1!

1 day left until London and Depeche Mode!

Dave is ready for take off, and so are we. Done packing, I just hope I get some sleep before I have to drive to the airport.
And might I add:
OMG SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

2!

2 days left until London and Depeche Mode!
Sigrid is coming today!

3!

3 days left until London and Depeche Mode!

4!

4 days left until London and Depeche Mode!
They're getting warmed up now. God knows what Mart's warming up for...

5!

5 days left until London and Depeche Mode!

6!

6 days left until London and Depeche Mode!
I'm gonna do like the boys and start packin' now.

7!

7 days left until London and Depeche Mode!

ONLY A WEEK!

8!

8 days left until London and Depeche Mode!
Mart has an impatient.

9!

9 days left until Depeche Mode and London!

And it's blog post nr 200!

10!

OH MY GOD, we're on single digits! Mart and Dave are over the moon!

11!

Even Dave's lighting up, now :D

12!

Mart still looks excited <3

13!

My christmas wish list

In an ideal world - this would be under my Christmas Tree this year:

Backstage Pass to Depeche Mode

A Gretsch Anniversary


Tickets to see Arsenal at the Emirates




A compact superzoom camera


A Labradoodle (Or a Golden Retriever)


A foosball table

14!

15!

16!

17!

Mart and Andy is looking forward to it, at least :)

18!

19!

20!

Dave is tired of waiting and has pulled up a chair.

21!

22!

23!

My own personal christmas calendar!

This year there is ONE thing I look forward to more than christmas eve, and that's my Depeche Mode gigs. Hence I've made a Depeche Mode countdown calendar!

Bazinga

Total word count: 23,723

Ugh, I'm a terrible blogger. But there are so many things distracting me these days I can barely find the time to eat food. Yes, I still cough. Yes, I still spend way too much time on Tumblr, or DMMB, or IM'ing with people from New York or Australia or some other ridiculously far away place.

And now my mate has even gotten me into NaNoWriMo - National Novel Writing Month. "The goal is to write a 175-page (50,000-word) novel by midnight, November 30. "Writing begins November 1. To be added to the official list of winners, you must reach the 50,000-word mark by November 30 at midnight. Once your novel has been verified by our web-based team of robotic word counters, the partying begins." I had an insomnia-induced writing kick a few nights ago and wrote 12k words in a night. Total word count suddenly reached over 23k. No, I won't tell you what I'm writing about. Most likely no one will ever read it but me. But these days it's my escape, it's cathartic, it's things I need to get out of my head and out of my system. Might seem utterly pointless, but it isn't.

School have been suffering a bit lately due to me being sick, sleeping badly, my energy levels being non-detectable, the level of confusion rising and my motivation taking a down-turn. I am, however, desperately trying to give myself a kick up the backside. In an effort to make anatomy and physiology a bit more understandable, I've taken up my sisters advice and ordered coloring books on Amazon. Might sound childish and utterly useless, but - drawing and coloring makes you use additional parts of your brain while you study, supposedly making it easier to remember. So far in the lectures we've had to draw simplified drawings to explain physiological processes just as much as we've had to take normal notes. At this point, considering the utterly useless book we have in this subject, and the fact that the exam is 2 months away - I need all the help I can get.

My most recent obsession is The Big Bang Theory, by the way. I've watched all the episodes up until now in like.. a week. I love Sheldon. Bazinga.

I take it back

Yup, I take it back. Bacteria most certainly does not rule. After my little spout of the flu in late september I hoped I was finished with my share of diseases for this winter, or at least for 2009. While I had microbiology I learned that getting the flu destroys something in the alveoli of your lungs, making you much more vulnerable to secondary respiratory bacterial infections. If course, by the law of sod, this HAS to apply to me much more so than it applies to everyone else - and I've now been coughing for over two weeks. Finally got to see a doctor today, and he suspects I either have whooping cough cause by pertussis, or an atypical bacterial pneumonia caused by mycoplasma or chlamydia pneumoniae. Will get the answer in a week, in the meantime I will have to make due with a rather large bottle of cough syrup including morphine. Why can't the bacteria just leave me alone so I can go to school and study?

Bacteriae rule.

Got the results from my microbiology exam today - my first serious attempt at a "university"-grade exam. *does the victory dance and smokes the victory cigar* Safe to say I'm a happy girl.
Did you know that from the total amount of cells you have on your body, only 10% are you? The rest of you are bacteria. You're only 10% human - and 90% bacteria.

Horribul.

Know I haven't been the most prolific blogger the past week, mainly because nothing is happening apart from my intense urge to sleep around the clock - which is normal at this time of year. Secretly I think I was a bear in my past life, and the hibernation thing still kicks in.

But now, ironically, I can't sleep. Hence I roam teh intarwebz. I found a few interesting things, hence I need to rant.

Firstly: I just discovered totally randomly that someone who knows someone I am friends with ONLY because she’s a DM fan in the US has grabbed one of my lolmodes as a profile picture. Bizarre experience, seeing a thing you made and posted thinking maybe about 20 people would read, turn up as a profile picture for a random person.

Secondly: I just did something completely stupid. While on YouTube watching an interview with Martin Gore, I saw in a comment someone mentioning a Martin/DM forum which-name-shall-not-be-mentioned-ever-again. Curiosity took over (the same curiosity that killed the cat, I presume), so I registered and entered it. MISTAKE. The name-which-never-shall-be-mentioned-ever-again should’ve been a warning in itself, but no, I didn’t pick up on that. The forum was split into sections regarding Martin (mainly), Alan, Dave and Fletch. With dubious forum thread titles such as “fanfics”, “Put it away, Martin!”, “Martin’s girls” and “Martin’s Red Light District”, I went through these emotions in quick succession: Digust, awe, stunned disbelief, nausea, utter surprise, repulsion, embarrasment (for them, not me), relief (for me, not them), revulsion, being grossed out, shock, outrage, indignance and sheer pain. I felt utterly desecrated, filthy and damaged. I learned a few things though.

1. I have too much respect for Martin to openly discuss his “girlfriends”/family/divorce/one night stands/”scandals”/drinking/drug use/whatever. (Besides, how much of that is actually true?) Nor do I particularily want to see a gazillion pictures of his kids and or him in private settings, I feel like such a creepy fucking stalker.
2. I am normal. Way more normal than I imagined myself to be. By that forums standards, I am actually a sane, non-obsessive and balanced individual. This is the only good feeling I am left with, however.

I went into that forum hoping to find some cool pictures, either ones I liked or some I could put captions on. It turned out to be a slap in the face. I DID try to close my eyes/ignore the ominous threads I DIDN’T want to read, and focus on the threads that were supposed to be normal pictures, but the sheer amount of BATSHIT CRAZY made me come to a conclusion: no amount of pictures in the world is worth this crap - I had to get out of there. (And, I’ve never EVER seen forum people use THAT many smileys, either…)

Sadly, I dragged sisterofnight with me into this mess, and for that I am eternally sorry, but we did discuss it and realised what the forum did for us, and that was give us a warning about fangirlism: “Is this how you want to become? This is the path you are heading. Turn, now! Flee, you fools!” It’s like when you show smokers cancerous smokers lungs. It gives you a wake up call.

Yes, I love Depeche Mode. And I adore Martin Gore, I will forever admire him AND think he looks bloody good. But I am never, ever, ever, ever going back to that forum. Ever. Because it’s sheer evil.

Perfect!

Just heard that Nitzer Ebb has been announced as the support for Depeche Mode from January 9th and through February. This means that I'll get to see Nitzer Ebb AND Depeche four times in two months. I'm about ready to explode with teh happy. This is going to be four absolute perfect nights.

Joy!

When I came back to my apartment on monday night, I found this in my mailbox, and almost collapsed with an overdose of happee. 3 Arsenal shirts and the Depeche Mode ticket for the O2 show on December 15th.

Mart illustrates teh happee.

Mad hatter v 2.0

A while ago I wrote about the mohawk-hat I was about to knit. Well, I finished one. Which I gave to my friend, and she felted it on her own. Then I made another one, tied 340 knots to make the mohawk (!), and threw it in the washer downstairs. See, the thing about felting is, it's kind of a high risk sport, you can never ever be sure of the outcome. And lo and behold - my first attempt came out way to felted, and way too small. Hrmph.

All right, fine. I'll make another one. So I did, and threw it VERY tentatively in the washer at my dad's last night. This one turned out slightly under-felted (if that's even a word), but hey... I'm kind of pleased anyway.

We look good, don't we? Yeah, we do ^^
(And yes, that's an Arsenal shirt)

Tumblr stole my life!

This all began about a week ago, when I'd run off to Sisterofnight, my fellow Depeche Mode fangurl for some much needed relaxation and red wine to prepare for my microbiology exam.

The first evening I overdid it on the red wine, however, and have no clear recollection of going to bed. I will, hoever, never forget waking up and spotting this over my head. Safe to say, after taking a minute to wake up, I burst out laughing so loudly my head almost exploded (but that was more the red wine's fault, really).

Via twitter, a fellow fan instantly named this sort of thing a Lolmode, and via another tweeter I stumbled across a site with the not-so-subtle name of Fuck Yeah Martin Gore. This was a Tumblr-site (filled with 50+ pages with pictures *hirr hirr*), and this site in turn introduced me to the world of Tumblr - which basically is a simplified blogging, but a slightly more complicated way of tweeting. Think of it as a mini-blog meets Twitter and Twitpics. Naturally, there's also a Fuck Yeah Dave Gahan and a Fuck Yeah Depeche Mode site along with tons and tons of tumblr-site devoted to and revovling around every and any thinkable obsession or interest you may have.

After our weekend of red wine and fanatism ended we started talking about making a tumblr-site of our own, where we could post our various blurbs and outbursts - an outlet for our obsession, you might say. This sort of disappeared in everything else we were yapping about, though.

About 3 days ago, slightly hungover (yes, again...) and horribly bored I was browsing through I Can Has Cheezburger, the eternal and neverending source of Lolcat pictures. This is a habit I have, a way to pass the time when I really have nothing else in the world to do (besides stuff like the dishes, or the laundry, or cleaning the floors. Ew.) And when I saw a certain picture of a lolcat, my little fangirl brain instantly referenced it to a picture I'd seen of Martin Gore a short while ago. Of course I had to get hold of both pictures and make my own little "Totally Looks Like"-picture. Et vóila, my career as a Lolmode-maker was born.

Realising that making Lolmodes actually was really fun, I made the Tumblr-site Master and Servant,

and started to produce more captioned pictures. The activity of finding pictures to caption, thinking of captions, making the actual pictures and posting them to Tumblr, along with reblogging/liking other tumblrposts, and trolling on the depechemode.com-forum about the damn Lolmodes has now completely taken over every aspect of my life - I can't seem to be able to do anything else. Not even blog. Hence the lack of blogging lately. Hopefully, this newly found obsessive hobby will die down somewhat, and I'll be able to return to normal. *awaits sarcastic comments*

It does, however, seem like people like these Lolmodes, and laugh at them, which makes me really happy for some reason.

The simple things...

Just went for a long, late night walk with my dog. And Martin. (On the iPod). Felt I had to, to compensate for the forced bath. (Of the dog, not Martin.) Unbelievable how much fun can be had with a broken plastic chair leg. An enormous football pitch really isn't that dark in bright moonlight. It was actually kind of beautiful. Autumn isn't that bad either. I love being out in the cold, so my cheeks get all pink and frozen. It makes me feel alive and a part of the world. I forgot that for a while. Amazing how much company there is in a beautiful voice. That's me, a sister of night.

Food for thought

Pictures like these are the reason why I want to become a nurse, go back to Africa and make a difference in this world. Taken from World Press Photo Archives.

"Do you ever get that feeling
When the guilt begins to hurt?
Seeing all the children
Wallowing in dirt
Crying out with hunger
Crying out in pain

At least the dirt will wash off

When it starts to rain

Soap won't wash away your shame

Do you ever get the feeling
That something isn't right?
Seeing your brother's fist
Clenched ready for the fight
Soon the fighting turns to weapons
And the weapons turn to wounds
So the doctor's stitch and stitch and stitch
And stitch and stitch and stitch and stitch

Surgery won't improve your pain

It all seems so stupid
It makes me want to give up
But why should I give up
When it all seems so stupid?

Do you ever get the feeling
That something can't be done?
To eradicate these problems
And make the people one
Do you ever get that feeling
Something like a nagging itch?
And all the while the doctors stitch
And stitch and stitch and stitch and stitch

Hope alone won't remove the stains (shame)

It all seems so stupid
It makes me want to give up
But why should I give up
When it all seems so stupid?"

New diagnose

I have sadly recieved yet another diagnose to add to my list of ailments and disorders.

"DMOCD, or Depeche Mode Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, is a hereditary condition in which the sufferer feels the need to constantly listen to music and watch videos by the British electro rock act Depeche Mode. The known effects of this obsession include singing their songs non-stop or acquiring every Depeche Mode-related item possible.

Symptoms may also include spontaneous arm/hand waving, loud outbursts such as “Let me hear you sing it!” and “Oh yeah, that’s right!” and a fondness for anything black or sparkly and the number 101, as well as constantly posting on the Depeche Mode Message Board (or the DMMB for short), buying the best seats in the house for concerts, decorating your car with various Depeche Mode-related merchandise, voting for the band on radio stations, awards polls and getting fans to join in voting, etc.

Some devotees can also develop carpal-tunnel syndrome in one’s right hand (this is common particularly among many female sufferers) from right-clicking to download any and all pictures found under various “best of” posts on the DMMB. There can also be an increased awareness of hot flashes when looking at certain pictures of their favourite band member. Bruising may form as well, as the sufferer may sometimes fall off their chairs - this again is particular to female sufferers.
When meeting a band member, the inability to speak (laryngitis is always a good excuse!) due to awe OR uncontrollable screaming, hugging or kissing when in the presence of a group member OR simply passing out is very common. This particular characteristic is documented in the 101 DVD when group member Andrew Fletcher touches the hand of a female sufferer.

Sufferers can go weeks - if not months - without listening to any other bands…unless it is out of their control i.e. public places that play music within their facilities.

Research has found that various Depeche Mode songs can also invoke strong emotions in sufferers. This is particularly evident at live shows and the uncontrollable urge to do the “wheatfield wave” when listening to Never Let Me Down Again… regardless of where the sufferer is!


WARNING: THIS DISEASE IS HIGHLY CONTAGIOUS, ESPECIALLY IF THE SUFFERER IS EXPOSED TO A DEPECHE MODE CONCERT OR ANYTHING RELATING TO THIS BAND!"

Got this text in my mailbox from a fellow sufferer of DMOCD. I lol'd.

One down...

Today I've had my first exam as a nurse student. The subject was microbiology and hygiene, and as the geeky sod that I am I love this subject - for some reason I find disgusting bacteriae, fungi,m parasites and nasty viral infections very interesting. (Maybe because I'm one of the most infection-prone people walking the earth.) Seeing as we started school on August 18th, an exam on October 5th seemed really daunting, but I discovered quite quickly that my years of not studying hadn't resulted in my brain completely rotting out, I was actually able to obtain and remember information.

So how did it go today? I am hoping for a B, honestly, but we'll see. You can obtain a maximum of a hundred points, and I reckon I got about 80 or 85. Unless I get a kind judge that tips me over into the 90's and gets me that A. If that happens, I am so going to get a copy of the bloody exam along with the grade and slam it on my doctors desk - the moody bastard that looked at me sceptically saying "why do you think you'll do any better at school this time?" Or maybe not, I don't want to be a person who holds a grudge. Or maybe I will, just in this case.

The last 20 minutes before the exam started was probably the longest in my life, the clock seemed to tick backwards, that's how slow time seemed to move. I should probably count myself as blessed, I don't get exam nerves until the morning of the exam, but then I get them rather bad. About 15 minutes before exam start, some random woman's phone rang in the classroom - the ringtone was a crappy midi version of the "Just Can't Get Enough" intro. I smiled to myself, thinking it was Depeche trying to calm me down, wish me good luck and show they had faith in me. Silly, I know, but it helped.

Now I am off to buy food and have myself a glass of wine... or three. Tomorrow at 8 we're starting with anatomy, physiology and biology. Time to format the hard drive and start all over again...

Temporary insanity

I am going to claim temporary insanity. Just bought another damn Depeche Mode ticket - am now going to see both shows at the O2 in London. Got a seat in block 101 now, which is symbolic enough, and might be bloody good tickets actually, seeing as it is more or less ON the side of the stage. And bonus - it's on Mart's side! And no, I didn't pay and arm and a leg for it, that I actually wouldn't have done, insanity or no. Ended up paying about 10 quid more than normal sell price, which I can happily live with. Oh well, I'll get less time to throw away money around London, that's the upside. On the downside, I will have to be rather efficient in my sightseeing and Christmas shopping since I'll be busy both nights.

Oh you beautiful man, you. Shiiiiiiiny.

Speaking of Mart, if you're a fanatic with an itch you want scratched, go here. Be warned, you might end up spending a few hours here, though.

I cry

Isn't it weird how disconnected you can feel from people around you, close to you, people you can see, talk to and touch? Or, how you can feel like you connect with someone you've never had the good grace to meet? That you have some sort of understanding and common ground, even though the only way you can feel it is through words, music and distant impressions? Some people just have souls that reach out to you, guide you and watch over you, regardless of wether they know you exist or not. He doesn't know I exist, and I am aware of that. But I know he does, and to me, in my life, that has made a world of difference. I am forever grateful and and will always have endless love for him.

Lamb - I cry
One day I met a precious soul
Whose words had touched my heart
His poetry resounded so
It tore my soul apart
But when I tried my thoughts to speak
Emotion made my mind so weak
And time stood still for years and years
I bathed him in my tears

I cried, I cried
Tears of joy tears of pain
I cried, I cried
Tears of love again and again

Some people turn to pills and things
To help them through the day
To take them up or down or just
To ease the blues away
But me I really want to feel
The ups and downs of life so real
Happy or sad emotions reign
My tears flow just the same

I cried, I cried
Tears of joy tears of pain
I cried, I cried
Tears of love again and again

Gonna burn so completely I leave no trace

Though so many out there would laugh in my face
For wearing emotion so close to the skin
Condemn me they might if to love's such a sin

Counting down to exam day...

Song of the day: Depeche Mode - Shine

I've been fever- and painfree for a while now, but I'm still not feeling quite myself. As per usual after the flu, I get this horrid cough that lingers on for weeks, causing me to not sleep very well at all. As a result I didn't fall asleep properly until 6 this morning, overslept and missed my first lecture of the day. In 7 days I'll be having an exam, so part of me felt that I should've been there, but I'm not getting much out of zooming through diseases, viruses and bacteriae with the speed of light - writing notes and studying on my own works much better, so that's what I did for four hours. Not sure how much of it that's actually sticking, though - I'm having trouble keeping umpteen different contagions and their diseases apart. I'm confident I'll pass, that's for sure, but I think I can forget about that A I've been aiming for. I blame the swineflu.

What else is going on? Not much, honestly. Oh, wait! My fellow devotional and fanatic fangirl Sigrid, who went with me to Arvika this summer, has decided to come with me to London in December, and has booked the flight, a hotel room and gotten herself a ticket to the same show I have! I didn't think it was possible to look forward to that trip any more than I already am, but apparently it is! Now I have someone to obsess and discuss and go "fap fap fap" to after the concert! Now, if only she hadn't brought to my attention that tickets for the show the previous day are available on Ebay at not-so-horrible prices... *grumble*

1.	fap	6970 up, 740 down
	September 8, 2007 Urban Word of the Day The onomatopoeic representation of masturbation. Often used to suggest that something is attractive. Did you see those Natalie Portman pics? *fap fap fap*

Also, today, I became a member of Arsenal Norway! And my livingroom now looks like this ^^