for the first time. Thumbs up for that one!
• I flew at least 73,859 km. I will go to environmental hell for sure!
• I got upgraded to business class three times (+ one upgraded hotel room) and made my "friends" hate me.
• I was away from home because of travel approx 68 days.
• I only passed 4 out of 10 New Year's Resolution.

But life isn't just statistics. To really figure out what I have been doing this year I decided to go through my Facebook profile and look at what I was doing when I wasn't working, exercising, or reading. This is what I found:

I started the year with "big" plans. In January I stated I had a new mission in life. Become rich enough to afford a personal shopper to take care of annoying clothes shopping! In February my plans grew into starting some evil money-making religion since the government seemed eager to protect religion from any criticism. In March it really took off and I decided to say yes to everything and wait for exciting things to happen. Oh man did that one come and bite me later...

April was quiet but I learned two important lessons: to not place my coffee cup under the automatic antibacterial soap dispenser and to always check the content of the web pages you use in a demo. Otherwise you might send out stuff about "man boobies" and such...

In May, saying yes to everything got me a trip to San Fransisco where I spent most of my time eating cold medicines and becoming addicted to Starbucks. In June I finished my exercise New Year's Resolution to exercise on average twice a week and got nickname together with the boyfriend at the gym as "the Sporty couple". How tacky is that?

In July, the "yes" thing really went downhill and July's Facebook status messages were mostly bitching about late night marathon telcos and not seeing the summer. Not that I learned from this. In August I said yet another yes which brought me to Japan. There I got to know gadget toilets, cubicle meeting rooms and girls that all wore shoes they couldn't walk on. Very interesting cultural experience.

In September, another yes brought me to Korea where I discovered the wonders of Korean cuisine and how frustrating it is that you can't easily scrape your plate with chopsticks. October was spent in a windy country where the waterfall would go upwards because of crazy weather and in room at a seminar with 500 other geeks and not feeling particularly unique. November was then spent joking about the swine flu which had spread like wildfire among all those geeks.

In December I was just cold. So cold that I contemplated risking burning to death rather then going outside when the fire alarm went off...

Eventful year huh? :)

And now I am gonna work on my New Year's Resolution! Stay tuned for the silly idea I got to keep myself insanely busy in 2010...

I was tagged in couple of those 25 things you don't know about me lists on Facebook a while back. I got a bit inspired by that and some other
people's interesting facts. I however never got around to posting my list. So since this has been a horribly boring day here are 25 boring things about me you might not have known, needed to know, or wanted to know :) .

1. I have irrational fear of rotating doors.

2. I am certified as an "Information System Security Officer".

3. I collect playing cards. One from each deck with a unique back side.

4. I have never smoked in my life despite living with a smoker for 8-9 years. Seriously, not a single puff!

5. I didn't just have imaginary friends when I was a kid, I had an entire imaginary scout division since I wasn't allowed to join one.

6. I am slightly prejudice against people that claim shopping as their hobby. Seriously, that is like stating vacuuming is your hobby!

7. I once completed a 4 year school in 3 years because I was in a hurry.

8. One of my dreams is to own a pillow with a electric cooler in it so I don't have to keep rotating my pillow when my head gets too warm at night.

9. I find it extremely hard to listen to lyrics in songs as the music always seem to take over and the voice just becomes one of the instruments.

10. I once won an award in an invention contest for inventing a backpack that could be turned into a tent and sleeping bag.

11. Caroway seeds are about the only thing that I have serious problems eating. They make me gag. Runner up, rotten shark.

12. I have managed to get rid of almost any irrational belief I grew up with. This includes Santa Claus, Christianity, Tarot Card reading, elves, astrology etc. I however still struggle with not knocking on wood and wishing upon an eye brow...

13. The hardest thing for me to accept in life is that to succeed you need to spend more time talking to the right people and not actually getting things done.

14. I started programming web browsers for mobile phones before I ever owned a mobile phone.

15. Oh and did I mention that I have serious phone phobia. I will go to great lengths to avoid picking up the phone... well except when I wanna browse.

16. If I had just one wish (that couldn't be used to wish for world peace), I would wish I could sing.

17. It annoys me at great lengths that my job title is incomprehensible to a large part the population (interaction designer). Seriously, I don't think my family has a clue what I do.

18. My great great great great great great great great great grandmother was captured by Algerian slave hunters in Iceland and she spent almost a decade in slavery in Algeria.

19. I regularly force myself to read women magazines to try to get in touch with my feminine side despite thinking they must be written by dust bunnies without a brain.

20. I no longer have a TV at home and I love it. Only few years ago I thought people that didn't have a TV were just plain weird...

21. I love sad books and know nothing better than the rare occasion when a book makes me weep!

22. The most relaxing thing I can do is to spend hours in the kitchen cooking a really complicated meal.

23. I used to secretly play with Legos well into my teenage year.

24. I keep a devil costume in my office just in case...

25. And despite of all of these things I still often wonder why I am so normal :) .

I can't blog about something postive two entries in a row so here it goes...

Someone posted a flier in the entrance of my building trying to rent out an apartment. There I was standing, thinking I was living in a modern country where men and women were considered equal...

Translation:
Perfect apartment for a couple:
For him: Parking space, place to store your bike, elevator, internet, cable TV, big storage space in basement and inbuilt kitchen appliances.
For her: A lot of closet space, heating in floor, big mirror in bathroom, sunny balcony with romantic evening sun, and space for 30 pairs of shoes in the hallway.
For both: Space for a 180-bed

Still seems some people think women only care about clothes, looking pretty, and relaxing while the guys do all the cool stuff. The only thing they might want to share is the bed of course...

Ok, the only positive thing was that the guys seems to be supposed to do the cooking... or is it implying he doesn't have to buy the kitchen appliances for the lady? Hrmrfrm...

Mediumgeek peeks through the curtains and whispers "is it safe to come out?"

Then she jumps out and shouts in a loud obnoxious way "I am back". The place is dead silent...
An eyebrow goes up and there is look of skepticism on her face.... a hesitant voice whispers "you have all left?" There is no answer...

After a awkward moment of silent there is all of a sudden a smile and she shouts "what the f%$# I will do it anyway. I am blogging again."

Yes, I am giving it a go! It is a new year and I am leaving 2007 behind together with all its problems.

I really miss blogging! It has been 5 months since my last entry, but I guess I really didn't blog much the entire last year. Why? Early last year I got sick and it just took me a little bit of time to get back on track. It was nothing serious really, just a mix of small ailments that really wore me down. I had to use all my energy on trying to get better and managing work. A bad case of allergies, some old injuries gone wild, a vitamin deficiency, and I could go on for few more lines. I realized I needed to do something. So I started a treatment, started eating healthier, and in addition started spending extensive hours at the gym. The result is an almost 100% healthy Mediumgeek, yet at least 10% smaller:).

The brain engine has started turning again. It is a bit rusty and making sounds but all the old stupid things I used to think about have started surfacing again. So be aware:).

Ok, to be honest I have ulterior motive for starting to blog again. I am going on a really cool and fancy vacation next Friday. It has been in the planning for half of a year and it feels like I have been saving money for it forever. The destination is Guadeloupe and Antigua in the Caribbean. I must admit that the fear of spending 3 weeks in a bikini also helped motivate me at the gym but that is another story:).

So my hope is that I can blog a little bit from there and post pictures in case anyone is interested (read: "I want to make my friends envious").

In any case, Mediumgeek is back!

I am addicted, I cannot stop it, I must, must, must get more...I usually avoid hypes or at least until they are no longer hyper. This time I feel flat for something called Facebook. It is a social networking site, a bit like MySpace but miles cooler. There are two things that make me hate MySpace more than the plague and that is the fact that people tend to have background music and the web site design is like a drawing by a five year old.

Facebook allows you to hook up with other friends all over the world that also have a profile. It is quite nice to get in contact with people you haven't talked to for year. It allows you to send quick messages, see what they are interested in, upload pictures and tag your friends in them, and get an overview over activtities of your friends. It didn't sound overly exciting in the beginning but within weeks I was a Facebook junkie.

So why would you want to sign up for Facebook? Here are few advertising lines Facebook could use...

* Get the scoop on who is single and who just broke up...

* Breaking up has never been easier than with Facebook. One click on a link and you have cancelled your relationship. Could it be easier?

* Post embarrassing pictures of your friends and tag them so all of his/her friends will see it....

In any case, old friends sign up, Facebook is the happening place!

If you were going to a deserted island...Do you remember that good old question? If you were going to a deserted island, what one item would you take with you? Let me rephrase that one and ask: If you were going to a deserted island, what one web site would you want to be able to browse? There is truly no doubt in my mind! Wikipedia. It is the only web site I truly missed during my vacation and it is just an endless source of information. Just had to shout to the world my love for this wonderful web site. Or have I maybe just watched too much Lost lately:).

So which one web site would you want to be able to browse on a deserted island?

I cheated! Bad, bad me!Yes, in my previous entry (5 things you don't know about me) I cheated a little. 4 items were true and 1 item was almost true. Desperate attempt to cover over my inability to come up with something smart and to try to trick people into not guessing that one. Björk is not my seventh cousin but rather 6th cousin one removed... Practically everyone in Iceland is related. There are these urban myth that a friend of someones cousin actually found someone that wasn't related to them:-).

How do we know this? A company doing genetical research in Iceland has documented and made a database out of all known information. I have found information about my ancestors all the way back someone born in 1225 but I generally think it only reaches back to around 1500-1600.

It is actually true that my 9x great grandmother was a slave in Algerie for almost a decade. In 1627 a group of people from Algerie attacked Vestmannaeyjar and took a group of people back with them to Algerie and sold them as slaves. It is called the Turkish invasion (because Algeria had a Turkish ruler). Almost a decade later the Danish king bought some of those slaves back and my 9x great grandmother Guðríður Símonardóttir (nickname Tyrkja-Gudda) was one of them. She married one of Iceland's most famous poets Hallgrímur Pétursson when she came back and I come from the line of their oldest son Eyjólfur.

It is believed that 380 people in total were kidnapped and put into slavery. 35 were bought back by the king but only 27 lived to see Iceland again. The Danes were the protectors of Iceland during that time but the regular boats coming to check upon Iceland were three months delayed at that exact time.

This isn't really something that has been brought down in generations. She is really just known because of the famous poet she married. We learn about this in school and there was a book written about her few years ago. I hadn't really thought about this much until recently when I wrote somewhere that I was probably a decedent of Irish slaves. It all of a sudden dawned upon me that I was truly a decendent of a slave. I then dug up my password to the Icelandic genetic database and voila you can see the trace below.

I think you all deserve a virtual hug even though nobody guessed correctly (since I cheated). Carlsson get two for doing all the research and reasoning he did!

When does something that is wrong become right?When I grew up as a kid, Christmas was the time of fruits. The house would smell of apples, oranges, grapes, and mandarins. While oranges, apples, and grapes are now in excess all year long, Christmas is still the time of what I call mandarins (mandarínur in Icelandic and mandariner in Norwegian). For close to 30 years, at least few of the Nordic nations have been wrongly calling clementines mandarins. My question is, hasn't it really become mandarínur and mandariner (in Icelandic and Norwegian respectively)? Instead of forcing ourselves to call it clementines, which will never feel right, shouldn't we rather just call them mandarins and note down the history of the word in dictionaries?

This is not the only example of slight mess-ups. Few other examples are Naan bread and Chai tea. I am told that Naan means bread in many of the languages where Naan bread originates from, and hence we are really saying bread-bread. The same goes for chai, which means tea in many Asian languages. Hence we are drinking tea-tea. For people speaking languages using these words correctly, it sounds stupid to hear us say these things but we have adapted them for certain types of tea and bread. Is their use incorrect or can a word simply mean different things in a different language?

I would like to point out that many of the Scandinavian languages have different meanings of the same words (called false friends) and I am quite sure this is common in many other languages.

Now lets go over to a much more sensitive topic. The word "neger" in Norwegian and the word "negri" in Icelandic, translation "negro" as mentioned in previous entry. In English, it is clearer that the word has a negative meaning with regards to slavery and apartheid. As far as I know, there have never been black slaves in neither Norway nor Iceland. To these nations black people were exotic, foreign, and we knew nothing about them other than what we read in books and later saw on TV. At least when I was a kid the word "negri" was just a label on an equal level as a Norwegian, Asian, Chinese, American, Indian, Eskimo etc. It was lack of education about the parts of the world where black people come from that made us give them a generic label, not that we wanted to be mean.

I cannot quite make up my mind about what is right or wrong here. If this had happened 100 years ago those words would have for sure got stuck in the language. Now at the age of Internet and media we are told that what we are saying is wrong/stupid and even horrible as in the case of the last example.

When does a word gain a new meaning? When does a name stick to a thing? I guess a linguistic would be the right person to answer this one but I am a bit curious what people think about the various instances?

It is the same old story every year...It is the same old story every year. All of a sudden it is Christmas and I haven't quite managed to send out all the Christmas cards/greetings I wanted to. The last resort is of course to put it here!

Merry Christmas
God Jul
Gleðileg Jól

I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas or Holiday season.

A Christmas hug from your one and only Mediumgeek