Upon The Edge Of A Knife

I've decided to let this be the last entry I post on this blog,  as I don't really have a very exciting life in general; and the journey I had to discover myself is mostly over now. It hasn't been even a month since I arrived here in Arendal, yet it feels as if I never left. Old things remain the same, new things keep on surprising like they always have. As I've been away, changing so much, home is still exactly the same. It's safe.

Today is the day before my new adventure; interrail. I'm sure I've explained to everyone I know already, but interrail is backpacking in Europe by train. I'll be away for 22 days, and I'll see most of Europe. From Paris to Venice, from West to East, and so on. I'll be doing this with my two best friends, Elias and Jim. I couldn't have chosen a better team than us for this.

As a finishing paragraph I'd like to talk about my mind, however cheesy that might sound. One of the things I've noticed as I'm growing up is that all you need to do to have a more calm and happy mind, is to think. Or more meditate, if you'd like. Whenever something is wrong in my life (and someone to punch is out of reach) I sit down in a quiet environment and think. Let go of past, present and future, and focus my mind on life or other things. Within minutes I feel myself being lifted. It's such a great way to get to know yourself, and just taking a time out. Furthermore, it's been a joy writing here when I've had the time.

Home (not sick)

I've been home a couple of days now, and oh my god I feel great. Yesterday I had about 10 of my friends over for drinks and talking, and it was so amazing to see them again. I don't think I can even get close to express to them how much I love them (even after the drinks, haha). At the moment it's 6:30, and the damn jetlag has me up already; but fuck the jetlag. I'm up, and I'm blasting music while one of my best friends Henrik has occupied my bed making me sleep on the couch. I love him so much, so I don't care xD Yesterday he tucked me in on the couch and then he whispered "I'm taking your bed," and he gave me that typical Henrik smile. We broke two wine glasses yesterday. My mom didn't mind though, I suspect it's because I just got home, but I'm glad.

I've learned so incredibly much this year, and I've met so many amazing people. I'll remember some of them for the rest of my life. The lessons I've been taught, and the fun I've had; I couldn't appreciate it more. I'm gonna miss America, and all my friends there; but it was my time to go, and it felt more right than it ever did.

Furthermore, I've enjoyed falling back to my Norwegian habits. Especially having friends like I do. I wouldn't trade them for anything; they're the best friends anyone could have. It feels a bit strange being back to my normal time though. I always feel like all my friends should be sleeping 'cause it's day here. I'm starting to feel tired, so I'll end it here. I don't know how long I'll be keeping this blog up, as there aren't really any reasons for me to keep it up now that I'm home again. The journey is finished, now it's time to party and greet summer.

I Come Alive

I just came home from the last stop for The Used's tour, and oh my god I feel good. Concerts are the reason why I live. The people there are just like me, for just one night they wanna give up everything and just feel the music. Whether it be standing still listening, jumping up and down, or going crazy in the pit; it's just the best feeling in the world. I always find friends who I sing with, and dance around with. This one big black dude looked at me and was like "you wanna go up?" I answered "hell yeah," and he got some people and threw me up to crowd surf. I never feel more alive than when I'm at a concert just rocking out. It's like no one can ever take that away from me, and nothing will ever make more sense to me. Music truly is my life.

Furthemore, the Used has some crazy mosh pits haha. And the people were nice, and picked each other up like you should; not assholes who just fucking tries to kill you. They had two walls of death(if you don't know what WoD is, it's when the artist splits the crowd in the middle, and when the music kicks in you just run towards each other with all you've got and hope you don't die). That one punk on the other side of the wall who looked at me smiling like come get me... We ran for each other, and I'm proud to say, we fucked each other up, and it was great. I've lost my hearing temporarily, and it was worth it. Thank you the Used, for being so awesome.

Release the Kraken! 

Utøya

Hello, my name is Nicklas Høilund. I’m from a  relatively small town called Arendal 4 hours south of Oslo. I wanna start with saying that I’m really happy I got this opportunity. I’ve been carrying a lot of sorrow with this, and I think speaking about it will help get it off my heart.  The 22^nd of July 2011 was the day when the freedom of Norway was tested. It was a raining in Norway that day, my mother told me.

At the time of the attack I was in the Netherlands with some friends of mine there. My mom sent me a picture of the damage from the bomb, but I just couldn’t believe her. I was forced to believe when the shooting on utøya started. My eyes were glued to CNN in an apartment in the Netherlands, My eyes started to tear up, and I felt so weak. Being so far away from home during a time like this felt awful. I’ve never been so scared in my whole life. 

The weeks following the attack were full of sorrow. But sorrow was not what stood out to me. What I noticed was the way Norway got together. I’ve never felt as proud of my country as I did when I heard our prime minister give his speech, and the whole nation held hands showing love. I also feel the need to mention the brave people who heard the shots and went out in boats to save people who tried to swim to land. They saved so many lives, and didn’t stop even though they got shot at. In countries like Denmark and Sweden they were giving roses to honor the deceased.  And the whole world stood by our side as we showed Anders Breivik that you can hurt us, and you can bring us to our knees, but you can’t take away our love. Our love for our country, and our love for each and every person living in it. Whether it be a middle eastern man or a Caucasian woman. We all stand together with love, and no one could ever take that away from us.

Growing up in Norway, I’ve been taught that you should share what you have of wealth, and that you should do to others what you want them to do to you. I’ve been taught that violence should never be the answer. Even our police officers don’t carry around guns when patrolling. Because of all this, it was so incredibly hard to understand that a Norwegian man could do this. Especially to his own people. I think I speak on behalf of my fellow countrymen when I say that it felt like a giant dagger to the back.

He tried to kill the next generation of our labor party, to stop helping immigrants, and to stop liberal democracy to the extent we have in Norway. I’m happy to say that he failed, and that all he did was to bring more love for diversity and stronger opinions for liberal democracy. In April this year, about 40.000 people gathered at Oslo Tinghus to sing “children of the rainbow.” Which is a beautiful song about living together in peace. This was to prove a point. The point that what we stand for, can’t be changed by hate. Our answer to hate will always be love. I’d like to end this with a quote from our prime ministers speech about Utøya, that he gave two days after the incident.

"We are a small country, but we are a proud people.

Vi er et lite land, men vi er et stolt folk."

He said

And I think that’s never been more true than it is now

Thank you

Funny Or Die

There are now 13 days until I'm going home; it's time to count down. The closer I get, the more at peace with it I feel. Since the beginning I've loved this place so much, but it's always been clear to me that this is nowhere near being as good as home. Sorry America, but your politics and preps are too much for me to handle, I prefer Norwegian politics and sosser xD Anyways, I want to share some parts of what I wrote in my notebook the first days here in Portland, Oregon.

Day 1 30th of August 2011
I've been here in Portland for less than three hours, and I already feel like its home. I must admit that during the 29 hour long travel I've had my share of remorse and negative thoughts, but after coming here they were all swiped away. I'm veyr tired so I'm gonna sleep any minute. I can't wait for tomorrow, it's gonna be great living here.

Day 2 31st of August 2011
Today I woke up too early; about 6am, so I packed out properly. Now I'm waiting because I'm gonna shower, and I don't wanna wake everyone up. I think I'm gonna study a bit. I'll write more later today.

So it's now 5:15pm, and we've been quite around. We went to the school where I'll be attending. I'm gonna have guitar as a subject, epic!

I don't wanna write more of it, I hate writing something handwritten into the computer xD It's so funny how young I seem to myself, reading this. Anyways, I decided I'm gonna write my final grades on here. And before I do that I have to say, Wilson is a pretty good school, it's not like the shitty schools in other places. The reason for that is that I live in the whitest preppiest place in Portland it seems xD Our history teacher told us back in the day you weren't allowed to live here if you were black. My point is that people here strive for their grades, which meant that so did I have to.

I ended up with a B in history because I never had time to back up everything I said, because I didn't have any motivation as the grade in the end wouldn't matter.

In English I don't even know yet, as the teacher, Bob, never gives us our grades directly; not even now that I'm finished xD

In Spanish I got a B as I lacked some homework and only did okay on tests we had about the mayas and the  movies we've watched. My spanish has improved a lot though.

In guitar class I got an easy A. 95%!

In math I ended up with a B. Thank you Mr. Dorsey xD

My worst grade was a C, which is what I got in Chemistry as I turned in too little homework and too few labs. On the tests and quizes I got Bs and As though xD

So I ended up with decent grades I think. I could have gotten better, but the year didn't matter, so why would I. I think that was the hardest part, to find motivation when I knew it wouldn't matter anyways. I leave you with the funniest memes I saw yesterday.

"Fly along with me, I can't quite make it alone. Try to make this life my own."

This one is the best one XD It's fucking hilarious. Poor dog. I think the middle part is from Taken, but I'm not sure. 

XD His look...

This creeps me the fuck out, but at the same time it's fucking funny as hell xD

Ik Weet Niet

I don't like to talk a lot about my plans, because I'm constantly trying to improve them in my own ways; which means they often change. Though I've found something now that I'm certain that I burn for, so I decided to write a bit about it, my plan. So around Christmas I had an epiphany, which made me think a lot, and I decided to focus on language. I'm currently set on spending three or four years of my life in the Netherlands, which I'm really exited about. I'm going to take this year again, which is why this will happen in two years. I'm going to spend a lot of time studying, and working to earn money so I don't have to work when I'm there. I will be studying sociology in Dutch, and I'll major/take my bachelors degree in exactly this. After that I'll take a masters, but I don't know where yet. And I'm now concerned with it yet as it's too far in the future for it to matter. After I get the masters I'll have enough studies to get an at least decent job with good pay within sociology. This however, is not my main plan. With the studies, the language skills, and the experience I will have by then, I think I'll try to get a job within the foreign department of Norway, and basically become an ambassador or just a diplomat. They take in between 15-25 in UD (foreign department) every year, with around 300-600 people applying. This is why I'm getting a steady job first, instead of focusing everything on this. I'm a pessimist, so I'll grow my future under me slowly instead of rushing into it, 'cause I'm sure if I did I'd lose everything.


UD looks at your experience, what kind of education you have (though the idea is that education doesn't matter much), and your attitude is important as well. With a masters in sociology I'll have a better chance. And with the fact that I'd take it in the Netherlands, in Dutch, will be a good perk as well. In addition to this, I've completed a year in the U.S. All of this will when (if) I've done it show how interested I am in culture and language. But this is far, far in the future. I'm more focused on taking it easy, and get settled with the fact that I change my mind often. I just want to have fun while doing everything, and travel now that I have time. I really hope I'll get the chance to go through with this dream, it would be amazing. I guess only the future will tell, and I can't wait to see it unravel in front of me. Oh wait, one of the most significant things, I almost forgot xD I'm currently looking at these cities to study in: Amsterdam (duuh), Utrecht, Rotterdam, and Tilburg. These are the four places that had the schools with the subjects I want to study, and they all seem pretty good. I've only been in Rotterdam and Amsterdam before. Or, more correct, I've been to Tilburg too, but not much.  So yeah that's it, I'll have a close look at the Netherlands this summer to look at the schools and to learn the language.

"Just look up to the stars, and believe who you are; 'cause it's quite allright, and so long goodbye."

Bacon soap, bacon toothpaste, and now bacon chocolate. Oh god take me home to Norway where we have good food and candy xD 

I was in Seattle this weekend, visited the music museum. Kurt has played this guitar 0_0 And I've seen it. Together with Hendrix stuff, and of course drums from Dave and Krist's bass.

  The mole I chose to call Lucky for it not being run over, even though it was running in circles xD

 I'm gonna miss you Lucky

Choose Your Fate

It's the 22nd of May now, and it just gets weirder and weirder the close it gets to June. I'm almost going home. I can still remember all the feelings I had when I first came here. I've changed so much, for the better without a doubt. But I've also tried to stay true to who I am, and where I'm from. I've never been more proud of my roots than I am now. I've never appreciated my family, my friends, and love more than I do now.

A funny thing to mention is that now, after 8 months or so, my English is getting worse. My Spanish and Dutch are both getting better though, as to make up for my lack of English and Norwegian speaking skills xD I'm really enjoying learning languages, and I hope it'll stay that way. I find it hard to imagine myself fluent in either language though, for some weird reason. Even though I'm getting better, fluency just seem so far away.

Some recent events that have been happening to me have been first of all that I got to see Escape the Fate some time ago, which was a very good night for me. Then the release of Diablo 3, which took away my social life for a week. It didn't disappoint at all, except for the server down time which seems to be all the time. I didn't mention it, but ever since the 1st of April I've been working out at least 3 times a week; and I think I'm finally starting to see a difference xD Could be in my head though, you never know. Finally the Norwegian national day just passed, it was the 17th of May. It was amazing! So much broken Norwegian, so many interesting Norwegian immigrants to talk to. There musth ave been around 100-200 maybe even more people in the parade! And of all people I got to hold up the flag in the front of the parade. The American flag, with a girl holding the Norwegian flag. The marching band from a local high school played Ja vi Elsker (yes we love) and I sang with all of my voice, so proud of my fedreland :) I've never felt such honor in my entire life I think.  Thanks to Sons of Norway, the Norse Hall, and of course my good friend Carl Paasche for introducing me and giving me the opportunity.

To end this entry, I'll talk a little about how I feel in general now. I look back to last year, and I see a little kid, not understanding much more than misery and corruption in the world. I see that I was an ignorant little prick, haha. I've come to know how to appreciate true love, and what not to take for granted. I'm so happy about this change  that I could choke. I'm not sure if I've been in this country too long, or too little; all I know is that I needed this. I needed it to live with purpose, I needed it to get motivation. And lastly, I needed it to become who I am. I can finally say that I have an identity, and that I'm proud of having the hopes and dreams I have.  About 23 days left in the city of roses, Portland.

Lol, I was looking for internet xD 

I snapped a terrible picture, but this guy looked exactly like Otto. He was the driver of the yellow school bus I was on for a field trip. It was hilarious xD He says he hears it all the time. Oh the resemblance...

We had a couple of weeks with it being sunny and between 20 and 35 degrees Celsius. It was amazing! Sitting outside with Kathryn in guitar class. 

So this is my 17' beast that I use to play Diablo. Isn't he beautiful? Look how small my macbook pro looks compared xD 

Bulletproof Heart

I can feel that I'm falling back to my ordinary routines.  It only took me 8 months to get used to America, haha.I've got 60 days or 8 weeks left here, and I don't know what to do, say, or feel. I've experienced more than I ever thought I would; I've gotten to do everything I wanted and even more. I'm not done yet, I've still got a couple of things to cross off the list. However, it does really feel as if a lifelong journey is about to end. It's funny how 8 months have felt like years and years, yet it has gone by so fast. I honestly can't believe everything that has happened.

The funniest thing happened a while ago; as I looked at myself in the mirror like so many times before, and I noticed that I'm not a little kid anymore. And it's started to become clear how close I am to being 18. 18, it has always seemed so far away. I've always thought of 18-year-olds as grown ups, and pretty old people. Now that I'm just a couple months away from it myself, I feel old xD I already feel like life's slipping away too quickly. I'm gonna keep living life the way I want it though, wasting the wasted time and living when I feel like it, 'cause there's nothing else I'd rather do.

Letting Go Has Never Looked Better

Oh dear future, please lead me gently and give me what I need to get where I want. I can't wait 'til I come back home. As you know my opinion on going home is so divided.  But one thing is for certain, I'm finally done with letting worthless people take the best of me. No more. With that being said, I'm getting my hair cut tomorrow, I can't wait. I'll also dye it black. How short I'm gonna cut it, is still uncertain. Though as always, it won't be shorter than what I like, so no, not short short. Today  was such a beautiful day, and I took advantage of it and went over to Hawthorne. Didn't see any extremely abnormal people today, which was surprising.

Furthermore, I can't even come close to imagine how it's gonna be to see my friends again. Seriously, I can't xD I'm sorry brothers and sisters of Arendal, but I no longer remember what you feel like. I hope you'll be good to me, and show me in two months when I return to the place of my heart. Oh nothing can compare to Arendal. It's like we say "borte bra, men hjemme best <3 " and I really do stand by that. To all you people living in Arendal thinking "there's nothing for me here" and "I wanna get out of this boring place".. You're right, it is a pretty boring place, but holy shit it's full of love you'll feel nowhere else. I wouldn't wanna have been any other place growing up, and it is the place I wanna be buried haha.
The heart of my life, and in my opinion the heart of the strongest most loyal friends there are.
  

All You Need Is Love

So, once again I feel my mind change. I won't go into details, but I'm starting to believe certain things in life just aren't within my arm's reach. Anyway, this springbreak I've spent at the pacific west coast, right by the beach(duh).  I've experienced a lot of interesting and fun stuff c: I've seen sea lions (so fat, and so funny), seals, vultures, octopuses, sharks,  and so many other funny animals. I've gotten to swim and fish for crabs; I even got to drive a boat. I've gotten all these opportunities thanks to my good friend Thorvald, who is a Norwegian American, and his wonderful parents. Especially his father Carl. He's been great to me, and we've had a lot fun haha.

Furthermore, I really want your opinion on something. That goes for anyone who read his! I'm heavily considering a new tattoo (not now, but soonish). If you want to give me your opinion (I would really really appreciate it) please pm me on facebook or wherever, just not here xD  I can't say that your opinion will matter that much, 'cause in the end I am the one getting the tattoo, so I will follow whatever I think, but it would still be nice to hear your opinion. So here's the thing, I'm currently looking at two symbols. One is the symbol for lust (picture further down), and the kanji for love (picture also further down). Where I'd want it would be on my inner arm, between my hand and the middle of the arm. My question for you is: which one of them? Maybe both, one on each arm? Or do you have any places you think it would look better? Oh and just so you know, I really don't give a shit about originality, so the fact that kanjis are overused does not matter to me at all.  Thank you so much if you bother to give me some of your time. Here's the pictures:


The lust one

Out Of Time

I’ve never felt so sober.
I’ve never felt the low that I feel tonight.
Your words made everything drag on and on.
I finally found her,
and when I did I just couldn’t make things right.
Is this really happening?
Oh god I think I just ruined my life.


What the fuck am I doing?
I can’t tell the difference from wrong and right.
I second guess my decisions,
cause I haven’t been this person in my whole life.
I think I need something new here,
but I keep longing for what I had.
No need for second opinions.
I do the best I can to ruin what I have,
come on.


Don’t think you’ve got to go it alone here;
I’ve got nothing left to hide.
You've got time, just make up your mind.


I thought this was what you wanted;
someone who gets everything right.
I thought this was what you wanted;
someone to put you first in their life.
'Cause we’re running out of time.


Let's have three cheers for the new year.
Here's to hoping it's not as bad.
This wasn't part of my vision.
The optimist in me swore we could make this last, but no.
You ruined my favorite records;
I listen to them and think of you.
I just hope you remember
all of the countless times that I believed in you, for what?


Don’t think you’ve got to go it alone here;
I’ve got nothing left to hide.
You've got time, just make up your mind


I thought this was what you wanted;
someone who gets everything right.
I thought this was what you wanted;
someone to put you first in their life.
'Cause we’re running out of time.


Just know that it kills me
when I hear anything to do with you;
You won't see it, but believe me.
I need to be right where you are.
You know that I’m leaving,
and you won't hear until a year from now.
But this kills me;
'Cause now I hate that everything's, everything's about you.


I thought this was what you wanted;
Someone who gets everything right.
I thought this was what you wanted;
Someone to put you first in their life.
'Cause we’re running out of time


Don’t think you’ve got to go it alone here;
I’ve got nothing left to hide.
You've got time, just make up your mind.


A Day To Remember - Out Of Time 

Darkest Of Reveries

There are 88 days until I go home, and I've been here for 202 days. I really don't wanna leave xD But I've got a lot of things to do, and people to see, so of course it's gonna be amazing. The biggest thing is gonna be to come back to an over inflated state, where everything costs 3-4 times more. I'm thinking of booking a couple of tickets for Escape The Fate and Attack Attack! But I'm not sure if it's worth the 20 bucks a ticket yet haha.  Anyways, here are some pics.

Awwww yeeaaah! XXXTM. Love her signature

The Hollywood Kills, my new favorite band! :D

 It's a bit hard to see, but I really want this tattooed. Without the text of course though. The symbol for lust on the inside of my arm. Hmm, what do you think? Pm me xD 

You Make Me Wanna Die

This Friday started out like a lot of other Fridays, but eventually turned out to be so much more than that. I got home from school a got ready to go downtown for a French Lesson, which was a lot of fun, Aron is such a great teacher. After that it was straight back home to get ready for the big night. Eventually Dylan's father picked me up, and me and Dylan were on our way to see The Pretty Reckless at the Hawthorne Theater(one of the coziest venues ever!). The first band, The Hollywood Kills, were so amazing. They are very fresh, so fresh they still make everything by them selves haha (I think that'll change after this tour though). And after they played me and Dylan bought their cd and had a chat with them, and got them to sign it. They were so nice, and so thankful. They even signed with comments; "much love" and "thanks so much." Something a bit peculiar happened after the second warmup band started to play. A girl looking very shy came up next to me (I was on the side were there weren't a lot of people). And she started smiling and talking to me, which was a little bit awkward 'cause you have to get pretty close to talk over the sound of a concert. I normally don't care, but she was really tense, which makes me really insecure for some reason haha. She would come and go a couple of times until TPR, and after she said  bye, but without a lot of her clothes xDD It was very warm though, so she wasn't the only one. Anyways!

Asides from odd/awesome people, me and Dylan were pretty tired after the second band played, and we had to wait quite a bit for TPB, but as the lights went out and I got ready, I felt it was worth a million more hours for what was ahead(I had VIP tickets so I'd get to meet her). I make it sound like such a big deal, this is because to me it's like getting to first play in a movie with the actor, and then getting to do a fuck-scene with them. The concert was great, she was hot as hell, and she had quite some moves, some involving the microphone stand. They played almost all the songs I wanted them to play. When they finished we lined up for the meet and greet. We got free posters as we waited in line, and I had a pretty hard time understanding what was about to happen. When it was finally our turn, a came up to them and looked at Taylor. I handed her my copy of Light Me Up, and she said thanks for buying the cd instead of pirating it. I'm sure that by now I was as red as an strawberry, but I managed to push forth "thank you for being amazing. Can I get a hug?" She said sure, and gave me a long enough hug for me to smell her. Yeah, I'm totally a creeper xD But she's so beautiful, and even 100 times more beautiful in real life. I got a picture with her, and then we met the awesome guys from The Hollywood Kills again, and we talked some more, and got pictures with them. I told them that they had to come to Europe, and hopefully Norway. They said they hoped for a Europe tour, and thanked again for that we bought their cd, and that we took such an big interest in them.  This as been the best evening I've had in years!

Dream Of Para-Para-Paradise

No matter how much I like to focus on what I've got, I can't help but to let my mind wander. I often think of how it would be to find that one place where you could just relax, and know that this is where you belong. Sometimes that feeling of belonging comes along, and I feel great, but I kinda miss that feeling of just knowing that this is where I belong. I guess what it comes down to is that I miss my friends, and the safety the give. How retarded we used to act together, and just not giving a shit about who sees or knows. That being said, I don't wanna leave Portland anymore, this place is more than a home for me now, it's found its way to my heart. This place is ful of people who love to chill and take it easy, as well as have fun and enjoy your days. I've grown accustomed to new habits, learned to live without some things, and replace them with others.

I've seen so much, experienced more than ever, and everything in less than 7 months. I've been here for 181 days, and I've only got 108 days left. It's so scary how fast time goes. And I'm so sorry to say this (even though it's not my fault) but I've started to forget so much about my old life. Friends voices, the color of neighbor houses, the silence of the woods outside my house. More importantly, I've forgotten how it is to be with people who understand exactly who you are, where you come from, and what you value. The love for my closest friends has done nothing but grow stronger though, I can't wait to enjoy all those small things again. All those times spent with people (not mentioning names because I don't want anyone to think I've forgotten them) just chilling out, gaming, eating chocolate pudding, acting foolish laughing at stuff no one else would laugh of. Enjoying life for what it is. I still do those things, but I miss doing them without having to feel abnormal, I miss Arendal. My home, my roots, my heart.

I have often dreamed, of a far away where a hero's welcome is waiting for me.


Donnie Darko is one of the best movies I've ever seen, and I never get sick of it. If you like movies that makes you think, and that are pretty original, I suggest this one. It's an experience to watch.

Waiting Here For You Everlong

After some slaps in the face, things just keep getting better for me. Things aren't changing that much, just my attitude towards them, and some luck I guess haha. Last Wednesday I was at a concert with The Fray, it was so amazing. He came out to the crowd and was within an arms length of me! He also rose from the piano without the mic to try to sing without it. He tried to shut everybody up, and it worked in the beginning, and I stod close enough so I heard him pretty well. But then he gave up because of some assholes xD It was all in all great though, and they even played Ungodly Hour.

I'm at the moment sleeping over at Dylans place. I've lived here since Sunday and I'm gonna live here a little while more. I like it a lot, they have good food. There are two dogs here, and they're very cute, but one of them, Alfredo, he's a big fluff ball that always smiles. He jumps up to hug you, and kiss you, and if I don't let him kiss me he gets so mad xD He's such a bitch.  I've been learning Dutch, French and Spanish so much lately, and I love it. Languages is really something I enjoy.Anyways, I promised pictures, so I'll get some pictures up here finally.


Dylan dressed up as Light for me 8D Haha, he's such a beast.


Saw someone else with my tattoo! :D So awesome



Walking around in a book store, and the most random Norwegian book comes up xDD What the fuck. It says "Yes! Time for wedding."


Took a lot of pics in California, but there's no way I'm uploading all that c:


Was so awesome being in Hollywood! This guy is my favorite comedian from my childhood :3


From the basketball game, we owned them so much :D And we got a free chalupa or something because they got over 100 points.


This is just hilarious xD

Discovering The Waterfront

I'm just home from one of the best concerts I've ever been to. It's actually the 2nd best to be more accurate. It was freaking amazing, I can't believe it myself yet. I got to stand on stage (and touch xD ) Silverstein and August Burns Red. As I crowd surfed, some weirdo grabbed my legs instead of my body and I fell face down, as I get up people of course go crazy and starts to hit around them (which was where I was unfortunately.) So I started bleeding pretty bad, people circled around me and asked if I was okei xD I just said yeah and kept going. Silverstein played every song I wanted them to, except for My Heroine, but that was understandable. They played old songs like Discovering The Waterfront, Bleeds No More and Your Sword Vs My Dagger.

I'm really starting to enjoy this place, more than I ever thought I would. I feel so at home here, I can't explain it. It just feels amazing, like I was born to find this place. Every day I get more and more comfortable, and feel more and more at home. To be honest, I don't really wanna leave this place anymore :) But, after everything's said and done, I could never find any place like Arendal. And I'll never find friends like the friends I've got at home. I'm looking forward to seeing home again, but I wouldn't mind spending some extra time here in Portland, Oregon. Anyways, I'm so tired, and I need to rest. So goodnight!

Kjærlighet Er Mer Enn Alt

After almost a month I decided it was time to write a new entry again! January has gone by so fast, and for every day that passes I want to stay in Portland more xD It makes me think, in June when I'm leaving, I'm gonna have a really hard time. Now, that I want to stay here does not mean I've forgotten about my old life, and believe me I miss every little part of Arendal. But I'll get it back soon enough, and I'll appreciate it a lot more. That's the main thing I've learned these days, to not take anything for granted. The people who are there for me are what makes me who I am, so thank you. I just came home from a Portland Trail Blazers game, and it was awesome haha, we won by almost 50 points. The Blazers turned out to be a pretty awesome team, and they have a 13/9 win/lose ratio in the NBA, but they turned out to be a lot better than you'd think from that. In my opinion that is.

These are stressful times though, tomorrow I have my last final exam, which is in Spanish 5 honors. I'm pretty excited about not having physics next semester, that's gonna mean so much more time to focus on French and other stuff I need to focus on! Oh, and another thing I did was go to California. I experienced more than my heart and soul could handle, haha. To have been places like Disneyland, Universal Studios etc, it's just amazing. I got to see so many props from movies, big sets I've only seen on TV or in a movie. To be in the footsteps of stars like Will Smith, Robert Downey Jr, and all the big ones. It's crazy, especially for a guy from a small town like Arendal (40-50,000 inhabitants.)

As you can imagine, I've got a lot of pictures to show. And eventually I'll put a lot of them on here, but for now I'm too lazy. Or actually I'm too not lazy, 'cause I'm gonna get busy with more studying. Furthermore, I get to see August Burns Red, The Fray, Silverstein, The Pretty Reckless, and more these coming months. Holy shit I love America xD If it wasn't for the government and the redneck/white trash I'd move here without a doubt. Portland is the heart of America it seems, the people aren't like people anywhere. Everyone's nice. If you want a new friend, all you have to do is find someone you think looks interesting and start talking. I've experienced it more than once, to put it like that. They're always there with a helping hand, and putting yourself 2nd is something that's just normal here. You of course have exceptions, the assholes, but they're to be found in every place on earth anyways. Portland is amazing, I wouldn't wanna have come to any other place in the states, not even California or Florida. "Keep Portland weird," as they say (and I think I've contributed pretty good to that).

Stay true to yourself, 'cause when it's all said and done you don't need anyone else :)

Kristine

So this entry is completely dedicated to Kristine, my sister. We're not really siblings, but we're related somehow. We've known each other since birth, and hung out forever. We were little brats together, hanging around just raising hell and having a blast! We never gave a shit about anything but exactly what we wanted to, and that's how we liked it. We discovered new things always together, always as exciting as ever. We've spent countless nights together as children, and I remember some of them still. Things change as they always do. Well, basically school happened, and the responsibility of the world began. The further we got the more we fell apart to new friends and new feelings. Some years went by with almost nothing more than memories between us. Somehow things changed again and her new friends were now my friends as well, and we started to hang out again. Still not as much as we should, but now and then. Now, the last one to two years that growing up has somewhat come to an end... We just both said fuck it, and went on with hanging out and just screwing the world together. We've been through hell and back, and we're still going strong, that's what family's about.  We've shared everything together, laughter, tears, hangovers haha, and so much more. The point is that we have a bond that runs blood deep, we always find each other again eventually, and though not always as much as hoped for, it's more than something. Jeg elsker deg Kristine! selv om du av og til er et litt tarda problembarn :) Har du alltid vært.

This One I'll Do On My Own

So it's 2012, and I couldn't care less. I'm gonna keep trying to make every day count, like I have the last month or so. I've been so interested in learning languages for a couple of weeks now, and it's really paying off. My Spanish orally has improved a lot, and my French pronunciation is improving as well. I was thinking of studying in France, Spain or the Netherlands, so I talked to my mom. She told me that Spain is not somewhere I wanna study, so no Spain. And now after getting to know French a bit, it doesn't seem as I'll manage to get fluent in that in two years. So the Netherlands it is, if I still want that in two years that is. I'd like to study in Amsterdam, I really liked the tour the Dutch teachers gave us xD The red light district ftw... And Dutch is easy to learn, it's fairly equal to Norwegian with a couple of pronouncing differences and of course word differences. But it's not hard to learn at all. It'll take time to get to speak it, but 2 years is more than enough for that. If it weren't for the Spanish and French, I believe I could get fluent in half a year to a year without problems.

Furthermore, as I say almost every time I update, I miss my friends. With everything being different but not new anymore, I miss them even more. Anyways, as this is the new year I'm gonna involve some of my favorite lyrics and quotes.


"Any idiot can face crisis. It's day to day living that wears you out." -Anton Chekov


"Can I just say one more thing?
I'm not gonna say you know there's plenty more fish in the sea.
I'm not gonna say if you love her let her go.
And I'm not gonna bombard you with cliche's.
But I will say is this:
It's not the end of the world" -Ed   From the movie "Shaun of the Dead!

"Life happens, wherever you are, whether you make it or not." -Uncle Iroh  From the series "Avatar: the Last Airbender."

"I rely on myself, just making sure that was clear.
I'm not in need of your crutches, I face all my fears.
And I want what I knew I could have.
Life is all about to make the best of what you have" From the song A Day to Remember - This is the House That Doubt Built

"Life is never easy for those who dream." -Robert James Waller

"These days are strange it's true.
There's not a thing that I would change,
no mistakes that I'd undo"   From the song Sum 41 - Screaming Bloody Murder

"Music is my religion." -Jimi Hendrix

"Without it all, I'm choking on nothing.
it's clear in my head, that I'm screaming for something.
Knowing nothing is better than knowing it all."    From the song The Used - On My Own


"If the world wants to turn its back to you, then you turn your back to the world!"
"Om verden vil snu ryggen til deg, så snur du ryggen til verden!" -Timon    From the movie "the Lion King"


The last quote is one that means a lot to me for some reason. It's not something I say to myself every day, or something I've got written on the wall. I just really like it, and I always have.
"Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss it you'll land among the stars." I'm not sure where it's from, nor if I wrote it as it's supposed to be.

I'm gonna end this with something funny I noticed today, which is that bread is used for a lot of weird fucking things xD I'm only gonna include 3 pics, but there are so so so much more weird shit out there o-o




                                    It's used as armor. Lol, I love bread man, he's awesome xD

The Japanese use it as art, which is kinda.. weird xD Japan has weirder though, I know.

Used as a weapon. I really like this picture, but it's still quite funny.